NBCUniversal said it hired three new executives specializing in advanced advertising products and alternative media measurement.
The additions come shortly after NBCU laid off about 30 people in its advertising sales group. With the TV ad business becoming more data focused, the company said it needs staffers with a different skill set than in the past.
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The new executives, Ed Kozek, Pankaj Kumar and Brian Norris were named senior VPs in NBCU’s advertising sales and client partnerships division.
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“The addition of these leaders to our team demonstrates our commitment to innovation and to pushing the most important areas of our industry forward,” said Mike Rosen, executives VP, advanced advertising and Platform Sales at NBCUniversal. “Ed, Pankaj and Brian have incredible backgrounds and strong expertise in their respective areas and will make great additions to our teams.”
Kozek, previously senior VP of ad product and engineering at The Weather Company, as senior VP, advertising technology, will manage the overall ad technology strategy and development of proprietary ad products. He will report to Mike Mayer, executive VP, sales solutions.
Kumar, previously head of the media sciences team at Comcast Cable, as senior VP, measurement and innovation, will drive measurement transformation and enabling capabilities that show the efficacy of media across the sales division. He will report to Kavita Vazirani, executive VP, insights and measurement.
Norris, previously VP at Dish Media Sales, as senior VP audience studio sales, will lead the sales team responsible for NBCU’s Audience Studio suite of advanced advertising technologies. Norris will report to Rosen.
