HotSocket Adds US Interactive Founder to Board

Direct response retailer HotSocket Inc. named US Interactive founder and former CEO Larry Smith to its board of advisers.

HotSocket offers products directly to consumers in dedicated online direct response campaigns, and tracks performance for each product that it sells. The company says its proprietary technology platform allows it to learn from every consumer interaction, and to track, test, and improve its sales “on the fly.”

Since its launch in March, more than one million consumers have visited HotSocket via media campaigns including Geocities, 24/7 Media, Flycast and Xoom, the company said.

Prior to forming US Interactive, Smith was senior vice president/account director at the Messner, Vetere, Berger, McNamee, Schmetterer ERUO/RSCG advertising agency. “HotSocket is building some real assets with great potential,” said Smith.

Separately, HotSocket named Susan Sigel as its director of business development. As principal of Sigel Consulting in Boston, her client relationships include Microsoft, First USA Bank, Hewlett Packard, Pepsi, ESPN Magazine, KidSoft, and Nintendo. Since 1997 she has also held the position of Director for Vendor and Strategic Relations at Genesis Direct.

HotSocket team is led by Dev Bhatia, formerly vice president, brand management at Yoyodyne, which was recently purchased by Yahoo.