News notes
Plano, Texas, company Research Now SSI has resumed call center operations in Davao, Philippines, after the company suspended operations there in December following the NCCC Mall fire that killed 37 of its employees. The company has leased space for a new facility, which will initially accommodate about 300 telephone interviewers in addition to administrative staff. Employees who were active at the time of the fire will be offered employment and former employees will have the opportunity to be reinstated and retrained. The company will also give employment priority to qualified family members of those who died in the fire.
CIRQ, an ISO audit and certification body and subsidiary of the Insights Association, has awarded certification to Copley Focus Centers and National Field and Focus, qualitative research operations located in Boston and Framingham, Mass., respectively, for compliance to the ISO 20252 – Market, Opinion and Social Research Standard. ISO 20252 establishes globally-recognized terms, definitions and service requirements for project management in research organizations.
ITWP, the parent holding company of research companies Toluna and Harris Interactive, has announced new members of the Insights on Demand Consortium, an industry-wide group established for the market research industry. The newest members to join during Q2 2018 include Audible, Dyson, Hill Holiday and Schroder’s.
Boston-based consumer insights firm Crimson Hexagon has been reinstated by Facebook following an investigation into its data security. Facebook suspended Crimson Hexagon while it investigated the company’s contracts with the U.S. government and whether they violated Facebook’s policies. In a blog post by Crimson Hexagon CFO Dan Shore, he said to the company’s knowledge, no government customer has used the company’s platform for surveillance of individuals or groups.
The KMR internship program at Karchner Marketing Research is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. The company offers internships in the spring, summer and fall.
Acquisitions/transactions
Market research firms Market Strategies International and Morpace have announced they are combining into one firm as part of an acquisition of both companies by private equity firm STG. The two companies will be fully integrated and co-located under a new brand to be announced later in 2018 and will remain headquartered in Michigan.
New York-based investment management firm Elliott Management, which owns an 8.4 percent stake in New York research company Nielsen, has urged Nielsen to sell itself. People familiar with the matter said multiple private equity firms have expressed interest in Nielsen and Elliott Management could be one of the bidders. Nielsen announced in July that CEO Mitch Barns will retire at the end of 2018 and that its board of directors would be conducting an in-depth strategic review of its buy segment, which provided nearly half of its revenue last year.
London-based brand research agency The Nursery Research and Planning has acquired research consultancy Arkenford for an undisclosed amount.
The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. has made a deal to purchase the Acxiom Marketing Solutions (AMS) business from Little Rock, Ark., database marketing company Acxiom Corporation for $2.3 billion. The deal has received approval from the board of directors of both companies and is subject to Acxiom shareholders’ approval and other customary regulatory approvals. On completion, Dennis Self and Rick Erwin will continue to serve as the co-presidents of AMS. The proposed deal does not include the LiveRamp business of Acxiom, which was acquired in 2014. The buyout is expected to close by the end of 2018.
Paris-based researcher IFOP has acquired sociological consumer behavior company SOCIOVISION.
Cambridge, Mass., company Forrester Research has acquired FeedbackNow and GlimpzIt. FeedbackNow is a maker of physical buttons and monitoring software for companies to measure, analyze and improve customer experience. GlimpzIt is an artificial intelligence and machine learning provider based in San Francisco. Through the acquisitions, Forrester plans to build a real-time CX Cloud, integrating a range of inputs to help companies monitor and improve experience.
S4 Capital, Martin Sorrell’s new venture, has acquired Netherlands-based digital agency MediaMonks for approximately €300 million ($352 million), topping a rival bid from advertising agency WPP. Sorrell resigned as CEO of WPP in April following an investigation into allegations of misconduct.
Radius Global Market Research, based in New York, has merged with Illumination Research, expanding the combined firm’s qualitative and quantitative research offerings. Illumination Research will maintain its brand name and headquarters in Mason, Ohio, and Founders Jeff Bass and Karri Bass will serve as directors at Radius. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
U.K. research agency MMR has acquired creative video agency Ideal insight. Ideal Insight will continue to focus on growing clients across different sectors like education, health care and retail while developing a storytelling toolkit in the research arena.
