Wednesday, September 25, 2002
BRIAN HEFFERNAN will step down as President of J. Walter Thompson Co.'s fourth-largest office. Heffernan is leaving the agency after four years at the helm of the WPP Group, but he will aid in the transition. Heffernan joined JWT, Detroit, in 1985 as an Account Manager and has served in several posts for the agency, including Executive Vice President and Director of Global Business Development in New York. Until the agency finds a successor, Bob Jeffrey, President of J. Walter Thompson North America, will lead the office.
ARTHUR SELKOWITZ, BCOM3 Group's Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer, plans to retire at the end of the year, the company said. Selkowitz had been Chairman-CEO of D'Arcy Worldwide when he was named to his current post in 2000 following the merger of the MacManus Group and the Leo Group that formed what is now Bcom3 Group. He began his career with Benton & Bowles in 1971 and has been with the agency for all but seven years, when he ran his own shop, Penchina, Selkowitz, from 1983 to 1989. Selkowitz rejoined his former shop in 1990 after it had become D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles as Executive Vice President and was made the first Global Account Director for Procter & Gamble Co. In 1996, Selkowitz became President of D'Arcy North America and a year later took the reins of D'Arcy Worldwide as Chairman-CEO.
French Internet services provider Wanadoo SA Monday confirmed the appoinment of ERIC ABENSUR as Chief Executive of its U.K. unit, Freeserve. In July, Abensur replaced John Pluthero, who left the company to join Energis PLC . Abensur was Chief Financial Officer of Freeserve between spring 2001 and July of this year, when he was named acting CEO of the company.
Interpublic Group of Cos.' DraftWorldwide reorganized its executive ranks in anticipation of President-Chief Operating Officer Jordan Rednor's move to an unspecified position at the holding company. DAVID FLORENCE, previously president of DraftWorldwide, New York, was promoted to International President in charge of Draft's offices in 30 countries outside the U.S. Succeeding Florence as President of the New York office is LAURENCE BOSCHETTO, previously General Manager of the 400-person shop. Boschetto became General Manager in 1997 when his agency, Adler Boschetto Peebles, was acquired by Draft.
Veteran San Francisco advertising executive JOHN GEOGHEGAN will take over as President of Interpublic Group of Cos.' Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, San Francisco, at the end of the month. Geoghegan succeeds Nancy Hill, who this summer moved to Hill Holliday's New York office as a managing partner and head of the agency's Verizon account for the Northeast region. Geoghegan was General Manager of WPP's J. Walter Thompson, San Francisco, during a time when the office had among its clients the $150 million Sprint account. He later became CEO of CareGuide.com, which provided information about care for children and elders.
Cordiant announced that the Chairman, CHARLIE SCOTT has confirmed his intention to leave the company once a successor has been identified. Scott had agreed with the Board last year that he wanted to hand over his position during 2003, having spent 13 years working for the Group. The Board has asked Scott to lead the search for his replacement and that exercise is currently underway. Scott intends to step down once the current management transition at Cordiant is complete and a new Chairman has been appointed.
Fallon Worldwide, Minneapolis, shifted responsibilities for several of its senior managers, a sign that a plan to line up possible successors to Chairman Pat Fallon is being mapped out. DAVID LUBARS takes over North American responsibilities as President and Executive Creative Director, and will be responsible for the Minneapolis, New York and Los Angeles creative units. Lubars was formerly Co-President and Executive Creative Director for the Minneapolis office. ERIC BLOCK becomes Chief Operating Officer of Fallon Worldwide, from General Manager of the flagship Minneapolis office. He will oversee all the agency's global business units with responsibility to drive growth and integration.
Meredith Corporation announced that SUSAN UEDELHOFEN was promoted to Art Director of Country Home magazine. Uedelhofen most recently served as Associate Art Director of Country Home. Previously, she served as Associate Design Director for Meredith Integrated Marketing and Assistant Art Director for Better Homes and Gardens.
Meredith Corporation also announced that DORENE BARILE has been promoted to Director of Marketing Innovation, for the Meredith Publishing Group. Barile has been with Meredith for four and a half years, most recently serving as Senior Account Manager for Ladies' Home Journal. Before joining Meredith, she served as Account Manager of Woman's Day Special Interest Publications and as an Account Executive for the GETKO Group.
Bob Schmetterer, Chairman and CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide, announced a new management team for Euro RSCG France. As part of this evolution, FRANCOIS TIGER, after having served as President of Euro RSCG France for three years, and overseeing the group's successful evolution and restructuring, has been named Senior Vice President of Euro RSCG Worldwide. He will report directly to Schmetterer and will be responsible for a variety of high-level strategic initiatives. STEPHANE FOUKS has been named CEO of Euro RSCG France. He will remain President of Euro RSCG C&O, and will continue to work closely with his current clients. Additionally, MERCEDES ERRA, a founder of BETC Euro RSCG and Co-President of the agency, has been named Chairman of Euro RSCG France. An executive committee made up of leaders from Euro RSCG's top French agencies will soon be announced. This new organization is the result of a strategy launched first in the U.S. that is now being implemented worldwide.
Direct Response Television industry leaders, GERALD BAGG, RENEE HILL, PETER SMAHA and BRUCE SOMERS announced the formation of Quigley-Simpson & Heppelwhite, Inc., a full-service direct response advertising agency specializing in media placement and production. The company opened its doors for business on September 3, 2002. Bagg, Hill, Smaha and Somers have each been associated with DRTV campaigns for more than fifteen years. Bagg heads the company as President while Renee Hill serves as Executive Vice President, overseeing company operations and client services. Peter Smaha and Bruce Somers head the creative side, functioning as Executive Creative Director and Executive Producer respectively.
