• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, July 7, 2015

While the rest of Madison Avenue was spending the long weekend celebrating Independence Day, iCrossing chief Nick Brien was dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on what could well be called Interdependence Day. By that, he means a vision for the role of iCrossing’s interdependence with parent Hearst Corp., one of the biggest suppliers of media inventory to the brand and performance marketers his agency serves.

“We have to maintain our objectivity and independence,” Brien told MAD during a briefing heading into the long weekend for a scoop on iCrossing’s new team, which includes brand, performance and strategy vets from some of Madison Avenue’s best known shops, as well as client organizations.

The team being unveiled this week includes:

• Anne Bologna, who joins as Chief Strategy Officer, after a 25-year career at big brand shops like Fallon Worldwide (where she was president of its New York office) and most recently as head of strategy at performance marketers TripAdvisor.

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  Mike Russell, who joins as Chief Growth Officer, after 21 years of experience in agency business development roles at such shops as HUGE, MSL Group and Meredith Xcelerated Marketing.

• Melissa Brecher, who joins as CMO, after decades at Conde Nast, Hearst and most recently Fairchild Fashion Media.

• Dirk Herbert, who joins as senior vice president of strategic planning, after 20 years at big agencies, most recently at FCB West.

The appointments come only months after Brien joined Hearst and iCrossing in March and follow his appointment of former McCann WorldGroup Chief Digital Officer Mike Parker as president of iCrossing West in April.

Brien describes his new team as “trusted and brilliant,” and says they are key pieces of the new product offering he is developing for current and prospective iCrossing clients as part of an ambitious strategy to redefine marketing services by leveraging iCrossing’s search and performance marketing roots within a parent rich in media and data assets like Hearst.

Brien says the first versions of the new offering are being put in place right now, but are still confidential and likely won’t be made public until the end of this year or early next, but he says he’s in no rush to make proclamations and would prefer that iCrossing’s new product speak for itself.

One thing he says it will not be is a line extension of Hearst’s media assets.

“We have to remain objective. We are first and foremost working for our clients. We will always have our clients looking at us and wondering if our ownership is a negative or a benefit,” he explains, noting, “You can’t look at the summer we’re having at the moment -- with $26 billion worth of business in review -- without raising the question that the [Association of National Advertisers] has done very publicly about who is doing what for whom? Who are you being paid by?

“iCrossing is an agent for its clients. And our ownership by a media and entertainment content company, with rich data, amazing content and remarkable distribution and how that can be leveraged against the goals of the marketing community. Our goal is primary that, which is why iCrossing has always maintained a healthy independence. We have an interdependent role. And I see the opportunity for closer collaboration with Hearst and its assets. But our primary responsibility is for our clients.”