Publicis Health, part of communications company Publicis Groupe, has acquired Morristown, N.J., health marketing agency Payer Sciences.
Online beauty and wellbeing company The Hut Group (THG) has acquired language translation and localization services company Language Connect. Language Connect will be added to THG’s proprietary technology platform, THG Ingenuity.
Paris-based research company Ipsos has agreed to acquire four global divisions of Nuremberg, Germany, firm GfK’s custom research business – customer experience, experience innovation, health and public affairs – for an enterprise value of €105 million. Nearly 1,000 GfK professionals will join Ipsos in 25 countries at the closing of the transaction, which was expected on or around Sept. 30.
WPP Scangroup, a subsidiary of WPP based in Nairobi, Kenya, has acquired a majority stake in Research and Marketing Group Investment Limited, a research agency that operates Kantar TNS in several African countries. Kantar TNS will become a subsidiary of WPP Scangroup, which provides market research services through Kantar Millward Brown. The acquisition will allow WPP Scangroup to align Kantar TNS and Kantar Millward Brown to enhance services for clients and increase operational efficiency.
Short Hills, N.J., data, analytics and insights firm Dun & Bradstreet has entered into a merger agreement to be acquired by an investor group in a transaction valued at $6.9 billion. Thomas Manning will lead the company as chief executive officer through the closing of the transaction and James Fernandez, lead director, will serve as chairman of the board. The transaction is expected to close within six months, subject to Dun & Bradstreet shareholder approval, regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions.
Plano, Texas, firm Research Now SSI has acquired Amsterdam-based digital media measurement company DMA-Institute, expanding its capabilities in cross-device digital audience verification and validation. Research Now SSI’s collection of data from opted-in individuals will be combined with DMA-Institute’s audience validation SaaS solution to provide a solution for brands, advertising and media agencies, market research agencies and publishers.
Hoboken, N.J., software solutions firm NICE has completed its acquisition of behavioral analytics firm Mattersight Corporation. Mattersight’s predictive behavioral routing will be integrated with NICE Nexidia’s interaction analytics to provide organizations with a combined understanding of the customer journey with a view of the customer persona.
A consortium led by Air Canada has agreed to acquire the Aeroplan loyalty business of marketing and loyalty analytics company Aimia. The consortium also includes The Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Visa Canada Corporation.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Stockholm-based research firm Nepa has formed a partnership with Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. Through the partnership, Nepa’s consumer science platform will include information from Snapchat to help determine the impact of marketing investments on sales and brand. Snap will provide resources and training sessions to help Nepa’s consumer scientists understand its product and data sets and will also provide access to data streams to monitor the impact of Snap ads at the market level. Nepa will be able to integrate granular product-level metrics like filter usage, lens and Snapcodes into marketing mix modeling projects.
Google has named Reston, Va., firm comScore to its Measurement Partner Program, which is designed to help advertisers source third-party measurement providers. The program aims to improve transparency and objectivity of measurement standards. ComScore has been selected as a third-party measurement partner in two categories: reach and viewability.
Toronto-based research firm Quantability has formed a partnership with True Impact, a consumer neuroscience research and strategy group that focuses on emotion measurement using neural and biometric technology. The partnership will expand the list of custom research solutions offered by Quantability and will provide advertisers and marketers with scientific approaches to consumer data collection and interpretation.
Plano, Texas, firm Research Now SSI has been named a partner in Google’s new Measurement Partner Program. The program aims to deliver a choice of measurement options across seven specializations: viewability, reach, brand safety, brand lift, sales lift, app attribution and marketing mix modeling. Research Now SSI’s ADimension solution is approved specifically for measuring digital brand lift ad effectiveness on Google’s YouTube marketing platform.
