In Memoriam…
Vern Cafarella, a longtime marketing research director for Minneapolis-based food company General Mills, died on Dec. 23 at the age of 97.
Timothy Gilbride, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, died Jan. 12 at the age of 52. He taught undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in marketing research and his research focused on developing Bayesian statistical methods to help researchers better understand consumer preferences and make decisions under uncertainty.
In London, research agency Hall & Partners has appointed Lee Gazey as global CEO of health.
Researcher Kantar, London, has appointed James Brooks as chief operations officer, while Scott Carter has been promoted to chief HR officer. Both will additionally join the Kantar board.
Insurance company GEICO, headquartered in Chevy Chase, Md., has named Amy Furman as assistant vice president of marketing, responsible for digital advertising and brand and production.
Research agency Bryter has made various promotions and appointments in London and New York. In the company’s London office, Isabel Wood and Boram Park have been promoted to research manager and research executive, respectively. New hires include Annabelle Fain as research executive as well as Georgina James and Fiona Wiegert, who join the company’s grad program. In New York, Noemi Hahn has been named head of analytics and social sciences. Mahdi Taqi has been promoted to research manager and Allie Jennings has been promoted to senior research executive.
Durham, N.C., research firm W5 has hired Keanna Warmsley as a client relations consultant, responsible for coordinating marketing campaigns and communication strategies for the company.
In Peabody, Mass., TÜV SÜD America Inc., a quality, safety and sustainability solutions provider, has appointed Jasmine Martirossian as vice president of marketing for the Americas, including TÜV SÜD America, TÜV SÜD Canada, TÜV SÜD América de México and TÜV SÜD America do Brasil.
Reston, Va., firm Comscore has hired Brittany Slattery as global head of marketing.
Jersey City, N.J., mobile data technology company SITO Mobile has promoted Matt Murphy to SVP of channel partnerships.
Adelphi Research has added Gwen Costa as vice president of client services for the West Coast, based in the Los Angeles area.
Adam Schrager, COO of research company Consumer Centers of New York and New Jersey, has joined the American Society of Trial Consultants membership committee, regional meeting task force.
Marketing solutions firm Harte Hanks has hired Bant Breen as chief executive officer and has promoted Andrew Harrison to president and chief operating officer.
Royal Oak, Mich., research company Gongos Inc. has named Debie Pomorski as chief financial officer and Cheryl Halverson as chief people officer.
Nielsen, New York, has appointed George Callard as chief legal officer. Callard succeeds Eric Dale, who has served in the role since 2015 and resigned to pursue an opportunity outside the company.
Jan Willem Gerritsen, executive officer, Europe/U.S./Latin America operations of the Macromill Group and co-founder and chief executive officer of research company MetrixLab, is leaving the company to pursue another opportunity. Scott Ernst, representative executive officer and global CEO of the Macromill Group, will take over on an interim basis.
Online research panel Op4G has named Bill Soule as senior director of client development, based in San Diego.
Burke, Inc., Cincinnati, has promoted Sandip Narang and Thania Farrar to senior vice president, client services management.
The Senate voted to confirm Steven Dillingham as director of the U.S. Census Bureau ahead of the 2020 Census.
U.K.-based cross-media measurement firm RealityMine has appointed Billy Grant as head of product and Anthony Shaw as head of customer success.
New York-based data science company Dstillery has promoted Melinda Han Williams to chief data scientist.
Sydney-based consultancy The Leading Edge has named APAC CEO Gillian O’Sullivan as global CEO. The company’s EMEA CEO Chris Paxton is moving internally to sister agency Hotwire Communications, taking up the position of chief strategy officer. Isobel Smyth, managing partner, will take the lead for the EMEA region.
Factworks, a research and analytics company with offices in Berlin and San Mateo, Calif., has named Nadja Böhme as chief executive officer.
Forte Research Group, New York, has appointed Elizabeth Plotkin as vice president, insights.
Insights solutions company Toluna has appointed Marco Pasqualina as head of sales in North America and Nathan Wimble as U.K. sales director.
The board of the Market Research Institute International (MRII) has elected Dan Coates, president and co-founder of Ypulse Inc., as board president for 2019. He succeeds Jeffrey Henning, who becomes the new executive director. The board also elected Melanie Courtright as president-elect and Marjette Stark as treasurer, as well as four new members: Marion Boeri; Zoe Dowling; Dan Foreman; and Zontziry Johnson. In addition, the MRII voted to offer the Canadian Research Insights Council, a newly formed trade body, an ex-officio seat on the board.
LRW Group, a Los Angeles-based group of integrated marketing services companies, has named Rachel Spiegelman as president of integrated marketing.
Digital research agency Harris Interactive has appointed Susan Vidler as managing director for the U.K.
Marketing and research consultancy BVA Group has promoted Alex Hunt to CEO of its shopper insights agency PRS IN VIVO. Scott Young, who has held the position of CEO since 2016, will move to a senior vice president position within the BVA Group and assume a leadership role in the BVA Nudge Unit, the group’s behavioral consultancy, leading its U.K. office. He will also drive BVA Group’s regional expansion initiatives in the EU and Asia.
Germany-based agricultural research company Kleffmann Group has named Monica Phillips as managing director of KG MarketSense, its North American subsidiary. With the appointment of Phillips, KG MarketSense Founder David Soorholtz will focus on the global animal health market as director of animal health, North America and global product manager for animal health. Alos, Omar Olmos has been named managing director of Kleffmann Group in Argentina. He will be responsible for overseeing company operations in Latin America South, including Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. He will also continue to run operations in Mexico and Latin America North.
Honeoye Falls, N.Y., consulting firm KJT Group has appointed Chris Carles as vice president, consulting services; Christine Holcomb as research director; and Joe DiGregorio as director, research operations.
SIS International Research has appointed Duilio Bini, a sales representative from its New York City headquarters, as director of operations, EMEA. Bini will lead the SIS EMEA regional office in London.
EMI Research Solutions, Cincinnati, has named Adam Jolley as president.
San Jose, Calif., digital payment platform PayPal has appointed Allison Johnson as executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
Los Angeles-based nonprofit Women in Research (WIRe) has added four new members to its 2019 advisory board: Alisa Hamilton, founder of Harvest Insights in Atlanta; Begoña Fafian, head of knowledge and insights at Coca-Cola WEBU in London; JD Deitch, chief revenue officer at P2 Sample in Paris; and Marion Elliot, sales director at Market Cube in New York. Advisory board members Christina Jenkins and Fiona Blades will be transitioning to emeritus status. Blades will continue in her role as WIRe’s New York event lead.
Aimpoint Research, based in Columbus, Ohio, has added Sarah Tveidt as director, working with the company’s agriculture industry partners, and Susan Frede as research director.
Bethesda, Md., research and strategy consulting firm Collage Group has hired David Burgos as senior director, consumer insights to lead the company’s custom insights business.
Plano, Texas, researcher Dynata has appointed Tiama Hanson-Drury as executive vice president, product development. Bob Fawson, who most recently headed product development, will now lead the panel and partnerships team. Ryan Jantz, who headed the panel and partnerships team, will now lead global operations. Mark Slobbe, former head of global operations, will be leaving the company. In addition, Yaron Zimmerman, former chief of staff, will assume the newly created position of general manager, emerging platforms. Renaud Farrugia, managing director for France and Southern Europe, will transition into the chief of staff position.
San Mateo, Calif., company SurveyMonkey has hired Joe Cummiskey as senior director of enterprise sales in EMEA, based in the company’s Dublin office.
Tel Opinion Research has named Ryan Tyson as president of its national firm.