• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, March 18, 2015

Media research and marketing veteran Pierre Bouvard has been named to the newly created role of chief marketing officer at broadcast radio group Cumulus Media, the company announced Wednesday.

In this new role, Bouvard will be responsible for leading marketing strategy across the company’s local and national brands, including developing targeting applications for advertisers and agencies that incorporate brand lift and sales measurement to optimize campaigns.

The new capabilities will be available for all Cumulus and Westwood One audiences.

Cumulus President and CEO Lew Dickey stated: “Incremental data beyond ratings is rapidly becoming the most important component in advertising decisions, and we are excited to have Pierre leading our effort to help our clients achieve a superior return on investment.”

Bouvard previously served as vice president of sales for TiVo Research & Analytics. Before that, he was president of sales for radio ratings firm Arbitron, now part of Nielsen, where he oversaw the launch of Arbitron’s Portable People Meter, the most important development in radio ratings in decades.

At Arbitron, he also led the creation of the company’s out-of-home and custom research divisions.

Bouvard’s appointment comes amid growing concern in the radio industry over flat revenues, as well as demands from advertisers for more precise targeting and accountability for measurement of advertising impacts.

Broadcast radio groups are also investing in digital radio platforms to stay abreast of changing consumer listening habits. Last year, Cumulus took a stake in Rdio, and later helped it launch a free, ad-supported streaming audio service.