Execs and Accounts for August 7, 2002

Online direct response marketer Aptimus has recruited Chris Redlitz and Tom Soevyn to lead its sales and development efforts. Redlitz joins the company as senior VP of sales and business development and Soevyn joins as national sales director.

Redlitz is the former vice president of sales for GetRelevant, before which he founded Adauction, where he also served as CEO. Soevyn was most recently vice president of sales for AllAdvantage.com, a failed early player in behavioral targeting (“Get paid to surf the Web,” remember?). He also held senior roles at CMP Media, IDG, and Miller Freeman.

Craig Pisaris-Henderson, co-founder, president and CEO of FindWhat.com , has been appointed chairman of the search engine marketer’s board of directors. Pisaris-Henderson also founded several other Internet companies, primarily in the B2B space.

“Craig’s leadership and execution have brought FindWhat.com to the forefront of the performance-based marketing industry from very humble beginnings,” said FindWhat.com Director Frederick Guest. “The Company has and will continue to rely on his expertise, innovation, and insight to elevate FindWhat.com to new heights as this dynamic sector continues to evolve.”

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has made Peter Fuller its next executive director.

Fuller has a long history with the MMA and technology marketing. Last year, when the organization was known as the Wireless Advertising Association, Fuller facilitated the trade group’s separation from the IAB and ran its domestic public relations efforts under Jane Foreman’s direction for nearly a year.

Prior to that, he founded the Internet Measurement Initiative (IMI), which was absorbed by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) in Summer 2001.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has launched “Backyard Jungle,” a Web site for children that encourages children to gather pictures, drawings and maps from their neighborhoods for posting online.

The site’s first tools enable users to construct “backyards” featuring wildlife they can find in their own neighborhoods. Users explore outside and add the plants, animals, and anything else they find to their online backyards.

Forum One Communications, the Web development firm that created the site, specializes in applying Web strategy to social and environmental issues of importance. In addition to the posting capabilities on “Backyard Jungle,” Forum One created a voting feature and point system that lets kids rate each others’ backyards.

Internet consulting and development firm Genex has hired Kevin Davis to the company’s entertainment and media practice as director of business development. Davis has conceived, produced and managed both B2C and B2B Web initiatives. He most recently served as director of the West Coast media and entertainment practice at KPMG Consulting , where he spearheaded the division’s entry into the Southern California market.

He co-founded and served as a creative director for Spin Cycle Entertainment, a Universal Studios-based Web and television production company, and held posts at Web developer iXL, where he managed relationships with Universal, Fox and Warner Bros, among others.

“Our consistent goal has been to nurture and broaden our relationships with the major players in entertainment and media,” said Walter Schild, Genex CEO and founder. “Kevin’s expertise as a business and technology strategist complements our existing capabilities in the creative and consumer-facing aspects of media and entertainment.”

digiMine has been tapped by Starbucks for data analytics services. Using digiMine’s e-business campaign response analytics tools, the coffee behemoth intends to maximize e-commerce sales and increase brand loyalty, both in stores and on the Web.

“digiMine eBusiness Analytics will allow us to measure, interpret and act on data generated by usage of our Web properties and offline customer touch-points,” said Darren Huston, senior vice president of new ventures for Starbucks.

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