WPP’s new data and technology arm, Choreograph, is installing Brendan Moorcroft as CEO.

Choreograph, which operates as part of WPP subsidiary GroupM, was created this April after combining the specialist data units of GroupM and Wunderman Thompson. Choreograph focuses on helping clients use and manage first-party data, data strategies, and navigating an increasingly privacy-focused space.

Choreograph is currently led by Kirk McDonald, who also serves as CEO of WPP’s GroupM North America. He took on leadership at Choreograph when the technology-focused group was founded. The company says the new leadership will let McDonald refocus his attention on his role at GroupM and that the shift will begin when Moorcroft takes the top job on August 9.

The company attributes the leadership shift to growth and demand for Choreograph’s specialties in first-party data and technology.

Moorcroft, who will report directly to Christian Juhl, GroupM Global CEO, founded Unbound, a strategic advisory firm that helped companies leverage their data; and Cadreon, IPG's first agency trading company. He joins the agency from Hearst, where he was the head of solutions and services, and has held roles at Omnicom, MediaCom and Grey, among others.

The appointment signals the importance of first-party customer data to agencies and clients, an increasingly rare resource as several tech companies move to restrict how that information can be obtained. Both Apple and Google are ending support for third-party cookies, the industry’s go-to method for collecting information, causing a frenzy in ad tech as companies scramble to find a replacement that can be used to better target audiences. Choreograph was founded to consolidate and coordinate the data and tech capabilities of previously separate groups within WPP. 

“Brands have an amazing opportunity to leverage their own first-party data to make advertising more relevant and effective while respecting the privacy of the consumer,” Moorcroft said in a statement.