Wenda Millard

BoomTown Will Have What Greg Coleman's Having: HuffPo Ad Sales Head Scores Big Bucks Twice From AOL's Armstrong

Kara Swisher in News on February 7, 2011 at 4:00 am PT

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong is the gift that keeps on giving–at least to Greg Coleman. He’s the Chief Revenue Officer at the Huffington Post–for which the Internet giant just forked over $315 million to acquire–who will get a multimillion dollar payout from the deal. Except Coleman is the same guy whose three-year contract as AOL’s onetime sales head was paid out by Armstrong after he was replaced after only three months.

Exclusive: MySpace Gets a New Sales Boss–MTV Vet Nada Stirratt (Plus, an Internal Memo, Of Course!)

Peter Kafka in Media on October 9, 2009 at 3:35 pm PT

Employees at News Corp.’s MySpace have been waiting to find out who their new ad sales boss will be. And, here she is: Nada Stirratt, who until today was running digital sales for Viacom’s MTV Networks. Stirratt has her work cut out for her. The struggling social networking site, HQed in Beverly Hills, has been trying to reboot its image, spur innovation in its product and, most of all, pull itself out of a too-long slump, even as longtime rival, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook, has seen explosive growth.

MySpace Poised to Hire New Ad Sales Head as It Preps Music- and Entertainment-Centric Strategy and Redesign

Kara Swisher in News on October 7, 2009 at 1:57 am PT

In a week, the entire advertising sales staff of MySpace will gather at a swanky new seaside resort about 20 miles south of Los Angeles to get a first glimpse of the fresh direction the company is preparing to take under its new management. The beleaguered social networking site has been in the midst of an effort to reinvigorate its image, spur innovation in its product and–most of all–pull itself out of a too-long slump, even as longtime rival Facebook has seen explosive growth. On the possible agenda: A new strategy aimed at music and entertainment; a new look; and, perhaps, a new boss for the ad sales team.

Weekend Update, 8.22.09–The Musical Chairs Edition

Beth Callaghan in News on August 22, 2009 at 12:32 pm PT

The week ending Aug. 21 began Aug. 17 with another round of digital musical chairs–BoomTown reported that David Dickman, VP of West Coast sales for Yahoo, will be leaving the company at the end of the month for Warner Bros. to work in digital sales. Also, after a five-month tour of Europe and its finer Web establishments, Yahoo seems poised to name a new international head.

Exclusive: Platform-A Head Coleman Out at AOL, as Well as CFO (and More to Come?)

Kara Swisher in News on April 29, 2009 at 8:23 pm PT

Platform-A President Greg Coleman–the former Yahoo advertising sales exec who came to AOL only three months ago–is leaving the company, sources said, as new CEO Tim Armstrong remakes his top staff in preparation to spin off the Time Warner online unit. Coleman was brought to AOL by former CEO Randy Falco in February, replacing Lynda Clarizio, and will be replaced by a Google ad exec, Jeff Levick. Armstrong, sources said, announced the moves to his staff tonight, right after he told Coleman about his decision late today. Also out: CFO Nisha Kumar, who came to AOL in early 2007 from Time Warner, owner of the online unit.

Wenda Millard Out at Martha Stewart

Peter Kafka in Media on April 21, 2009 at 5:30 am PT

Co-CEO Wenda Millard is out at at Martha Stewart Living OmniMedia. The company will not replace her but will divvy up her responsibilities among its current execs, including Martha Stewart herself.

What Do Online Ad Execs Find Funny? Here’s Yahoo’s Version.

Peter Kafka in Media on March 1, 2009 at 6:45 am PT

Do the names Joanne Bradford, Mike Walrath, Wenda Millard and Greg Coleman mean anything to you? Do you know what pork bellies have to do with online advertising? Then you may get a chuckle out of this video, prepared by Yahoo for an ad industry gathering last week. For the rest of you, how about a clip from Jimmy Fallon, whose new show starts tomorrow night?

AOL Ad Head Clarizio Out–Being Replaced by Former Yahoo Sales Head Coleman

Kara Swisher in News on February 3, 2009 at 8:30 am PT

The game of executive musical chairs among Web companies keeps on going, with sources telling BoomTown that AOL ad head Lynda Clarizio will be departing the online service and be replaced by former high-ranking Yahoo advertising exec Greg Coleman. The move at AOL, which has been in the works for only a week, could be announced as early as today, although I have been hearing rumors of such a development since late last week. Both AOL’s content and communications units have been getting an overhaul of late, and now it seems it is time for its lackluster ad business.

Rocky Seas for the Online Display Ad Market?

Kara Swisher in News on September 26, 2008 at 7:15 am PT

It is not so apt, if you think about it, that Yahoo has finally put up the details of its new system to let customers buy and sell display advertising–now called APT–right smack in the middle of the most serious financial meltdown of the modern era. That’s because the economic crisis is likely to become a whirlpool that will be hard for any ad business to avoid, even the often recession-proof digital sector. But it is Advertising Week in New York and, BoomTown supposes, the show must go on (it’s not as if they could suspend it, like a critically important Presidential debate or anything).

Yahoo Brings In–Drum Roll, Please–a Former Microsoft Exec to Head U.S. Ad Sales

Kara Swisher in News on September 9, 2008 at 7:43 am PT

In what is both a surprising and not-so-surprising move, Yahoo has replaced its top U.S. ad sales exec with one from Microsoft. The departure of Dave Karnstedt, who took over last year when longtime Yahoo ad sales exec Wenda Millard left Yahoo in the first of many controversial partings, has been long rumored internally. Karnstedt will join Redpoint Ventures and is being replaced by Joanne Bradford, a longtime and well-known Microsoft exec who decamped from the software giant to helm national ad sales at the trendy start-up Spot Runner just six months ago.