Columbia, Md., CRM firm Merkle has named Yaakov Kimelfeld as vice president, chief research officer, digital media; Karima Zmerli as vice president, digital data strategy, and Zimm Zimmerman as vice president, personalization solution leader.
Suzanne Costa has joined Toronto research firm Verve North America as senior vice president of operations.
Paris research company Ipsos has appointed Diane Dickinson as managing director of its New Zealand operations.
Julia Godfrey has been appointed research director of Therapy Watch, the market tracking service of Research Partnership. She had previously been a research manager for the company.
Paris research firm Ipsos has promoted Alexandre Guerin to president of Ipsos Loyalty in the U.S.
Jim Sharples has been named vice president at Delta Marketing Dynamics, a Syracuse, N.Y., researcher.
Scientific Games Corporation, New York, has appointed Dan Savage as vice president, corporate marketing.
Beijing marketing firm Havas China has named Bryan Wang as head of its social media unit, Socialyse.
Federated Sample, New Orleans, has added Patrick Stokes as executive director.
Competitive Edge Research, San Diego, has hired Neil Salunga as research manager.
Sarah Rossmann has joined London research firm Monkey See as a research associate.
Dun & Bradstreet, New York, has appointed Curtis Brown as chief information officer.
Waltham, Mass., research firm Affectiva has named Gabi Zijderveld as its vice president of marketing.
Jackie Lorch, SSI’s vice president global knowledge management, has been named ESOMAR representative for the U.S.
The Singapore office of Insight, a London research firm, has hired Preethi Gupta as qualitative director and Louisa Hills as an associate.
Norstat, an Oslo, Norway, research company, has promoted Matt Reynolds to managing director for the U.K. market and also appointed Elisabeth Sampaio as senior project manager in the U.K.
GlobalNR, an international network of market research suppliers in 24 countries, has named Alan Appelbaum as chairman and Douglas Ethe-Sayers as president. Both are at Market Probe International, a New York research company.
Ross Pinnegar has joined the panel services department of London research firm YouthSight.
Baidu, the China-based search engine company, has hired Ya-Qin Zhang as president for new business.
London researcher SPA Future Thinking has promoted Richard Barton to group managing director and named four new divisional managing directors. Steven King and Neil Aulton will serve as managing director of the public sector and services division, Chris Bland will be managing director of media, marcomms, technology and retail, and Claudia Strauss will be managing director of FMCG and shopper.
London researcher BDRC Group has named Anthony Dobson director at BDRC Asia in Singapore and Shawn Roy regional head of qualitative research at BDRC Asia.
Linda Rebrovick, CEO of Nashville, Tenn., research firm Consensus Point, has announced her bid for mayor of Nashville.
Doreen Wang has been promoted to global head of BrandZ, the brand equity database of New York research firm Millward Brown.
Mark Zahorik has joined Targetbase, a Dallas research company.
Matthew Froggatt has joined London research company Incite as its new global head.
IModerate Research Technologies, Denver, has hired Julia Eisenberg as senior vice president of client services.
Larry Solomon, president of Strategic Resources Inc., a research firm in Union, Ky., is a candidate for mayor of Union.
Horsham, Pa., research company TNS has appointed Sarah Morris as head of TNS qualitative in the U.K. In addition, Jo Storry will serve as head of TNS qualitative, China, and William O’Connor will be head of TNS qualitative, Canada.
New York researcher Nielsen has hired Benjamin Hayes as chief privacy officer.
Mike Mansbach has been named CEO at PunchTab, a Palo Alto, Calif., SaaS firm.
New York researcher GfK MRI has hired Christie Kawada as executive vice president, product management and innovation.
Washington, D.C., polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner has promoted James Morris to partner in its London office.
Charterhouse Research, London, has hired Kathy Ellison as a director along with Philippa Whitham as an associate director.
Chicago research firm Cogensia has hired Mindi Barber as an account manager and Ina Rajewski as an account coordinator. Also, Thomas Schar has joined the company as IT director and Bryan Endres, Shan Jiang and Angus Yang have joined as senior analysts.
Karen Chaudhari has joined West Yorkshire, U.K., research agency Platypus as associate director.
London researcher Populus Data Solutions has hired Chris Atkins as head of business development.
