ICrossing Snares Agency.com Execs for New Office

Don Scales, president of iCrossing, has snared key executives from the interactive agency he formerly headed, Agency.com.

Mr. Scales, who resigned as president of Agency.com earlier this year, is to announce today that iCrossing, Scottsdale, AZ, is opening an office in Dallas, with several hires from Agency.com.

This is the search marketing agency's fifth regional office, with locations in Scottsdale, San Francisco, New York and Chicago.

Heading the Dallas office as managing director will be Colin Turney, who was vice president of client services for Agency.com and worked in the traditional agency world for Temerlin McLain and Bozell Worldwide.

Marlin Jackson, who was vice president of business development at Agency.com, will be the Dallas office's new vice president of business development. Creative director Lori Wilson most recently was vice president, creative at Agency.com.

"You get to build relationships over time. We like working with each other," Mr. Scales told DM News about the hires. And Mr. Turney, who has worked in the Dallas market, has relationships with several major advertisers, he added.

Already, iCrossing serves American Airlines and Mary Kay in the Dallas market and will use the office to meet with customers in the Southeast.

"Beyond Dallas, iCrossing has Dollar Thrifty in Tulsa, and we're seeing a lot of activity in Florida," Mr. Scales said.

The expansion aligns with iCrossing's strategy to decentralize some of its operations, he said.

"You take the disciplines that can easily be decentralized," he said. "Project management can be pushed out into the field more, and we're beginning to decentralize our creative talent."

But certain operations will stay at headquarters, including the search analyst team. ICrossing also will expand its online research team from six to eight or nine individuals soon.