• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, August 2, 2011

Ad agency Mullen has hired one of AT&T's top media executives to help boost its own ROI and analytics capabilities.

The Boston-based full-service agency, a unit of the Interpublic Group, has tapped Patrick Acosta as director of performance analytics. With Acosta's hire, the agency is effectively merging its data analytics, media mix modeling and strategic brand planning operations, the shop said.

Mullen described Acosta's post as a "key leadership role" in the planning and optimizing of both media and consumer targeting. He will report to Chief Strategy Officer Kristen Cavallo.

Acosta was previously executive director of media research and insights at AT&T, with oversight of $2 billion of the phone giant's massive annual media spending budget.

At AT&T, Acosta led consumer segmentation strategy, media mix modeling and competitive reporting at the AT&T Media Services Group, a business unit he helped build for the company.

At Mullen, Acosta will lead a team of performance analytics specialists to help ensure maximum ROI across all media spending and target audiences.

Acosta is credited with creating nearly a dozen proprietary media systems for the firms and clients he has worked for that were designed to boost the efficiency and accuracy of media plans and executions. Several of those systems he developed prior to his stint at AT&T, while working for the Martin Agency. He was the top planner there for clients such as Alltel and NASCAR.

Earlier, he was an associate media director at the New York ad agency Messner, Vetere, Berger, McNamee & Schmetterer, where he worked for Dunkin' Donuts, Evian and MCI Worldcom.

"Mullen breaks down walls to attract cross-functional players," stated Cavallo. She said that Acosta brings the right combination of "business smarts, innovation and imagination" to the job.

Recent wins for Mullen include the $40 million Barnes & Noble account and $15 million healthcare provider EmblemHealth. In the loss column: Mullen lost lead creative duties for Lending Tree, although the agency retains media planning and buying duties for the online lender, which spends about $45 million annually on ads.