Webdenda: Accounts and People of Note in the Advertising Industry

Bottlerocket Marketing Group, New York and Foxborough, Mass., was acquired by Brand Connections, New York. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition is the second in a month for Brand Connections, coming after a deal to acquire Pie Advertising, New York.

The Center for Tobacco Products at the Food and Drug Administration selected three agencies to work on public health education campaigns to help discourage youths ages 12 to 15 from using tobacco. The initial budget for the assignments during the next two years is $188.6 million. The Rescue Social Change Group, San Diego, will handle assignments aimed at four demographic groups: African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics and youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Sensis, Los Angeles, will handle assignments aimed at youth who live in rural communities. Better World Advertising, San Francisco, will handle assignments that are to be determined.

Jennifer Cohan joined Edelman, New York, part of Daniel J. Edelman Inc., as chairwoman of the global consumer practice. She succeeds Christina Smedley, who left to join PayPal, a unit of eBay, as vice president for global communications. Ms. Cohan had been a managing director at the New York office of GolinHarris, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies.

Tom Cotney joined mBlox, Sunnvale, Calif., as chief executive. He succeeds Andrew Dark, who is now nonexecutive chairman at Miura Systems. Mr. Cotney had most recently been a board adviser to Catavolt and before that held posts that included chief executive at Air2Web.

Craft Worldwide was formed by the McCann Worldgroup, New York, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, to unite all its production operations at a single business unit. Craft has more than 570 employees in almost two dozen cities that include London, Melbourne, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Toronto. Among the clients for which Craft is working are Aldi, Coca-Cola, General Mills, L’Oréal and Microsoft (Xbox).

Michael Di Girolamo, partner and executive producer at Station Film, was named the 2013 chairman of the AICP Show, sponsored by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, New York. The date for the 22nd annual show, which will also include the presentation of the Next Awards, is to be announced early in the new year; the show is usually held in June at the Museum of Modern Art.

Kevin Dillon joined Ratio Interactive, Seattle, in a new post, president. He had most recently been director for engagement strategy at Ascentium, Seattle, now known as Smith.

Erin Dorr and Layla Revis joined the New York office of We Are Social. Ms. Dorr becomes an account director; she had managed social media and advocacy programs at the Dachis Group. Ms. Revis becomes senior director; she had been vice president for digital strategy at Ogilvy Mather Worldwide, part of WPP.

Emcee Design was opened by MeringCarson, Sacramento, Calif., to serve current and new clients. The design unit has seven employees and is being led by Michael Leonardini, design director at MeringCarson, and Mina Robertson, senior account manager at MeringCarson.

Samantha Fennell joined GTM, New York, in a new post, strategic adviser for branded entertainment. She had most recently been executive director at Time Inc. Branded Solutions, part of the Time Inc. unit of Time Warner.

Suzanne Grimes joined Clear Channel Outdoor Americas, New York, part of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, in a new post created after a reorganization, president and chief operating officer. She had most recently been a consultant and before that held executive posts at magazines owned by companies like Condé Nast Publications, News Corporation and the Reader’s Digest Association.

David Kurtz joined AdColony, Los Angeles, in a new post, chief product officer. He had most recently been vice president for the publisher network at ATT Interactive.

Duke Marr joined R/GA, New York, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, in a new post, managing director for commerce. He had been vice president for e-commerce product management at 1-800-Flowers. Also, R/GA opened an office in Austin, Tex., which it said in July it was planning to open later this year.

Mary Warren McCarthy, senior vice president and group director/strategy at Blitz Media, Boston, was promoted to a new post, chief media officer.

Norman M. Miller joined Niche Media, New York, in a new post, executive director for luxury brands. He had been integrated sales director at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, New York.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/business/media/accounts-and-people-of-note-in-the-advertising-industry.html?partner=rss&emc=rss