Smith, who joins UKOM this month, has over 20 years experience at board level on both the media agency and media owner side.
In her recent role as Chief Operating Officer at Centaur Media plc she helped the publishing group make strides in technology development, data management and analytics. As CEO of Publicis media brands Starcom and Mediavest she oversaw record new business wins and award-winning campaigns. Earlier in her career she was Commercial Director at Capital Radio and GCap Media, as well as interim CEO and Executive Chair at RAB. This is Smith’s second major advisory role, the first is at law firm Weightmans.
Smith succeeds Bill Murray who died suddenly earlier this year. In the non-executive role, she will chair the UKOM commercial board and join the UKOM executive board which is chaired by Iain Jacob. The commercial board’s remit is to ensure that UKOM-endorsed Ipsos iris delivers a viable and sustainable solution for audience data across PC, tablet and smartphone to agencies, media owners and government bodies.
Smith said: “I am delighted to join the UKOM team to help cement Ipsos iris at the centre of agency, publisher and marketer conversations. Ipsos iris data is already embedded within all major UK news and magazine publishers, three of the biggest UK agency groups as well as Sky and ITV. The BBC, Ofcom and the CMA also rely on Ipsos iris data. This is an exciting time for UKOM as we add to the offer with trusted online video audience data.”
UKOM CEO Ian Dowds said: “Our friend and colleague Bill Murray co-founded UKOM in 2009 and Linda is supremely qualified to follow his lead and help ensure Ipsos iris is of long-term value to subscribers. She has top-level agency and publisher experience and therefore understands how to get the most from boards and from our industry stakeholders.”
UKOM Chair Iain Jacob said: “Attracting somebody of Linda’s abilities is testament to the momentum that UKOM has created since the appointment of Ipsos as our industry-ratified data provider and the fantastic support that ISBA, IPA, AOP and IAB are giving us.”
