DigitasLBi global chief media officer Baba Shetty announced his departure from the agency, Adweek reports. Shetty is leaving to start his own research and advisory firm, Invisible Science, which is slated for a June 1 launch.
Shetty has served as global chief media officer for DigitasLBi for the past three years, following a year as CEO for Newsweek/The Daily Beast. Before that he spent seven years with Hill Holiday, serving as chief media officer and chief strategy officer. Prior to Hill Holiday, he spent two years as a managing director at Fallon Worldwide. He began his career as manager, marketing communications with BMW, a position he held for seven years before leaving to serve as research director at Forrester Research for three years.
Shetty explained to Adweek that Invisible Science will operate as a subscription-based service providing members with “objective, programmatic research for brand leaders.” Invisible Science has reportedly already built its founding team, but as many will be exiting current agency roles in the coming weeks, Shetty was unable to disclose any names presently.
“About a year ago we had a very smart and sophisticated client, but this client had a massive frustration with specific tech solutions in marketing,” he told the publication. “It kind of brings up the question, why do clients need to put themselves in a position that requires that kind of heroic action after the fact? Why not [create] a service that provides the right context and guidance, proactively? That’s what Invisible Science is all about.”
“I just started to see some common themes that started to repeat themselves in a lot of different conversations with clients,” he added. “It’s all around a sense of confusion and anxiety about, are we getting the intersection of marketing and technology right? What we are trying to do is create indispensable guidance for the modern marketer.”