Showing its most serious intention yet of how it views the future of publishing, Time Inc. has lured away Randall Rothenberg from the Interactive Advertising Bureau where he evangelized online and mobile to the nation?s leading media and marketing giants.

Mr. Rothenberg walks into the Time & Life Building in New York?s Rockefeller Center with a newly created title of chief digital officer, a position effective Jan. 18. The former journalist will report directly to Time Inc. CEO Jack Griffin, himself wrenched in August from a similar position at rival Meredith to stabilize the world?s largest English-language magazine publisher.

"Clearly and explicitly, digital media, very much including mobile interactive media, are critical to the future of Time Inc.," Mr. Rothenberg said.

"The opportunities that have been presented for great content, and advertising in and around that content to travel across platforms, grow every day," he said.

Time Inc. publishes magazines such as Time, People, Fortune, Sports Illustrated and Entertainment Weekly. It is part of Time Warner Inc., a conglomerate with interests in media, cable and entertainment.

Time for change
Despite its girth, Time Inc. is buffeted by the same winds that have lashed other storied publishers nationwide: increasing cannibalization to its print properties by the Internet on the readership and advertising fronts.

With Mr. Rothenberg?s arrival, Time Inc. will have an executive with a history in publishing, strategy consulting and Internet and mobile evangelism.

Under his stewardship, IAB membership doubled to 460 companies.

The association, which champions the digital interests of Internet and mobile marketers such as Google, Yahoo and a host of media companies and ad agencies, also opened a lobbying office in Washington and developed industry guidelines on social media, mobile advertising and digital pricing.

Online advertising this year is expected to top $23 billion in spending.

Mr. Rothenberg?s last major initiative before his departure is the founding last week of the IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, naming Swedish native Anna Bager to head the unit (see story).

?Randall Rothenberg as president and CEO has been a superlative leader and will be missed,? said David Moore, chairman/CEO of 24/7 Real Media Inc. and chairman of the IAB board of directors, in a letter to members.

?We are thrilled that he is becoming a senior executive at one of the IAB?s largest member companies and we look forward to Randall?s continued involvement with the association,? he said.

Before joining as president/CEO of the IAB in 2007, Mr. Rothenberg served as senior director of intellectual capital and chief marketing officer for consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton.

Mr. Rothenberg also worked six years on The New York Times in several capacities, including technology editor and media and marketing reporter. He was also a marketing and media columnist for Advertising Age.

Leading, feeding, seeding
At Time Inc., Mr. Rothenberg?s mandate is simple: define, develop and run the publisher?s digital growth strategy. He will work on growing the interactive brand portfolio and unearth new online and mobile revenue streams as well as look for potential digital acquisitions.

In addition to working with individual Time Inc. title digital teams, Mr. Rothenberg will also serve as the company?s point person on coordinating relationships with industry associations, measurement groups and distributors. He will serve as one of Time Inc.?s representatives on the Next Issue Media board.

Mirroring his efforts at the IAB, Mr. Rothenberg has been tasked to open an online Center for Digital Innovation for seed-funding of new projects within Time Inc., along with a Center for Digital Knowledge that will complement the Time Warner Media Lab set to open next year.

"A fact of life that's often forgotten is that technology tends to commoditize and great content does not," Mr. Rothenberg said.

Reproduced below is a Dec. 13 letter from IAB chairman and 24/7 Real Media chairman/CEO David Moore to the IAB membership. The letter was not edited for style.

Dear IAB Members,

As we prepare for a new year that promises to be another record setter for interactive advertising revenues, the IAB is announcing some changes in our management. Randall Rothenberg, who has been President and CEO since January 2007, will be leaving the IAB on January 17, 2011, to become Chief Digital Officer of Time Inc.

A search has already begun for a new CEO. As that search continues, we are confident that the IAB moves into 2011 with the right leadership for tackling the issues of importance to its member companies and to the industry at large. Patrick Dolan, recently promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, will be acting as the organization?s leader. David Doty, also recently promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, will join Dolan in the organization?s leadership.

The IAB is stronger than ever and the Board of Directors has expressed its complete confidence in the current management team to carry out our key strategic initiatives?Building Brands Online, Making Measurement Make Sense, Protecting Privacy, Data Demystification, the Mobile Center of Excellence and Supply-Chain Simplification.

Two other executives round out the management team: Mike Zaneis, who was recently named Senior Vice President and General Council, focuses on matters related to public policy in Washington, D.C., and Sherrill Mane, Senior Vice President of Industry Services, leads the organization?s measurement and research efforts.

Over the past four years, this management team has worked to grow the IAB membership by 50 percent, and has more than doubled our revenues. They have advocated effectively for us in Washington, and made our industry a public policy force to be reckoned with. They have done groundbreaking work in developing industry standards and best practices for digital video distribution, online networks quality assurance, social media advertising, interactive games marketing and mobile advertising. They have built a world-class conference business that attracts more than 5,000 marketing, agency, media and technology executives annually. The IAB?s efforts to develop cross-industry standards for audience measurement are changing the way the marketing-media ecosystem does business, as is the IAB?s ongoing campaign to promote creative excellence in digital advertising.

Randall Rothenberg as President and CEO has been a superlative leader and will be missed. We are thrilled that he is becoming a senior executive at one of the IAB?s largest member companies and we look forward to Randall?s continued involvement with the association.

The IAB is a strong and well-respected organization and will manage through these changes with no interruption in serving our members and advancing the interactive advertising industry at large.

Sincerely,
David Moore
Chairman, Founder & CEO, 24/7 Real Media, Inc.,
Chairman, IAB Board of Directors

Final Take
Mickey Alam Khan is editor in chief of Mobile Marketer, New York