• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, July 9, 2015

Light Reaction, the mobile-focused unit launched by WPP’s programmatic buying arm Xaxis last month, on Thursday announced it has hired two managing directors to help lead the new group.

Karl Elken has been appointed managing director of the Americas, and Auke Boersma has been named managing director of Asia-Pacific (APAC).

Elken and Boersma will be charged with bringing Light Reaction’s “pay-per-performance” model to those markets. Light Reaction’s head man remains Paul Dolan, former EVP and general manager of performance marketing at Xaxis.

"The idea," wrote MediaPost Agency Daily last month when Light Reaction launched, "is to enable advertisers to pair Light Reaction outcome-focused media products alongside Xaxis audience products."

Elken was formerly EVP and managing director at SourceMedia. Prior to that, he held senior roles at Ziff Davis Media and International Data Group, per a release.

Boersma was formerly managing director at Dutch online video ad network Videostrip, now SpotXchange BeNeLux. He has also held positions at Scoot, AdLink Group and Scoupy.