With its gold-standard consumer data becoming a prized ingredient for targeting consumers, GfK MRI has named Maureen Doherty to the newly created role of Vice President of Commercial Data Partnerships.

Doherty will oversee the direction and focus of MRI’s data partnership business and help develop products based on these alliances. MRI’s many current data partners include

• panel owners that fuse their data with MRI’s (comScore, Nielsen)
• research firms with complementary data sets (E-Poll)
• firms that create syndicated segmentations (Claritas, SBI, Experian)
• firms that offer data analytics and insights (Experian, Epsilon, Esri)

“Finding new ways for companies to unlock the value of our data is a key growth area for MRI,” said Michael Drankwalter, EVP of Media Sales at GfK. “Maureen knows MRI’s business and is able to recognize and see value in connections that we should be tapping. MRI already has a strong hold in the digital marketplace, and we know Maureen will continue to uncover these opportunities as demand for our data grows.”

Doherty joined MRI Sales in 2008, starting out as product lead for a newly created syndicated print measurement tool, and later becoming a Media Sales Account Representative. Prior to MRI, she worked at Roper Starch in new business development. She has worked with many high-profile publishing and media clients.

MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer® represents the gold standard in traditional planning and consumer insights. As part of the Survey, MRI conducts over 24,000 in-person, in-home interviews each year in both English and Spanish, capturing an unequaled range of information on US consumers’ media use, buying habits, lifestyles, and attitudes.

The Survey is accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC), which conducts annual audits of MRI’s methodology, fieldwork, analytics, and data handling systems. On behalf of clients and the industry, the MRC assures that audience measurement services are valid, reliable, and effective.