In Memoriam…
Pollster Daniel Yankelovich died Sept. 22 at the age of 92. Yankelovich founded his first polling company in 1958. He established the Public Agenda Foundation with Cyrus R. Vance in 1975, which aimed to connect public officials with citizens for determining public policy. According to The Washington Post, Yankelovich was one of the first researchers to identify the changing views of young people as a cultural shift beginning in the 1960s.
John Houlahan, founder of research firm FocusVision Worldwide, died on Sept. 21 at the age of 85. Houlahan became research director at Purex Corporation in 1961 before moving on to head of research at Hunt Wesson Foods. In 1971, he started research consulting firm J.J. Houlahan Company in Whittier, Calif., which was acquired by Maritz Market Research in 1985. Houlahan founded FocusVision in 1990 and sold the company in 2007..
Researcher Leslie M. Harris died on Sept. 17 at the age of 92. Harris was managing partner of Mature Marketing & Research as well as the founder and chairman of focus group and strategic research center Focus on Boston.
Branded Research Inc., San Diego, has appointed Matt Fratturelli as EVP, global sales and strategy.
SIS International Research, headquartered in New York, has promoted Cédric Marin to director of operations in the EMEA, based in the London EMEA regional office.
Stockholm-based software company Cint has made new appointments: Richard Thornton, current deputy CEO, will now take on the responsibility of chief operations officer and will move back to London; and Oscar Carlsson has been appointed to chief innovation officer and will relocate to San Francisco. The firm has also appointed two regional EVPs: Greg Dunbar, who will lead the company’s EMEA presence; and James Rogers in APAC.
Canada-based survey software firm Voxco has added John Rousay to its global sales team. Rousay will be responsible for expanding the firm’s presence in the U.K. market as well as contributing to Voxco’s growth in North America.
SurveyUSA of Clifton, N.J., has promoted Ken Alper to chief operating officer and Mary Jane Jacketti to vice president of market research.
Ipsos Connect, New York, has appointed Michael Baer as senior vice president, head of AMG. Baer will be in charge of leading the Ipsos Affluent Intelligence Group, which includes the Ipsos Affluent Survey.
Reston, Va., firm comScore has appointed Joseph R. Rostock as chief information officer, a newly-created role, and Gregory Fink as executive vice president, finance.
Research firm Smarty Pants, New York, has added Jennifer Dixon as a business analyst.
MFour Mobile Research, Irvine, Calif., has hired Tracy Visconti as a research manager for client solutions and James Cook as system administrator. In addition, Andreas Sautter has joined as director of client services.
The QRCA, St. Paul, Minn., has elected two new members to its board of directors for the 2017-18 term: Caroline Volpe as secretary; and Isabel Aneyba as director.
Durham, N.C., research firm W5 has hired Robin Morey as practice consultant.
Reston, Va., firm comScore has agreed to appoint new independent directors to its board as part of a settlement agreement with Starboard Value LP, one of its shareholders. The new independent directors, who were proposed by Starboard and approved by the comScore board, will be Wesley Nichols, Paul Reilly and Bryan Wiener. Another new independent director to be proposed by Starboard will be named at a later date. Pursuant to the agreement, Starboard has agreed to dismiss its current litigation against the company.
Tempe, Ariz., advertising agency Zion & Zion has added Fred Petrovsky as vice president of marketing. Petrovsky will collaborate with the agency’s in-house marketing research and marketing science teams to produce industry research.
Thomas King has been promoted to the new position of senior vice president of data and analytics at Costa Mesa, Calif., researcher J.D. Power.
Devin DaRif has joined Bayard Advertising Agency Inc., New York, as vice president employer branding insights.
MarketVision Research, Cincinnati, has promoted the following team members to research associate: Adina Gegprifti, Morgan Beagle, Laurie Sites and Tayler Fisher.
Toronto-based researcher Delvinia has added Suzanne Costa as executive director of its AskingCanadians online data collection business. Delvinia has also added nine staff members to support its AskingCanadians and Methodify businesses in recent weeks.
Reimagine Holdings Group, a New Canaan, Conn., holding company focused on consumer insights and marketing services businesses, has appointed Dan Fitzgerald as managing partner.
Measurement company Verto Analytics, San Francisco, has appointed Liz Musch to its board of directors.
Ken Yanhs has joined research technology company ZappiStore, Boston, as executive vice president of marketing.
The Mobile Marketing Association, New York, has appointed seven new members to its global board of directors: Suzy Deering, CMO, eBay; Matt Derella, global VP, Twitter Client Solutions, Twitter; Ayesha Gilarde, CMO, Match Group; David Godsman, chief digital marketing officer, The Coca-Cola Company; Rebecca Messina, CMO, Beam Suntory; Tony Rogers, CMO, Walmart; and Wanda Young, SVP of marketing and consumer engagement, ESPN.
Germany-based research firm Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has appointed Janis Eitner has head of its communications department.
Researcher Kelton Global has appointed Mark Micheli as senior director of design research and product strategy. He is based in the firm’s Chicago office.
Seattle-based researcher Discuss.io has appointed Dawn Re as account manager, Beth Winter as account executive and Ashley Wali as technical program director. Additionally, Senior Account Manager Zuzka Žilková has transferred to the London office.
