MediaCom UK has appointed Moneysupermarket’s head of digital Andy Mihalop to the newly formed role of head of biddable media.
In his new role Mihaop will oversee search and programmatic buying across the agency, reporting to head of digital Stefan Bardega.
He will lead a 100-strong team across search and biddable media with responsibilities spanning product, technology, operations and output for all biddable media across the agency.
During his time at Moneysupermarket Mihalop helped build a digital team of 50 people specialising in search and programmatic buying.
He spearheaded a variety of data-driven projects including uniting the comparison site’s disparate databases to create a single customer view comprising customer and behavioural data.
This led to the creation of one the first private brand trading desks meaning it can now offer commercial partners including banks, credit card and insurance companies, exclusive access to specified audience segments that cannot be bought anywhere else but directly through Moneysupermarket. It will then run those campaigns in real-time bidding (RTB) environments.
MediaCom’s Bardega believes the future of digital is programmatic buying. “We see not just desktop and mobile heading this way but also more traditional media in the future such as outdoor. This is an incredibly exciting new role and direction for us,“ he said.
Mihalop added: “The growth in both search and programmatic buying allows brands to deliver data-driven, targeted and relevant experiences to consumers. I’m looking forward to working with the team to evolve a leading biddable and programmatic capability and proposition for UK clients."
Previously he was head of search for UK and global clients at iProspect, with responsibility for the development of a search and digital performance practice for both Aegis UK and global clients, including Nokia, AA, Saga, British Gas, Adidas, Reebok, Sony, Disney and General Motors. He will take up his new role in May.