iSpot.tv Names 'Industry Legend' Wood as CRO

TV ad measurement firm iSpot.tv has appointed 'industry legend' Leslie Wood as Chief Research Officer (CRO), overseeing the Data Science department responsible for TV and video measurement products, and finding new approaches to cross-platform measurement and currency.

iSpot's proprietary platform provides a complete view of TV ad activity across national, local and OTT services, enabling brands to measure attention to ad creative and connect ad exposures to business outcomes. Last year the firm became the first measurement company certified by NBCUniversal for use as currency in the purchasing of national ad campaigns, following criticism of Nielsen by its TV industry clients - this included the suggestion that it has not moved quickly enough to capture consumers' shift to streaming.

Wood (pictured) joins after a long-time partnership between Media Trust LLC and Leslie Wood Research, where she led research into Internet reach and frequency, market mix modeling, radio listening patterns and TV reach optimization. During her career, Wood is credited with accelerating innovation in brand measurement, notably during her tenure as Chief Data Officer at NCSolutions (previously known as Nielsen Catalina Solutions). Here she spent nearly twelve years developing new approaches to using data for incremental measurement and targeting, and oversaw innovation for all NCS products.

Wood's experience of single-source methodologies was gained during her involvement with SymphonyIRI's BehaviorScan service; Arbitron's ScanAmerica; and Arbitron and Nielsen's Project Apolloscheme. Earlier she was a Partner in A-to-S Link, where she developed the AdImpact measure; and she was SVP Director of Media Research at Ted Bates and Backer Spielvogel Bates for most of the 1980s.

In her new role, Wood will drive the development of products, solutions and methodologies underpinning iSpot's cross-platform measurement suite. Sean Muller, CEO and founder, comments: 'Leslie Wood has been recognized as one of the most respected names in the media industry. Her achievements in ad research, patent creation and TV incrementality, among other things, will serve as the backbone for iSpot's continued push forward to provide the industry with a currency that can finally unlock the full potential of premium video that exists today for brands, agencies and publishers'.

The firm, which received a $325m investment form Goldman Sachs last year, is online at www.ispot.tv .