Execs and Accounts for November 25, 2002

Edelman has been tapped by DigitalThink to spearhead the e-learning firm’s local and national public relations program. Under the deal, Edelman will work to communicate DigitalThink’s success in the development and delivery of e-learning content for Fortune 1000 companies. The effort will involve strategic media campaigns, analyst relations, and targeted trade, business and vertical market media penetration.

“Edelman’s e-learning and enterprise experience, coupled with their commitment and rapid response during the agency selection process made them the right agency partner for us,” said Reed Gaither, vice president of marketing and alliances for DigitalThink.

BTLookSmart has signed a string of ad agreements with online retailers in the run up to Christmas. A number of High Street Central’s brands, including Argos, M&S, HMV and Dixon, are among the deals signed.

Online retailers Buyagift, La Redoute and lingerie site Figleaves will also run ads and search listings on BTLookSmart. Figleaves, for example, has signed a five figure deal that will involve a combination of performance-based results and “BidSmart” featured listings for three months.

Nearly all the clients advetising on BTLookSmart’s search directories this season have chosen the “Performance Listings” service, which uses a pay-for-performance model to let advertisers link specific Web pages to keyword searches. BTLookSmart is an international joint venture between search engine marketer LookSmart and British Telecommunications.

In other LookSmart news, MoreVisibility.com has been named an approved reseller of the search engine marketer’s listings. The designation will increase exposure of MoreVisibility.com’s clients on top portals, search engines and Internet service providers.

“The LookSmart relationship is ideal for our clients because its Websites are included in properties across the LookSmart network, such as MSN, About.com, AltaVista, Netscape and LookSmart itself, and can be easily found by people searching there,” said Andrew Wetzler, president of MoreVisibility.com.

MoreVisibility.com has existing agreements with other big search engines, including Ask Jeeves and Inktomi, and is a strategic provider to Overture. It is also an AltaVista service provider.

Sixteen online publishers and retailers converted their ad serving platform to Thruport’s AdJuggler during 2002’s third quarter. The new clients represent media properties and non-profit organizations in North America and Europe, including Britain’s Automobile Association, Reunion.com, and KNAC.com, an online radio property based in Los Angeles.

The announcement comes as Thruport initiates the release of version 2.6 of AdJuggler and its high-performance hosted network service.

For more breaking news on account action and executive moves, visit ChannelSeven.com.