In Memoriam…
Ron Clark, founder and senior partner of Restaurant Research Associates, Tustin, Calif., died June 7. He founded IHR Research Group in 1976. Originally located in Orange County, Calif., IHR’s data collection and programming operations were moved to Las Vegas to take advantage of the market’s skilled labor force. Clark also served in numerous marketing research and marketing positions in New York, Chicago, Detroit and San Francisco.
Yamaha Corporation of America, Buena Park, Calif., has named Matt Searfus as vice president of marketing, a newly created position.
Logistics company UPS, Atlanta, has appointed Kevin Warren as chief marketing officer.
New Orleans-based sample-buying platform Lucid has hired Martino Roselli as its new SVP of customer experience in the Americas.
Mumbai-based research firm MRSS India announced three hires, adding Mridula Savitri Mishra as research director, social research practices; Geeta Sachar as senior vice president, MRSS India (head south region); and Ruma Sengupta as senior vice president.
Audience data firm Eyeota has tapped Elissa Reiling as vice president, marketing, to lead its global marketing and communications initiatives. She is based out of the New York office.
Research firm GBH Insights has appointed Javier Flaim and Jeremy Korst to its advisory board. Flaim most recently served as CEO of clean technology platform Recyclebank and Korst is a technology executive who has held roles at Microsoft and T-Mobile.
Jannet Torres has joined Burbank, Calif., research firm ThinkNow in the newly created position of vice president, custom research. She will have national responsibility for building the firm’s research and consumer insights team and will be based in Los Altos, Calif.
New Hope, Pa., research firm RG+A has added four new team members. Kim Kurtin has joined as a vice president for client development. Julie DiPopolo has been named associate methodologist in the company’s marketing sciences group. Robert (RJ) Bell has joined the firm’s client service group as a consultant. And RG+A has expanded its presence to the West Coast with the rehiring of Ali Spiro as a principal within the client service group. Spiro will be based in the greater Los Angeles area.
Research firm GfK has named Rolfe Swinton as its first director of data assets in North America.
Alyssa Wright has joined Johnson City, Tenn.-based research firm Smarty Pants as media maven. She is based in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where she is completing her MBA at Coastal Carolina University.
Insights firm Kelton Global has named Nicole Brandell to its leadership team as partner, brand and marketing strategy.
Researcher Lightspeed has promoted Jeff Tsui to managing director, Greater China.
Hulu has expanded its marketing executive ranks, adding Ryan Crosby as VP of content marketing and Nick Tran as VP of brand and culture marketing.
San Francisco-based research technology platform AYTM (Ask Your Target Market) has named Kandice Coltrain as vice president of business development.
Online panel company Netquest has appointed Laura Casparrini as country manager for Italy.
SMG Insight, a London-based sports and entertainment research company powered by YouGov, has appointed Ned Morris as managing director of its newest international office in Melbourne, Australia.
Martin Sorrell, founder and former CEO of advertising company WPP, will take over as executive chairman of shell company Derriston Capital, where Sorrell said he would invest £40 million ($53 million) of his own money, with institutional investors having pledged £150 million to buy marketing companies. Derriston Capital will be renamed S4 Capital, a Sorrell entity. Sorrell stepped down from WPP in April following an investigation into an allegation of personal misconduct.
U.K.-based video technology company Voxpopme has promoted Tom Williams to chief revenue officer.
Katie McDonnell has joined Burke Healthcare, Cincinnati, as senior account executive in client services.
Sweden-based researcher Nepa has added two new members to its board: Annika Steiber, a management innovation professional; and Jan Carlzon, former CEO of Scandinavian Airlines.
SampleCon, an industry conference and community for market research sampling, has named two to its board of directors: Sima Vasa, chief evangelist officer and founder of Paradigm Sample, as chairman; and Rob Berger, managing director of Maru/Blue, as vice chair. Vasa succeeds Patrick Comer, CEO and founder of Lucid. Additional SampleCon board directors for 2018/19 include Cint, Ipsos, Lucid and ProdegeMR.
U.K.-based customer science company dunnhumby is increasing its staff by 25 percent to support growth and demand. The firm has hired four new members to its leadership team: Gianluca Carrera, chief solutions officer; David Jack, chief technology and product officer; Mike Pittman, chief information security officer; and Denise Sefton, chief people officer. David Parry has joined as global head of marketing and Tom Block has joined as global head of retail pharmacy. The company has also made a number of other regional and sector appointments.
Robert Ferguson, managing director of research and consulting firm Strategic Consulting Inc. (SCI), Baltimore, will assume the position of president of the firm. Ferguson succeeds Thomas Weschler, who founded the company in 1996. Weschler will remain with SCI in an advisory capacity and continue to support research and management consulting projects.
Stamford, Conn., text analytics firm OdinText Inc. has appointed Andy Greenawalt as CEO. OdinText Founder and current CEO Tom H.C. Anderson will transition to the roles of chief research officer and chairman.
Mumbai researcher MRSS India has appointed Retassh Bhansali as its global CFO.
Martec Research Center, a research facility located in Green Bay, Wis., has hired Hillary Zank as its new call center manager, while Brenda Brown has been named the new marketing manager. Linda Segersin, director, and Mary Prisco, data processing manager and statistician, celebrated 15 years with Martec Research Center in July.
Nancy Hernon, CEO of New York-based translation company G3 Translate, has been accepted into the Forbes New York Business Council, a growth and networking organization for small business owners in Greater New York City.
Auckland, New Zealand, research solutions firm Infotools has appointed Horst Feldhaeuser as group services director to lead the company’s newly-integrated global services division. Additionally, Patricio Pagani, one of the company’s former executive directors, has stepped down to pursue his interest in artificial intelligence in an academic setting. He will continue to serve on the Infotools board as an independent director and shareholder.
Mellissa Hill has joined Toronto-based data services firm Maru/Blue as director, strategy and development. Julie Paul has joined as chief operations officer, a newly created role. Paul will be based out of Vancouver.
Consumer neuroscience platform MindProber has announced its advisory board as it prepares to enter the U.K. and U.S. markets: Dan Foreman, who will combine his advisory position with a seat on the board of directors; AJ Johnson, executive director at Kynetec; Joaquim Bretcha, an economist from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; António Gomes, a managing director at GfK; and Paulo Santos, an investor and business advisor.
In Detroit, researcher Ipsos has appointed David Letson as executive vice president of Ipsos RDA. Letson will lead the development and execution for the automotive quality advisory services team.
Amy Charles, senior vice president of Ipsos Loyalty in Canada, has been elected board chair of The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, a two-year role.
Retail consumer insights firm SPINS, Chicago, has named Rosemary Haefner as chief people officer.
Steven Krull has joined research consultancy Greenberg Strategy, Emeryville, Calif., as a VP of strategic planning.
New York-based research technology company Remesh has appointed Anthony Caputo as vice president of people science.
Jay Thordarson has been appointed chief operating officer of Canada-based company CRC Research Inc. Thordarson will be responsible for combining the facility and recruiting operations of Research House, Head Quarters and Consumer Vision, all companies recently acquired and consolidated under the CRC banner.
Emotion measurement AI company Canvs, New York, has added Kristin Luck, marketing measurement professional and co-founder of Online Testing Exchange, to its board of advisors, dubbed the Emotion Currency Council.
U.K. mobile research platform OnePulse has appointed Guy Oliver as enterprise sales director and Mark Bridgens as product development manager.