• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, July 31, 2014

A year after creating the first Chief Data Officer role inside a major Madison Avenue media shop, GroupM is upping the data ante, elevating it to a holding company role, and moving long-time MediaCom chief Harvey Goldhersz to lead it.

The move comes a year after GroupM’s Mindshare unit recruited Bob Ivins to that role from media giant Comcast.

“With his deep experience working with some of the largest data-driven advertisers in the world and building successful analytics practices to serve them, Harvey is uniquely positioned to take on this critical role in the business,” GroupM Global President Dominic Proctor said in a statement announcing the move, as well as a modest reshuffling of MediaCom moving Mindshare North America CEO Phil Cowdell to the same role at MediaCom.

Goldhersz will hold the dual title of CDO of GroupM and CEO of GroupM Analytics. He has served as vice chairman and worldwide COO of MediaCom for the past decade, and prior to that was founder and CEO of MediaCom Digital and CEO of Beyond Interactive, which were ultimately merged.

Cowdell essentially steps in to replace Goldhersz’s North American duties, and the remainder will be absorbed by the rest of the agency’s management team.