Phorm Appoints Non-Executive Chairman
Online behavioural targeting company Phorm has named Steven Heyer, former Coca-Cola chief operating officer, as non-executive chairman.
The appointment comes into effect immediately and sees Heyer take over from Kent Ertugrul, who will continue as Phorm chief executive.
Heyer has previously been chief operating officer at Young & Rubicam and Turner Broadcasting System.
Speaking to Brand Republic, Ertugrul said: “Splitting the role of chairman and chief executive will enable me to focus more of my time and efforts on driving our vision.
“I am very pleased to be working even more closely with Steve. Steve’s broad business experience, commercial acumen and deep knowledge of the media, advertising and ISP industries will continue to prove invaluable to Phorm going forward.”
Phorm has been the subject of several articles in the press in recent months, with some voicing fears that the technology the company uses will allow users to be spied on.
However, peaking at the AOP Behavioural Targeting Forum held at the end of July, Phorm commercial director Nick Barnett said that the privacy concerns surrounding behavioural targeting were mostly due to a lack of clarity (see “Industry Must Unite” On Behavioural Targeting Privacy Issues).
He added that “privacy best practice is really quite simple” when you stick to the constraints of the consent form, which he said needs to be made clearer to “really spell out what happens”.
Phorm: www.phorm.com