IPG Mediabrands has promoted Arun Kumar, the global president of its Cadreon ad tech unit, to the newly-created role of chief data and marketing technology officer.

Kumar will be responsible for managing the group’s data, technology and applications, the Mediabrands insights and technology divisions, as well as continuing to oversee Cadreon.

He will report to Philippe Krakowsky, IPG Mediabrands’ chairman and chief strategy officer of Interpublic Group.

Interpublic Group chief executive and chairman Michael Roth said: “We’ve previously stated that Mediabrands is the place where we will further invest behind our already-considerable data and analytics capabilities, so as to develop a data stack and platform that can serve all of our agencies.

“Given the tremendous progress Arun and his teams at Cadreon have made in recent years, and his exceptional knowledge of the data and technology space, we’re excited to have him take on this important new role.

“By partnering him with Philippe, whose technical strength is matched by his breath of knowledge about the industry and deep connections throughout the entire IPG portfolio, we believe that we can significantly advance our efforts to bring greater accountability to all of the solutions we deliver on behalf of our clients.”

Kumar added: “As the lines between media, technology and marketing continue to converge, our clients will expect us to be at the forefront when it comes to our data and analytics offerings.

“With IPG’s uniquely balanced offering – which includes substantial global scale in media, coupled with a wide range of the industry’s most awarded agencies – we can ultimately approach data in ways that inform our media activity, underlie our integrated marketing programs, and support our creative insights and storytelling colleagues in all communications disciplines.”