Execs and Accounts for December 9, 2002

Bigfoot Interactive has appointed media veteran Michael Lotito to its board of directors. Lotito’s career has been marked by tenures at some of the world’s top ad and communications agencies, including Ammirati & Puris, McCann Erickson, and Benton & Bowles. He has provided strategic direction and consultancy services for companies such as Bell South, The Walt Disney Company , E-Trade , Yahoo , Unilever and Home Depot .

Most recently, Lotito founded MediaPort, a joint venture between the big three ad agency holding companies — Interpublic , Omnicom and WPP — which in 2001 provided $45 million in funding to the start-up. MediaPort was to be an XML-based system that standardized the buying, selling and trafficking of online media; but the firm folded in September 2002. (After MediaPort shut down, the American Association of Advertising Agencies picked up the process of hammering out XML-based standards for ad management from the defunct startup.)

Prior to MediaPort, he served as president and COO of Initiative Media North America and as media director of Ammirati & Puris. Additionally, he held media management posts at McCann Erickson and Benton & Bowles, where he shaped media buying strategies for blue-chip accounts.

“Michael Lotito is a seasoned communications veteran with deep insight and broad perspective,” said Al DiGuido, CEO of Bigfoot Interactive. “His unique blend of entrepreneurial success, big agency leadership and brand management experience will be an asset to Bigfoot Interactive as email becomes fully integrated into the marketing mix by leading Fortune 2000 companies.”

Movielink, an online movie rental service, has tapped McCann-Erickson as its ad agency of record. McCann-Erickson’s Los Angeles office will manage the account, providing brand strategy, online and traditional advertising, and media planning and buying.

“Movielink is excited to pioneer a new entertainment category and educate consumers about this personal entertainment option,” said Movielink VP of Marketing Mariam Naficy. “McCann-Erickson has a proven track record of bringing new and innovative brands into the national marketplace, and we look forward to working with them.”

Movielink employs a highly targeted marketing approach, focusing its advertising efforts on the U.S. high-speed Internet user. The service launched in November 2002.

In a move designed to integrate its worldwide marketing operations, J.D. Edwards has upgraded its license agreement with Aprimo Marketing. The extended license will allow J.D. Edwards’ marketing staff to use the enterprise marketing platform.

The enterprise software maker said it implemented Aprimo Marketing in early 2002 to support the its sales growth and improve operational efficiency and financial accountability. The new license extends these capabilities to 17 worldwide J.D. Edwards marketing centers, including the United States, Canada, Central and South America, and several countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

“J.D. Edwards is committed to becoming a world-class marketer,” said Les Wyatt, chief marketing officer for J.D. Edwards. “The Aprimo Marketing solution can give us a view of every marketing activity planned by J.D. Edwards’ marketing teams, anywhere around the globe. This solution helps ensure the J.D. Edwards brand is consistently supported and that all our marketing activities are aligned with our strategic goals.”

Atomic Fusion has created a site about the American Revolution for the U.S. National Park Service.

The online destination is part of a larger project to call attention to the places and events that played an important role in America’s fight for independence more than two centuries ago. Simultaneously, the site is a destination marketing tool for the National Park Service, designed to attract travelers and local residents to actual Revolutionary War sites, according to Shawn Keith, principal of Atomic Fusion.

“This site is destined to be recognized not only for its content, but for the elegant presentation of historical information. Particularly, the interactive tour provides an easy way for site visitors to plan a visit to a nearby park, or to enhance a vacation by planning park visits along the way,” Keith said.

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