Execs & Accounts for September 7, 2005

Best Buy promoted Ruby Anik to SVP of advertising and promotional marketing. Anik joined as VP of media in 2000 and took charge of all advertising in 2002. Earlier she directed advertising for The Pillsbury Company.

Ad network Vendare Media hired De Anne Pace Wingate as sales manager for the Midwest region. Wingate previously worked for Burst! Media as head of sales in the Midwest and Southwest.

Digital agency Latinthre3, which serves U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets, tapped Atlas to handle its online ad management. Agency clients include Dell, Microsoft and TACA Airlines.

Susquehanna Radio Corporation tapped HipCricket to provide SMS interactivity for its 33 radio stations. Listeners can use text messaging to issue song requests, enter contests and respond to promotions. Clear Channel and Cox Radio have also tapped the mobile channel to interact with audiences.

Skype hired Saul Klein as VP of marketing in London. Klein was founder and CEO of Video Island, the European DVD rental service. He was also a founding partner of The Accelerator Group, a founding member of TrustE, and group program manager for Web platform services at Microsoft.

180solutions joined the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI). The collective of online network advertisers and ad technology firms has as its mission the establishment of self-regulatory guidelines for consumer privacy practices. The move should advance the adware company’s steady plod toward legitimacy.

United Online, which owns Classmates.com, extended that property’s contract with Webloyalty.com. Webloyalty will provide online marketing and subscription services to Classmates until mid-2007.