IAR Bits and Bytes

SkyGo Expands into the Alley

Redwood City, Calif.-based wireless ad firm SkyGo continues to expand its operations, opening an office in New York City. SkyGo said the new office would serve as the hub of its East Coast technology and ad sales operations.

The firm also added Arin Wolfson, former Director of Strategic Planning at Alley-based 24/7 Media, to head the company’s carrier business division. At 24/7, Wolfson helped found the company’s wireless, broadband and emerging media division.

Barbara Read, who joined SkyGo in April, will oversee the firm’s East Coast sales. Prior to joining SkyGo, Read was the vice president of ad sales at LookSmart.

WebCriteria and K2 Digital Announce Partnership

Interactive agency K2 Digital Monday signed a partnership with CRM intelligence provider WebCriteria.

Under the agreement, K2 Digital will use WebCriteria’s automated customer experience analysis technology to bolster its own in-house site assessment practice. Specifically, K2 will use WebCriteria’s Site Analysis and Task Analysis services internally, during the development and testing processes of the Web sites the firm creates.

K2 also will offer WebCriteria’s products to its client base. Terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

Alley-based iXL Unit Morphs Into Indie Shop

Efforts by the management of i-shop iXL to trim some of the fat mean more than simply shutting offices. Instead, slimming down has allowed some of those offices to branch out and go independent.

To wit, the firm’s New York-based Digital Video Group recently bought itself out.

The core competencies of that firm, Creative Bubble, include providing video, design and interactive solutions to broadcasters, cable, advertising and corporate clients. Its ad creatives and designers have produced promos and image campaigns for clients including Sesame Workshop, HBO, and MTV, among others.

The group also performed special effects and graphic design services for agency clients, including BBDO Worldwide, for which Creative Bubble provided effects for two Super Bowl spots this year.

Principals in the company include Rob Ortiz, John Tierney, Doug Dimon, Robin Horlick, Pat Carpenter, Tim Dwight, Karl Pilegis and Carl Levine. Jim Rocco, co-founder and former president of iXL, will be a board member and advisor for the new company, a spokesman said.

“We consist of video veterans who have learned a lot working with an Internet company, who are following basic business principals of following client needs, and doing great work,” said executive producer Carl Levine. “We are Emmy-award winning creatives who have converged with people who work with high-end Internet solutions, work seamlessly with video going into Internet solutions, and are running a very tight business.”

Levine said the firm is particularly focused on implementing streaming video for B2B Web applications.

Men’s Footwear Line Debuts Site

Men’s footwear manufacturer Ovadafut Hosiery Company debuted its Web site, integrating “bon vivant” content with e-commerce opportunities.

The site, designed by Alley-based i-shop Situation Marketing, features the likenesses of such notables as Clark Gable, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, and exhortations to live life to its fullest.

The company is aiming to parlay Web surfers interested in the site’s articles into paying customers: the Web site e-commerce features and newsletter signups are complemented by wine and cigar reviews, golfing tips and pics of celebrities who wear the company’s signature OVADAFUT FRANCE line.