ERIN LOOP will be leaving Valueclick, Inc. and is moving to Vivendi's online unit in media sales. She was an Account Executive at Valueclick, Inc. and will be a Senior Account Executive at Vivendi.
TOM SASSOS, Chairman of WPP Group's Mediaedge:cia North America, has left the company to take a position on the board of MediaAnalysisPlus, the Denver, Colorado-based media audit firm. Sassos began his career at BBDO as a Media Researcher and went on to become Planning Group Head at Ogilvy & Mather. He launched VSM Media with partners in 1988, and in 1998 the agency was sold to UK-based Tempus Group.
Grokster.com, a provider of peer-to-peer file sharing programs has named SCOTT R. MOORE Vice President of New Media. Moore will oversee multiple initiatives that include launching a new department to develop an online sales strategy for online products, improving the design and delivery processes for interactive services, and implementing new methods that maximize Grokster's business goals and user experience. He will also be responsible for new product development. Prior to joining Grokster.com, Moore was Sales Director, New Media for Interplay Entertainment, a US video game publisher.
In his first major moves since joining Tribal DDB three months ago as General Manager of its New York headquarters, Robert Palmer has promoted Creative Director STEVE HICKS to Managing Director/CD, and elevated Group Account Director KRISTY GRIMES to Strategic Director. In his expanded role, Hicks will continue to oversee the eight-person creative department and will now help run the 26-staffer office with Palmer, to whom he reports. Grimes, a three-year Tribal DDB hand, will focus on how to best use the resources of DDB and other Omnicom companies. The i-shop has also brought on LAURA USER as an Account Director for Abbott Laboratories, and ANNIE PARK as an Account Executive working on Pepsi's Fruitworks and New York State Lottery, among others.
Colby & Partners announced that CARMEN DORR has joined the agency as Associate Creative Director. Carmen was brought in primarily to creatively manage the Suzuki Automotive Account. Carmen was most recently at Bates USA West where she was Associate Creative Director, S.V.P. She led the creative team for the National Hyundai Dealer Association advertising and directed collateral, interactive, and retail efforts for the brand. Earlier she was at Foote, Cone & Belding, where she worked on Mazda Motor of America.
Allrecipes.com, a leading online meal-planning resource announced the addition of seasoned advertising veteran CARL TRAUTMANN to its executive team. Based in New York, Trautmann will be responsible for expanding Allrecipes' marketing and sponsorship revenues. Prior to joining Allrecipes, Trautmann was Associate Publisher with Brill Media Ventures, where he played a key role in increasing Brill's Content ad sales revenue and managed the launch of Contentville.com. Most recently, Trautmann was with the Meredith Corporation, where he produced the largest ad page issue for Ladies Home Journal in the publication's last three years.
Pharma U.S. announced the appointment of MARK SALYER as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Salyer will be responsible for new product launches, market development, and strategic planning for the company as it brings its pipeline of respiratory and gastrointestinal products to market. Salyer comes to ALTANA Pharma U.S. after a 17-year career at GlaxoSmithKline, where he most recently served as Global Commercial Strategy Vice President for the company's respiratory products based in London.
Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc. announced the appointment of CHUCK JOHNSEN to the newly created position of Department Manager, Consumer Events and Sports Marketing at the company's Montvale, N.J., headquarters. Since joining MBUSA in 1991, Johnsen was the Regional Communications Manager in MBUSA's Chicago regional office, responsible for managing the public relations, events and RDA advertising programs for the region. His professional experience includes an extensive background in sports marketing, including serving as Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for MTI Racing, Inc. and Director of Marketing for the Chicago White Sox.
EILEEN DISKIN is the new Director of Communications at Comcast Cable. She comes from E! Entertainment Television, where she was the Director of Affiliate Marketing.
WENDI CASSUTO has been named Advertising Manager at Allure, and GINA FAUCETTA is the new Luxury Brand Manager. Cassuto comes from AOL, where she was Director of Advertising Agency Relations. Faucetta, former Fashion Director for Shape, also worked as Beauty Manager at Rolling Stone.
comScore Networks, Inc. announced the appointment of LYNN BOLGER, an advertising agency and media veteran, to its senior management team as Executive Vice President of Agency Development. With more than 15 years of experience at major advertising agencies before beginning her digital media career in 1992, Bolger is both a traditional media expert and a new media pioneer. Prior to joining comScore, Bolger was Founder, Managing Director and CEO of FastBridge, a subsidiary of Initiative Media and a member of the Interpublic Group of Companies.
Luxury lifestyle publication Robb Report has named JAMES P. DOCHERTY to the new position Vice President and National Advertising Director. Docherty spent 11 years at Hachette Filipacchi and CBS Magazines where he was most recently President of New Media.
The Bravo Group, a Hispanic marketing communications agency, announced that LINDA DE JESUS has been promoted from Senior Vice President of Marketing to President. De Jesús has been with the agency for 14 years, and was previously General Manager of the San Francisco office.
Hotelevision announced that BILL BOTTE was hired as Vice President of New Business Development, Advertising Sales. A 15-year business veteran, Botte was VP of Direct-Response Marketing at the Hallmark Channel before joining Hotelevision.
Encoda Systems, a financial and media-buying software vendor, has a new Advertising Solutions Group President. TONY O’BRIEN takes over after a stint as Senior Vice President of Encoda’s new media division.
