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David Gaines joins research outfit Edentify, ‘we’re not trying to be a media agency’

David Gaines and Edentify founding partner Dan Banyard

Research company Edentify has emerged as the next stop for David Gaines, whose departure from media agency Maxus was announced last week.

The former CEO of Maxus Australia takes on the role of managing partner with a brief to boost Edentify’s client service offering.

In a press release from Edentify, the company said the Gaines appointment would help it “evolve from focusing on research and data solutions to a more comprehensive data-led planning approach.”

The company pointed out that the move “was not an attempt to become a full service media agency”.

Edentify’s founding partner Dan Banyard explained: “As marketers become more savvy about using data to inform business decisions, I have noticed a real gap in knowledge about how to usefully interpret and utilise the information we deliver.

“Teaming up with a top industry planner has been part of our strategy for some time now, and we could not have done better than partnering with David. Combining his unrivalled industry experience and our advanced data collection capacity, will allow us to develop our systems and service far beyond the existing model,” he said.

Gaines commented that while more agencies were collecting data these days, there was still “some uncertainty” about how to use it.

“It’s become much more of a challenge to actually outline what all that data means, and to separate data based insights from those based purely on emotion,” he said in a release.

“The opportunity to work with Edentify means for the first time there is a trusted partner to provide genuinely useful context alongside data. This will allow agencies and marketers to do what they do best, providing real strategic direction and execution to their customers,” he said.

Online research specialist Edentify launched in Australian in 2000.

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