Zoë Friend Tapped To Lead Consumer Insights Team At NBCUniversal

NBCUniversal has named Zoë Friend as Executive Vice President of Consumer Insights, under the company’s evolving Decision Sciences division.

Friend will report to EVP & Chief Data Officer Will Gonzalez, who was promoted in January to oversee the newly integrated research and decision sciences teams across television and streaming.

In her role, Friend will lead a team to deliver consumer insights that will help guide key business decisions, shape stakeholder understanding of the consumer landscape, and partner with leadership to evolve strategies across the group’s television and streaming platforms.  

“Zoë is one of the most respected executives in our field, with a wealth of experience in consumer insights that will help us establish a holistic view of the customer across our portfolio,” Gonzalez said. “Her expertise and innovative approach to utilizing advanced analytics and consumer feedback will ensure that we’re delivering the best experiences to our customers across platforms. We’re excited about the direction of our group and can’t wait to welcome Zoë to the team.” 

Before joining NBCUniversal, Friend served as Head of Custom Research at MarketCast. She led the research practice across all business segments, including entertainment, social media, tech, gaming, lifestyle brands, youth, identity and marketing sciences before moving into a role leading the Content Insights group, guiding content development of film and series for numerous streaming clients.

Prior to this, Friend held the role of VP, Consumer Insights at Netflix, where she grew and cultivated the streamer’s content and marketing research team. As part of senior leadership, Friend was responsible for consumer research that helped inform Netflix’s multibillion-dollar budget for original series and movies.  Friend was also previously the SVP of Research and Strategy for Paramount following a tenure as Managing Director of movie research agency First Movies.