• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, June 12, 2017

WPP’s GroupM has appointed Jack Smith to the new role of Chief Product Officer for North America. 

Smith will work with GroupM agencies in the U.S. and Canada to develop added capabilities the company says will focus on improving communications engagement, performance and efficiency at the consumer level. 

Smith will report to Brian Lesser, CEO GroupM North America, with whom he has worked for a decade. 

Most recently, Smith served as Chief Strategy Officer of [m]PLATFORM, GroupM’s proprietary suite of data, technology and services in addressable and programmatic media.

Prior to that, he was Chief Technology Officer for GroupM Connect, a programmatic incubator and a precursor to [m]PLATFORM. His history at WPP dates back to 24/7 Real Media, where he was head of strategy.

While at 24/7, Real Media Smith helped found the Media Innovation Group (MIG), which eventually became Xaxis. He conceived and built two technology platforms to help agencies and advertisers improve the allocation and optimization of digital media.

The technology and methods Smith developed evolved into essential components of [m]PLATFORM.