One of the
advertising industry's leading forecasters is taking a new job with a company
specializing in using set-top box data to target television audiences for
marketers.
Brian Wieser,
executive VP, director of global forecasting, at MagnaGlobal, is joining
Simulmedia as chief marketing officer. Wieser will also oversee a strategic
alliance between his new firm and his old agency aimed at fostering more
effective and efficient television advertising.
Working with
"MagnaGlobal and [parent company] Mediabrands should be a great opportunity to
introduce what Simulmedia is doing," Wieser said.
Simulmedia
uses set-top box data to help marketers reach more of their target audience by
identifying television inventory that is "underappreciated" because it doesn't
reach huge numbers of viewers in the traditional demographic targets.
"With the
advent of anonymous set-top data, you can now create better audience targets
and you more cost-effectively extend your reach" in ways that were not
possible before, such as finding viewers who like the work of a particular
actor, which would be valuable to a movie studio.
For Wieser,
the move makes him a player in the industry instead of a scorekeeper. "There's
a great opportunity to take all the work I've been doing and rather than
opining on how the industry could get from 6% or 7% growth every year, I can be
part of making it 7% or 8% or 10% growth, and I think that's pretty exciting."
Adding Wieser
to the team should help Simulmedia get more traction with marketers.
"Brian brings
a proven track record in generating actionable insights that successfully
inform marketing client and agency media strategies, as well as a deep
understanding of the media industry," says Jon Werther, president of
Simulmedia, to whom Wieser will report. "Brian has studied and understands
the power of data-targeted television advertising more than anyone else in the
world."
Working with
Simulmedia should provide benefits for Mediabrands as well.
"The
foundation of our organization is built on best-in-class tools and research,
client centric trading, and partnership," says MagnaGlobal President Elizabeth
Herbst-Brady. "We are, of course, very sad to see Brian go but are excited by
the prospects of continuing to work with him and Simulmedia and the results
that our partnership will produce for our clients."
