Execs & Accounts for September 29, 2004

Digital Impact hired Chris Marriott as Eastern region VP and general manager. Marriott joins from Euro RSCG Circle, where he was managing director. Earlier he was senior VP of client services for Think New Ideas.

“His extensive experience in developing and managing interactive digital marketing campaigns for global brands strengthens Digital Impact’s unique combination offering of professional services and world-class campaign execution on a proprietary technology platform,” said William Park, Digital Impact’s CEO and chairman.

The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) appointed three high profile search executives to its advisory board. Chris LaSala is the search engine marketing channel manager at Google; Neg Norton is president of the Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association, and Safa Rashtchy is a managing director at Piper Jaffray.

The three new members replace Search Engine Watch editors Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman, who recently left SEMPO.

Microsoft tapped Trafficmac to power in-stream video advertising on its Windows Media network. Redmond is licensing Trafficmac’s Queue Management System and Ad Operations/Trafficking services to handle its video ad management.

“Trafficmac state-of-the-art technology will enable Windowsmedia.coms online video advertising capabilities to go beyond subscription advertising models and help drive targeted and compelling in-stream advertisements,” said Erin Cullen, group product manager for the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft.

iVillage appointed Ajit Dalvi to its board of directors. For ten years, Dalvi worked at the Coca-Cola Company in various marketing posts, ultimately serving as brand director for Coke in the U.S. Later, he worked for Cox, overseeing marketing, programming and ad sales. He is on the board of Scientific Learning Corporation, which develops products designed to improve children’s reading skills.

The American Life Insurance Company of New York tapped Ripple Effects Interactive to build an online campaign to drive sales of its Select Term life insurance policy. In addition to creating several rich media ads, the agency will handle media planning and buying, campaign measurement and optimization.

The Bay Area Interactive Group (BIG), a digital marketing trade group, announced several sponsors of its kick-off event next week. They include 24/7 Media, Fathom Online, Google, MSN, ValueClick and Yahoo. The ClickZ Network has signed on as a media sponsor.

“The group seeks to reclaim San Francisco’s rich interactive legacy through networking, social and educational events,” BIG said in a statement.

The Tennnis Channel has begun using EyeWonder to power video content and ads on its homepage of its online destination. The Tennis Channel also plans to promote its TV programming by streaming tune-in video spots for its shows.

Centex Home Equity Company is deploying Coremetrics’ hosted Web analytics product. Centex will use the tools to improve its site usability and customer satisfaction.