News notes

Effective January 6th, the businesses which comprise the Aegis Group plc research network rebranded as Synovate. Among the companies renamed as Synovate are: Market Facts and its subsidiaries in the Americas; Asia Market Intelligence and Research Fact in Asia; Demoscopie, INNER Strategic Market Research, Market&More, MEMRB Custom Research Worldwide, Pegram Walters, and the Sample Surveys Research Group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Chicago-based Information Resources, Inc. announced in December that it will eliminate about 5 percent of its workforce in the U.S. and Europe. These workforce reductions will occur through layoffs and the elimination of open positions. The company will record a pre-tax charge of $7.8 million or $5.3 million net of tax, in its fiscal fourth quarter for severance and other costs related to the layoffs. Factoring in the impact of these charges on the fourth quarter and full year, IRI will not achieve previously announced 2002 earnings target.

"These actions will allow us to reduce costs associated with our Retail Tracking business in both the United States and Europe and to increase investment for various growth opportunities including expanded channel coverage, Panel and Analytics and the company’s health care initiative," says Joe Durrett, Chairman and CEO. "Over the past three years IR! has worked hard to improve productivity and we are running our business today with significantly fewer people than we were three years ago. Our ability to take further reductions reflects the process and efficiency improvements our organization continues to make and it should help 2003 and beyond."

IRI also announced that Procter & Gamble would not be renewing its U.S. market measurement business with the company. The current contract expires in July 2003. Concurrently, Procter & Gamble announced it would purchase U.S. market share data from ACNielsen effective July 1, 2003. Financial details were not disclosed.

Alliances/strategic/partnerships

WebSurveyResearch and Ipsos North America will work together to deliver online surveys to assess
marketing research information from physicians and other health care pro- fessionals. Under the terms of the letter of intent, Ipsos will have immediate access to WebSurveyResearch’s physician panel for performing marketing research. Ipsos North America will perform the questionnaire design and analysis of data.

Association/organization news

The Association for Qualitative Research (AQR) has announced Luigi Toiati as the first winner of the Prosper Riley-Smith Effectiveness Award. Toiati, chairman of Focus Research, received the award for his development of Tao collages, a new qualitative research technique based on Eastern philosophies. The Prosper Riley-Smith award was established by the AQR in 2002 in memory of its former chairman to encourage fresh thinking and stretch the boundaries of the qualitative profession.

Britain’s Market Research Society (MRS) has issued new draft guidelines on the use of observational research. Aimed primarily at market and social researchers, the guidelines are intended to provide practical information on al! aspects of observational techniques with a particular focus on the legal and ethical frame-. works.

The new guidelines cover a range of topics, including the increasing use of video technology to collect observation data and the ethical issues relating to ethnographic research. The guidelines expand on the requirements of Britain’s Data Protection Act 1998 and the legal parameters of the Office of the Information Commissioners CCTV Code of Practice, as well as reinforcing the key principles of the MRS’ Code of Practice.

"For many years, observation techniques have been used as a key data source, especially in qualitative studies," says Jan Chandler, managing director, Context Research. "Recently, advances in video technology have created new opportunities for observational research. However, alongside these developmerits, the legal and ethical frameworks which govern observational research have become more complex." Copies of the new guidelines are available at www.mrs.org.uk.

Separately, the MRS has formed the Ethnic Researchers Network, the aim of which is to broaden the understanding of ethnic research in the U.K. and promote expertise in this field. The group has some 30 members who will meet regularly to share information, promote best practices and tackle current issues faced by those conducting ethnic research. This information will be disseminated to the wider market research community via the MRS Web site. The group will be chaired by Anjul Sharma, associate director at TRBI, with Karen Roberts from Connect Research and Mintel’s-Elvira Doghem-Rashid acting as vice chairs.

The European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR) has elected the members of its 2003-2004 council, adding Jacqueline Aglietta, Ann Margreth Hellberg, Siegfried Hfgl, Clara Origlia, Adam Phillips and Frits Spangenberg. Thus the full composition of the ESOMAR council will be: president: Fredrik Nauckhoff (Switzerland), vice president: Josh Ignacio Wert (Spain) and council members: Jacqueline Aglietta (France), Gunilla Broadbent (U.S.), Ann Margreth Hellberg (Sweden), Siegfried Högl (Germany), Clara Origlia (Italy), Eugênia Paesani (Brazil), Adam Phillips (U.K.) and Frits Spangenberg (the Netherlands). ESOMAR President John Kelly will remain on the council in an ex-officio capacity for the two-year term of the new council. ESOMAR members also voted to approve all the proposed amendments to the statutes that were put forward in a postal referendum.

