Mitch Barns to Lead Ipsos in the Americas

Ipsos has appointed former Nielsen Chief Executive Mitch Barns as Chairman and CEO, Americas, beginning next week. Mary Ann Packo will leave the company at the end of November after a handover period, having spent two and a half years in the NA CEO role.

Barns will serve as CEO of Ipsos in the US and oversee the group's activities across Canada and Latin America, reporting to global CEO Kelly Beaver and with a seat on the Executive Management Committee.

A graduate of Miami University in Ohio and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Barns (pictured) began his career with a dozen years in MR and brand management roles at Procter & Gamble. Joining Nielsen in 1997, he held leadership roles across all major parts of the group, including President of Global Client Service, of the US Media arm, of Greater China, and of the BASES analytic consulting division.

He took over from David Calhoun as group CEO with the start of 2014, and stayed around five years in the top job, during which time it made 26 acquisitions. Nielsen's bifurcation - with the Buy consumer intelligence unit becoming a separate company, now known as NIQ - was still in the future at this time, and the company boasted 40,000 employees and more than $6 billion in revenue.

Since departing Nielsen, he has worked as CEO of The Opus Group, from 2021 to 2024; served on the boards of automated ad and innovation testing platform Zappi, consumer brand agency The Stable; QualSights; Dynata; and the Global Leadership Network; and the Advisory Board of private equity firm Catalyst Partners. He has also run his own consulting firm, Second Half Advisors, since 2019.

'I am delighted to welcome Mitch to Ipsos,' says Beaver. 'As the Americas are a critical region for Ipsos, his unparalleled track record at the highest levels of our industry, combined with his recent experience on the boards of innovative data and technology firms, makes him the ideal leader to execute our growth strategy. I would also like to warmly thank Mary Ann Packo for her dedication to our business in North America. As she prepares to leave Ipsos at the end of November, Mary Ann will work alongside Mitch to ensure a seamless handover. We wish her all the very best in her next chapter.'

Packo has served as CEO in North America since 2024, having earlier worked in the same role at Millward Brown and Kantar, between 2002 and 2020.

Barns himself comments: 'It is a time for reinvention in the industry, and Ipsos is well-positioned to lead with its wealth of talent, strong portfolio of capabilities, and global reach. I am thrilled to join at such a pivotal time.'

Group home page: www.ipsos.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.