News notes
London management firm KPMG and Imperial College Business School, London, have partnered to create the KPMG Centre for Advanced Business Analytics, which will involve a joint team working on 15 to 20 annual projects over an eight-year span. The goal is to help retailers better understand and predict consumer behavior by developing new approaches, analytical methods and tools to analyze big data.
Germany-based GfK Group has announced its fourth annual Next Generation Competition, encouraging undergraduate students to explore what constitutes brand success in the modern world of digital and targeted marketing. For the first time, entrants will be able to use the GfK MRI’s University Reporter database. Contestants must submit a proposal for their research project by October 24; the winning team receives a trip to GfK North American headquarters and a $1,000 prize.
Facebook launched its Internet.org initiative in Zambia with an Android and Web app designed to provide free data access to Facebook, Messenger, Wikipedia and Google Search for the developing-world populations. Local carrier Airtel is partnering to provide free Web access. The app will be available in a stand-alone version, in the Facebook for Android app or as a mobile Web site which can be accessed by feature phones popular in Zambia. The Internet.org initiative also aims to increase awareness among Zambians of why the Internet is useful and might be worth paying for.
Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble will sell, discontinue or otherwise eliminate as many as 100 brands in the next two years. The move is aimed at cutting costs and allowing the firm to focus on its most important product lines, approximately 70 to 80 brands, in four main sectors: household products, paper goods, beauty and grooming. The company agreed to sell most of its pet food operations earlier this year.
NetScout Systems, a Westford, Mass., technology firm, has filed a lawsuit against New York technology company Gartner, alleging that that Gartner gave companies which purchased its services more favorable rankings in the Gartner Magic Quadrant research reports. NetScout claimed that Gartner’s reports have damaged its reputation and caused it to lose business. Gartner officials said the complaint was without merit.
Google announced that, starting in late September, it would automatically include all close variants to keywords selected by advertisers in Google AdWords. This means Google will include keywords and phrases similar to the original keyword, including plural or misspelled variations. Formerly, advertisers had the option of specifying that queries had to match the keyword exactly.
Acquisitions/transactions
Hackensack, N.J., technology firm Innodata has acquired MediaMiser, an Ottawa, Ontario, software company.
IHS, an Englewood, Colo., researcher, has acquired Global Trade Information Services, Columbia, S.C.
Reston, Va., research company comScore has acquired MdotLabs, a Madison, Wis., Internet company. ComScore will integrate the MdotLab technology with the current comScore non-human traffic detection methods in Media Metrix and validated campaign essentials products.
Palantir Technologies, a San Francisco software firm, has acquired New York Internet company Poptip.
Chicago-based investors Lake Capital acquired London marketing firm Engine in a deal totaling about £100 million. Engine will partner with New York researcher ORC International and later with Hollywood, Calif., marketing firm Trailer Park, another Lake Capital company. Terry Graunke will join Engine’s board as executive chairman and Engine cofounder Peter Scott will become vice chairman and head of global strategy.
SurveyMonkey, Palo Alto, Calif., has acquired Fluidware, an Ottawa, Canada, software company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Technology company FoneWorx has bought a 35 percent share in BMi Research. Both are Johannesburg, South Africa, firms.
Memphis, Tenn., Internet firm Rocket Fuel Inc. has reached an agreement to acquire [x+1], a New York marketing firm, in a deal of cash and stock valued at about $230 million. Rocket Fuel also reported second quarter revenue of $92.6 million.
Empirix, a Bedford, Mass., researcher, has acquired Dublin, Ireland-based Verios Software & Systems.
Mystery Researchers, Atlanta, has acquired Insula Research of Columbus, Ohio.
Sizmek has acquired fellow New York marketing firm Aerify Media in a cash deal of $6.25 million.
Haarlem, the Netherlands, research firm iQU has agreed to purchase HoneyTracks, a Munich, Germany, software company for an undisclosed sum.
IgnitionOne has acquired fellow New York marketing company Human Demand.
London research company dunnhumby has acquired a 50 percent stake in Sandtable, a London technology firm. The two companies will develop a joint venture in consumer behavior prediction.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Tumblr, New York, has partnered with Ditto Labs, a Cambridge, Mass., software firm, providing Ditto Labs with full access to the public feed of Tumblr photos, estimated at 130 million per day. The Ditto Labs software is designed to scan the photos to harvest information on how consumers use and perceive products by identifying logos and items in Tumblr pictures.
London marketing firm Mindshare is partnering with Crayon Data, a Singapore software company, to use its software systems in adaptive marketing, consumer profiling, segmentation, targeting and tracking across a range of media.
