• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, May 30, 2012

Annalect Group, the data and analytics division of Omnicom Media Group, has named Nielsen veteran Jonathan “Jed” Meyer to the new position of U.S. director of research. Omnicom Media Group recently merged the OMD research operation into Annalect, and it will be overseen by Meyer.

Meyer is also tasked with developing models and processes designed to fully integrate the online and offline data streaming across Annalect platforms and global markets, creating a single communications planning source.

“Our clients are interested in bridging the link between the online and offline behavior of consumers” in order to understand more precisely how their customers are using media, said Meyer. Bridging that link, he added, would also help clients to better allocate marketing expenditures.

Meyer joins Annalect following two decades at Nielsen, most recently as senior vice president, client solutions and leader of the client team for Viacom, one of the firm’s top-10 clients. 

Earlier, he spearheaded Nielsen’s entry into both online ratings and set-top data analysis. He also spent two years in China (2009-11) upgrading and reorganizing Nielsen’s business for that country’s rapidly emerging media market.

Meyer said that part of the attraction to moving to Annalect was “the breadth and the scope that” the operation has. “For many years at Nielsen I worked on TV and video platforms, and here it’s the breadth of the whole consumer landscape and the wide lens that is put on consumer behavior.”

He said the Annalect vision can be summed up as a combination of data, technology and analytics -- “and I’ve worked in all those areas for many years so for me to be able to join this organization in a leadership role was too exciting to pass up.”

Meyer will be based in New York and report to Annalect CEO Scott Hagedorn. Commenting on the appointment, Hagedorn stated that “Jed’s track record as a first-mover in new channels, combined with his global perspective and his expertise in delivering customized client solutions,” fits well with the company’s mission of merging the complex array of media and product consumption data, and making that data work in new and better ways for clients.