Kantar Media and TechEdge form audience analytics unit

The unit will be led by Andreas Velter, who will report to Kantar Media CEO and chairman, Andy Brown (pictured), and will help grow its global reach.

The team will build Kantar Media’s software portfolio, focusing on innovation, new product development in the media industry, as well as supporting existing applications. These include media ratings analytics and reporting tools, AdvantEdge and Instar Analytics, and strategic planning and optimisation tools, Instar Planning and K2.

Brown said: "As consumers adopt new technology and advertisers increasingly run integrated cross-media campaigns, our clients’ need for advanced software has never been greater. I’m delighted to welcome Andreas, Henrik Sahlholt and their team.

"As we increasingly handle larger data sets including online census and return path data, our clients will benefit from a dedicated unit bringing new products at scale to plan and analyse their data across platforms and markets."

In June 2015, WPP increased its stake in TechEdge from 20% to 49%. TechEdge was founded in Denmark in 2000 with Velter as its CEO and Sahlholt as its CTO.