Based in New York, Leece (pictured) will build useful data products and services, providing platforms for media planning and buying. He will be responsible for data sourcing, overall data governance, audience planning and commercialisation and will work closely with the strategy, research and analytics teams.

Leece has held leadership roles at several global agencies, including as global chief product officer at Initiative, president at Dentsu Aegis Network, and product lead for cross-platform measurement at comScore.

Peter Mears, CEO of Havas Group Media, said: “More than ever, clients want engaging, meaningful content to communicate with their customers – they want that content to be built on a data foundation comprised of what their customers think, feel, and do. As such, Bret will work closely with Havas Media’s technology team.”