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Looking for leaders in the marketing research industry who have global and regional experience? Meet some of the individuals and teams who conduct research in a specific region around the world or specialize in global research.

DIY product optimization and idea screening experts

Bryan Orme, President

Sawtooth Software 

Bryan Orme is president of Sawtooth Software, the leading survey provider for product optimization and idea screening (e.g., conjoint analysis, max-diff). Sawtooth Software’s optimization tools can be linked with other survey platforms such as Confirmit, Qualtrics and Decipher so that respondents are passed from these survey platforms into Sawtooth Software. 

Bryan joined Sawtooth Software 24 years ago and has been its president since 2006. He was the recipient of the American Marketing Association’s prestigious Parlin Award in 2017 for “outstanding impact and leadership” in the market research profession. Bryan has published two books on conjoint analysis (Getting Started with Conjoint Analysis and Becoming an Expert in Conjoint Analysis) and has written over 100 white papers and articles on the subject. The Sawtooth Software workshops and conferences that Bryan organizes are widely respected and are seen as the place to go to learn about product optimization, market segmentation and survey research.

801-477-4700

www.sawtoothsoftware.com

sales@sawtoothsoftware.com 

Leaders in multimode data collection

James T. Medick

President, Precision Opinion Inc. 

Since 1996, James Medick has been leading the charge in quality insights data collection for phone, online and in-person market research. Medick’s operation, Precision Opinion, is located in Las Vegas and is home to a 650-station CATI data collection center, an award-winning focus facility and a technology team that develops proprietary digital data collection software and tools.

Four presidential elections, five mid-term elections and a 15-year contract with government services later, Precision Opinion enters 2019 with no signs of slowing down. Their mission of giving Americans a voice and collecting quality insights continues as they place a stronger foothold in their political and social science research niche.

Medick came to Las Vegas after working at Gallup and started his life as a consultant to the casino/tourism industry. While working as a consultant, Medick became increasingly agitated at the lack of quality data collection services he could utilize for his insights needs. Out of frustration of wanting something better, Precision Opinion was born. Originally, Precision Opinion was a small 15-seat CATI center that was providing research for the casinos that Medick had on his client list. But soon, as his research was providing better insights than what competitors offered, new clients began requesting the help of Precision Opinion with their needs as well. 

That’s when the lightbulb clicked and Medick doubled-down on Precision Opinion. From there, the company has grown from a lean operation of 10 people to an organization that employs nearly 1,000 individuals and collects over 500,000 insights on an annual basis. 

Most recently, Medick has started the latest arm of his market research firm, called BeforeTheVote.com, an online panel of registered voters to conduct weekly tracker studies and public opinion polls from their mobile devices.

www.precisionopinion.com

702-483-4001

jtmedick@precisionopinion.com 

The real face of marketing research: respondents

Data quality is an ongoing challenge in the marketing research industry and most researchers recognized that better respondent experiences can be a huge part of the solution. So why is respondent treatment still so dismal? If we’re honest, these individuals should be front and center when we’re talking about the “faces of marketing research.” They are demanding better experiences and more control and here at P2Sample we decided to tackle this issue head on, using advanced technology coupled with the expert skills of our team members.  

In fact, improving the respondent experience and boosting engagement is part of our core mission at P2Sample. We use automation and artificial intelligence in order to solve many ongoing challenges in the space, including improving the respondent experience. Just a few of the steps our team has taken to put the respondent first include using technology to:

Proactively manage experiences in field by using dozens of field statistics to algorithmically identify trouble such as low complete rates and monitor user-generated survey ratings.

Analyze the millions of available respondent data points in order to target surveys appropriately, matching users with studies for which they qualify. The right survey for the right person at the right time.

Detect dissatisfied users who have consistently been routed to bad surveys and help retain them by directing them to highly rated, easy-to-complete surveys to boost satisfaction.

Identify hidden quotas to present the study only to the appropriate, qualifying audience, even when correct parameters were not provided up front.

Examine multiple layers of user data to determine consistent habits, like completion rates overlaid with times of the week, in order to optimize delivery of appropriate surveys.

