Simpson heads IPA digital group

by Ann-Marie Corvin Media Week 17-Jun-08, 10:40

LONDON - Matt Simpson, head of digital at OMD Group, has been appointed chairman of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising's Digital Media Group for two years.

Until recently, he worked as head of digital development at Starcom. He will oversee media trading, measurement and training initiatives.

His predecessor, Wayne Arnold, has moved to New York to head the US division of Profero, and also held the IPA role for two years. Under Arnold's term, the IPA created a digital media owners' survey, resolved the row over charges for late ad copy and introduced a review process for online ad file sizes.

Simpson pledged to "speed up" the outcome of the introduction of the single online measurement system, akin to the Barb TV panel. He believed some media owners still need to be convinced of the benefits of adopting a single system. "Brands need to understand online and how it sits alongside other media, while media owners need to make a choice about which measurement system they use," he added.

Simpson's remit includes the IPA's biannual Media Owners' Survey, which analyses the sales service performance of offline and online media owners. The survey ranks media owners according to their handling of ad requests.