Kelly Abcarian, the long-time Nielsen executive, is joining NBCUniversal’s advertising and partnerships division as executive VP, measurement & impact.
Abcarian had been helming Nielsen’s addressable advertising business, which was sold to Roku.
Nielsen also recently lost another top executive, Scott N. Brown, who was head of its media measurement business.
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At NBCU, she will report to Krishan Bhatia, president and chief business officer for NBCU Advertising & Partnerships. She will work closely with the division’s sales, planning, strategy, partnerships and ad platforms & operating group.
“Kelly Abcarian's addition to our team represents a step change for our company and the industry, when it comes to the future of cross-platform measurement and data innovation," said Bhatia. "Consumers have established an all-screen future and we’re doubling down on our position to usher in the next era of measurement. Kelly has decades-long measurement and advanced advertising experience, along with deep connections within the media industry and a partnership track record across CTV/OTT platforms.”
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Before she was head of Nielsen’s advanced video advertising group, she led its global audience measurement product portfolio, developing its total audience product and digital ad ratings for CTV. Before that she was with Oracle, Siebel and Arthur Andersen.
“If you look across the industry, the signals are clear: we must collectively decide to embrace the future that our audiences have created,” said Abcarian. “NBCUniversal is on the cutting-edge of next-generation measurement and targeting. And I’m thrilled to join the expert team behind One Platform and work to provide marketers the resources and techniques they need to fully understand the impact of their investments.”
