Former GfK Leader Hausruckinger Joins NPD

Consumer tracking company The NPD Group has announced the appointment of former GfK leader Gerhard Hausruckinger as Group President for Europe and APAC.

Hausruckinger, who starts on October 2nd and reports to NPD CEO Karyn Schoenbart, is a former member of the Management Board of GfK and was the global group's interim CEO last year - he resigned from the Board 'by mutual agreement' in July, with GfK making sweeping changes to its structure and approach following an investment from US-based private equity firm KKR. During a total of seven years at the company he implemented major changes to account and quality management, systems and operations. Before joining, he was CEO of loyalty analytics business emnos, and earlier he was an Executive Partner at Accenture.

In his new role he succeeds Michel Maury, who in ten years at NPD led its successful expansion in Europe and Asia, and who will retire after staying on for six months to aid the transition - with a focus on APAC.

Schoenbart comments: 'Gerhard has successfully led a global organization and has extensive experience in retail and consumer businesses, which are NPD areas of focus. As we grow our business in Europe and APAC, we need continued strong leadership to ensure that we are maintaining the superior quality that our clients expect from NPD even as we continue to transform our business with the addition of new analytic solutions to complement our core measurement services'.

Hausruckinger says he is excited to join a company 'known for its industry expertise and impressive growth trajectory' and will work with his new team to continue to broaden the firm's portfolio, bringing new services to new markets.

Web site: www.npd.com .