News notes
A federal judge has transferred a class-action lawsuit against Melbourne, Fla., firm Global Marketing Research Services (GMRS) from Pennsylvania to Florida, citing the time of legal action being filed and consideration of multiple interest factors. The judge ruled that the class-action, filed by Alicia Thompson of Pennsylvania against the research firm, would be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Thompson initiated legal action against GMRS in June 2015, charging it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by calling cell phone customers in Pennsylvania without first obtaining their consent while conducting their business and political survey research. GMRS motioned to transfer the case to Florida where another class-action suit was already pending against it for similar alleged violations of the TCPA. Both suits contained similar language and the same plaintiff counsel filed both actions. The other suit (Martin v. Global Marketing Research Services) was filed in August 2014 and GMRS cited the first-to-file rule in their motion to transfer.
Iselin, N.J., firm Schlesinger Associates celebrated 50 years of business in February. The company will be marking the anniversary throughout the year by giving back through its health care panel partnerships, in its local communities, by planting trees for the environment and through a market research education foundation.
U.K. firm BMG Research has been admitted as a member of the British Polling Council, an association of polling organizations.
Warren, N.J., digital data collection firm Lightspeed GMI recently celebrated 10 years in its Paris, Munich and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, offices. The firm has also recently relaunched multilingual versions of its corporate Web site and relocated its ‘s-Hertogenbosch office in March 2016.
Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has tested a prototype of a self-contained data center that can operate below the surface of the ocean, in efforts to reduce the need for air-conditioning and to address the energy demands of computing.
Acquisitions/transactions
Shelton, Conn., firm SSI has acquired Los Angeles-based researcher Instantly Inc. With the acquisition, SSI will expand its scale in online and mobile panels. The majority owner of SSI is HGGC, a middle market private equity firm. JEGI served as advisor to Instantly.
Portland, Ore., media measurement firm Rentrak has acquired Los Angeles-based Hollywood Software Inc.
ComScore, Reston, Va., has completed its merger with Portland, Ore., firm Rentrak to create a new cross-platform measurement company.
Researcher GfK, Nuremberg, Germany, has acquired Barcelona, Spain, panel provider Netquest. The deal was signed and closed on February 4. The acquisition also includes the company’s subsidiary Wakoopa, an Amsterdam-based behavioral data firm. Through the deal, GfK will be able to establish new and expand existing digital panels worldwide and expand its cross-media link into Latin America. The acquired business will be allocated to GfK’s Consumer Experiences sector and GfK plans to expand Netquest’s and Wakoopa’s current activities globally. Netquest will continue to operate under its existing brand.
Palo Alto, Calif., private equity firm Symphony Technology Group has closed the sale of Horsham, Pa., research and analytics firm AlphaImpactRx to IMS Health, a Danbury, Conn., information and technology services company. AlphaImpactRx’s offerings, capabilities and technologies will be integrated into IMS Health to form a foundation for the company’s primary market research capabilities.
In Lincolnshire, Ill., human resource solutions firm Aon Hewitt has acquired Modern Survey, a Minneapolis-based employee survey and talent analytics firm.
Columbia, Md., performance marketing agency Merkle has acquired dbg, a U.K.-based independent marketing solutions agency. This is the second in a series of planned European acquisitions for Merkle. It follows the company’s 2015 acquisition of Periscopix, a London-based performance marketing and programmatic agency. Tim Berry, who formerly served as president of Merkle’s CRM solutions, will assume the role of president of Merkle Europe. Dbg’s team will join Merkle’s Marketing Solutions Group.
France-based communications group Havas has acquired a 100 percent stake in beebop media ag, a Hamburg, Germany, social media and ambient agency. The agency, renamed Havas beebop GmbH, will integrate into the Havas Worldwide network and be part of the Havas Village Hamburg.
Washington, D.C., research solutions and services firm MarketResearch.com has completed its acquisition of The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland, Ohio, consulting services firm and industry research reports provider. The businesses’ complementary assets are being integrated and the acquisition will provide businesses, nonprofit organizations and academia a source of market research across multiple industries.
New York-based content marketing firm Contently has acquired St. Paul, Minn., content marketing analytics and tracking company Docalytics.
In Armonk, N.Y., IBM Watson Health is planning to acquire Truven Health Analytics, an Ann Arbor, Mich., cloud-based health care data, analytics and insights provider for $2.6 billion.