People are asking more of their online interactions and marketing research is not immune. It’s time to stop talking about it and start making real change when it comes to respondents. With their full and enthusiastic participation, we will all benefit with better-quality data, solid insights and, ultimately, successful business outcomes for our clients.

www.p2sample.com

404-446-2720

info@p2sample.com 

Bringing exceptional vision to the organization

Takahiro Yamaya, President, Rakuten Insight Global

With his career beginning with Rakuten Research in Tokyo more than 12 years ago, Takahiro Yamaya, also known as “Tack” to his peers, is the newly appointed president of Rakuten Insight Global.

Tack’s exceptional vision for the organization is widely recognized and his focus for bringing it to fruition are the key reasons for his rise. While he firmly believes automation will be key to the business, he appreciates market research as a “people business” and to balance them both will be essential.

As the president of Rakuten Insight, he continues to ensure its panels are of the highest quality. Online research is a reliable methodology and is the bedrock of the business, enabling the company to garner client trust over the years.

It is how we can truly Have a Meaningful Impact.

insight.rakuten.com

+81-50-5581-1710

rig-sales@mail.rakuten.com 

Providing solutions for global audiences 

Bob McNabb

Director of Business Development – Market Research, Protranslating

Bob specializes in providing market research professionals with solutions to reach a global audience. Bob has over 25 years of experience in the industry, including language consulting, data programming and analysis, report development, project management and consultation to Fortune 100 companies. The types of research he has conducted include new product development, optimization and reformulation, branding, ATU and much more. 

Over the last seven years, Bob has been assisting market research suppliers and clients with top-notch translation and customer service. Bob has been with Protranslating since 2016. Protranslating is one of the oldest and most respected language services providers in the U.S. Protranslating has been a full-service provider to some of the most respected names in the MR industry, providing services such as translations of surveys and open-end responses, in-language coding and multilingual transcription.

www.protranslating.com
305-371-7887
rmcnabb@protranslating.com 

The global leader in serving the marketing research community 

Rebecca West, Global V.P., Annie McDannald, Global MGR.

Civicom Marketing Research Services

The quality of your research is very important to you. When you interview respondents in your telephone or Web-enabled IDIs or focus groups, run an online bulletin board or community, conduct research on mobile devices, stream video from a facility or conference room or need to curate an overwhelming number of video files, you want things to go perfectly. That’s why marketing researchers come to Civicom Marketing Research Services. With advanced virtual communications solutions for the world’s top organizations, Civicom is a global innovator in marketing research software, qualitative research tools and technology solutions for marketing research practitioners. 

Understanding research needs
Our global capabilities and expertise allow us to deliver advanced marketing research services successfully worldwide. We operate in almost every country. Civicom is powered by a combination of proprietary audio conferencing technology, online meeting software, Web technology tools, superior recording capabilities and a proprietary transcription system. 

Unparalleled technical and customer support 

In addition to providing unsurpassed technology platforms, every study is backed by Civicom’s unparalleled customer service and support. Pre-call tech checks with respondents, reaching out to respondents for interviews, moderator training, setting up of stimuli, online presence during calls and delivery of audio and streaming media files are all standard on Civicom projects. Our focus on your needs enables you to focus on your research and not the mechanics of the study.  

Advice and expertise 

All Civicom products and services are tailored to support the requirements of your unique project. We listen and work with you to create an approach that works for your specific needs. We have designed many solutions that our clients never imagined could be done online or with mobile devices, including ideation sessions, Web site and app usability studies and shopper insights. In-depth understanding of marketing research and what it is intended to accomplish – these are the hallmarks of your experience when you entrust your research project to Civicom Marketing Research Services.

At Civicom, Your Project Success Is Our Number One Priority

CivicomMRS.com

203-413-2423

inquire@CivicomMRS.com

The Insight Economy demands a new kind of research agency

Zain Raj

Chairman and CEO, Shapiro+Raj

A visionary leader, entrepreneur, business accelerator and industry futurist, Zain Raj is a global leader in finding innovative ways to grow brands. His unique ability to unearth insights that inspire ideas has created billions of dollars of value for his clients and investors. His theories and methodologies provide clear, actionable ways to help companies deliver sustainable growth of their brands and business.

He has authored two Amazon marketing and sales bestsellers, Brand Rituals™: How Successful Brands Bond with Customers for Life and Marketing For Tomorrow, Not Yesterday: Surviving and Thriving in the Insight Economy™

Zain believes that the Insight EconomyTM demands an innovative approach and a relentless focus on delivering actionable outcomes. 

