Lynnette Cooke
Chief Executive Officer, Ziment Group

lynnette.cooke@zimentgroup.com

Lynnette Cooke is Chief Executive Officer of The Ziment Group, a leading global marketing research organization serving the healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.  Cooke oversees all Ziment companies, including: Ziment Custom, the primary marketing research and consulting division; imap Research, syndicated multiclient research studies; Consumer Health Sciences (CHS), which provides disease-specific consumer health information through its National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS); and All Global, which as the largest Internet physician research panel worldwide.  The Ziment Group is the healthcare research brand for the Kantar Group, the Information and Consultancy division of WPP, one of the largest marketing service organizations in the world.

As a veteran leader and marketing researcher with consulting, client side research and marketing experience, Cooke has held a number of leadership roles in the industry.  Since joining Ziment in 1997, she has held several executive positions, most recently serving as Chief Executive Officer of Ziment Custom.  She joined Ziment to open the company’s Midwest office, and is now based in the global headquarters in New York City.  Under her leadership, the organization has achieved impressive growth and expansion, building its European presence.

Prior to joining Ziment, Cooke held management positions at custom marketing research agencies and leading corporations.  Her marketing research background spans a broad range of industries:  pharmaceutical and medical/surgical, consumer packaged goods, financial services, and children and family products.  Cooke was also a marketing researcher and product manager at Newell Rubbermaid, where she executed strategic initiatives based on her research, including a launch into two new business categories. 

Cooke has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance from Saginaw Valley State University.  She is on the Affiliate Advisory Board of the Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence and Research Group and on the Board of Directors for the Council of American Research Survey Organizations, and is actively involved in the American Marketing Association, Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Group, Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, European Pharmaceutical Market Research Association and the European Society for Opinion and Market Research. 

Steven Polansky
Chief Financial Officer, Ziment Group
steve.polansky@zimentgroup.com

Steven joined Ziment as Chief Financial Officer in 2001 managing all financial and business operations. He has over twenty years of financial and accounting experience with a proven success record in cost reduction, financial analysis, internal controls, budgeting, cash management and financial reporting.

Prior to joining Ziment, Steven was Chief Financial Officer at Sonnenblick-Goldman Company, managing the financial operations and reporting process of a $4 billion real estate investment banking firm. During this tenure, he implemented several cost-saving systems that improved cash flow, management reporting, and internal tracking of deal flow for management and marketing purposes. He was also involved in contractual negotiations with clients and vendors and the development and administration of an annual operating plan and capital budgets.

Steven also worked as Controller at TGM Associates, managing the financial operations and reporting process of this company. He also served as Controller at Anders, Moser, O'Brien Direct Inc., taking financial charge of the agency by controlling capital expenditures, operational budgets and cash management.

Steven's earlier experience also includes a period working as Internal Audit Supervisor at Young and Rubicam and Senior Accountant at KPMG Peat Marwick.

Steven holds a Bachelor of Science degree with an accounting major from Northeastern University.

Eva Laparra
Vice President, Marketing, Ziment Group
eva.laparra@zimentgroup.com

Eva Laparra is Vice President, Marketing of Ziment Group, a leading global healthcare marketing research and consulting organization. Laparra directs marketing and communications programs for all Ziment Group companies.

Laparra is a former Director of All Global, a leading international healthcare data collection agency, which she co-founded in 2002. Today, the brand is widely recognized and esteemed in the marketing research industry, offering a panel of more than 200,000 physicians and allied health professionals for conducting research studies online, by telephone and in person. Laparra was instrumental in building and marketing the brand, and is largely responsible for the company’s impressive growth over the past six years to become a global industry leader.

In 2007, Ziment Group acquired All Global. This was also an opportunity for Eva to broaden her marketing responsibilities to the entire group. As head marketing, Eva is responsible for continuing to build upon the strong brands within the group.

Laparra’s broad experience also includes management positions at two other leading global healthcare marketing research companies based in London. Laparra has a Master of Science degree in international business and Bachelor of Science degree in business management.

Jonathan S. Spiess
Vice President, Technology & Innovation, Ziment Group
jonathan.spiess@zimentgroup.com

Jonathan is Vice President, Technology & Innovation at Ziment Group.  He is responsible for providing innovative, cutting edge technology solutions that advance the operations, marketing and product development of all Ziment Group companies.

Jonathan  has more than 20 years of business technology experience, and has held management roles in technology and research and development with major pharmaceutical companies, such as Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson. He was also a principal and Chief Technology Officer of Digital Resolution, Inc, a strategic digital marketing company, which he founded in 1997. Under his leadership, Digital Resolution, Inc provided consulting and strategic Internet application development for companies such as Accenture, Avon, Pfizer and the Ziment Group.

Spiess has received awards from Johnson & Johnson for Innovation in Research & Development for a Process or Product, and for Cost Effectiveness in Research & Development. He holds a B.S. from the Rochester Institute of Technology and M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix

Howard Ziment

Chairman, Ziment Group
howard.ziment@zimentgroup.com

Howard Ziment is the Chairman of The Ziment Group, a collection of companies dedicated to conducting pharmaceutical\healthcare marketing research worldwide. The group includes Ziment, WebSurveyResearch, imap Research and Consumer Health Sciences. The Ziment Group is the healthcare research brand for the Kantar Group, the Information and Consultancy division of WPP, which is one of the largest marketing service organizations in the world.

Joining the Group in 1987, he has extensive experience in marketing and marketing research. This includes the direction of, or active participation in, more than 1,000 custom research projects in his career. Under Howard's stewardship, The Ziment Group has gone from a four-person company in 1987 to its standing today as one of the top five healthcare marketing research brands in the world. Acquired by WPP in 2001 the group has expanded its reach to include over 10 offices throughout the USA, London, Paris, Stuttgart and Barcelona.

Howard Ziment has been honored for his leadership and vision in the healthcare research industry. In 2003, the Pharmaceutical Market Research Group (PMRG) awarded him the industry's highest accolade and their lifetime achievement award –The R.R. Fordyce Award– in recognition of "contributions that are distinguished by excellence, innovation and integrity".

He has spoken at numerous conferences, most notably for the American Marketing Association, the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Group, the European Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Association, the Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence Research Group, e-Healthcare, the BioMedical Marketers Association, the Council of American Survey Research Organizations, the Advertising Research Foundation, The Institute for International Research and the Center for Business Intelligence. He has also published thought leading articles and has been widely quoted in all of the pharmaceutical industry leading trade publications, including Pharmaceutical Executive, Medical Marketing and Media and DTC Magazine. He is also one of the founders and Past President of the Interactive Marketing Research Organization.

He holds a degree in Marketing from Georgetown University, and began his career at Saatchi and Saatchi Compton Advertising where he worked on several prominent accounts.

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