Execs & Accounts: Y&R Brands, Specific Media, Adtech

Young & Rubicam Brands supported a new “Set You Free” campaign for Toshiba laptops. Digital elements of the campaign include embedded snippets of TV spots, interactive banners, and online sponsorships. The latter involve custom executions on the Web sites of MTV’s Video Music Awards and Comedy Central’s Jokes.com.

Ad network Specific Media struck up an ad partnership with an East Coast auto dealer group. MileOne Automotive will target in-market shoppers across the Specific Media network.

AOL’s Adtech ad management unit hired the former director of sales Northeast at Microsoft Advertising as head of sales for its U.S. operations. Lou Severine takes over the sales business from Adtech CEO Dirk Freytag, who keeps his other management duties. Before Microsoft, Severine held positions with Accipiter Solutions, aQuantive, and Digital Impact.

Video ad technology firm Mixpo named former Microsoft sales and marketing executive Bill Shaughnessy to its board of directors. Shaughnessy was most recently global VP of sales, marketing, and services in Microsoft’s advertiser and publisher solutions group.

LA-based independent creative agency David&Goliath recently created a Web site for Kia Soul. The site offers various customization options against a backdrop of whimsical design elements, such as baa-ing sheep and an “Escape from Hamsterdam” game based on the Kia Soul’s best known television spot.

At a time when many marketers have shifted their direct mail spend to e-mail and other digital channels…it’s unusual to see an e-mail firm express confidence in print media. That’s just what ExactTarget has done by signing up with Marketsync, operator of an automated print collateral fulfillment system, to support its sales development efforts. The platform is closely integrated with Salesforce CRM.