AOL Reorganizes Ad Sales Unit

AOL has revamped its ad sales team following the acquisition of The Huffington Post (and four straight quarters of double-digit declines).

The “industry development team” has been organized into seven discreet practices: health/CPG, travel, automotive, finance, entertainment, technology and retail. John Burke, who joined AOL earlier this year as SVP of global sales strategy, will oversee the entire unit, though each practice will have its own lead.

• Jennifer Wiley, formerly sales director for AOL’s health category, will lead the health/CPG practice.
• Debbie Menin, who’s been working in entertainment marketing for AOL since 2010, will lead the entertainment practice.
• Mike Feeley, who’s been leading AOL’s travel sales category for eight months, will take over the Travel practice.
• Julia Edvardsson, who joined AOL in 2004 and has spent the past four years leading AOL’s automotive sales, will head up the automotive category.
• Amy Starwalt, head of AOL’s finance sales since last year, will lead the finance practice. Heads for the technology and retail practices will be named within the next month.

“The Industry Development team is the next evolution of our strategy to be the most customer centric sales team in the marketplace,” said Burke in a written statement. “The Industry Practice Head brings domain expertise, strategic vision and significant client experience in their respective categories.”

In February, AOL reported a 30 percent drop in ad revenues year-over-year from $468.6 million in Q4 2009 to $331.6 million in Q4 2010. Display revenue fell 14 percent to $151 million in Q4.