LONDON – Xaxis, the world’s largest programmatic media and audience platform, announced it has named GroupM veteran, Harry Harcus as Managing Director, UK. Harcus will be responsible for leading the Xaxis UK business, including driving the growth of Xaxis’ performance business, Light Reaction, and its native advertising unit, plista. He succeeds Nicolas Bidon in the role, who was recently promoted to global CEO of plista.
“He will play a major role in driving continued growth of our UK business.”
Prior to joining Xaxis, Harcus spent five years in a range of senior positions within GroupM, joining the company in 2011 as Digital Operations Director. During this time, he built a new Digital Operations business unit in the UK tasked with the implementation of new technologies and the adoption of optimal business processes across GroupM’s media agencies. In his most recent position, Harcus played a key role in the creation of GroupM Connect and was responsible for programmatic buying media operations for GroupM in 2014.
“We’re excited to have Harry on board at Xaxis. He brings a wealth of industry and institutional knowledge to the leadership of one of our key markets in the EMEA region,” said Caspar Schlickum, CEO Xaxis, EMEA. “He will play a major role in driving continued growth of our UK business.”
“Harry has extensive experience developing and growing successful digital and programmatic technology products across GroupM,” said Jakob Nielsen, Managing Director, UK for GroupM Interaction. “His phenomenal grasp of the market and deep understanding of what UK advertisers are looking for, make him an ideal choice to lead Xaxis in the UK.”
Prior to joining GroupM, Harcus built up a significant breadth of experience working at a senior level in technology and operations across the digital media space, including Director of Digital Advertising Operations at IPC Media/Time Inc. UK, and Head of Advertising Operations, Europe at AOL (TimeWarner). Earlier in his career, he also worked in a range of online advertising roles at the Guardian News & Media.
“The Xaxis UK business is tremendously successful, having pioneered programmatic media products in this market to deliver high levels of value to our agencies and advertisers,” said Harcus. “As more media becomes digital and is traded programmatically, we will focus on further expanding the opportunities for our clients to achieve their goals with effective programmatic solutions.”
About Xaxis
Xaxis is a global digital media platform that programmatically connects advertisers to audiences across all addressable channels. Through the expert use of proprietary data and advertising technology along with unparalleled media relationships, Xaxis delivers results for over 2,800 clients in 45 markets across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. Advertisers working with Xaxis achieve exceptionally high return on advertising spend through the company’s proprietary media products, as well as through its specialist companies, Light Reaction, Bannerconnect, plista and ActionX. For more information, visit www.xaxis.com.
