• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, May 27, 2010

MDC Partners' digital media buying firm Varick Media Management on Thursday named Neeraj Kochhar as its new president.

Kochhar steps into the post previously held by VMM founder, Darren Herman, who earlier this year relinquished his day-to-day responsibilities as president in order to serve full-time as the new chief digital media officer for kirshenbaum bond senecal + partners and The Media Kitchen.

"VMM is a technology-enabled marketing services firm, so we had to find someone who understood tech companies and who has been through the agency landscape," said Herman, who has retained his seat on VMM's board of directors.

Kochhar joins VMM from GroupM Interaction in New York, where he served as managing partner, director of operations for the last two years. In that role, he is credited with driving operational efficiencies across all GroupM agencies by implementing automation and standardization across the digital media life cycle.

A brainchild of kirshenbaum bond senecal + partners, VMM was incubated at The Media Kitchen by Herman, and spun off as an MDC-owned company in the fall of 2008. VMM was originally envisioned as a demand-side platform, which has since been adopted by brands directly as well as other non-MDC agencies. Like Mediabrands' Cadreon unit, WPP's B3, and Havas' AdNetik, VMM focuses on buying targeted audiences rather than inventory.

"Demand-side platforms continue to evolve quickly and I am confident that VMM ... will stay at the forefront," said Kochhar.

Prior to joining GroupM, Kochhar was the vice president, director of search at the Starcom MediaVest Group. In that role, Kochhar was responsible for the launch and expansion of SMG Search's New York operation.

Kochhar began his career in digital marketing at DoubleClick in 1998. During his 6-year tenure at DoubleClick, he served in variety of roles, including an assignment as the business development manager for Singapore and other Southeast Asian markets.