Execs & Accounts for August 9, 2004
Tacoda names Matthews to lead a new office in San Francisco; Geller leaves Eyeblaster; Asbury Automotive Group taps Autobytel.
Tacoda named Bill Matthews to lead a new office in San Francisco. Matthews led worldwide sales for Actify, a developer of design visualization software. Earlier, he was president of Bay Area traffic auditing firm I/PRO, a company he also served variously as VP of sales, director of account management, and general manager. For 16 years, he climbed the ranks at A.C. Nielsen, culminating at VP and group account director, managing the Dole, Mars and Oral B accounts.
Masha Geller has left Eyeblaster, the company confirmed. Geller joined the rich media firm as director of marketing in early 2004 following a five-year stint with MediaPost as editor-in-chief.
Separately, the company hired Charles Ruderman as director of strategic relationships.
An Eyeblaster spokesperson said Geller’s departure is a part of the same restructuring that resulted in the resignation of EVP of Marketing and Strategy Paul Kadin in July. Kadin is still with the company, overseeing a top down renovation that is “part of an overall restructuring and improvement” of the company’s operations.
New hire Ruderman was most recently a consultant to rich media provider Klipmart. He will be charged with developing new business and sales models to bring Eyeblaster products into the realm of direct marketers. Earlier, he was VP of marketing and sales for Promotions.com.
The Asbury Automotive Group tapped Autobytel to set up an online customer referral program. The deal covers Asbury’s 139 franchises and provides for online customer referrals for new and used vehicles, plus CRM tools and Web site research and advertising services through Autobytel.
“This relationship creates one of the industry’s largest automotive marketing and fulfillment channels,” said Autobytel President and CEO Jeffrey Schwartz. “It’s an excellent fit between two businesses that have always understood that the Internet has the power to market and sell vehicles more efficiently.”
Business and financial news source MarketWatch.com has changed its corporate name to a more traditional MarketWatch, Inc.
“MarketWatch started out as an Internet provider of market news and information with our flagship Web site… We’ve since become a diversified global media company encompassing not just an Internet business but a range of other enterprises including television, radio, content licensing, subscription publications and global wire services,” said Chairman and CEO Larry Kramer.
The change was approved at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting last Wednesday.
