Wavemaker Australia has promoted Cat Wolkers to the role of national head of research and insight.
Wolkers joined Wavemaker Australia three years ago as director of research and insight, making the move from the London office where she worked for eight years.
In her new role, Wolkers will lead further development of WM Momentum as well as the integration of Wavemaker’s suite of tools with real-time data.
She and her team will also continue to support all offices across Australia and New Zealand with the research and insight needed to grow their clients’ business.
“Purchase journeys are the beating heart of Wavemaker and we are extremely lucky to have someone of Cat’s experience and expertise driving this in our business," Wavemaker Australia chief growth and product officer James Hier says.
"Her insights have been integral to our new business wins this year, as well as keeping our current clients sticky."
In the UK, Wolkers was one of the core developers of Wavemaker’s flagship research and planning approach, WM Momentum, which to date has researched more than 700,000 purchase journeys across 130 categories in 41 countries.
She also led the development of GroupM’s online qualitative research approach, DigiFaces (a tool designed to more closely resemble consumers’ use of social media), while locally she was instrumental in rolling out WM Momentum across Australia and New Zealand.
“Wavemaker, and previously MEC, has pioneered the role of the purchase journey in influencing purchasing behaviour and identifying blind spots for brands," Wolkers says.
"I look forward to continuing to drive the sophistication of Momentum and giving our clients clarity on where to focus their marketing investment.”
Wolkers' appointment follows further news from Wavemaker yesterday that its dedicated bespoke media unti 'Team Red' had retained media duties for telco Vodafone, despite a global realignment which saw Carat pick up the account in all other markets.
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