Aspen Marketing Services has hired analytics expert Nathaniel Lin as president of its Advanced Analytics team. The hire, which fills a role left vacant since February, signals the growing importance of analytics capabilities in the agency world.
Lin, who has been leading analytics teams at various companies since 2000, is responsible for the strategy and execution of all Aspen analytics projects. The agency is depending more and more on analytics to drive its CRM, direct marketing, digital and Web efforts. In addition, Lin will be overseeing Aspen’s Atlanta office, where he is based. He will report directly to Cathy Lang, COO of Aspen Marketing Services.
“Given the economic downturn, every client’s marketing dollar has to go further, so analytics really come into play in a big way across the board to determine who to target, where to target and what channel to make that return on investment for clients,” Lang said. “There’s increased investment in analytics, and all our clients are asking for it. They’re all expecting more sophisticated approaches.”
Lang added that Lin’s unique background made him a good fit for the position.
“It was a really tough position to fill because we needed someone with technical aptitude who knew how to mange modelers and statisticians, but we also needed someone who could interface with clients and deliver sophisticated solutions in a commonsense way,” she said.
Lin most recently served as an adjunct professor at Boston College Carroll School of Management, where he taught an advanced MBA class on “Marketing Information Analytics.” Before that, he was VP of customer analysis at Fidelity Investments and a partner and director of analytics at OgilvyOne Worldwide. He has also held positions at IBM Corp., including heading the IBM Asia Pacific marketing analytics group.
