News notes
Wilton, Conn., research firm Greenfield Online, Inc. announced a major cost-cutting initiative in December which it estimates will save it approximately $7 million of projected annual operating costs compared with its third-quarter 2005 annualized operating expense run rate.
The company has reduced annual salary and benefits costs by $2.8 million. Total North American staffing has been reduced by 39 positions. In 2006, offices in San Francisco and Durham, N.C., will be closed. The Encino, Calif., office will be reduced or moved to a smaller local facility. Reductions of general and administrative expenses will total $3.2 million, including an expected reduction of public company expenses of $1.5 million. Cost of goods sold will be reduced by $1 million.
In the fourth quarter of 2005, the company expected to record a charge of approximately $400,000 for severance and expenses related to the reduction in force.
In 2006, the company expects to record an additional restructuring charge of between $400,000 and $700,000 related to office closings and relocations described above, as well as certain final personnel charges related to the current reduction in force.
“It is absolutely essential that we rightsize,” said Albert Angrisani, the firm’s president and CEO, in a company statement. “Also, it is absolutely essential that we rightsize in the right way. In broad terms, we have three imperatives: one, eliminate costs that bring little or no value to our customers; two, identify areas that can bring major benefits to customers; and three, invest in the people that can best deliver these benefits. We have simple but ironclad guidelines for the first task. Wherever a cost does not contribute to our business, wherever the elimination of that cost does not reduce the quality of our services, we will eliminate it, period.”
Netherlands-based VNU announced in December that the European Commission has closed its investigation into the contracting and pricing practices of VNU subsidiary ACNielsen. ACNielsen competitor Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) had complained to the Commission, triggering the investigation last March. After review of IRI’s complaint and conducting its own inquiry, the Commission terminated its investigation, having found no evidence of any wrongdoing.
Acquisitions/transactions
Milwaukee-based Market Probe has acquired the Research Base FZ-LLC, an independent research firm based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Abu Samuel, president of the Research Base, will stay on to manage the operation. The firm will be known as Market Probe-Middle East.
Research International, London, has acquired the majority of shares in its joint venture partner South China Market Research (SCMR). The agency becomes the holding company for SCMR, which has been trading as Research International since 1997. The current management team remains in place.
London-based research firm Kantar has acquired U.K. research firm Retail Marketing Services.
London media and research firm Aegis Group plc has acquired the Scandinavian full-service market research group Univero, the holding company for MMI Univero (Norway), TEMO Univero and LUI Univero (Sweden), Vilstrup Univero (Denmark) and Fieldwork Scandinavia.
Separately, Aegis has also acquired Roland Berger Market Research, the custom market research subsidiary of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. Roland Berger Market Research has offices in Munich and Hamburg and employs a staff of 35. Roland Berger Market Research will be integrated with Synovate’s existing operations in Germany under the leadership of Harald Hasselmann, current managing director of Roland Berger Market Research. He will split his time between Synovate’s Wiesbaden and Munich offices. Martin Wegner, currently managing director of Synovate Germany, will retire from his country management role but take up a new consultancy role for Synovate in Western Europe after a short handover period.
Innovative Concepts Market Research, Carle Place, N.Y., has acquired A La Carte Research, Syosset, N.Y. As a result of the acquisition, the name A La Carte Research is being retired.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
The International Mystery Shopping Alliance has added Mexico-based Big K Mystery Shopping as a member company.
New York-based Nielsen Media Research and Telemundo Communications Group, Inc., Hialeah, Fla., have entered an agreement to include Telemundo in Nielsen’s National Television Index (NTI). Prior to this announcement, the Telemundo network only subscribed to Nielsen’s National Hispanic Television Index (NHTI), which measures only Hispanic audiences. Telemundo will maintain its current subscription to NHTI until September 2007, when the National People Meter (NPM) sample, upon which NTI is based, will become the sole sample for both English-language and Spanish-language media. The NPM sample is comprised of approximately 10,000 households.
Association/organization news
The U.K.’s Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Market Research Association (BMRA) jointly announced their unanimous support for proposals to integrate BMRA services into the MRS beginning in April 2006. Talks have been going on over two years, and specific plans were developed in the recent months by discussion teams representing the two associations. The proposed integration is scheduled to be put to a vote of the BMRA membership early in 2006.
The American Translators Association has named Jiri Stejskal president-elect for a two-year term. Stejskal is founder and president of CETRA, Inc., an Elkins Park, Pa.-based translation firm. He will serve as president-elect from 2005 to 2007 and as the association’s president from 2007 to 2009.
Awards/rankings
Ron Kolessar, vice president, technology, Arbitron Inc., New York, is the recipient of the Research Business Report High-Impact Market Research Project Award for 2005. The award recognizes the market research project that most positively affects industry progress and business viability. “Day by day we move closer and closer to what has been called the Holy Grail of market research: single-source data collection. Arbitron’s Portable People Meter is poised to accomplish that goal,” said Robert Lederer, editor and publisher of the Research Business Report, in a press release. “Ron Kolessar has led the development of PPM from the start. This year, when considering all the initiatives propelling the industry forward into new positive directions, there simply was no more fitting recipient for this honor than Mr. Kolessar and the PPM.”
For the second year in a row, U.K. research firm Nunwood has won Marketing magazine’s Market Research Agency of the Year 2005.
New accounts/projects
Norway-based research software maker Future Information Research Management (FIRM) has signed an agreement to provide its Confirmit Survey and Panel Platform to Carbonview Research Inc., Jupiter, Fla. Carbonview plans to utilize and integrate Confirmit across Internet-based, telephone and personal interviewing research methodologies.
Separately, FIRM announced that ACNielsen, New York, has renewed its licensing of Confirmit.
Salem Communications, a Camarillo, Calif.-based radio broadcasting firm, has selected Scarborough Research, New York, for local and national consumer research.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Decision Insight has moved to 1000 Walnut, Suite 1500, Kansas City, Mo., 64106. Phone and fax numbers remain the same.
Dallas research firm Mobile Memoir has changed its name to Kinesis Survey Technologies.