Artificial intelligence technology company Quantcast, San Francisco, has appointed Steven Wolfe Pereira as chief marketing and communications officer.
White Plains, N.Y., retail merchandising and marketing services company SPAR Group has appointed John Dilts as vice president of business development.
Mike Nazzaro, CEO of Ithaca, N.Y.-based researcher Claritas, has joined the Data & Marketing Association board of directors.
Tempe, Ariz., advertising agency Zion & Zion has appointed Arizona State University Professor Thomas Hollmann to lead its marketing science team.
Vivian Earons has joined Doyle Research, Chicago, as assistant project manager.
Seattle-based digital marketing agency Shaw + Scott has added the following to its leadership team: Lynn Baus as vice president of digital experience; Lin Wang as vice president of strategy and analytics; and Kim Reedy as vice president of account management.
Susan Sabanos has joined Roswell, Ga., firm MMR Research Associates as VP - client relationships.
Columbia, Md., marketing agency Merkle has appointed Craig Dempster as president of Merkle Americas.
In London, research firm Crowd DNA has added Sabrina Qureshi as online communities director and Sarah Griffiths as a consultant in the business and strategy team. The company has also added Isabelle Kåge to its New York office and Tom Eccles will move from the London headquarters to the New York office.
Finbarr O’Neill, president and CEO of Costa Mesa, Calif., researcher J.D. Power, has announced his intention to retire, effective March 2018. The company has started a search for a successor and O’Neill will remain with the company during the transition process. After the transition, O’Neill will act as a senior advisor to the company.
London-based agency IFF Research has appointed Georgina Clarke to its financial services team.
Research and analytics firm GBH Insights, New York, has appointed Daniel Ives as chief strategy officer.
Crimson Hexagon, a Boston-based consumer insights firm, has expanded its executive team with the following appointments: Lou Jordano as chief marketing officer and senior vice president; Bud McGann as chief revenue officer and senior vice president of global sales; and Dana Miller as chief customer officer, in addition to her current role of senior vice president of client services.
Charles Trevail, current CEO of customer agency C Space, will become CEO of the Interbrand Group, a New York-based brand agency. Trevail succeeds Jez Frampton, who is retiring at the end of 2017. C Space will also become part of the Interbrand Group.
HfS Research, based in the U.K., has hired the following: Elena Christopher as vice president, industry research; John O’Brien as research director, robotic process automation customer experiences; Saurabh Gupta as chief strategy officer; Suvradeep Bhattacharjee as research director, market insight and data solutions; and Ollie O’Donoghue as senior analyst, IT services research.
Waltham, Mass., research and consulting firm Applied Marketing Science has announced that Harry Lawless, professor emeritus in food science at Cornell University, has affiliated with the firm’s litigation support practice.
Columbia, Md., marketing agency Merkle has appointed Anne-Marie Schaffer to general manager of its travel, media and entertainment practice.
Alex Quillin has joined research firm Smarty Pants as an insights prodigy. Quillin will be based in Tennessee and will be leading the company’s expansion to Greenville, S.C., in the coming months.
Reston, Va., firm comScore has appointed Michelle McKenna-Doyle, senior vice president, chief information officer at the NFL, to its board as an independent director. Additionally, Gregory Fink, executive vice president, finance, has been appointed as chief financial officer and treasurer.
New York-based brand intimacy agency MBLM has promoted David Clover to associate partner in Dubai, UAE, and Demetri Mihalakakos to associate partner in Toronto.
Oslo, Norway-based research technology firm Confirmit has appointed Halvor Stokke as chief financial officer, following former CFO Ken Østreng’s move to president and CEO earlier this year.
IFF Research, London, has appointed Claire Johnson and Aoife Ni Luanaigh to its learning and skills team.
Berlin-based research agency Eye Square has hired Jeff Bander as chief revenue officer. Bander will open the firm’s first U.S.-based office in New York City and introduce its services to the American market.
Eileen Campbell has joined the advisory board of Reimagine Holdings Group, a New Canaan, Conn., holding company focused on consumer insights and marketing services companies.
Chicago-based research consultancy InsightsNow has added Kristin Luck to its board of directors.
In London, audience platform Lucid has added Milan Kaster as business development manager to work with sample buyers and sellers in the DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) region. Lucid has also recently hired Nina Bajon, senior account development manager, and Jamal Mehmood, client success manager, to its EMEA team.
Reston, Va., firm comScore has announced that Gian Fulgoni, co-founder and CEO, intends to retire on Jan. 31, 2018. Following his retirement, Fulgoni will take on an advisory chairman emeritus role and will provide advisory services through Jan. 31, 2019.
Newton, Mass., software firm MarketSight has appointed the following: Andrew Lazar as software development manager; Nick Kwan as customer success specialist; and Mike Lanza as inside sales representative.
Alpharetta, Ga., firm P2Sample has hired JD Deitch as chief revenue officer.
Pennington, N.J., firm Cambiar Consulting has appointed David Rosenblatt as head of its research and business operations practice.
Branded Research Inc., San Diego, has appointed Ian Roberts as head of sales EMEA.