News notes
The Research Industry Index (RII) of the Washington, D.C.-based Marketing Research Association (MRA) has remained above 100 for the fifth consecutive quarter. This signals a recovery for the U.S. market research industry, according to the MRA. The RII was based on online interviews with 197 owners or senior-level managers and addressed business conditions ending with the second quarter of 2014, including projects, staffing levels and the owner’s perception as to the health of their firms.
The U.S. Census Bureau is proposing to cut seven questions from its American Community Survey, sent annually to 3.5 million residents. Five of the questions address current marital status and changes in status during the past year, the sixth asks in what field the respondent earned a degree and the last checks if there is a home-based business. Dropping the marital status questions would leave the U.S. without annual data on marriage and divorce rates. The changes must be approved by the Office of Management and Budget. Norman M. Bradburn, a University of Chicago researcher, suggested that better choices for deletion would be questions on household finances and if the facility has indoor plumbing.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), New York, advocates 70 percent as the best threshold for viewability measurement, agreeing with the Media Rating Council that 100 percent is currently unreasonable due to variation among browsers, ad units and measurement methodologies. The IAB suggested that publishers, agencies, marketers and ad tech companies work together to resolve the measurement differences. Its report, State of Viewability Transaction 2015, outlined seven proposals to promote collaboration and trust.
SurveyMonkey, Palo Alto, Calif., will join with research firm Westat, Rockville, Md., and Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C., to examine non-probability research and methods of evaluating survey quality. Each organization will contribute data and staff time, with SurveyMonkey providing access to its online panel, Westat collecting data from a nationally representative sample of adults and Pew Research using its representative American Trends Panel and national telephone surveys. The research project will examine the science leading to the adjustments and weighting in four methods of sampling: non-probability Internet-based, address-based and probability-based phone and Internet. The study will also identify which sampling methods are most appropriate for specific research objectives. Results of the project will be made publicly available.
The Irish radio industry plans to test a new audience measurement system in 2015 as a possible alternative to the current system provided by Dublin research firm Ipsos MRBI for the Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) ratings. Members of the JNLR committee have met with Ipsos MRBI regarding its mobile audience measurement system MediaCell and also with Norwegian public service broadcaster NRK regarding its people meter technology in measuring its audiences.
Portland, Ore., researcher Rentrak has been issued a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its process which determines the television shows with the most engaged viewers based on Rentrak’s Stickiness Index measurement. The Index is used in Rentrak’s TV Essentials system and its weekly reports. Separately, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Rentrak patents securing Rentrak’s intellectual property rights around Exact Commercial Ratings, which refers to the Rentrak system for rating national commercials, and for a system which detects problems with return path TV data storage.
Acquisitions/transactions
London research firm Brandwatch has acquired PeerIndex, a London firm specializing in audience analytics. The PeerIndex staff of 10 will join Brandwatch.
Question Pro, a Seattle research firm, has acquired RapidEngage, a San Diego software firm. Terms were not disclosed.
The SportsOneSource Group, research firm, Charlotte, N.C., is acquiring the VantagePoint POS data-reporting platform from the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA). It plans to provide its retail partners with free access to a revised version of VantagePoint, while current OIA members will have free access through March 2015 and subsequently by subscription.
Kantar has bought the majority interest in IBOPE Media, Sao Paulo, which includes IBOPE Pesquisa de Midia e Participacoes, IBOPE Latinoamericana and IMI.com. It also acquired the remainder of Millward Brown do Brasil. WPP had been a minority shareowner in IBOPE Media since 1997. IBOPE Media will maintain its senior management, with Orlando Lopes continuing as CEO.
JSWT New Zealand, a division of marketing group WPP, has acquired a majority stake in Wellington, New Zealand-based Heyday, which specializes in digital strategy, user experience design and app and Web site development.
Boston information and consulting services firm IHS Inc. has acquired Infonetics Research, based in San Francisco.
Paris marketing and media company Publicis Groupe has acquired Relevant24, a Boston marketing firm which specializes in multimedia branded content. The firm will operate as a standalone unit within the Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) division of Publicis, with Marc Gallucci and Lane Murphy continuing as CEO and president respectively. Gallucci will join SMG’s Global Leadership Council.