MARU Group, a U.K. professional services firm, has acquired U.K. firm eDigitalResearch. All current eDigitalResearch (edr) employees will retain their roles in the new independent company. Following the close of the transaction, the new independent business will operate under the name maru/edr. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
On January 4, AMS Ventures Inc., a company established by partners Amy Shields, Michael Mermelstein and Steve Zuppas, finalized the purchase of Nichols Research (previously Nichols Research Inc.) for the purpose of broadening the depth and breadth of the company’s reputation, products and services. The headquarters of the new company will remain in Fremont, Calif., with additional research facilities in San Francisco, San Jose/Sunnyvale and Fresno, Calif. Shields will take up the role as president, Mermelstein as executive vice president and Zuppas as CFO.
New York omnichannel marketing firm Rakuten Marketing has acquired San Francisco-based product intelligence company Manifest Commerce.
IBM, Armonk, N.Y., has completed the acquisition of Columbus, Ohio, digital marketing and creative agency Resource/Ammirati to join IBM Interactive Experience, the firm’s digital agency. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
New York media technology company Yieldbot has formed a strategic alliance with Chicago-based researcher IRI to help shopper marketers measure and respond to first-party data targeting.
Marketo Inc., a San Mateo, Calif., marketing software and solutions provider, and Wunderman, a New York-based digital agency, have formed a strategic partnership to create a solution jointly called “insight-driven engagement,” which joins Marketo’s platform with Wunderman’s approach insights and engagement, allowing brands to engage customers across all digital channels and measure how their marketing spend drives revenue.
Verto Analytics, a Finland-based audience measurement solution provider, has formed a strategic partnership with China-based Internet measurement provider iResearch Consulting. The partnership brings Verto’s audience measurement services to China and enables iResearch to use Verto as a strategic partner to deliver Chinese media measurement data to U.S. and European-based companies.
Boston-based consumer insights firm Crimson Hexagon has formed an OEM partnership with Birst, a San Francisco-based business intelligence and analytics firm, allowing enterprises to integrate and combine Birst’s analytics technology within Crimson Hexagon’s analysis of unstructured social data.
Association/organization news
The board of the Marketing Research Institute International (MRII), Ann Arbor, Mich., has elected Lisa Courtade, executive director, global customer and brand insights for pharmaceutical firm Merck, as board president for 2016. She succeeds Wayne McCullough, director of the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion at the University of Michigan Health System, who now becomes immediate past president. The board also elected Jon Last, president of Sports and Leisure Research Group, as president-elect and Bart Weiner, principal at BW Consulting, as treasurer. Five new members were also elected: Susan Frede (Lightspeed GMI), Kathy Millich (IBM), Jeffrey Hunter (Market Framework), Paul Hunter (dunnhumby and Miami University) and Shelly Ray (MMR Research Associates). They replace retiring board members Gunilla Broadbent (GB Global Positioning), Michelle Elster (Rabin Research), Carol Galvin (IBM), Ed Sugar (Interviewing Service of America) and Jeffrey Welch (Zylun Insights).
Awards/rankings
Waukesha, Wis., advertising, marketing and communications firm The Roberts Group was recognized for excellence from the 2015 Cancer Awareness Advertising Awards (CAA Awards) for its advertising and marketing efforts. It received the top award, Judges Choice, for its breast cancer awareness campaign with Saint Francis Healthcare System in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The firm also received two Gold and two Silver Awards from the CAA Awards.
Irvine, Calif., firm MFour Mobile Research’s Surveys on the Go application is among Apple’s top apps, ranking 80 in the lifestyle section of the app store among more than 2 million applications.
Oslo, Norway, research solutions provider Confirmit’s Horizons Version 19 platform has been named a 2016 CUSTOMER magazine Product of the Year award winner by media company TMC.
India-based credit rating agency SMERA Ratings Ltd. has assigned an SE1 A rating to India-based firm MRSS India Ltd. on parameters of highest performance capability and high financial strength.
Software-as-a-service platform OdinText Inc. was named the winner of the American Marketing Association’s 2016 Robert J. Lavidge Global Marketing Research Prize for innovation in the field. The Lavidge Prize recognizes a marketing research/consumer insight procedure or solution that has been successfully implemented and has a practical application for marketers.
Disney has been named the world’s most powerful brand, according to London-based brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance. The brands are evaluated to determine which are the most powerful based on factors such familiarity, loyalty, promotion, marketing investment, staff satisfaction and corporate reputation and which brands are most valuable and ranked to form the Brand Finance Global 500. Lego came in second in the most-powerful brand ranking, followed by L’OrŽal, PWC and McKinsey. Apple was ranked as the world’s most valuable brand, with its brand value up 14 percent due to the success of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s. Google came in second, followed by Samsung, Amazon and Microsoft.
