The department, called 2CV Analytics, has been created to address complex business issues and support the agency's growing client base within the media, entertainment and technology sectors.
2CV claims the division will add value to ongoing and ad hoc studies by searching data for hidden relationships that explain sales trends and peaks, for example, or explain consumer behaviour and attitudes.
Lane's main focus will be to link attitudinal data to subsequent purchase behaviours. The department will also specialise in marketing and advertising return on investment, customer satisfaction and loyalty measurement, segmentation and forecasting.
2CV Analytics will be integrated with the quantitative department and work with clients including ITV, News International, Electronic Arts and Nokia.
Doug Edmonds, head of numbers at 2CV, said: "Analytics is all about maximising the value of the data we collect, which, of course, is increasingly important to our clients as research and consumer insight become more valuable in the current economic climate.
"Simon Lane's appointment and the start of 2CV Analytics means that we can add further value to client studies as we make data work harder and go further."
Lane said: "All too often the data from a quantitative research project that originates from the painstaking interviews of hundreds of people is reduced to a mean or a Top2Box score.
"With a little extra work, and judicious deployment of the right method, the same data can reveal much more information. 2CV Analytics is all about identifying hidden patterns in the data, turning these into commercially meaningful recommendations, and giving our clients a competitive edge in their markets."