Wyndham Rewards, the Wyndham hotel loyalty program, has partnered with the e-Rewards Opinion Panel of Research Now, Plano, Texas, enabling its members to earn reward points by completing online surveys. Separately, Research Now has signed an agreement to partner with the Greyhound bus company to allow Greyhound customers to join the e-Rewards Opinion Panel.
Toronto research company Ipsos Reid has partnered with the Canadian Sporting Goods Association to track trends in the industry, using proprietary consumer surveys. Ipsos Reid will also produce in-depth, specialized reports for members.
Rotterdam, the Netherlands, research agency Skim is partnering with the non-profit European Pricing Platform (EPP), West-Flanders, Belgium, to provide strategic pricing research and guidance to EPP members.
Montreal marketing firm Aimia and Fractal Analytics, a San Mateo, Calif., analytics company, have formed a long-term partnership. Aimia will incorporate Fractal’s predictive analytic software into its loyalty programs and will extend its expertise in loyalty management to Fractal clients. Aimia also made a minority equity investment in Fractal.
London researcher TNS has partnered with Palo Alto, Calif., software firm Medallia and will join its customer experience flagship product TRI*M with Medallia’s real-time customer feedback platform.
Cincinnati-based Nielsen Catalina Solutions (NCS), which links advertising with Nielsen TV data, is partnering with FourthWall Media. The partnership is designed to provide NCS with access to FourthWall’s new cable households and allow NCS to expand its single-source panel for CPG marketers.
Awards/rankings
Customers of 116 market researchers responding to an annual survey ranked Research Now, Plano, Texas, first in five dimensions among 13 online sample providers. This is the first time one company ranked first in all five areas.
New accounts/projects
Portland, Ore., research company Rentrak, has signed a deal to provide local market television ratings to Cooper-Smith Advertising, Toledo, Ohio. Separately, Rentrak has signed a multi-year agreement with KNBC, Los Angeles, KXAS, Dallas-Fort Worth, and WTVJ, Miami-Fort Lauderdale. All are NBC-owned television stations. Also, Palo Alto, Calif., broadcaster Willow TV has contracted with Rentrak to measure the television and video audiences of Willow’s live cricket matches.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Tim Glowa and Garry Spinks have launched Bug Insights, a marketing analytics firm, in Houston and Atlanta.
In Cold Spring, Ky., Sarah Faulkner has launched research firm Faulkner Strategic Consulting.
London management firm the Futures Company has opened an office in Shanghai which will be led by Kunal Sinha.
Cint, a Stockholm software firm, has relocated its Japanese office to a larger facility in Nishi-Shinjuku and hired Arianne Dumayas as project and customer support manager.
Researcher Mizzouri has opened its new headquarters in Franklin, Tenn.
Trevor Testwuide and Alison Lohse have launched Conversion Logic, a Santa Monica, Calif., company specializing in cross-platform video measurement.
Steve Murphy and Yazid Jamian have launched a new agency, Green Zebras, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Research company earnings/financial news
Simon-Kucher and Partners, Bonn, Germany, reported first-half revenue growth of 14 percent to EUR 82.5 million. 2013 revenue was £125 million.
Forrester Research, Cambridge, Mass., has reported second-quarter revenue of $82.9 million, up 5 percent from $79.0 million in the previous 12-month period.
Join the Dots, a Wexford, Ireland, online marketing firm, reported revenue growth of 16 percent in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2013.
New York technology company Gartner has reported second-quarter revenue of $519.8 million, up 17 percent, with second-quarter revenue in the research division up 15 percent to $358.5 million.
London consulting firm Nunwood reported first-half 2014 sales of £5.3 million, up 23 percent from the same period in 2013.
Lincoln, Neb.-based National Research Corporation reported income for the second quarter of 2014, with revenue up 7 percent to $24.0 million and net income up 18 percent to $4.1 million.
Portland, Ore., research company Rentrak announced financial results for the 2014 second quarter, with total revenue increasing 34 percent to $22.3 million. The firm’s TV Everywhere division had an increase of 84 percent in income to $10.5 million.
Study Hall Research, Tampa, Fla., reported second-quarter 2014 revenues had increased 10.7 percent compared to the same period in 2013.
Germany-based GfK reported a sales decrease of 1.6 percent, which currency effects increased to 4.2 percent, for the first half of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.
Palo Alto, Calif., software company Infer announced a 150 percent increase in its customer base over the past quarter.
YuMe, a Redwood City, Calif., marketing firm, announced revenue of $40.4 million for the second quarter of 2014, an increase of 18 percent over the same period in 2013.