The Verge has been appointed the most valuable tech Web site in the world, according to Netherlands-based social media software company Coosto. The firm used an algorithm, called PR Value, that calculates the monetary value of mentions in articles on news sites, blogs and forums and in social media messages. The algorithm is based on several factors, such as (estimated) impression rate, engagement rate and authors’ influence rate which are linked to ad rates of the specific platform. A mention in one of Verge’s articles is worth Û12,019. Softonic ranked second as the most valuable tech site, followed by Wired and TechRadar.
New accounts/projects
Oslo, Norway-based research firm Confirmit has been selected by Home Innovation Research Labs, an Upper Marlboro, Md., research, testing and consulting firm in the home building industry, to power its survey research.
Nielsen, New York, has been named the global measurement provider for retail and consumer information for U.K. consumer goods company RB (formerly Reckitt Benckiser). Separately, Nielsen has been named the preferred measurement and analytics provider for retail and consumer information for West Des Moines, Iowa, supermarket chain Hy-Vee.
New York brand intimacy agency MBLM has created a brand program for New York-based personalized video engagement firm SundaySky with focus on brand essence, identity and a redesigned Web site.
Snapchat, Venice, Calif., has selected New York-based Nielsen’s Digital Ad Ratings to measure the audiences of its 3V advertising on mobile devices. Snapchat’s 3V ads are full-screen, vertical videos that users view by choice within the premium and curated contexts of Snapchat’s Discover feature and Live Stories. The use of Digital Ad Ratings is an expansion of Snapchat’s current measurement offerings and its first venture into campaign ratings measurement from an independent provider.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has launched the IAB Data Center of Excellence, a new independently funded unit within IAB. The Data Center’s mission will be to help advertisers and marketers operationalize their data assets while maintaining quality, transparency, accountability and consumer protection. It will also fund industry research projects, provide benchmarks, create insights on data management across platforms, host data-focused events and develop industry best practices, guidelines and standards for privacy, data security and consumer data protection. Additionally, it will produce educational materials including certification, videos and Webinars. Joe Zawadzki, CEO of New York technology company MediaMath, has been selected to head the Data Center of Excellence board of directors.
Nuremberg, Germany, researcher GfK is changing its corporate structure in Germany, effective April 1. The business currently consists of two separate entities that will combine to enable the firm to offer its services in a more integrated manner. Under the direction of Michael MŸller, who has been appointed managing director of GfK Germany, the operational activities of the two sectors, Consumer Experiences and Consumer Choices, will be combined. The firm has also reorganized its management board with effect from January. In April, Siegfried Hšgl will assume global, cross-sector responsibility for business with clients from the automotive industry and Wolfgang Wanders, whose present responsibilities include managing part of the Consumer Choices business in Germany, will be put in charge of the global Point of Sales Measurement business (trade panel).
India-based project management and data collection firm NextON Services has opened a new office in Ras al-Khaimah, UAE. Saurabh K has been promoted to director of global accounts and will head the new office.
U.K. researcher Join the Dots has opened its first international office in Singapore, to be headed up by Karen Schofield, who takes the position of managing director, Singapore and who was previously the company’s innovations director.
Culture Engineers, a London-based consulting boutique founded by Ashley Walker, has launched. The services offered by Culture Engineers include advising clients on internal and external communications strategy, employee experience and employer branding and developing organizations’ shared vision, values and rollout plans.
Spokane, Wash., firm Strategic Research Associates has opened a new focus group research location in Federal Way, Wash.
Branford, Conn., firm Touchstone Research has launched its new division, Touchstone VR, to provide consumer insights and marketing research services to the virtual reality and augmented reality industries.
Culver City, Calif., research solutions firm dataSpring has opened a new operations hub in Manila, Philippines. The decision to relocate the operations hub to a bigger office is in line with the company’s new brand and its service expansion.
In Boston, brand communications and integrated marketing services firm PARTNERS+simons has launched a life sciences strategic business unit to be led by Pat McGloin. The firm has also appointed Andrew Pelosi as general manager and Stephanie Rogers as EVP of strategy and analytics. Additionally, Bob Minihan will add technology to his responsibilities as chief creative officer.