Melinda Smith Borrero has joined in4mation insights, a Boston research firm, as managing director of client services and solution strategy.
Shannon Smith has joined Jibunu, a Leominster, Mass., research firm, as vice president of operations. In addition, Elizabeth Lepisto has joined as director of marketing and Ken Berry has assumed the role of president.
BritainThinks, a London research company, has hired Saul Parker as research director.
Verve, a London researcher, has hired Rich Preedy and Olly Robinson for international service positions; Ben Kume-Davy as research manager; and Katalin Kekesi, Sumana Pernot, Hernan Farinas and Laura Martin-Carrera as international community managers.
Denver technology company Mobile Accord has hired John Muthee as vice president of business development, Africa. He will be based in the recently-opened Nairobi office.
Lindsay McEwan has joined San Diego Internet firm Tealium in the newly created position of general manager EMEA.
Ray Fischer has been named CEO of Aha! The DIY Platform for Online Qualitative Research, Detroit.
Doug Schorr has rejoined Los Angeles research firm Schorr Creative Solutions as chief insight officer.
Voccii, a Charlotte, N.C., research firm, has hired Mary G. Johnson as research analyst and client support.
New York researcher Repucom has appointed Jon Stainer as managing director of U.K. and Ireland. He will be based in the London office.
RMS Healthcare, a division of Research and Marketing Strategies Inc., Baldwinsville, N.Y., has promoted Al Tripodi to quality auditor associate.
In London, the Internet Advertising Bureau UK has hired Simon Hampton as psychologist in residence for a three-month period to provide members with insights on mobile and digital behavior.
Kristin Luck, president and CMO of Decipher, a Fresno, Calif., research firm, received the gold award in the woman executive of the year category at the 2014 Golden Bridge Awards and also won an executive of the year Stevie Award at the 12th annual American Business Awards.
Norcross, Ga., researcher Marketing Workshop has hired Vivian Harris as vice president, client services.
Andy Wardlaw has joined MMR Research Worldwide, Oxfordshire, U.K., in the new role of insight director. Also joining the firm are Lucy Brown as sensory qualitative research manager; Richard Goldsby-West as survey programming team manager; Kimberly Klerx and Matthew Browne as senior research executives along with four research executives, Jenna Spence, Claudia Fox, Dan Purchase and Valerie Palfi.
The Marketing Store, Chicago, has hired Rob Morgan as senior vice president, global consumer data analytics practice.
Christelle Fraysse has joined London software company Questback as group director, marketing.
NatCen Social Research, London, has appointed Sophie Ainsby as director of field and Donna Cullen as director of finance.
West Sussex, U.K., research firm Product Perceptions has hired Andy Grout as a consultant.
Charles Kennedy was named to the newly created position of chief research innovation officer at the Advertising Research Foundation, New York.
Victoria, British Columbia, Internet firm FunctionFox has hired Alfonso Estevez to lead the design of user interfaces for its TimeFox time and project tracking software.
EMI Research Solutions, Cincinnati, has hired Janet Miller as sales and business development consultant.
At North Canton, Ohio-based Sanctuary Marketing Group, Denise Bellis has been promoted to director of client strategy, which includes marketing research and analysis and psychographics and social engagement.
Pat McDonough, senior vice president, planning policy and analysis at New York researcher Nielsen, plans to retire at the end of 2014.
Corvallis, Ore., researcher InsightsNow has hired Dolores Oreskovich as vice president, sensory and consumer insights.
EMI Research Solutions, Cincinnati, has appointed Janet Miller as business development consultant.
Vidya Sen has been promoted to head of innovation and forecasting business at Ipsos InnoQuest in Mumbai, India.
In4mation insights, Boston, has added Melinda Smith Borrero as managing director of client services and solution strategy.
Cincinnati-based MarketVision Research has hired Sandy Leeson as research manager on the data processing team; Collier Devlin as research associate on the information services team; Lauren Yates as research associate on the quantitative client services team; and Lanie Ross as human resource assistant. Also, Elizabeth Woerly and Chad Moore were promoted to research director of the client service team.
CX Act Inc., a Rosslyn, Va., customer experience firm, has added Gavin Winter to its senior leadership team as vice president, strategic solutions.