Strong, who has been at GfK for 19 years, is to take up the newly-created position at the online community provider when he leaves the company.

Verve Ventures is an expansion of the company’s offering around its core full service community panel proposition. In his new role, Strong will work with brands to understand how the growing data economy is shifting business models, as well as how they should respond to those changes, using Verve’s communities as a platform to understand consumers.