Execs & Accounts for January 25, 2006

Fox News Channel promoted Jeremy Steinberg to VP of digital media, up from director of digital media sales. Earlier he launched the sales department at FOXNews.com.

Tacoda promoted Bennett Zucker to VP of audience insights. Becker has held several positions at Tacoda, including VP of global affiliate and technology sales and VP of customer success. He joined from BizViz Internet analytics, where he led business development.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau added 12 members, ten general members and two “associate” members. New general members include Brightcove, Cox Newspapers, The Fifth Network, Fidelity Assets, Future US, Harpo Inc., Homestore, IGA Partners, Realtor.com and ROO.

New associate members are Impact Engine and Linkstorm.

Simply Hired hired Phil Carpenter as VP of marketing. Carpenter joins from vertical travel search engine SideStep, where he handled brand strategy, product marketing, search marketing and other promotional efforts.

Staples hired Monster’s former VP of marketing to head its advertising efforts. Carole Johnson has also held top sales and marketing posts with AAi.FosterGRand and Gillette.

GE promoted Beth Comstock from CMO to president of NBC Universal digital media and marketing development. She’s replaced by Dan Henson, former chief commercial officer for GE Commercial Finance.

Captivate Network made several sales appointments. They include Rick Hernandez as director of regional account sales in New York and Michael Hurwitz as VP of sales for the Western region. David Curran was promoted to VP of sales for the Midwest and Southeast.

IQ Interactive built a microsite for Cox Communications. The site uses a digital avatar named “Digital Max,” who speaks directly to visitors. Features include short videos, ring tones, MP3s and other downloads.

Falk eSolutions promoted Alex van Leeuwen to regional director of the Asia Pacific region and hired Jason Shi as sales director in China. The appointments are part of a growth strategy in the region that includes new offices in Beijing and a sales partnership with Mosaic Solutions in Australia and New Zealand.

USAToday.com will use FeedBurner to manage its more than 100 RSS feeds. Content areas include news, money, sports, life, technology, weather and travel.

Allie Savarino, a former marketing executive with Unicast, has co-founded a new community and content site at Sisterwoman.com. Focused on “girlfriendships,” the Web destination will launch in the spring.

dMarc Broadcasting picked up radio network Emmis Communications as a customer to RevenueSuite, its automated advertising platform. dMarc was recently acquired by Google.

Optiem hired Leigh Klekar as an account manager. Leigh will work on clients like Things Remembered, Ameriprise Financial, and The City Club of Cleveland.

Google tapped ZAAZ to consult with Google Analytics customers. The company has partnerships with WebTrends, Omniture and Google.

ePrize hired Jeff Blackman as chief financial officer. He was director of acquisitions and financial services for Valassis Communications.