Brand MarketingFriendster Taps AOL’s Barrett to Head SalesBy Ann M. Mack|August 24, 2004ShareBy Ann M. Mack|August 24, 2004ShareNEW YORK Continuing its mission to turn a profit, Friendster said it has appointed AOL executive Charles Barrett as its vice president of sales.Barrett is the second high-profile hire this summer for the social networking startup, which appointed former NBC entertainment president Scott Sassa as its chief executive officer in June. In the post, Barrett will oversee all aspects of advertising sales at the Mountain View, Calif., company, including building a national ad sales team and creating new marketing programs. “I’m looking forward to building effective advertising and promotional programs that bring to marketers this hard-to-reach demographic [young, active people], as well as a unique platform to drive buzz, word-of-mouth referrals and credibility for their products,” Barrett said in a statement.Barrett most recently spent more than two years as senior vice president of sales for AOL Media Networks, handling the Western region. An AOL representative said a replacement is being sought.Prior to working for the Dulles, Va.-based Time Warner Internet unit, Barrett was executive director of sales for the Northwest region at Yahoo! He joined the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Web portal in 1999 through the company’s acquisition of GeoCities, where he was vp, West Coast region. Adweek Adweek