The announcement did not say what the role of Pete Blackshaw, the former head of BuzzMetrics, might be, but Blackshaw's most recent role in Nielsen has been executive vice president-digital strategic services, Nielsen Online.
In a statement, Nielsen CEO David Calhoun explained the reason for merging its social media practice with McKinsey is to, "extend our ability to help clients answer one of the central questions facing CEO's, how to unleash the promise of social media."
The companies said McKinsey is contributing "client capability building and expertise" to the venture, and the alliance seems intended to push the role of social media up into the enterprise levels of corporations, well beyond advertising, marketing and online media operations.
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The companies said the practice would "drive organizational transformation," and said they already have begun working with "select pilot clients," with the first set of "three solution areas" expected to rollout this fall.
"The initial areas of focus are measuring and improving marketing effectiveness, product launch optimization and customer service experience," the companies said.