Kantar Hires Former IHG Strategist as Qual President

Kantar has named former InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) exec Kelley Baron as President of its North American qualitative practice.

Baron (pictured) takes responsibility for growing Kantar's qual services, including building and innovating on current offerings and acquiring new clients. She brings more than twenty years of strategic insights expertise to the company, the last ten from IHG where most recently she served as Global Head of Loyalty Experience for IHG Rewards Club. In this role, she led a newly established team to reimagine the brand strategy and member experience for the Club's loyalty program. Earlier she worked in research and planning roles at Ketchum and Wachovia. She holds two undergraduate degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, in business management and advertising, as well as an MBA in marketing from Georgia State University.

Kantar Chief Digital Officer Stephen DiMarco comments: 'As we have moved past the traditional research groups of the past into mobile and online offerings, qualitative has further solidified itself as the unsung hero of strategy. With data sets becoming more expansive and complex every year, our qualitative unit will be critical for bringing discourse into the process of data analysis, providing clients with a better understanding of the implications for their businesses'. Tim Wragg, CEO North America Insights Division adds: 'The qualitative aspect of our offering is the key to unlocking the potential of our clients' data and using it effectively to solve their problems in real time. Kelley has the rare ability to understand both sides of that equation, which is why we are excited to welcome her to Kantar in this new leadership role'.

Web site: www.kantar.com .