Execs and Accounts for May 31, 2002

ValueClick recently finalized several management changes resulting from its completed acquisition of affiliate marketing technology firm Be Free. Most prominent among the new appointments is that of Stephen Joseph, Be Free’s executive VP and chief financial officer, who will become executive vice president of corporate development for ValueClick . In the role, Joseph will spearhead corporate development at ValueClick — designing the integration of ValueClick’s various divisions and focusing on mergers and acquisitions.

W. Blair Heavey, executive VP of worldwide sales for Be Free, has also moved to a new post. Heavey will take on the role of executive VP and general manager of Be Free, overseeing its fiscal progress and day-to-day operations, including sales, marketing, client services and finance. Additionally, Be Free co-founder Samuel Gerace has been reassigned as executive VP of technology and development for the subsidiary.

Embattled interactive marketer L90 has named Craig Swerdloff to run its online direct marketing division as vice president for national marketing sales. Based in the company’s New York City office, Swerdloff will focus on developing L90’s direct email business. In doing so, he will also be responsible for ensuring the quality of L90’s managed lists and cultivating relationships with industry list managers and brokerage services. Swerdloff joins L90 from eBrokers, a Boston-based email brokerage company, which he owned. Before that, he spent five years with 24/7 Media.

Dell has named Critical Mass as its online agency of record. Part of the relationship will include the construction of a new Dell site, which Critical Mass will build gradually over time. Dell’s Web site generates half the company’s revenue.

Dell has not had a formal, online agency of record for several years. Individual segments of the company have been working with different agencies on each interactive marketing push. The partnership with Critical Mass consolidates these efforts into a single, more efficient relationship. Critical Mass earned the appointment, for which approximately forty-five agencies competed, because of its experience creating richer, more intuitive user-experiences, the companies said.

Young & Rubicam San Francisco, Wunderman and Mediaedge:cia have been chosen to provide Vignette with a full array of marketing services. The Young & Rubicam group of companies will supply the software developer with creative, strategic counsel, direct response and media planning and placement services.

Phil Powers, Vignette’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said, “Vignette is delighted to have a world class agency such as Y&R SF to guide our marketing efforts.”

Animal rights organization PETA has launched a Spanish-language animal rights Web site. The site contains PETA news, information about the group’s current campaigns, a donation page and recipes for vegetarian versions of Latin dishes such as paella, empanadas, and flan. Additionally, visitors to the site will be greeted by PETA-supporting stars such as Marma Celeste Arraras, anchor of Telemundo’s Al Rojo Vivo, Mexican singer and actor Paty Manterola, Pamela Anderson and Paul McCartney.

“Millions of people who haven’t been able to access animal rights information now have it at their fingertips,” said William Rivas-Rivas, PETA’s Hispanic outreach coordinator

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