Costa Mesa, Calif., researcher J.D. Power has formed an alliance with connected technologies company HARMAN. HARMAN Ignite, an automotive cloud solution that provides a view into driver usage patterns, will be combined with J.D. Power consumer data to provide functional-level insights into how consumers interact with automotive systems and what they want from the in-car experience.
U.K. video insights firm LivingLens has formed a partnership with voice of the customer (VOC) company Maru/edr. The partnership provides Maru/edr customers with video data capture and analysis capabilities to use for a range of VOC programs. Through the integration, feedback from video responses is combined with Maru/edr survey data and other information to provide insight into customer experiences.
UX insights company UserZoom, San Jose, Calif., has formed a partnership with Canada-based customer intelligence software firm Vision Critical. The partnership allows customers of both companies to invite members of their Vision Critical-powered community to participate in UserZoom studies.
Reston, Va., firm comScore has formed a partnership with Inscape, a San Francisco-based TV intelligence company. Inscape’s opt-in smart TV viewing data will be added to comScore’s marketing solutions, bolstering ad effectiveness studies that help clients understand the extent to which their campaigns met ROI objectives, including purchase behavior and tune-in.
Audience data firm Eyeota and data science company TwentyCi have partnered to provide audiences to brands and agencies targeting U.K. consumers at key stages of home-moving and type of home ownership. TwentyCi’s property data, which covers the entire house purchasing cycle, is integrated with Eyeota’s proprietary heuristic onboarding methodology. TwentyCi property data is activated digitally through the Eyeota Audience Marketplace and made available across various platforms for programmatic advertising campaigns.
Association/organization news
The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA), Toronto, announced that it ceased day-to-day operations effective July 31. In a message to members, the organization said its financial situation left “no other possible alternative,” citing a steady decrease of membership revenues and a “significant shortfall” following its recent annual conference. After the announcement, an interim group of more than 50 researchers formed the MRIA Transition Taskforce to represent the needs of individual researchers across Canada following the MRIA's closure. The group’s mission includes: finding and sharing answers about the state of the MRIA and communicating findings with the broader membership; creating a vision for a future organization that will meet the needs of industry participants; creating a leadership and strategic plan for transitioning to a new organization; and, if necessary, facilitating building a new organization or rebuilding MRIA.
The Insights Association, Washington, D.C., made comments to the the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for a hearing on the White House’s proposal to consolidate the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau, calling for a delay on any consolidation plans until after the 2020 Census. Separately, the Insights Association filed comments with the Census Bureau, calling for the removal of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. The association says that introducing the question without appropriate testing could introduce accuracy risks by deterring legal or illegal immigrants from responding.
The following have been elected as new board members for the Research Association New Zealand: Geoff Lowe, Karin Curran, Carl Edkins, Ian Mills and Galina Mitchelhill (returning member). They will serve with existing members Carin Hercock and Catherine Frethey-Bentham.
MFour Mobile Research, Irvine, Calif., has joined DPAA, a digital out-of-home marketing association.
Los Angeles-based nonprofit Women in Research (WIRe), in collaboration with Keen as Mustard Marketing and Koski Research, has launched the Best Places to Work Award, which aims to recognize companies that are promoting the well-being of their female employees. Separately, Women in Research announced several partnerships across the research industry as part of its 50/50 Conference Initiative. Partners include: Quirk's; Insights Association; Market Research Society; Association of Market and Social Research Organisations; Australian Market & Social Research Society; GreenBook; CX Talks; and ESOMAR. The initiative provides a set of guidelines to help industry conference organizers recruit a diverse on-stage presence and improve speaker diversity ratios at events.
The Association of Market and Social Research Organisations (AMSRO) has launched Phish of the Day, a digital platform that highlights fake or illegitimate research activities. The platform allows AMSRO members and the general public to report scams or non-genuine research activities to the association. AMSRO will investigate the reports and, depending on the severity and nature of the issue, will attempt to work with the organization to improve its operational practices to comply with relevant legislation or report it to relevant federal or state/territory regulatory or enforcement bodies. AMSRO says it can also discipline its own member companies for inappropriate research conduct, including expulsion for serious offenses.
