Execs and Accounts for September 27, 2002

Imagistic is buzzing with activity, including a top-level departure, an appointment, and a flurry of interactive project launches. Most notably, founder Marcelo Ziperovich has left the company to pursue other ambitions. Ziperovich, a driving force behind the agency’s creative work, has been with imagistic since its launch five years ago in June 1997. Imagistic, which has no plans to seek a replacement, said he continues to work with the company on certain projects.

Separately, the company has hired Ros Bugg as director of production. Bugg has held senior production management positions with Rare Medium, Digital Evolution, Microsoft, Disney Interactive and Philips Media.

Additionally, imagistic recently launched campaigns and Web sites for several clients. The Southern Poverty Law Center is now running a Web-based campaign centered on tolerance and self-segregation that will motivate teenagers to interact with kids outside their cliques. Other projects include a new admissions site for Boston University and a redesign of California Pizza Kitchen’s Web presence.

Thomas O’Leary, former director of sales for Autoweb.com, has been named vice president of local ad sales for Jumpstart Digital Marketing. Before Autoweb.com, O’Leary was senior account executive at The SoftAd Group, where he was responsible for Ford’s DealerConnection program.

Jumpstart, a San Francisco-based interactive media sales and marketing company, said on September 25 it is expanding into local dealer online ad sales, an estimated $7 billion annual market. The company specializes in maximizing automotive a revenue for digital publishers.

DraftDigital has launched new features on Snuggle.com as part of detergent manufacturer Snuggle’s partnership with the National Center for Family Literacy, now in its second year. Snuggle.com now features the “Snuggle Family Reading Challenge,” a call-to-action initiative that encourages parents to read with their children for at least 15 minutes a day.

“The goal is to provide parents with tips and activities to share with their children to help make a difference in their children’s learning ability and enhance the entire family’s reading experience,” said Maria Mandel, DraftDigital’s director of interactive marketing.

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