• by Emily Burg , March 2, 2007

Former Interbrand exec Julie Cottineau has been named vice president of brand for Virgin USA, where she will oversee branding strategy for new Virgin companies in North America.

Virgin USA oversees and is responsible for all expansion of the Virgin brand in North America. Existing businesses include Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Megastores, Virgin Comics, Virgin Life Care and Virgin Books. Virgin is in the process of getting upstart, low-cost airline Virgin America off the ground as well, but has faced regulatory issues regarding ownership.

"I look forward to continuing to leverage Virgin's leadership as a champion for the consumer and our ability to find new opportunities to give the consumer a superior experience," Cottineau said in a statement.

Prior to joining Virgin USA, Cottineau served as executive director of consumer branding at Interbrand, a leading global branding consultancy, where she was the creator of Interbrand's proprietary Brand Tango Innovation process. In her 20 years of brand experience, Cottineau has worked with such brands as Orbitz, TD Ameritrade, Vitamin Water and Time Inc.

Separately, Virgin Mobile earlier this week named McKinney, Durham, N.C., as the agency for its $30 million advertising account. The company, which focuses on prepaid plans and targets a youth consumer base, previously used Mother, New York, as its agency.