Big Sofa Hits the US with C-Suite Hire

Steve Aukers, former CEO of research firm J. Reckner Associates, has joined UK-based video analytics firm Big Sofa as President & CEO, North America.

Big Sofa is headquartered near London Bridge and began life as a research agency in 2005, founded by former Research International CEO Simon Lidington and organisational psychology specialist Matt Lynch. Since that time it has refocused around a platform which allows users to upload, edit, analyse and share video and other digital content. A month ago, it appointed former FocusVision EMEA MD Richard Collins to the newly created position of Chief Customer Officer, responsible for managing its global client base.

Aukers was Head of Strategic Planning at TNS before joining Reckner in 2007 - a year later he took over the role of President from Frances Grubb. Prior to TNS, he was Head of Marketing Research and Strategic Intelligence for DHL Worldwide Express, and Professor of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University. He holds a PhD in Human Performance and an MS and BA from Indiana University.

Of his new role, he says: 'I believe we're entering the 'video era', and I'm excited to be able to bring Big Sofa's expertise to North America to lead this movement'.

Big Sofa CEO Simon Lidington comments: 'All types of business today are using video, but we believe they've only scratched the surface of its possibilities. That's why we're pioneering the collection, curation and analysis of images in industry. The demand for Big Sofa's services in the US has been clear to us for some time. Now that we've found the right leader for the US team, we're looking forward to driving the revolution in video use stateside'.

Web site: www.bigsofa.co.uk .