The Southern African Marketing Research Association has made changes to its board. Alexan Carrilho has concluded her term as chairman. Taking over for Carrilho as director and treasurer is Henk Pretorius, co-founder and CEO of Columinate, who will be representing large suppliers. Kanyisa Ngqukuvana, head of market research personal and business banking at Standard Bank, has been elected to represent large clients and takes over for Sheila Akinnusi. Yolanda Jordaan, head of the Department of Marketing Management at the University of Pretoria, has been elected as the representative for academia. The new board will elect a chairman at its first meeting and fill the vacant seat as soon as possible.
Awards/rankings
Research company Kadence Singapore was awarded the Market Research Agency of the Year 2018 (Bronze). The award is organized by Marketing Magazine (Singapore) and judges agencies on four factors: performance, people, product and perspectives.
Berlin-based research company FactWorks, together with Research Now SSI, received the German Market Research Innovation Award from BVM for a quantitative study in the U.K. and Germany that examined what audio captures in online surveys can reveal compared to text open-ends. The study found more context and detailed responses with audio versus text.
Daniel Wiese, president of Dan Wiese Marketing Research in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been awarded the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by biographical profiles publisher Marquis Who’s Who.
Auckland, New Zealand, research solutions firm Infotools received two awards at the 2018 Research Association Effectiveness Awards, an initiative of the Research Association New Zealand. The company was awarded the Gold Award in the Perceptive International Category and the Innovation Award in recognition of its work with telecommunications company Orange. Together, the two companies changed Orange’s approach to market research by developing an analysis and reporting platform for global brand tracking and customer experience studies.
Stamford, Conn., research technology firm FocusVision has received the 2018 MarTech Breakthrough Award for innovation in customer experience management.
New accounts/projects
Mumbai research company MRSS India has been selected as a country partner for Associated Global Market Research, an independent network of research companies across Europe, North America, South America and Asia. Separately, Delhi International Airport (DIAL), which manages GMR’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, has renewed its contract with MRSS India. MRSS assisted DIAL in monitoring two key deliverables as per their agreement with Airport Authority of India: Airport Service Quality and Operation; and Maintenance and Development Agreement. As a part of Airport Service Quality, passenger feedback was taken across domestic and international flyers on their experience within the Delhi airport on various aspects that help GMR act on areas pertaining to facilities and amenities.
San Jose, Calif., contact center solutions company 8x8 Inc. has selected Oslo, Norway, research solutions firm Confirmit to power its online and telephone surveys within its voice of the customer program. 8x8 will replace its existing software with the Confirmit Horizons platform.
Los Angeles-based data science firm Parrot Analytics has announced a subscription agreement with CBS Studios International. The service will provide CBS Studios International with data to gauge audience demand for specific content.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Data analytics and anonymization firm Truata has announced plans to hire up to 75 personnel – mainly data analysts, data scientists and engineers – in 2018 for its newly opened headquarters in Dublin.
Atlanta-based research consulting firm CMI has created a behavioral science team consisting of strategists, researchers and data scientists who will work across all company verticals and focus on implementing its proprietary behavioral economics models, which are designed to identify, manage and disrupt habits that are used when making brand decisions.
New York-based marketing services and solutions firm MBLM has launched MBLM 3.0, the third evolution of its business. It aims to build stronger bonds between customers and brands using what the company has coined as brand intimacy.
Rakuten Research Inc. and AIP Corporation, online research companies and wholly-owned subsidiaries of Japan-based company Rakuten Inc., have changed their respective names and rebranded under a unified service name and brand logo. Effective Aug. 1, Rakuten Research, which provides services to clients in Japan, changed its name to Rakuten Insight Inc., while AIP, which provides services to clients outside of Japan, changed its name to Rakuten Insight Global Inc. Both companies will rebrand under a unified brand logo and the service name Rakuten Insight.
