WPP via its GroupM media operation has achieved a coup, luring top-rated Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser to be its global president, business intelligence.
Wieser spent eight years at Pivotal and has also worked at Interpublic’s Magna Global, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank.
Wieser says: “There is no better opportunity to help shape the future of marketing and advertising than this role with GroupM and WPP. said The entire advertising industry is dealing with the consequences of technology-driven disruption, and every day the rules for how brands go to market are being rewritten.
“For nearly eight years at Pivotal, I’ve been connecting with every corner of the market to evaluate how the major players are leading – or reacting – to this change. I’m excited to use this experience and insight at GroupM and WPP to help clients grow.”
GroupM CEO Kelly Clark says:“We are thrilled to welcome Brian to our team. He has deep understanding of economic and industry dynamics, consumer behaviors, media partners, and technology platforms. He is uniquely suited to create insightful analysis that will help our clients make marketing investment decisions.”
Most analysts recently have been busily writing off the prospects for ad holding companies and big media agencies in the era of Facebook and Google although, Wieser, to be fair, has not.
In fact in one recent interview he famously referred to them as cockroaches (adaptable creatures) rather than dinosaurs, although he might prefer to amend that description in his new role.
