Haven't heard of Vanessa Colella? You likely will, in the months to come, as Yahoo president Sue Decker tries to solidify her control over the troubled Internet giant. Colella, a brainy MIT Ph.D., joined the company as a VP earlier this year, and was rapidly promoted to SVP of "insights," reporting directly to Decker. We'd heard about a shakeup in Yahoo marketing, but it involved Colella's promotion, not a change in role for Allen Olivo, the old Valley brand hand, as we first suspected. Olivo had best watch his back, though."Insights" is a Valley term for analytical marketing — taking the vast amounts of data generated by users' Web activity, and acting on that information. This used to be the realm of Usama Fayyad, Yahoo's now-departed chief data officer. With the departure of traditional brand marketer Cammie Dunaway, and the ascension of Colella, I'm begining to see a pattern. Decker is trying to replace art with science — marketing by the numbers. It's a shift Decker has already made in Yahoo's sales department, starting with the disgraceful forced departure of respected ad-sales chief Wenda Harris MIllard, a botched exit which is still talked about on Madison Avenue. Millard, now at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, has loudly defended the role of art in the sales process, the notion that human intelligence can sometimes better match advertiser and audience than an automated exchange. Decker and Colella may have an easier time automating Yahoo's marketing efforts, though. Pop quiz: What does Yahoo's brand mean? Right. When you're starting with a blank slate, painting by numbers may be the easiest solution.

A tipster tells us of an unannounced Yahoo reorg, this one affecting the marketing department. Details are scarce, but our first guess: Well-traveled Valley marketer Allen Olivo, who was named acting head of the department after marketing chief Cammie Dunaway left Yahoo for Nintendo. We'd heard Olivo reported to Hillary Schneider when she was in charge of Yahoo's advertising group, but a commenter, below, now says that was never the case. And with Yahoo president Sue Decker naming Schneider, her closest ally in the company, to a new role running the U.S. region, it no longer makes sense for global marketing to report to Schneider — which leaves room for Olivo to make his advancement permanent. That's all speculation, mind you — if you've heard more specifics, let us know.

Nintendo has finally opened the doors to its convenient "San Francisco" location — where former Yahoo chief marketer Cammie Dunaway ran off to be "the coolest mom in the universe." Turns out the new PR and marketing HQ is actually on Bridge Parkway in Redwood City, which is 26 miles from San Francisco — about as close as Paterson, New Jersey is to New York City. With the Wii still printing money, you'd think Nintendo would at least be able to spree for a vacant SoMa warehouse. The location, however, is better suited to keep an eye on nearby industry titans Electronic Arts and Sony. After the jump, the commute from San Francisco to "San Francisco."

Last week we speculated that ex-Yahoo chief marketer Cammie Dunaway was heading over to Nintendo to fill the gaping hole in its marketing department. Turns out we were right: She is the videogame-console maker's new VP of sales and marketing. Along with inheriting the title of "coolest mom in the universe," she's also snagged what has to be the easiest marketing job, ever. The Nintendo Wii is perhaps the most widely coveted electronic gizmo — still impossible to obtain and well on its way to driving its operating profit to $3.7 billion for the year. Honestly, the thing practically sells itself. No wonder she ditched Yahoo for this job.

Jerry Yang, the founder and current CEO of Yahoo, spoke about the obstacles facing his company during a "fireside chat" at a conference held by Right Media Exchange, an online-ad startup Yahoo recently acquired. Yang concedes the many difficulties facing the Internet company, but with antiseptic corporatespeak that puts a chill on what should have been an intimate and revealing "chat." Fortunately, his comments are so transparent, it's easy to see their true meaning. Choice quotes with honest translations after the jump.

Could soon-to-be departed Yahoo chief marketer Cammie Dunaway be on her way to Nintendo of America? That's what one tipster suggests. And it makes sense. Cammie describes her new home as "a natural fit for someone who loves driving profitable revenue for big, well-loved consumer brands and can't pass up the opportunity to be the coolest Mom in the universe." Well it just so happens that Nintendo has a big gaping void left by the departure of senior VP of marketing George Harrison, VP of marketing Perrin Kaplan and public relations director Beth Llewelyn due to the company moving its marketing and PR operations to San Francisco. Whose kids wouldn't be happy to have their mom hawking the Wii? No doubt she'd be happy to stretch her creative wings selling a product people actually like. Kotaku, the videogames blog, can't squeeze a confirmation out of Nintendo. Does anyone have an inside line?

Looks like Yahoo marketing head Cammie Dunaway's departure caught Sunnyvale offguard — much like sales chief Wenda Harris Millard's. Yahoo president Sue Decker's followup email, sent out after Dunaway's announcement, details the management changes on the marketing side of Yahoo. The takeaway: Dunaway had no deputy or clear line of succession. We count 10 different people named as the head of the different sections and divisions that Dunaway ran. Anyone have more scoop? Fill us in. Want to see Decker's full email? It's below.

Yahoo marketing head Cammie Dunaway, last seen reporting to Sue Decker, has left the also-ran search engine for a new gig. (Kara Swisher at AllThingsD broke the news this morning.) Although Dunaway "can't share specifics" about her new position until next week, she states that it is "a natural fit for someone who loves driving profitable revenue for big, well-loved consumer brands and can't pass up the opportunity to be the coolest Mom in the universe." I guess that means Yahoo is not a big, well-loved consumer brand, and Dunaway's old job not one that made her cool in her kids' eyes. Have more details on where Dunaway is headed? Please let us know. Dunaway's exit email is reprinted after the jump.