Dentsu Aegis Network has launched a new Middle East and North Africa office for its marketing agency Merkle. The new office will be led by Rudy Banholzer, who was the managing director of social media agency Your Social prior to its acquisition by Merkle in the EMEA region. Your Social is being rebranded as Merkle. Banholzer will be supported by Vimal Badiani, who has been promoted to commercial director.
St. Louis public relations firm FleishmanHillard has relaunched its research, analytics and measurement practice as TRUE Global Intelligence. Natasha Kennedy has been named global managing director of the practice and will work in partnership with Mike Cearley, global managing director of social and innovation, and others to provide integrated intelligence based on data gathered from social and traditional media, public polling and proprietary market research. FleishmanHillard has also formed the Global Intelligence Council, which includes insights, analytics, social and technology professionals across the network to provide integrated best practices and thinking.
Discovery Research Group (DRG) has added a new call center in Houston to its network of U.S. phone centers. Richard McCaffery and Karen Garza will oversee the new center. All DRG locations have both English- and Spanish-language capabilities and are TCPA-compliant.
Reuter Communications, an Asia-focused luxury intelligence, communications and marketing agency, has launched Reuter Intelligence, an in-house research and insights business that provides customized research and syndicated research products for luxury brands aiming to better understand China’s luxury market. Lee Folland, former research director at Kantar, will lead the business as director of research and insights.
U.K. research agency MMR has opened an office in Sao Paulo, led by Ana Almeida and Carlos Chiba.
Seattle-based UX research and design firm Blink has opened a studio location in Austin, Texas, its fourth location.
SIS International Research, New York, has launched its beauty innovation consulting division for the beauty, skin care and hair care industries. The full suite of solutions includes idea generation; product testing and validation; go-to-market strategy; and consulting.
Nonfiction Research, a company based in Brooklyn, N.Y., has launched. The company was founded by Gunny Scarfo, former head of strategy for VICE Media’s digital agency, and Ben Zeidler, former global head of CPG research at L2/Gartner. The new company aims to provide what it calls “uncensored research” and gain insight into what customers self-censor rather than reveal to researchers.
Marketing solutions company Engine Group is rebranding and restructuring, bringing its North American business units – ORC International, Deep Focus and Engine Media – under one brand as Engine. The company has also launched a new proprietary data platform, Engine Connect, which combines client data with Engine’s proprietary data and third-party data integrations to provide an understanding of how consumer belief influences behavior.
Grail Research, New York, has reorganized as an independent insights consultancy and has rebranded as Grail Insights. The company began in 2006 as the strategic research arm of Monitor Group and became part of Integreon in 2009. NewQuest Capital acquired Integreon in 2016 and recognized Grail as an independent firm. The company now has an independent executive team and separate sources of growth funding.
SIS International Research, New York, has launched a fintech strategy research and consulting division, which will provide services like market opportunity solutions, business model innovation, customer insights and competitive strategy.
The University of South Florida St. Petersburg has launched the Consumer Insight and Sales Lab at the Kate Tiedemann College of Business, allowing students to learn from and participate in professional consumer focus groups. The lab will also service clients in the Tampa Bay region and conduct its own research project: building a marketing database on Millennial preferences and habits.
Marketing agency Merkle has expanded its office in New York City, increasing capacity by 33 percent and accommodating the company’s 22 percent increase in New York-based staff since Dec. 2017. Merkle’s New York office now employs over 225 and is expected to surpass 300 by next year.
Los Angeles-based research and analytics consultancy LRW has launched LRW Digital Analytics, a new practice that provides analytics, modeling and consulting services to give clients digital-first growth strategies within the digital landscape. The LRW Digital Analytics team will provide insights tied to media analytics, digital behavior analytics and audience analytics. Heading up the practice area is Josh Verseput, senior vice president and general manager.
Data collection agency VIGA has launched a new division that aims to provide insights for financial institutions and consultancies through services like operational and commercial due diligence support; thought leadership creation; business development; voice of the customer research; market sizing exercises; demand and volume trend analysis; and flash surveys. The division is based across VIGA London and U.S. offices and will be headed up by Steven Scott, senior vice president.
