Mindshare Hires Wesly to Head New Unit

WPP agency Mindshare North America has appointed media research veteran Doron Wesly to head up a new unit as Leader of Business Science and Planning.

Wesly was previously Global Media Director for Samsung's in-house ad agency Cheil Worldwide, based in Seoul, South Korea. Before that he was VP, Strategic Services and Marketing Science at Millward Brown, after a stint as Director of Industry Research for the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Wesly, a citizen of both the Netherlands and Israel, will be based in New York and will report to Phil Cowdell, Leader of Mindshare North America, who has led the integration of the agency's research, analytics, and Business Planning units under the umbrella division Wesly now heads.

In the new role, Wesly will oversee customised market research and analytics initiatives and client liaison for research into media plans and programs. He leads a team of 25 dedicated to bringing all the agency's research resources to bear on the media planning and execution process.

Says Cowdell: 'Research and analytics are a major part of our agency's DNA, both for existing clients and in new business pitches. Doron and his team will put us at the forefront of the industry in this critical area and play a key role in the future growth of our agency.'

Mindshare is part of WPP's GroupM, which also includes media and marketing services agencies Maxus, MEC and MediaCom. Via 115 offices in 82 countries around the globe, Mindshare has billings in excess of $27.8 billion.

Web site: www.mindshare.com .