Chris Morley and Dom Boyd join Kantar as division leaders

Kantar has appointed two division leaders in the UK. Chris Morley as the new Managing Director, UK, Ireland and USA for the Worldpanel division and Dom Boyd as Managing Director, Offer for the UK Insights division.

Midway through 2019, troubled advertising giant WPP decided to consolidate its empire by offloading a 60% majority stake in its Kantar business to Bain Capital. Kantar, valued at over £3 billion, contained WPP’s health, media and consulting practices and was put up for sale at the turn of the year. Bain Capital, the US private equity company founded by the same man as consulting firm Bain & Company, took up a majority stake in Kantar with an offer expected to yield $3.1 billion (£2.47 billion) to WPP.

Following its purchase, Kantar soon announced plans to grow its automated capabilities with a campaign of acquisitions. As 2019 began drawing to an end, the firm’s CEO revealed to the press that it is due to focus on strengthening its “real-time and predictive offers and much faster turnaround.” The firm’s plans for a bright 2020 do not end there, however.

As Kantar looks to prepare for a busy year, it has announced a duo of new appointments in its UK wing. Chris Morley has arrived as a new Managing Director, UK, Ireland and US for Kantar’s Worldpanel division, while Dom Boyd joins as a Managing Director, Offer for the UK Insights division.

Prior to joining Kantar, Morley spent 17 years with Nielsen in various leadership roles in Australia, Vietnam and China, before returning to the UK as Group Managing Director. After leading the turnaround of the UK business, Morley went on to deliver success as the President, Western Europe, and then President, Nielsen US, with responsibility for in excess of $1 billion revenue in both roles. In his new role with Kantar, Morley’s priority will be further developing Worldpanel Plus – Kantar’s smartphone-enabled shopper panel and the UK’s largest live community of shoppers.

Boyd meanwhile will focus on helping the teams blend the best of Kantar’s knowledge and data for the benefit of its clients, and to ensure that Kantar’s offer is always cutting edge. He will report to Amy Cashman, co-CEO of the Insights division. He arrives having most recently been Chief Strategy Officer at Publicis Poke, where he moved after 10 years leading strategy and new business at adamandeveDDB.

Bart Michels, Kantar UK Country Leader, said of the news, “Chris and Dom join us to take up leadership roles for two of our largest business units, in our second largest Kantar market, the UK. As part of our overall growth plan, they will drive the growth of Worldpanel Plus and Holistic Brand Guidance – two strategically important offers for our clients. It’s great to be able to attract such market leading talent to the Kantar UK business to add to our enviable insights, data and consulting offer.”