H&P's Trautz Joins Maru/Matchbox in Innovation Role

MARU Group's tech and communities business Maru/Matchbox has appointed former Insight Express and Hall & Partners employee Todd Trautz as Chief Innovation & Solutions Officer.

Maru/Matchbox was formed through the acquisition of Vision Critical's North American Research Consulting division in February 2016. Already this year, the company has appointed tech marketing strategist Steven Spencer-Steigner as VP of Qualitative Insight; Andrew Hawn as SVP Consulting, and Audra Priluck as VP Business Development, in its Media and Entertainment practice. A respondent access business, Maru/Blue was spun off from it in April.

Trautz (pictured) joins from brand and comms research firm Hall & Partners where he worked for three and a half years as a Partner based in the New York-based Consumer team. Prior to this he spent almost a decade at online MR firm Insight Express, after four years at Millward Brown. At Hall & Partners he was the lead methodologist for digital and big data innovation, and a Partner for the Modellers advanced analytics division, tasked with developing analytical solutions for clients.

Maru Group CEO Ged Parton says of the latest news: 'I am delighted to announce that Todd is joining the Maru/Matchbox team in such a pivotal role. Todd is exceptionally creative and innovative, with deep analytical skills. We're delighted that Todd will bring this skill set to the task of building a unique and compelling set of solutions and offers for our clients'. Group CTO Shane Wright says the solutions will be based around its scalable technology ecosystem HUB.

Web site: www.marumatchbox.com .