People on the move

Beam Global Wines and Spirits has appointed KEVIN GEORGE as its senior vice-president and global chief marketing officer. An ex-Unilever man, George will now have responsibility for brand strategy development and consumer insight.

MARTIN KIFER is the new director of the Survey Research Center at High Point University, North Carolina.

Venere, a European online hotel reservation business, has signed up MIRKO BEHNERT as its director of marketing, analytics and corporate development. He was previously head of stratgey at Expedia.

JENNIFER SCHERER becomes vice president of programme management and analysis at communications, research and technology firm Danya International.

Members of the Media Research Users Council have elected ANDREY PURUSHOTTAM as their new chairman. He was vice-chairman for the last two years and was most previously managing director of Starcom India. Upon his election he marked three priorities: to seek a new enhanced readership survey, to pioneer new forms of research in other media such as internet and outdoors and finally to make the MRUC more inclusive. BHARAT KAPADIA becomes the new vice-chairman.

Online panel firm United Sample has named six new executives. ROBYN TAS becomes senior vice-president of business development, DANIEL ROSS is the new vice president of information technology, BRAD WHITE is director of business development, EDWARD RUSSO comes aboard as vice president of marketing, LISA WILDING-BROWN is the new director of online panels and DENNIS UHLIR joins the sales team as senior director of survey solutions.

ASHLEY GROSSE will lead Vision Critical’s US Public Affairs business Angus Reid Strategies as its new vice president and managing director.

Digital marketing research firm InsightExpress has named JOHN FARRAR as senior director of its digital media measurement team. He joins the firm from Marketing Evolution.

PAMELA KNAPP becomes the new chief financial officer at GfK SE. She will also assume the role of human resources director. Most recently she was CFO of the power transmission and distribution group at Siemen AG.

Purdie Pascoe as appointed LINDSEY BERNAL as its new research director. Bernal is an alumni of GfK.

DAVID BERGER has been appointed executive vice president and chief financial officer at Information Services Group in the US. He joins from Nielsen where he was senior vice president of investor relations and corporate controller.