Press Release: Unilever Selects DoubleClick to Manage and Optimize its U.S. Email Marketing

Unilever, the company for famously setting the target of $1 billion in online spending back in 1997 (but apparently forgot to tell its brand managers) just handed over its email operations over to DoubleClick, the sell-side technology company. Agencies and other vendors will be expected to adopt the DoubleClick DARTmail Premier system for work with Unilever business.

The move follows Leo Burnett's move to invite the DoubleClick fox into the media buying henhouse. DoubleClick was once the largest online media seller in the industry, but sold off most of its media sales business a couple years ago, when being heavy into media business models was unfashionable among financial analysts.