Awards

San Francisco research firm Socratic Technologies announced that its project analyzing the Web site of Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital won first place in the 2002 EXPLOR Awards. EXPLOR stands for "exemplary performance and leadership in online research" and is presented annually by American Marketing Association. The EXPLOR program recognizes best practices in online research, and the award is based on four main evaluation criteria: organizational relevance, technical execution, creativity, and innovation.

A panel of judges drawn from the research industry, client-side fwms and academia selected winners from a field of 16 case studies submitted for the 2002 competition. The winning project, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Nor(hwestern Memorial Web site, combined qualitative usability research with an online quantitative usability methodology. Both phases were conducted by Socratic’s User Experience Group, and used the Socratic Site Diagnostic (SSD) Internet software application.

Ipsos UK was named market research agency of the year by U.K.-based Marketing magazine. Herndon, Va.-based online survey provider WebSurveyor Corporation has been selected as a finalist for the Software & Information Industry Association’s 18th annual Codie Awards for Best Software Service.

New accounts/projects

Austin, Texas-based Web survey provider Inquisite joined with the Austin Clean Energy (ACE) Initiative to help make Central Texas an economic center for the nation’s clean energy industry. Using Inquisite’s automated survey software, the ACE Initiative surveyed clean-energyrelated enterprises across the United States during the fall of 2002 for a report on the state of the industry.

U.K.-based BMRB Social Research has been commissioned to study the implementation of the U.K. Disability Discrimination Act among employers and service providers. BMRB will work in partnership with the Centre for Research in Social Policy, at Loughborough University, on behalf of the Dept for Work and Pensions.

New companies/new divisions/relocations

Los Angeles-based Datassential Research and its Menus.com subsidiary have opened an office in Chicago. The new office will focus on food and foodservice-related research.

New York-based Data Development Corporation has opened a Chicago office at 4320 Winfield Rd., Suite 200, Warrenville, Ill., 60555. The office will be headed by Michele Wojtyna, who has been named a senior vice president.

U.K.-based Leapfrog Research and Planning has opened two new divisions: Leapfrog by Numbers, which will serve as the firm’s quantitative arm; and Leapfrog Further, which will handle international research duties.

Doyle Research Associates has moved to 400 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 800, Chicago, Ill., 60611-4148.

Company earnings reports

Netherlands-based VNU announced that, based on current information on second-half developments, it expects an increase of approximately 5 percent in its 2002 cash earnings per share - earnings per share before goodwill charges and extraordinary items - compared with 2001. In its 2002 half-yearly report, released in August, the company forecasted an increase of approximately 3 percent, assuming a USD/EUR parity in the second half of 2002.

A comparison with pro forma 2001 cash earnings per share at constant currencies provides a better insight into the underlying trends of the existing portfolio of activities. Excluding the Consumer Information and Educational Information groups, which were ’divested last year, and including ACNielsen on a full-year basis (ACNielsen was acquired in February 2001), 2001 pro forma cash earnings per share were EUR 1.67 as disclosed in the 2001 annual report.

Compared with this figure, the company expects its 2002 cash earnings per share to increase by approximately 13 percent, on a constant U.S. dollar exchange rate. In 2002, the average USD/EUR rate is expected to be 1.06, compared with a 2001 average rate of 1.12.

For the full year, the Marketing Information group is expected to show pro forma organic net revenue growth in line with the growth rate of 5 percent in the first half of 2002. Also operating income is expected to advance substantially and full-year operating margin is expected to increase by approximately 1 percent operating margin. ACNielsen, which accounts for the bulk of the Marketing Information activities, is expected to deliver full-year growth in line with the strong performance it delivered in the first half of 2002, when it posted pro forma organic net revenue growth of around 7 percent.

In the Media Measurement & Information group, pro forma organic net revenue growth for the full year is expected to be somewhat lower than the growth achieved in the first half of 2002. However, the group is expected to deliver substantial growth in operating income, especially because of continued strong operating performance at Nielsen Media Research in the United States. The full-year operating margin of this group is expected to increase by approximately 1 percent. Nielsen Media Research in the United States expects organic net revenues to increase by approximately 9 percent for the full year. As previously indicated, NetRatings, in which VNU has a majority interest of 65 percent, is expected to reduce its operating loss substantially in the second half of 2002.

The company expects a substantial improvement in its credit statistics for 2002. Net debt is expected to be in the range of EUR 3.7 to EU-R 3.8 billion, versus EUR 4.2 billion at year-end 2001.

During the second half of 2002, VNU made a final arrangement on the divestiture of the Consumer Information group with SanomaWSOY regarding the closing balance sheet per the transaction date (September 30, 2001). This led to a cash outflow of EUR 12 million, which had been provided for in 2001 and therefore has no impact on the consolidated statement of earnings in 2002.