About.com Nabs One Of Pandora's Key Mobile Ad Sales Guys [THE BRIEF]

Napean LLC / YouTubeBrian Colbert

Good morning, AdLand. Here's what you need to know today:

IAC's About.com hired Pandora's VP of mobile ad sales Brian Colbert to be its first chief revenue officer. Colbert was hired to help About.com integrate content marketing and automated ad buying into its site, which is in the process of being overhauled. It's a huge move for About, which has struggled of late. Colbert was part of the team that booked Pandora's first $100 million in mobile ad sales.

A new report from IPG Media, commissioned by Forbes Media, shows the positive impact branded content can have on sales and brand engagement. According to the study, people are 41 percent more likely to express interest in purchasing a brand's products if they see a web page with branded content and 28% more likely to have a favorable view of the brand.

Sony Mobile will move its media planning and buying business to Carat just four months after it had consolidated its global business with MediaCom.

Lowe Campbell Ewald is opening a New York office in an attempt to help strengthen the region for the worldwide network Lowe and Partners. Sal Taibi, most recently general manager at Deutsch New York, will serve as president.

Barbarian Group promoted president Sophie Kelly to chief executive officer. Co-founder and former CEO Benjamin Palmer will move into a chairman role at the agency to help drive innovation alongside Kelly.

Santa Monica-based RPA hired Michael Takeshita, formerly of TBWA\Digital Arts Network, as its VP/digital design director.

Fisher Price is increasing its digital spend by 50% this holiday season in an attempt to reach millennial moms in the online space.

Coca-Cola's head of marketing in North America, Alison Lewis, is leaving the company at the end of the month for a senior leadership role with another global organization.

Previously on Business Insider:

• This Slow Motion Video Of Beautiful People Getting Hit In The Face With Water Balloons Is Absurdly Captivating

• The Computers That Buy Online Ad Space Automatically Stop When There's A National Tragedy

• P&G Invented A New Kind Of Plastic That Could Save It $1 Billion A Year

• Watch Apple's Sleek First Ad For The Gold iPhone 5S

• P&G's Tide Uses Vine To Say Something About All The Bloodstained Laundry In 'Carrie'

• REPORT: Amazon May Join Google Inside Facebook's Ad-Serving Platform

• Footage From Last Month's NYC Biker Attack Is Now Featured In The Mayoral Race's Most Vicious Ad Yet