• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, March 6, 2008

In her new post as managing partner in the New York office of Omnicom's digital arm Agency.com, Joan Zulawski faces the myriad threats now plaguing ad holding companies. From more agile specialty shops and digital-only agencies to video hosting and community platform providers, there is much to guard against.

Coming from Interpublic's Draftfcb, however, Zulawski is perfectly at home among a larger network of agencies, which she insists offers key advantages to clients.

"The strength for our clients comes from being a large network with multiple touchpoints and capabilities," Zulawski told Online Media Daily.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a profile on ex-Agency.com head Don Scales, which highlighted the budding rivalries between holding companies and specialty shops like Scales' present employer iCrossing.

Zulawski would not comment on Scales or iCrossing, only saying that Agency.com is well-positioned to compete for new digital business. "I have rarely seen an agency that understands modern digital marketing like they do," she said of Agency.com.

Zulawski takes issue with the notion that Draftfcb is not known for its digital expertise, and insists that she is well-versed in the language of online advertising.

"I have plenty of integrated experience, and have worked on digital throughout my career," Zulawski said--pointing to her pre-Draftfcb career, when she spent over four years as the group account director at G2/Grey Interactive managing senior client relationships, including Mars, Nokia, and Nestle.

Along with the generation of new clients, Zulawski will help oversee Agency.com's existing relationships with clients like British Airways, Dulux, Energizer, IKEA, LG Electronics, Mars and T-Mobile.

Mars's Snickers brand just teamed up with Agency.com for a new interactive Web site, which incorporates the current brand positioning of Snickers as a "feast." Animation, sound installations, and Easter eggs are just some of the features packed into the site, along with nutritional and product information, and Snickers' "Feasters" TV spots.

Approving of this recent work, Zulawski described the Snickers microsite as a "good demonstration of how a brand can expand online."