ITV merges research and data teams to form ITV Insights Group

Mortensen (pictured), previously director of audiences, takes up a new role as director of the team, the ITV Insights Group. Mortensen has been with the broadcaster since 2015, and prior to that, was director of research and planning at Thinkbox.

The combined department will be tasked with generating audience-centric insights for teams across the business and responding to a greater demand for business intelligence and insight.

With the restructure, ITV is looking to increase the use of insights within its decision-making. By bringing together the data and research teams, it also hopes to boost its insight capabilities, with the aim of improving cross-platform audience understanding and advanced predictive analytics.

As part of the leadership team for the new division, Lara Izlan becomes director of insights. Izlan, previously director of data strategy, has led on a number of transformation projects, including ITV’s Planet V.

Mike Leverington, previously director of data experimentation, has been appointed as director of insight capability. He is tasked with developing a ‘centre of excellence’ for all data, research and measurement which will power the Insights Group and ITV. 

Paul Craigen also takes up a new role as head of central insight. Previously head of audiences, strategy and channel performances, Craigen led a team that helped to curate insights that led to the launch of ITVX.

The ITV Insights Group will report to chief marketing officer Jane Stiller.

Mortensen said: “Integration of our insights team aligns goals, encourages knowledge sharing, and boosts collaboration across the whole of ITV. I’m really excited to be leading this multi-skilled team to create better, quicker business decisions for the business.”

Stiller said: “In creating the ITV Insights Group, we’re continuing to build on our strong data foundations with a rich tapestry of methodological expertise, spanning diverse disciplines and informed by the latest thinking in the field, to enable informed decision-making across ITV and shape the future of our business.

“Neil is a renowned industry figure and anyone who has worked with him will know that his knowledge and passion for the world of data insight is second to none. We’re delighted to have such a strong and capable team alongside him leading this change.”