Private investment firm RLJ Equity Partners, Bethesda, Md., has acquired entertainment sector researcher MarketCast, Los Angeles.
The management of Iselin, N.J., business analytics firm Vedicsoft Solutions have bought the firm from its founders.
Portland, Ore., researcher Rentrak has completed the acquisition of WPP Kantar’s television measurement unit for 1.5 million shares of Rentrak common stock, with an approximate value of $128 million. WPP also purchased additional restricted shares of Rentrak common stock for $56 million, giving WPP an ownership stake of 16.7 percent of Rentrak stock.
Possible, a New York WPP marketing agency, has acquired Portland, Ore., research firm the Swift Collective. Terms were not disclosed.
Omnicom, a New York-based holding company, which had held 50 percent ownership in Calgary, Canada, marketing firm Critical Mass, has purchased the remaining stock of the agency. Dianne Wilkins, Critical Mass CEO, will move to New York but the firm’s headquarters and employees will remain at the Calgary site.
Next Fifteen, a U.K.-based digital communications group, has acquired a 75 percent stake in London-based brand performance researcher Morar, for up to £1.8 million in cash. Morar founders Roger Perowne and Alistair Cunningham will remain with the business.
The marketing and advertising firm Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired Tempero, a London social media management company, and is expected to make it the European arm of its social media division ICUC. The terms were not undisclosed.
Cello, a London marketing services group, has acquired San Francisco-based health care researcher Worldwide Promedica. It will become part of the Cello Health division, also based in London. The terms of the deal were an initial $700,000 in cash and up to an additional $1.8 million based on performance over the next three years. The purchase provides Cello with its first foothold on the U.S. West Coast.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
MarketResearch.com, Washington, D.C., is partnering with Trendtype, a London Research firm, to distribute Trendtype’s proprietary market analyses through the MarketResearch.com site. Separately, MarketResearch.com has partnered with DelveInsight, a New Delhi, India researcher, to distribute its market analyses through MarketResearch.com.
Moat, a New York marketing firm, and New York researcher Nielsen have reached an agreement allowing Moat to integrate Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings data into its platform.
Macromill, a Tokyo research firm, has joined with CareNet, a medical information provider also in Tokyo, to provide research services for the medical sector. The joint venture will be known as Macromill-CareNet.
Merkle, a Columbia, Md., CRM marketing firm, is partnering with Copenhagen, Denmark, software company Sitecore in a move to boost the Merkle technology and insight capabilities, allowing its clients to personalize digital experiences for their customers.
Collective, a New York marketing and advertising firm, is partnering with New York researcher Nielsen to utilize its Nielsen Catalina Solutions (NCS) data in providing marketers with ROI measurement and analysis. The move is also designed to assist Collective in identifying high-potential audiences and then using the NCS technology to buy linear TV and digital ads.
Istanbul, Turkey, research firm Barem and OPR Research, a Turkish retail panel specialist, have signed a cooperation agreement to provide mutual clients with “new generation” information services. Barem is a member of the WIN/Gallup network. OPR executive Levent Orhun joined Barem as CEO in January and Pervin Olgun, founder of Barem, will serve as president of the partnership.
Indegene, a Bangalore, India, marketing firm specializing in life science, pharmaceutical and health care organizations, has partnered with Tokyo-based pharmaceutical sales support and research services company CareNet Inc.
Krea, a Chennai, India, researcher specializing in health care fieldwork, has joined Global Market Research, an international partnership of accredited independent research companies.
CSM Media Research, Hong Kong, and London researcher Kantar Media, both divisions of WPP, have partnered with Hong Kong’s largest TV broadcaster, Now TV, to begin the area’s first cross-platform television audience measurement system that includes both in- and out-of-home.
Association/organization news
The Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO), Port Jefferson, New York, has begun a Safe Harbor Program to assist research companies in complying with the EU Directive on Data Protection and the U.S. Department of Commerce Safe harbor requirements. CASRO will also provide an online complaint-handling service through the Council of Better Business Bureaus, free for EU and Swiss residents.
The CASRO Institute for Research Quality (CIRQ), Port Jefferson, N.Y., has awarded its certification to Full Circle Research for compliance to the ISO 26362:2009 Standard for access panels in market, opinion and social research. Separately, Russell Research Inc., New York, was certified by CIRQ for compliance to the ISO 20252 Standard for Market, Opinion and Social Research.
