Havas Media bolsters data capabilities by hiring OMD's Laura Kell

Havas Media Group has appointed Omnicom's Laura Kell to the new post of chief data and product officer.

Kell joins the French-owned media agency from OMD EMEA, where she was most recently group marketing intelligence partner.

At Havas Media, she will report to Patrick Affleck, Havas Media Group chief executive, and manage a team of more than 30. She will work closely with chief strategy officer Eva Grimmett, helping to develop digital growth strategies for clients and playing a key part in attracting new business.

Kell will oversee Havas Media's data and product offering, the agency said, "unifying its engineering, analytics, technology and data strategy capabilities in order to help make a meaningful difference to brands".

She will also support the agency group's Mx offering, devising new data and product solutions.

At OMD, where she spent over six-and-a-half years, Kell has been instrumental in building and leading the company's marketing intelligence team, and developing Omnicom Media Group's data and analytics capabilities and network tools.

She joined OMD in January 2015. Before that, she held posts including consultant manager at BrandScience.

Affleck said: "Laura is a true force to be reckoned with. An outstanding leader with a proven track record of building diverse teams, she has an impressive ability to simplify complex challenges and identify solutions which make a meaningful difference to clients' businesses.

"Laura will help to take our offering to the next level, enabling a team that is already innovating to create even more industry leading data and tech-driven products and services."

Kell added: "The passion, energy and ambition at Havas Media Group is infectious at the moment, which is why I'm so proud and excited to be joining.

"It's clear that the media group has invested in the right areas to deliver meaningful outcomes for brands, while the 'Village' model delivers against the promise for integrated services, which is essential to unlock the true potential of data, tech and analytics.

"I'm really looking forward to working with the team to create solutions that have a significant positive impact on our clients' business growth."

This week saw the news that Pernod Ricard appointed Manning Gottlieb OMD to its £10m media planning and buying account, following a review that kicked off in February, when incumbent Havas Media decided not to repitch.