Meyers to take RI helm in October
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US-- Bob Meyers is to take over as Research International CEO on 1 October, the agency said today.
Following our exclusive story Friday, RI announced officially this morning that Meyers would replace Mark Cranmer, who is quitting after just 16 months in the job.
The move sees RI's centre of gravity shift from London to Chicago, where Meyers is based.
He told Research: “The US is the premier market for market research data but this wasn't the principle driver for my hiring, as my expertise has always been global.”
However parent company Kantar appears keen to exploit Meyers' US connection, saying that RI's business and brand were “not as strong as they deserve to be” in the American marketplace.
Meyers was CEO of RI's sister company, Millward Brown, until April. Since then he has been in talks about taking up a new position within Kantar – the holding group for WPP's market research agencies.
He said: “Eric [Salama, Kantar CEO] talked about several opportunities but this is the one that sounded most intriguing.
“My objective for RI now is to build upon its global brand and deliver local excellence. That may sound trite, but that is absolutely what it is.”
Cranmer resigned from RI last week with no job to go to. The former CEO of media agency Starcom Mediavest EMEA said: “When I started here [at RI] I wanted to do something different, and now I want to do something different again.”
Commenting on Cranmer's resignation, Salama said: “[I] wish Mark every success in whatever he does. RI has changed for the better… and for that we are grateful to Mark.
“It is more client-centric, more entrepreneurial and delivers more consistently to its clients. Now we are going to accelerate the process of change.”
Eileen Campbell replaced Meyers as Millward Brown chief.
Author: Matthew Secker
Related links:
Ex-Millward Brown CEO Meyers takes over at RI
Cranmer quits global CEO position at RI
Meyers resigns after 10 years as Millward Brown chief executive
