• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, October 26, 2007

Mindshare Interactive Campaigns, a digital consulting firm serving non-profits and public affairs clients (with no connection to WPP), has changed its name to Virilion.

"Virilion is derived from the Latin word for green, viridis, and the word lion--symbolizing courage, strength and leadership," said Dan Solomon, Virilion's chief executive. "The words together create 'green lion,' a change agent in alchemy, which turns ordinary metal into gold."

Established in 1997, the firm has offices in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Clients have included Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, Hewlett-Packard--when the company needed help generating support for its merger with Compaq in 2002--along with eBay and Anheuser-Busch to help those companies dissuade lawmakers from taxing the sale of online goods and beer, respectively.

That the firm helps corporations, associations, and governmental entities accomplish complex communication objectives--through the use of creative, technology, user experience, media, search engine marketing and measurement--is evidenced by its recent string of diverse hires.

In May, Virilion hired former Digitas executive Huard Smith as its new executive vice president. Since 2000, Smith led Digitas strategy teams for clients including AARP, The Home Depot, and Turner Broadcasting, among others. In April, it appointed Sue Woodward--formerly director of direct response fund-raising at the national headquarters of the American Red Cross--to direct its fund-raising practice.

In March, meanwhile, it hired David Rapp, former editor and senior vice president of Congressional Quarterly, as a senior consultant in its editorial services practice. And in February, it brought on Jason McQueen, an interactive media and search expert with a core background in search engine marketing, paid search, email strategy and interactive media management.

In addition to the acquisition of ecommerce provider Promotional Commerce in 2005, and the consultancy RampWeb in 2006, Virilion recently received an investment from Enhanced Capital Partners, a venture capital firm that focuses on mid-to-late stage investments.