Simon Bailey joins Kantar UK as Senior Partner
Professional services firm Kantar has appointed Simon Bailey as a Senior Partner to its consulting practice. Bailey will work to help clients solve their biggest brand challenges, amid a time of dramatic market fluctuation.
Kantar Group is a British professional services firm which has been serving clients since 1992. It has more than 30,000 employees working in 100 countries, having gained independence from design giant WPP in 2019.
As Kantar repositions itself as a marketing data and analytics company, Simon Bailey’s arrival will boost its offering to key clients around the world. Bringing more than 25 years of experience to the firm, the new Senior Partner will manage Kantar’s relationships with major firms to help them navigate the current period of high inflation and changing customer behaviour. This will include advising on all aspects of commercial and creative strategy, including areas such as forecasting product and service demand, product positioning, innovation and new product development.
Natalie Vander Vorst, UK and Ireland Managing Partner for Kantar Consulting, said, “Simon brings a wealth of experience in partnering with clients to define and execute a vision for brands to deliver growth, and we’re pleased to have him onboard. It’s a tough time for many consumer businesses as high inflation puts pressure on costs and recasts consumer behaviour. Clients are trying to understand how to cut through this change and succeed commercially, and they are turning to our data-driven, actionable insight for answers.”
Bailey is a veteran from Kantar’s former parent company, WPP. A senior brand and strategy consultant, he was formerly CEO of WPP’s Brand Union, where he supported the global rebrand of Vodafone. Other engagements saw him work with some of the world’s largest businesses including Orange, Philips, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever.
The economic and social turmoil of the last three years have been unforgiving to brands that were unable to adapt to drastic changes in the way they did business. Looking ahead in 2023, marketers continue to face major challenges, with a focus on consumer privacy, changing consumer spending behaviours, and budget cuts all looming. Earlier in the year, this saw Kantar establish a new marketing effectiveness practice. The branch will help clients determine their marketing strategy and measure the return on their investment.
