• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, August 24, 2012

Annalect Group, the data and analytics division of Omnicom Media Group, has hired Porter Novelli’s Israel Mirsky as global director of social products.
 
The OMG unit produces software planning and analytics tools for traditional and digital media that are available to shops and clients across the Omnicom portfolio of companies. The firm also provides management and strategic planning services.
 
Mirsky is tasked with developing software products and other tools to help clients better understand how consumers feel about and interact with their brands via social media. It will also help clients develop integrated media and marketing plans, based on insights from the social sphere.
 
At Porter Novelli, the Omnicom PR shop, Mirksy was executive vice president of emerging media and technology. While there, he launched and oversaw the agency’s strategic digital analytics group. In his new role with Annalect, Mirsky will maintain a consultative relationship with Porter Novelli, the agency confirmed.

Mirsky will be overseeing the development of new software tools that clients can either license themselves or have Annalect implement for them under a management services agreement.
 
“It’s a wider mandate that involves not just research and solutions, but also building better tools that will help differentiate Omnicom in the marketplace,” said Mirksy. “That’s what’s really exciting about this.”   
 
The addition of Mirksy is Annalect’s latest expansion. It recently unveiled Verve, an analytics platform that assesses performance across an array of digital media, such as search and display.
 
“Ultimately, what we are doing is centralizing Omnicom data strategy,” said Annalect CEO Scott Hagedorn. “Then we build apps and code the apps on top of the strategy.”  Hagedorn credited Mirsky with building a “world-class analytics offer from the ground up“ at Porter Novelli, making him well-suited for his new role.
 
Prior to Porter Novelli, Mirsky was director of operations at NextWeb, a Silicon Alley networking site. Earlier, he was chief strategy officer at digital agency Nom.