Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Veteran media executive BRUCE SMITH has been tapped by MindShare North America as Managing Partner of MindShare Chicago. Smith is joining MindShare following a career that has included senior positions on the agency, media and client sides of the business. In addition to heading MindShare Chicago, Smith will become part of MindShare's North American management team. Most recently Smith was CEO and President of ABC Interactive, a company specializing in online media metrics and a post he held for two years.
Digitas Tuesday said MICHAEL WARD, President/COO, will leave the marketing company at the end of the year to join Bain Capital. As he prepares to depart, Digitas is reshuffling managerial chores among several senior executives: ROB COSINUKE, who has been President of Digitas' headquarters office, becomes President for the company's global operations; JEFF COTE, EVP, CFO, adds COO duties; ROBERT WILLMS, who had served as President of Digitas' Chicago and San Francisco offices, now adds Boston to his purview; New York President LAURA LANG will also oversee Chicago operations; and GREG JOHNSON, President of Digitas' European operations based in London, takes on additional responsibilities for corporate strategy.
Havas has named BOB SCHMETTERER its President and Chief Operating Officer. Schmetterer has been chairman-CEO of Havas' Euro RSCG Worldwide for the past six years, a position he will retain while assuming his new responsibilities. He and Alain de Pouzilhac, Havas' chairman-CEO, will manage the holding company together.
Havas' Arnold Worldwide, Boston, has also promoted PHIL REILLY to Executive Vice President and Director of Brand and Business Development, overseeing new business and marketing for the four-agency network. Though his is a new position, he assumes the duties of Melissa Lea, Senior Vice President of Marketing, who has resigned. Prior to his promotion, Reilly was Senior Vice President and Director of Integrated Marketing.
Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles this week announced the addition of KATHI PEREA as Director of Media Planning for the office’s major clients, including Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. and Procter & Gamble. Perea returns to Saatchi & Saatchi where she spent more than 11 years in the media department working on the Toyota business. Most recently, she worked at Time Magazine for three years, where she managed top-name brands including Toyota, Lexus and Paramount Home Entertainment.
JOE GRIFFIN has been promoted to Vice President, Director of Search Media at iCrossing. An adopter of Search as an online marketing medium since the mid-1990s, Griffin is well-qualified to lead the Media Strategy and Business Development team for iCrossing. Griffin started his own ecommerce site in 1997, but soon found he was more interested in promoting the site, specifically through Search engine marketing. He changed the focus of his business, began providing consulting services, and eventually met and joined the team at iCrossing.
ROBERT D. LIODICE was named Acting President-CEO of the Association of National Advertisers effective Jan. 3, the group's board announced. Liodice joined the ANA in 1995 and was most recently an executive vice president.
JAMES L. LYONS has been promoted to President at Optima Direct, RCW's teleservices company in Vienna, VA. Lyons joined Optima in 2000 and most recently served as General Manager, running all operations. He previously held the positions of Senior Vice President of Business Development and Vice President, e-Care Solutions at the firm.
Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. announced that J. SCOTT CRYSTAL has been named Executive Vice President and Publisher of the TV Guide Publishing Group. In his new role, Crystal will be responsible for managing the sales and marketing teams for all of TV Guide's print publications and online platform. He will be based in New York, and join the company immediately.
Leo Burnett's digital, direct and database marketing unit, iLeo, has hired RICCARDO ZANE as Senior Vice President, General Manager of its North American operations. Zane comes from Burnett in Toronto, where he lead the shop's interactive unit for about two years. There, he managed the integration of the shop's interactive, direct marketing and data services capabilities.
In the midst of job cuts, AOL Time Warner is poised to hire Coca-Cola Co.'s account architect at Interpublic Group of Cos. for an executive position in its Global Marketing Solutions group. WILLIAM GROGAN, most recently Director of Coke brands for Interpublic and Executive Vice President at McCann-Erickson Worldwide, will be named Senior Vice President of Marketing for GMS.
LORI SENECAL, Director of Account Management at McCann-Erickson, is slated to replace her husband Bill Grogan in running the agency's worldwide Coke Classic account. In August, McCann promoted Senecal from EVP, Group Director on Xbox, Labatt and Sprint, to Director of Account Management, replacing Rich O'Leary who moved over to run McCann WorldGroup agency FutureBrand as CEO, North America. FutureBrand is a corporate-identity agency within McCann's World Group. Senecal is a 10-year McCann veteran and began in the Toronto office as an Account Supervisor.
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation this week announced that JUDY ELLIS will be joining the company as its Chief Operating Officer. Ellis is currently with Emmis Communications where she manages all of its radio stations, including HOT 97, in New York.
DENNIS PATRICK has been named President of National Geographic Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Geographic Society. Patrick, a former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, President of AOL Wireless, CEO of Time Warner Telecommunications and, most recently, President and CEO of Patrick Communications Inc. and Doeg Hill Ventures LLC, will join the organization Jan. 6, 2003. He succeeds Richard Allen, who has been appointed President and CEO of Vulcan Sports Media.
MELISSA SPIEGELMAN has been named Executive Vice President of Sales at InSite Advertising. Spiegelman, an industry veteran, started her career at Ogilvy & Mather in their Non-Traditional Group. With more than 10 years of experience in industry, Spiegelman has worked both on the media planning and buying side as well as the sales side, most recently at TMG Media, where she was SVP, Director of Sales.
BusinessWeek announced this week the arrival of PEGGY WHITE as General Manager for BusinessWeek Online. Before joining BusinessWeek Online, White was Senior Vice President Sales & Business Development for MSNBC.com. Before MSNBC.com, she was Director of New Media for the National Basketball Association in New York.
LEE GARFINKEL is parting ways with Publicis Groupe. Garfinkel, who became Chief Creative Officer worldwide for D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in September 2001, had been mulling an offer from Publicis Groupe SA CEO Maurice Levy to join the Publicis agency as Worldwide Creative Director. Publicis Groupe acquired D'Arcy through its merger with that agency's parent, Bcom3. The deal became final in September and Publicis announced that it would dissolve D'Arcy by the end of the year.
Publicis Groupe has named DAVID DROGA the new Worldwide Creative Director of the Publicis Worldwide network to replace Lee Garfinkel. Top executives at Publicis hope that Droga will bring the same drive and enthusiasm to the top creative position at the world's fourth-largest ad holding that he has shown during his recent tenure as executive creative director at Publicis-owned Saatchi & Saatchi, London.
MARTIN MCDONALD has been named Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer at the Dallas office of Rapp Collins Worldwide. He was most recently Creative Director in the Detroit office of D'arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, and has held similar positions at Hal Riney in San Francisco, BBDO New York and Los Angeles, Digitas in London and WestWayne in Tampa and Atlanta.
Independent ad agency Butler, Shine & Stern has named PATRICK KISS to the newly created post of Managing Partner. Kiss, who starts at Butler Shine in January, worked at FCB for seven years. During his time at FCB, he handled accounts for Levi Strauss & Co.'s Dockers and Major League Baseball, among others. He also led the shop's pitch for the five-year, $125 million account for the California Lottery, which is expected to issue later this month a revised request for proposal on the bid.
