Stein had worked at several San Francisco advertising firms in the 1990s before taking a break from the industry to work on a yearlong project with film director Francis Ford Coppola, creating a Web site to be a virtual film studio.

Then in 2000, Stein teamed up with former advertising colleague Jason Zada to launch a new online marketing agency that would take full advantage of the Internet's entertainment value.

"So much of Web development at that time was really all about counting clicks ? really a direct response model," Stein said. "Jason and I both felt that so much more could be done to engage the users and draw them in."

As the digital agency of record for Wrigley gum, the agency put together a one-of-a-kind promotion for its Winterfresh brand. During one of the "Snocore" punk concerts sponsored by Winterfresh, EVB brought video cameras to record the event from four angles. That footage was made available on a Web site that enabled fans to make their own concert videos.

Similarly, EVB created several original shows for the Old Spice Racing Web site geared toward NASCAR auto racing fans. One of those shows presented in streaming video is a feature called, "Hangin' with Tony," a playful feature on driver Tony Stewart.

The firm also produced Leapfrog's interactive Web site, in which teenagers highlight the features of the Emeryville toy company's newest product, the FLY Pentop Computer.

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