No occupation on Madison Ave. has taken a harder hit during the recession than those who specialize in research. So it’s noteworthy when a research chief is actually hired these days.

Canoe Ventures has named Gerard Broussard to the newly created position of Vice President, Research and Analytics, the company announced.

According to the annoucement, "Broussard comes from MediaLab — a MediaEdge 2006 “Agency of the Year” — where he served as managing partner for four years and developed and implemented proprietary research to identify sales conversion sticking points for major MediaLab accounts. Before MediaLab, he served as Senior Partner, Director of Media Analytics of mOne/MindShare where he oversaw a department that provided strategic research guidance in planning/buying direct response and digital media and he orchestrated primary research surveys to gain deeper understanding of clients’ target audience and advertising effects."

He will report to Kathy Timko, the COO of Canoe.

As the release says, "Canoe Ventures, LLC is a company founded by the nation’s leading cable operators including Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems Corporation, Charter Communications, Inc., Comcast Corporation, Cox Communications Inc., and Time Warner Cable. Based in New York City, the company is focused on making cable’s advanced advertising solutions easier to buy, use and measure."