Clients are no longer satisfied with market research agencies that just deliver the “what” – or the “so what.” They need one that also delivers the “now what.” An agency that can help them create business outcomes rather than just reporting findings – delivering insights and ideas with timely action plans – that inspire their stakeholders and move their businesses forward. 

Shapiro+Raj no longer does market research. They conduct research investigations.   

Their goal is to solve tough business or marketing challenges. They accomplish this by blending evaluative and generative research methodologies. They combine System 1 and System 2 approaches to get to a deeper understanding. They use multiple, relevant data sources to collect robust data. And they use technology-led innovations.

At Shapiro+Raj, diversity drives innovation. Their people are diverse in every sense. Their backgrounds, life experiences and professional expertise. In fact, they bring a multivariate set of talents to every project – social scientists, analysts, brand planners, creatives, business operators and technologists. That diversity better enables them to understand issues and find unique solutions that deliver on true business and marketing objectives. 

Building a new kind of research agency. 

www.shapiroraj.com

312-321-8100

communications@shapiroraj.com 

Innovator in DIY online research

Lev Mazin, CEO and
Co-Founder, aytm

Lev Mazin is CEO and co-founder of aytm, the leading innovator in DIY online market research. For over 17 years, Lev has applied his design/UI/UX skills building elegant, straightforward and intuitive Web and mobile user interfaces for Google, Oracle, Whole Foods, Maserati and a number of online SaaS start-ups.

At aytm, Lev is leading the company and platform’s evolution, driven by design thinking, research automation, quality panel and professional services in pursuit of the best possible experience in online market research.

The aytm platform is built on empowering researchers, marketers and analysts to adopt agile innovation strategies that provide crucial insights used to validate strategic business decisions around product, brand and marketing. We believe that quick access to high-quality insights enables teams to bring products to market sooner and with fewer resources, which drives revenue and market share.

The aytm self-service user-friendly platform enables researchers to run a full range of quantitative research, collaborate in real-time on survey design and launch complex sophisticated research tests including max-diff, choice-based conjoint, pricing optimization and more. Paired with our integrated proprietary panel, which provides best-in-class levels of trust and quality, access to over 40 million consumers in 36 countries and real-time pricing with guaranteed delivery times, aytm delivers on the promise of best possible experience in automated online market research.

AYTM is a market research automation platform and the secret weapon that drives agile innovation for some of the largest consumer brands and agencies in the world. Researchers are empowered to conduct sophisticated research with a click of a button from a powerful but easy-to-use interface – cutting down the time to insights from days or weeks to hours. This researcher-powered, iterative approach to actionable insights collection improves competitiveness, speed to market and revenue.

aytm.com

415-364-8601

Lev@aytm.com 

Developers of pioneering solutions

Steve Cohen and Mark Garratt

Co-founders and Partners, in4mation insights

in4mation insights’ vision has been to develop pioneering solutions and predictive tools that transform business decision-making — with a commitment to inquiry, innovation, integrity and impact.

We are world-class experts in using multilevel hierarchical Bayesian models to analyze both simple and complex data sets. These tools have many features that deliver deeper insights than standard statistical methods or even computationally-demanding machine learning tools. We have built our own software to estimate these models using parallel C++, which permits us to scale to tens of thousands of products, thousands of stores and geographies and hundreds of predictor variables.

Co-founders and Partners Steve Cohen (seated, right) and Mark Garratt (standing) pioneered methods used today by most marketing research firms, including choice-based conjoint, latent class CBCA, computerized designs for choice tasks and maximum difference scaling. in4mation insights continues to innovate by combining practical experience with the best of academia, as our board of science advisors informs us of new developments and assists us in bringing these from the classroom to the boardroom.

Steve has over 30 years of leadership in marketing science in the U.S. and around the globe. He is the recipient of several awards; the most prestigious are the 2011 Charles Coolidge Parlin Marketing Research Award and the 2016 Buck Weaver Award given by The Institute of Marketing Science and MIT for achievement in marketing science.

Mark’s career has spanned both the client-side and consulting. He pioneered the analytics function at Miller Brewing, then later went to Gillette to get them to the next level. Throughout his career, Mark has solved problems by connecting and collaborating with academics, writing papers in journals, sponsoring doctoral students and mentoring the terrific staff at i4i. He is also recognized as one of the world’s leading practitioners in pricing and marketing mix.

www.in4ins.com

781-444-1237 ext. 161

info@in4ins.com