London-based media and digital marketing communications company Dentsu Aegis Network has launched Interprise, a full-service global agency specializing in B2B solutions, to be led by Stuart Giddings as global president. Headquartered in London with offices in New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney, the new agency will expand into other major markets during 2016. Interprise will work with other Dentsu Aegis Network agencies to support new and existing brands with their B2B requirements. The existing specialist B2B media team across the Carat Enterprise network will be integrated within Interprise.
Invoke Solutions, a Waltham, Mass., online research firm, has launched the Invoke Media & Entertainment practice under the leadership of Kathy Alexander, vice president of research and insights. The new practice consists of a suite of tools and solutions that enable media companies to optimize content, develop audiences and build brands using Invoke’s platform for hosting large-scale online research. Alexander has also assembled a team of professionals to serve media and entertainment companies, including David Klein, vice president of product strategy; Holly Williams, vice president of sales and Michael Berka, director of sales.
New York media agency network Maxus Worldwide has launched Maxus Technology Consulting, a new division which will advise businesses on the most effective use of technology in their marketing programs. Maxus Technology Consulting will be led by David Kaganovsky, worldwide CIO, along with Gary Revenson, worldwide director of technology, and Damian Blackden, worldwide chief strategy officer.
Research company earnings/financial news
Nuremberg, Germany, research firm GfK returned to organic growth during the 2015 financial year. Sales increased by 6.3 percent compared to the previous year to approximately Û1.54 billion, with organic growth of 1.1 percent.
Stamford, Conn., researcher Gartner Inc. has reported total revenue of $643.8 million for fourth-quarter 2015. Excluding the negative impact of foreign exchange, quarterly revenues increased 16 percent in 2015. For full-year 2015, total revenue was $2.163 billion, an increase of 7 percent over 2014, but excluding the negative foreign exchange impact, revenues increased 13 percent.
In New York, enterprise feedback management firm Questback has reported that it increased enterprise revenues by 40 percent in 2015. Additionally, as of February 2016, CEO Frank M¿llerop will relocate to an expanded New York City office.
During full-year 2015, Boston-based market intelligence firm InCrowd’s sales increased by over 70 percent and the number of “answers” sold and delivered from its crowd of physicians, nurses, managed care providers and pharmacists increased by 106 percent compared to the previous full year. Revenue from large, multi-brand clients grew by 97 percent and revenue from global pharmaceutical firms grew 90 percent.
Nielsen, New York, has reported revenues of $1.62 billion for the fourth quarter of 2015, down 0.6 percent due to the impact of foreign exchange, but up 5.6 percent on a constant currency basis, compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. Revenues were $6.17 billion for the full year of 2015, down 1.8 percent due to the impact of foreign exchange, but up 5.0 percent on a constant currency basis, compared to 2014.
Cambridge, Mass., firm Forrester Research Inc. has reported total revenues of $81 million for fourth-quarter 2015 compared to $80.7 million for fourth-quarter 2014. Research revenues were flat and advisory services and events revenues increased 2 percent compared to fourth-quarter 2014. On a constant currency basis, research revenues increased 2 percent and advisory services and events revenues increased 4 percent compared to fourth-quarter 2014. Total revenues were $313.7 million, compared to $312.1 million for the same period in 2014.
Paris-based researcher Ipsos has recorded revenue of Û524.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, an increase of 4.7 percent compared to the same quarter in 2014. At constant exchange rates and scope of consolidation, revenue was down 1 percent, a slightly better performance than in the third quarter (-2 percent) and equivalent to the full-year performance in 2015 (-1 percent). Over the full-year in 2015, the firm recorded revenue of Û1,785.3 million, an increase of 6.9 percent. Currency effects were positive throughout the year and boosted revenue by 7.3 percent overall. Scope effects had a further positive impact of 0.6 percent. The firm says its overall revenue was below expectations due mostly to the persistent weakness of its business in emerging markets and at Ipsos Connect.
Reston, Va., firm comScore has reported fourth-quarter GAAP revenue of $97.7 million, an increase of 8 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. GAAP income before income taxes was $6.5 million. GAAP net income was $4.4 million or $0.11 per diluted share. The firm reported an annual revenue of $368.8 million, an increase of 12 percent compared to 2014.
Menlo Park, Calif., on-demand insights platform Quantifind has closed a $30 million funding round led by global investment firm Cathay Innovation. Previous investors Redpoint Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, Comcast Ventures, Iris Capital and AME Cloud Ventures also joined the round. This round of funding will be used for market expansion efforts, product development and allow the company to double staff in its Menlo Park headquarters. The firm will also focus on growing the sales and customer success teams, as well as the data science and engineering teams.