Another Online Marketing Firm Brings in New Leadership

Less than two weeks after revealing it is being probed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), ValueClick VCLK (NASDAQ) announced Wednesday that its board of directors elected Tom A. Vadnais as the Company’s new chief executive officer. Vadnais has been a member of the Company’s board of directors since October 2001 and has also held a number of senior management roles within ValueClick during this time, including his most recent role as president of U.S. operations. Vadnais succeeds James R. Zarley, who has served as ValueClick’s chief executive officer since 1999. Zarley has been named ValueClick’s executive chairman of the board of directors, focusing primarily on the Company’s strategic direction and the gradual management transition of the Company’s operations.

In a conference call, Zarley said the FTC investigation had nothing to do with the executive changes. He also said the selection of Vadnais as CEO is in no way related to the intense merger and acquisition activity in the online marketing industry.

"This is not something that's been a short-term process for Tom and I," said Zarley. "We discussed this and worked on it for at least a good year now, ever since Tom had taken over as president of U.S. operations... I plan on staying as a full-time employee so my status as a worker-bee is going to continue for whatever period of time Tom will have me around here."

Vadnais joined ValueClick in October 2001 through the Company’s acquisition of Mediaplex, where he was president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors. Mr. Vadnais became a member of the ValueClick board of directors in October 2001 and also has held general manager roles for the Company’s Mediaplex technology and Commission Junction affiliate marketing businesses. In June 2006, Vadnais was promoted to president of ValueClick’s U.S. operations. Mr. Vadnais’ experience prior to ValueClick includes positions as: president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Data Processing Resources Corporation; president and chief executive officer of Tascor, Inc.; a member of Norrell's board of directors; and a member of the board of directors of Traffic.com. Vadnais also had experience in other management positions. He was a vice president of operations, during his 23-years with IBM.

Vadnais takes on his new position at the same time online advertising and marketing firms are being gobbled up by big players, e.g., Google, Yahoo, Microsoft. Keep an eye on the company. Not exactly sure what Vadnais is actually bringing to the table with his newest appointment to run ValueClick.

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