Passenger Hires GfK's Finkle as COO

US-based online community specialist Passenger has appointed former GfK exec Thomas Finkle as President and Chief Operations Officer, with a remit to help expand its domestic and global client base.

Founded in 2005, with offices in Los Angeles, Palo Alto and New York City, Passenger develops online communities to provide real-time customer insight. Last year, the firm entered the Japanese market through a partnership with online survey and panel provider Rakuten Research, which is headquartered in Tokyo. GfK and Passenger have worked together in the recent past, with a deal to market each other's products.

Finkle (pictured) joined GfK in 2005, since when he has served in a number of leadership roles including Chief Client Services Officer, Group MD for GfK Financial Services and GfK Technology, and previously President of GfK NOP Research and Consulting. Earlier in his career, Finkle was MD of TNS' Global IT practice in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific; and MD of the New York office of Goldfarb Consultants.

Bahram Nour-Omid, Passenger's CEO, comments: 'We are thrilled about Thomas joining the Passenger team. His expertise will greatly contribute to our expanding team, our product and service innovations, and our growing portfolio of blue chip clients.'

Web site: www.thinkpassenger.com .