Fresh off its first “upfront,” AOL has named Brad Elders as senior vice president of East Coast sales.
Beginning Monday, May 14,
Elders will oversee sales, account management and marketing in and around New York, Boston, Atlanta, and the entire Eastern Seaboard.
Yet, Elders, who most recently served as SVP sales at app
maker Function(x), isn’t new to AOL. Elders first joined the Web company in late 2010 through its acquisition of online video distribution company 5min Media, and ultimately served as vice
president, video sales for AOL.
Elders will report to Jim Norton, head of sales at AOL, and a big proponent of video advertising at the company.
“Brad has deep industry knowledge
and expertise in the marketplace -- particularly in video -- a strategic focus for AOL,” Norton said.
At Function(x) -- the company behind Viggle -- Elders was responsible for developing
the go-to-market strategy and building a national sales team to support Viggle, the company’s recently launched “social television platform.” Also described as a “loyalty
program for TV,” the free iOS app rewards users for watching TV with points toward, say, a $5 Starbucks card, or a $10 Banana Republic eGift.
Regarding AOL, Elders said: "No
company is more focused on content creation and distribution across platforms.”
Last week, AOL head Tim Armstrong made a similar point upon the debut of the AOL On Network, which
brings the company’s entire video offering under one umbrella, including a curated video experience with 14 content channels reaching nearly 60 million viewers across multiple sites and
connected TV devices.
Earlier in his career, Elders served as COO of TidalTV, a video advertising start-up, as well as doing a stint as SVP of North American sales for IPTV provider
Joost.