• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, June 25, 2014

Omnicom Group data and analytics agency Annalect has tapped 15-year Wunderman veteran Slavi Samardzija to be its Chief Analytics Officer, a new position at the firm. At the same time, Annalect is reorganizing its operation to better align tools and other offerings with marketers needs, the firm said.

Annalect is repositioning its portfolio of services under three main functions — consulting, tools and technology — which is more in line with the way marketers look at data and analytics, the firm said.

Samardzija will lead an analytics “center of excellence” that will serve all Omnicom Group agencies. At Wunderman, part of WPP, he held the same title and played a critical role in developing that agency’s analytics practice.

An internal memo from Wunderman Data & Insights president Gary Laben stated: “I have worked closely with Slavi for the past 15 years since he came to NY from Wunderman’s Mexico City Office … He has done a masterful job building our joint Wunderman-KBS Group Analytics capability. More than that, he has been an energetic and enthusiastic leader; an innovator of products and services, and a strategic thinker and contributor, helping us deliver our best thinking and solutions to our clients.”

While Wunderman searches for a permanent replacement, Laben told the troops that London-based Caroline Worboys, head of Wunderman Data & Insights for Europe, Middle East & Africa, would fill in for Samardzija in the interim.

 “Over the past three and half years, we have produced game-changing tools and applications, built the industry’s largest data management platform and incubated an incredible data scientist talent pool," said Scott Hagedorn, CEO, Annalect, and to whom Samardzija will report. “The opportunity now is to streamline these assets to achieve unique marketing technology solutions -- created by marketers, for marketers. Slavi is uniquely suited to drive that opportunity.”