The Association of Market and Social Research Organizations, Sydney, is the first group to have its privacy code registered by the Australian Privacy Commissioner. The body designed its own privacy code for members in 2003 and completed the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2014 in March 2014.
Awards/rankings
In London, Ipsos MORI and its client Amgen, a Los Angeles biotech company, received both the Grand Prix Award for Greatest Impact and the Healthcare Research award at the Market Research Society (MRS) awards ceremony. The MRS President’s Medal was awarded to BBC Media Action, London. Flamingo, a London marketing agency, and Nunwood, a London CEM firm, each won a Best Agency award for their respective agency size.
Singapore-based Merlien Institute, which organizes market research conferences, will sponsor a new set of seven awards to recognize individual as well as company achievements in areas of new technology, mobile technology and client-supplier collaboration. More information can be found at mrmw.net/award-categories.
TNS Research and Marketing Services, a Lagos, Nigeria, research firm, was named Marketing Research Agency of the Year at the 2014 Marketing World Awards held in Lagos.
L&E Research, a marketing and focus group facility firm in Raleigh, N.C., was named to the list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private businesses in the U.S. by Inc. magazine, appearing at 753rd in the ranking. L&E’s revenues grew 606 percent, to $4.7 million, in the past two years, the time frame used for the list.
New accounts/projects
Mediapulse, a Bern, Switzerland research firm, has extended its contract with Nuremburg, Germany-based GfK Group beyond 2017. The contract provides for GfK using its new Mediawatch platform to measure the country’s radio audiences.
Dublin consulting firm Accenture has won a seven-month contract from the Japan Tourism Agency to provide consultation in bringing tourists to Japan, part of the government’s goal to attract 20 million foreign tourists in the period prior to the 2020 Olympic Games.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
New York research firm WorldOne has rebranded as SERMO.
In Dubai, Tamara Deprez and Maha Ahmad have launched The360mix, a marketing and advertising agency.
Rotterdam, Netherland, researcher SKIM has opened an office in Singapore which will be led by Robin de Rooij.
London research company MMR has opened a new sensory science center in Singapore, headed by Antonella Scarabelli.
Cincinnati firm Directions Research Inc. has expanded its operations with the opening of an office in Greensboro, N.C., which will be headed by Betsy Sutherland.
In Redhill, U.K., Craig Scott and Martin Schlaeppi have opened Greensand, a market research firm specializing in the medical device industry.
Toronto management consulting firm GlobeScan is opening an office in Cape Town, South Africa, which will be headed by Anneke Greyling.
WHY5Research, a research firm based in Antwerp, Belgium, has opened a Mena office in Dubai, to be headed by Ahmed Sulaye.
Zenith International, a Bath, U.K. research firm, plans to open a new regional office in Dubai.
London-based researcher VoxPopMe has opened a Singapore office, with Robert Fry as managing director for Asia Pacific.
The Utah Valley University, Provo, Utah, has opened a SMARTLab as part of its Business Resource Center. The lab is equipped with advanced sensory tools including eye-tracking devices, galvanic skin response sensors and facial coding equipment. The facility also includes focus group and observations rooms. Vivint, a Provo, Utah-based consumer electronics firm, and its CEO and founder, Todd Pedersen, each contributed $1 million toward the cost of the lab. UVU students, facility and staff will work with companies in the use of the sensory tools and analysis of the data they provide and will give UVU students hands-on experience.
Research company earnings/financial news
San Francisco software firm Splunk reported its third-quarter revenue increased 48 percent to $116 million but its operating loss also increased to $45.5 million due to higher costs.
Blab, a Seattle-based social intelligence startup, has raised $8.8 million of an $11.6 million Series B round. Blab provides a predictive algorithm to help brands and agencies anticipate online consumer discussions before the topics become mainstream.
Framed Data, a San Francisco based predictive analytics startup, has raised $2 million in seed funding. The capital will be used to hire engineers with experience in distributed systems, machine learning or data visualization and to increase Framed Data’ssales team.
RealityMine, a Manchester, U.K., market research technology firm, is planning a second funding round of £1.6 million. The latest cash is earmarked for recruitment of additional technical, sales and client support staff and for further expansion.