Burrell Taps Google Exec to Lead New Digital Unit

Multicultural marketing shop Burrell Communications is launching a interactive division, Burrell Digital, and has hired Google’s Don Moore to lead it as president.

Moore has history with multicultural marketing: At Google he managed relationships with all multicultural firms in the U.S. as part of his role as agency team leader for the central and western part of the country. Prior to that he was VP of multicultural sales for The Citadel Radio Network, formerly ABC Radio.

“Launching this new venture will help us better meet the growing needs of the marketplace by extending our core competencies to the digital arena — using existing and developing platforms,” McGhee Williams Osse, Burrell’s Co-CEO, said in a written statement. “Don is uniquely qualified to lead this new effort.”

Burrell, part of the Publicis network, is based in Chicago with offices in Los Angeles and Atlanta. The 130-person agency specializes in reaching African-American and “Yurban” audiences, a term Burrell claims to have invented that refers to young people who identify with urban youth culture.

Current clients for whom it has performed interactive work include Toyota, McDonald’s and Verizon. Earlier this year, the agency’s “If Looks Could Kill” campaign for Toyota’s Camry garnered a silver Ogilvy Award from the Advertising Research Foundation.

“The Burrell team has unmatched experience, research capabilities and creativity in just about every category,” Moore said in a written statement. “I am excited about leveraging these unique assets to deliver effective digital marketing and measurement programs for our clients.”