Holston (pictured) joined SymphonyIRI in 2009 from Deloitte Consulting where he was practise leader for shopper marketing. Before then he worked in the CRM/marketing and consumer strategy practise at Accenture and at Coca-Cola where he was global director of shopper marketing.

SymphonyIRI president and CEO John Freeland said: “Our analytics practice is central to consistently delivering differentiated value for our clients and, as such, continues to be a significant innovation and growth opportunity for our entire organisation.”

“Rob’s superior leadership, ingenuity, passion, expertise and fortitude are just what we need to continue driving our analytics business forward. He has years of experience in selling and implementing complex analytic, brand marketing and sales solutions for top global brands. His rich understanding of consumer and shopper behaviour and market execution is vital to the next wave of growth for Symphony Analytics.”

Holston has been leading the analytics business on an interim basis since the start of the year following the departure of Patrick Cummings, who now heads up Synovate-owned Marketing Management Analytics.