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Wenda Harris Millard *temporarily heads to MySpace

Written on
Aug 21, 2009 
Author
Edward Barrera  |
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Wenda Harris Millard *temporarily heads to MySpace

wendaharrismilliard.jpg ADOTAS — In the continued shakeup of the declining social network, the online advertising veteran Wenda Harris Millard *will now be temporarily overseeing all advertising sales.

According to Kara Swisher, Harris, who is president of New York- and Los Angeles-based media consultancy Media Link, will also remain at Media Link. The firm was hired by MySpace to advise on restructuring the social networking company’s salesforce.  Jeff Berman, president of sales and marketing, is leaving MySpace. *(Millard later told Swisher she is still working for her dozens of other clients at Media Link as its president, but also has a big new gig helping MySpace get its advertising sales house in order, especially related to strategy and execution.)

Millard has been president of Media Link since April 2009. Previously, she served as Co-Chief Executive Officer and President of Media, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. In addition, she served as the Chief Sales Officer at Yahoo and also was Executive Vice President and one of the founding members of DoubleClick.

Below is the internal memo obtained by Media Memo:

“Hi everyone,I want to share some thoughts about our advertising product strategy and give you an update on the structure of our sales organization.In the last three months we’ve focused our attention on restructuring the business, refocusing the MySpace user experience, and hiring some talented people particularly in the technology and product organization. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in these areas and now want to focus on ensuring we have the best advertising product, sales strategy, and team in the market.MySpace has always been a leader in the social media advertising space. Maintaining our leadership position requires that we foster the perfect balance between content and commerce. With this in mind, I’m pleased to announce that we are bringing a new partner into our global organization. Please join me in welcoming to the MySpace team, Media Link – a top media representation and strategic advisory firm founded by Michael Kassan and whose clients have included Microsoft, AT&T, Unilever, Home Depot, and Colgate-Palmolive. Michael is an internationally recognized leader operating at the intersection of the media, advertising, and entertainment industries. He’s the founder and managing principal of Media Link and acts as an advisor to many of the Fortune 100’s best-of-breed global brands

Media Link will be focusing on two primary objectives. First, the firm will provide guidance as we reconfigure our ad products to meet the current needs of the marketplace. As a key strategic advisor and partner, they’ll provide us with an external perspective on the larger advertising market as well as insight into what top clients (and those we’re looking to attract) are asking for.

Second, as part of this process on an interim basis the firm will help manage our day-to-day sales organization under the leadership of Wenda Harris Millard. Many of you know and have worked with Wenda in the past and for those who haven’t she’s truly an internet advertising pioneer. Her reputation on Madison Avenue is unmatched and after holding executive sales posts at Ziff Davis, Yahoo, and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia she recently joined Media Link as President.

After more than three years of managing a highly diverse set of responsibilities at MySpace including content and sales roles, Jeff Berman has decided to explore other opportunities. During his tenure at MySpace, Jeff brought leadership to our sales organization and built an incredible team with expertise across every advertising vertical. I appreciate all the support that Jeff has given the new management team and look forward to welcoming new sales talent to compliment the tremendous group we currently have in place. We wish Jeff the best in his future plans.

Within our sales team, we have a deep bench of talent responsible for managing one of the most dynamic advertising platforms on the Web. I’d to like recognize the sales team for their hard work and dedication in creating meaningful ad solutions for our roster of advertisers.

Our senior sales team (in alpha order) includes:
· Chris Carlson – Regional Vice President of the Mid West
· Angela Courtin – SVP Marketing, Entertainment, Content
· Shari Friedman – Vice President of Entertainment Sales
· Mitchell Kreuch – Regional Vice President of East Coast Sales
· Abe Thomas – VP of Online Marketing
· Valeh Vakili – SVP Sales Strategy and Operations
· Sam Wick – SVP of Strategy for MySpace Music
· Andy Wiedlin – Regional Vice President of West Coast Sales

I appreciate your dedication and focus on delivering for our advertising partners during the last few months. I hope you’re as excited as I am to take our sales organizations to the next level.”





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