Leadership development platform BetterUp will invest $15 to $20 million over the next five years in BetterUp Labs, a behavioral research lab that combines business, academia and science to fund research for companies and employees. Planned future research includes investigations into what separates flourishing employees from others, what best practices support the most productive corporate cultures and how individuals and corporations can better plan for the future. The lab will be headed by Gabriella Rosen Kellerman, the company’s chief innovation officer, and Martin E.P. Seligman will join the lab’s science board.
Consumer insights companies MarketCast, Insight Strategy Group and Fizziology have been united under a new parent company, MarketCast Group, enhancing and integrating research and analytics offerings across the three companies. MarketCast Group has also debuted a new Web site as well as new Web sites for each of its portfolio companies.
High Point, N.C., digital and branding agency Trone Brand Energy has created Trone Research + Consulting (TRC), an agency that provides research and analytics capabilities, including brand health audits, prospect and customer insights, marketing claims validation, market potential evaluation, channel needs assessment and attrition evaluation and retention optimization. TRC will be led by Scott Layne as president.
Research company ABN Impact has opened an office in Manila, Philippines, headed by Managing Director Mark Alvarez.
Research company Gongos has opened new headquarters in Royal Oak, Mich., and has launched a new Web site.
Research company earnings/financial news
London-based translation and language services firm GlobaLexicon has announced a 25 percent growth in revenue in its latest financial year. The company increased global staff numbers to 75, implemented a new integrated project management system across its offices and has opened a base in Timisoara, Romania.
Audience measurement company Verto Analytics, New York, has secured $13.4 million in growth financing. The company will use the capital to fuel continued growth in the media measurement market and boost its customer success program, its commercial account management and its Helsinki-based Verto Data Lab.
Boston-based television attention measurement company TVision Insights has secured $11.5 million in new funding, led by Accomplice and Jump Capital. The company also appointed Luke McGuinness as its first president and chief operating officer.
Paris-based researcher Ipsos has reported €786 million in revenue for the first half of 2018, down 5.7 percent compared to the same period in 2017.
London-based research company GlobalWebIndex has completed its first round of funding, raising $40 million from New York-based growth fund Stripes Group as well as other data, software and consumer technology companies. The funding will be used to accelerate product development and international expansion.
Nielsen, New York, has reported revenues of approximately $1.65 billion for the second quarter of 2018, up 0.2 percent or down 0.7 percent on a constant currency basis compared to the second quarter of 2017.
Technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group, Stamford, Conn., has reported revenues of $71 million for second-quarter 2018, a 4 percent increase compared to $68 million last year. The company reported first-half 2018 revenues of $139.9 million, up 4 percent.
U.K. consumer insight agency Join the Dots reported revenue of £6.41 million in the first six months of 2018, a 12.7 percent growth from the same period in 2017.
Alpharetta, Ga., sample provider P2Sample has reported 62 percent year-over-year revenue growth for the first half of 2018. The company says it is also on pace to achieve 10 million survey completes by the end of calendar year 2018.
Reston, Va., firm comScore reported revenue of $101.4 million for the second quarter of 2018, up from $99.4 million reported in the same period of 2017.
Los Angeles-based technology company Active Measure has rebranded as DISQO and has raised $13.5 million in a Series A financing round led by Alpha Edison along with participation from existing investor Bonfire Ventures. DISQO plans to use the capital to expand its current offerings by launching new analytic applications, developing its behavior measurement and mobile capabilities and building tools to provide a view of consumer behavior.
Investment advisory company The Stagwell Group, Washington, D.C., has secured a $260 million investment from private equity investor AlpInvest Partners. The investment will support Stagwell’s strategy of building a network of marketing and research companies.
Consumer behavior and location sciences company SITO Mobile Ltd. reported total revenue of $8.4 million for second-quarter 2018, down 22 percent compared to $10.8 million in the corresponding period of 2017. The company says the decrease in revenue was primarily due to a decrease in the average spend per customer and a decrease in lower margin TV revenue spend.