Media agency the7stars has announced the appointment of Dale Simmons as director of data for the agency.

Simmons joins the7stars from Aevolve, the data and research arm of Aegis, where he was group director. At Aevolve, Simmons oversaw a team which provided research analytics and data planning services across all Aegis Media and Isobar agencies.

Simmons has been at Aevolve, working on clients including Heinz, British Gas, Santander, Virgin Media and Coca Cola since 2006, during which time he has conducted detailed research into advertising effectiveness and developed intelligent targeting methodologies.

Prior to this, Simmons worked at Shelter and ran his own data consultancy called 80:20 Marketing where clients included Yellow Pages and the Portman Building Society.

At the7stars Simmons will be in charge of all insight, evaluation and analysis. He will specifically work on clients such as Gumtree and Nuffield.

Jenny Biggam, founding partner at the7stars, says: “Any marketer will tell you that data has never been more important – this is something we have always recognised and developed at the7stars, even creating bespoke tools for clients that quantify the impact of their advertising.

“However, we needed to take things to the next level – and the appointment of Dale will certainly achieve that. His track record is fantastic – he’s worked on brilliant blue chip clients and created really innovative ways of opening up data to make it useful and understandable. He will be a great asset to the7stars as we continue to grow.”