Yahoo has named Peter Daboll chief of insights and global market research.

Wendy’s has created an innovations and strategy group that will oversee research and development, insights and other functions. The new group will report to Executive Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer Ian Rowden. Rowden has named three Wendy’s executives to the group. Senior Vice President Mike Watson is overseeing operations innovation for Wendy’s 10,000 restaurants. Senior Vice President Lori Estrada, who oversees new products and packaging, will helm research and development. Casey Minton, a vice president, is leading strategic insights and innovation, focusing on consumer research and developing new revenue streams.

Bell, Falla and Associates LLC, a Norwalk, Conn., marketing research firm, has named Karen LeSieur executive vice president and Adrienne Vitti project manager.

WestGroup Research of Phoenix has hired Connie Fields as focus facilities manager and Melissa Skogan as a support analyst.

Richard Goosey, senior vice president, marketing science and methodology at Harris Interactive, Rochester, N.Y., has been given a Fellowship Award by the U.K.’s Market Research Society (MRS). The honor is awarded to a full member deemed to have made a significant contribution to market research and/or the MRS for at least 10 years. Separately, Aled Morris, U.K. managing director at Harris Interactive, has resigned and joined a personnel/recruitment firm as a principal partner.

M/A/R/C Research, Irving, Texas, has named Paul Kirch director of client development for Online Survey Solution, an operating unit of M/A/R/C Research.

Loganville, Ga., research firm MRT Services Inc. has named Cynthia Thompson operations manager.

Nicholas Market Research Associates International, New York, has tapped Laurie Rosner to establish a new division, Nicholas Healthcare. The firm has also added Theodora Stites as an account executive and moderator.

Research Now has named Charles Pearson senior vice president, business development. He has relocated from San Francisco to the company’s London head office.

London-based TNS has named Gaurav Bhalla global innovation director, based in Washington, D.C. In addition, David Moxley has been chosen to head up a new customer insight consulting team. He is based in Toronto.

Canada-based research firm Vision Critical has promoted Kris Hartvigsen to vice president of business development.

Washington, D. C.-based research firm Zogby International announced a number of new hires and promotions. Hires: Christopher Koehnke, office manager, Washington D.C.; Shane Nelson, international division executive; Fritz Wenzel, director of communications; Ashraf Faramawi, international project manager; Jonathan Zogby, director of domestic business development; Phillip Vanno, assistant editor; Mark Warner, editor/writer; Kimberly Wyborski, human resource coordinator; Paul Zogby, systems assistant. Promotions: Leann Atkinson to project manager and Christian Peck to client strategy manager.

Montreal-based research software firm Voxco has named Gilles Bernasconi managing director of Voxco France. Also at Voxco France, Nicolas Roullier has been named sales manager and Murielle Majesté has been named technical support specialist.

Farmington Hills, Mich., research firm MORPACE International Inc. has named Jeffrey Kaufman research director. He is based in the company’s office in Irvine, Calif.

Information firm VNU Group B.V. has named R. Ford Dallmeyer senior vice president and general counsel of its VNU Marketing Information group and ACNielsen. In addition, the firm named Michael Marchesano to the new position of executive vice president and chief transformation officer, responsible for leading the company’s Project Forward business transformation program.

In conjunction with opening a new office in Tokyo, Lightspeed Research, Basking Ridge, N.J., has named Chris Duston vice president of business development in Japan.

Synovate has named Craig Harvey director, media research - Asia Pacific. Stephen von Bevern has been named vice president of online data collection. Jo-Ann Osipow has been named senior vice president of tracking and communication solutions for the Americas. Robert Skolnick has been appointed CEO for Synovate in North America.

Doron Wesly has joined Millward Brown USA as vice president, media practice and is based in the New York City office. Jorge Alagón, Millward Brown Mexico, has been promoted to vice president with responsibility for R&D and marketing sciences. Martin Slack has joined Millward Brown Australia to head its Melbourne office. Millward Brown announced the following promotions at its other offices: Alison Brown to vice president, Los Angeles; Cathy Hartman and Ken Clark to vice president, Fairfield, Conn.

Cambridge, Mass., research firm Abt Associates announced a number of personnel changes, adding David Ferreira as chief human resources officer, Deborah Klein Walker and Carlos Carrazana as vice president, Neal S. Mantick as director of registries, and promoting David Loeser to senior vice president. Stanley J. Lukowski, chairman and CEO of Eastern Bank Corporation, has joined the Abt Associates board of directors. Howard Rolston has joined the firm as a part-time principal associate. Research scientist Burt S. Barnow, associate director for research at the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies, has become an affiliate scholar with Abt Associates.

Scott Hendricks has joined the New Jersey office of Milwaukee research firm Market P robe as vice president.

Cooper Research Inc., Cincinnati, has named Joseph Hodgson, Jr., vice president, strategic research.

N.Y. researcher Ziment has named Basya Gale worldwide chief qualitative officer.

Andrew A. Salzman has joined Information Resources Inc., Chicago, as executive vice president and global chief marketing officer.

IMS Health, Fairfield, Conn., announced the resignation of Nancy E. Cooper, senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Research firm TNS has named Wander Meijer regional director for Latin America. TNS has also named Murray Campbell head of the company’s polling and social government research sector across the Asia Pacific-Latin America-Middle East and Africa (ALM) region. Graeme Jacombs has joined the regional healthcare team as healthcare research director. TNS has also named Tom Buehrer vice president and senior account director, to work with the team in the firm’s new Bellevue, Wash., office.

TVG Marketing Research & Consulting, Dresher, Pa., has added Don Marshall as vice president and chief methodologist.

Carolyn Phillips has joined the Maritz Pharmaceutical Research Group, St. Louis, as a research manager. George Ellis has joined the group as senior research manager. Lili Pasha has been named the group’s director of research services and Madhunika Raghavan has been named its director of research and operations.

Port Washington, N.Y., research firm the NPD Group has promoted Art Spar to president of the company’s apparel tracking services.

Edward van Dam has joined the Calgary Team of Canada-based Leger Marketing as director of research.

Bonnie Bergey joined Innovation Focus Inc., a Lancaster, Pa., research firm, as an associate director. In addition, the firm named Lindsay Brown associate, Laura B. Miller associate director, and Greg Pratt senior associate.

Cincinnati-based Marketing Research Services Inc. has named Jennifer Petsche project director and Nathaniel Hausrath script writer.

Genina A. Gravlin has been named program manager for Marketing Leverage Inc., a Glastonbury, Conn., research and consulting firm.

Stamford, Conn., research firm InsightExpress has named Michael Tsavaris vice president, chief financial officer. Melissa Ludack has been named senior marketing science analyst and Adam Zambuto has been named market research analyst. