Warner Bros. Pictures has named former Google marketing executive Andrew Hotz as executive vice president of worldwide digital marketing as it seeks to strengthen its in-house expertise.

In his new role Hotz will tasked with providing oversight of Warner Bros. digital divisions, liaising with the broader marketing team in order to devise campaigns in support of new releases. He will report directly to JP Richards, executive vice president of worldwide marketing and chief data strategist.

Richards said: "Digital marketing provides us new opportunities to reach audiences in sophisticated ways at scale. With our strategic partnerships, technology and data, Warner Bros. can reach and interact with entertainment consumers like never before.

"Andrew has an incredible background in digital marketing, and we’ll look to him to help us refine and further our digital campaigns, realizing the full potential of our marketing organization as well as the world-class films we market."

In his previous life Hotz served as head of industry at Google, a role that saw him consult with NBC Universal on its own digital marketing work.