Former Madison Avenue Digital Star Bant Breen Named Harte Hanks CEO
Summary
Madison Avenue digital wunderkind Bant Breen has been named CEO of Harte Hanks, a legacy media operator that has transitioned into one of the dominant database marketing firms. Breen, who is best known as a rising star inside Interpublic’s Mediabrands -- where he held a variety of positions before striking out on his own startup, digital reputation management platform Qnary -- has a keen eye for emerging technology and digital media trends. Concurrent with his appointment, Harte Hanks named company veteran Andrew Harrison president and COO. Harte Hanks was founded nearly a century ago as a newspaper operator based in Texas and gradually diversified into radio and TV station operations before divesting of its legacy media assets to focus on database marketing, including direct marketing and shopper media. Prior to Interpublic, Breen worked at both Publicis and WPP and in 2010 he was inducted into the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Achievement.