• September 7, 2004

GM Planworks, Starcom MediaVest Group's strategic media planning unit dedicated to General Motors Corp., has hired Mason Franklin as senior vice president-strategic research director. Franklin who reports to Planworks Executive Vice President-Executive Director of Strategic Research Jana O'Brien, joins from senior vice president-account planning director at Chemistri, a GM-dedicated advertising agency that is also part of SMG parent Publicis. Franklin's appointment is part of a larger restructuring of the strategic research unit designed to enhance collaboration between specialized qualitative and quantitative research teams. Franklin will focus on GM's qualitative research, while Senior Vice President-Strategic Research Director Helen Katz will handle proprietary quantitative studies and syndicated data analyses.