A lot of happenings to report at the Austin-based, Omnicom-owned GSD&M, which has confirmed that Jay Russell has been appointed as executive creative director at the agency. From what one tipster tells us, “They finally got it right.”In addition to the promotion of Russell, who rejoined GSD&M after a stint at CP+B, the former has promoted Marianne Malina (welcome back) to president, will have Betty Pat McCoy and Carmen Graf to lead the media department and name Jeanne Crockett as SVP/operations.

During his first stint at the TX-based GSD&M, Russell eventually moved up to group creative director on the now-defunct BMW biz. The new creative boss will take over for Mike Wilson, who was ousted from GSD&M nearly 18 months ago.

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Prior to Arnold, Wilson served as CCO at GSD&M for a year, held the same title before that at Dentsu (two-and-a-half years) and had a decade-long stint at worldwide creative director at Ogilvy. No word yet from sources if there are plans to replace him, but we’ll keep you posted.

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As you may remember, Wilson held on to the CCO post at GSD&M for, shall we say, a brief period of time, working on new business as well as AT&T, Southwest and the U.S. Air Force. Prior to that, Wilson held the same title at Dentsu for two-and-a-half years, where he reportedly helped double the agency’s size and revenue. During his career, Wilson also served as senior partner, worldwide GCD at O&M and managed the AmEx Blue, DHL and Kodak accounts. Now, as a result of joining Arnold, Wilson will reunite with (and report to) Pete Favat, managing partner/CCO at the Boston office, who says in a statement, “We produced some great work during the three years we spent together at Houston Herstek Favat. He is the right cultural fit for Arnold, and I’m looking forward to picking up where we left off.”

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Word from spies is that Laffy’s departure, which happened just recently, was due to his issues with working on the Toyota account. Just last month, Dentsu NY happened to launch a new corporate campaign for the automaker that featured its Sienna minivan.

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Here’s a look at the first work from the folks at GSD&M for Goodyear tires since the Austin-based agency won the account in April of last year. Dubbed “More Driven,” this campaign highlights some of the brand’s achievements from being the official tire of NASCAR to the first tires on the moon and the tires that broke the land-speed record while also being the tire of choice for U.S. military vehicles, Southwest Airlines, FedEx, Hollywood stunt drivers, the presidential limo and so on.

With all that said, the whole idea behind this campaign is that Goodyear wants to convey that it’s taking everything it’s learned over the years and applying it to the tires they roll out for you, the consumer. This campaign was completed during the brief Mike Wilson era at GSD&M, which developed a font based on the Goodyear logo that “that allows bold statements to be made over aggressive imagery.” We guess by “aggressive imagery,” they mean the pseudo-heavy metal combined with fast cars that showcase the might of Goodyear tires. Can you just feel the testosterone flowing?

Credits and two more spots from the campaign after the jump.
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After the jump, check out a memo that GSD&M president/CEO Duff Stewart just sent out to staff this afternoon.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.