Execs & Accounts For April 17, 2002

Interactive marketing company 24/7 Real Media has made promotions for four senior executives in its New York headquarters.

The promotions follow October’s merger between 24/7 Media and Real Media and reflect the consolidation of senior management resulting from the integration, since so many titles and responsibilities overlapped between the two companies’ senior executives, the firm said.

Chief Executive Officer David Moore becomes chairman of 24/7 Real Media’s board of directors, with board secretary and company general counsel Mark Moran adding the title of executive vice president. Chief Operating Officer Tony Plesner becomes president and chief operating officer of North American operations for the company. Jonathan Hsu, who had managed corporate development for Real Media, becomes senior vice president for corporate development, which will include all venture activities and high-level partnerships.

YellowPages.Com has named Thomas Maguire as its vice president of business development.

Prior to joining YellowPages.com, Maguire was program director at the Kelsey Group, a consulting firm that works with the directory industry. In this capacity he worked with print and online Yellow Pages companies in the U.S. and around the world, also organizing industry conferences.

“We are extremely excited to have someone of Maguire’s expertise and reputation on our senior management team,” said Dane Madsen, president and chief executive officer of YellowPages.Com. “He will help us articulate the deployment of our vision.”

e*media, interactive agency of record for the Keebler Company, has launched a revamped Keebler.com site. The site brings the various Keebler brands and companies into one Web site.

“The new site allows brands from Cheez-It to Murray Sugar Free to achieve brand identity while at the same time providing a consistent user experience.” says Anna Murray, president of e*media.

Recognizing that adults and kids relate differently to a brand, a second site, TheHollowTree.com parallels the launch of the adult Keebler.com site. It represents a distinct navigational concept in which kids move through the site by exploring rooms in the Hollow Tree.

Interep Interactive’s Winstar Interactive Media has inked a deal with the media division of American City Business Journals to represent of all of their 41 bizjournals.com local business sites for online advertising sales.

Each month, more than two million visitors connect to bizjournals.com for local business news, features, local business profiles, how-to articles and top industry lists. Bizjournals.com also publishes email newsletters and offers a searchable archive.

Interactive business strategist AKQA has implemented CentrPort’s suite of brand interactive marketing software to help clients analyze key sales drivers.

AKQA will adopt CentrPort’s anonymous prospect management technology platform in conjunction with select client marketing campaigns to identify and understand the underlying consumer behavior patterns.

The CentrPort platform processes consumer data in terms of consumer activity, demographic and transaction information. This is aggregated from sites hosting banner advertisements and other online marketing tools. The data is then used to create anonymous prospect and customer preference profiles that can then be targeted with customized messages directed across multiple channels.

Knight Ridder has named Hilary Schneider as president and chief executive officer of Knight Ridder Digital and a vice president of Knight Ridder, effective April 29. Schneider is currently chief executive officer of Red Herring Communications in San Francisco.

Schneider will have the responsibility for Knight Ridder’s online activities, which will include more than 58 sites, national and local sales efforts, software development and content creation. She also will oversee Knight Ridder’s investments in CareerBuilder and Classified Ventures.

Eyeblaster, provider of rich media advertising management platform, has established a new sales and support office in Los Angeles, in an effort to better service clients.

The Eyeblaster platform allows users to create, traffic, optimize and report on a wide variety of rich media advertisement campaigns. This includes floating ads, commercial breaks, and expandable banners.

Technology incubator Ardesta has selected Fleishman-Hillard as its public relations agency of record. Fleishman-Hillard will handle Ardesta’s media and investor outreach initiatives.

Ardesta is focused on building the “SmallTech” industry by acquiring and developing intellectual property for those companies. “Small Tech” refers to microsystems, micro electro mechanical systems, nanotechnology and similar technologies. These technologies are being applied to provide solutions for the wireless, biomedical, optical and consumer/industrial marketplaces.

“We selected Fleishman-Hillard as our strategic partner because of its unique strength in handling successful media relations programs for highly technical companies,” said Rick Snyder, chief executive officer of Ardesta.

Skate shoe brand Genetic shoes, is launching a new Web site at geneticshoes.com. The Macromedia Flash-based site will feature an interactive product analysis section, the ability to locate retailers, provide access to helpful links, and keep up on the latest Genetic skate team rider news from around the globe. The site was developed by Xylem Interactive.

“The new genetic Web site delivers valuable product and rider information in an ultra-creative, interactive and authentic environment that communicates the dynamic of this recognized technical skate shoe brand,” said Rob Dotson, category manager for genetic footwear.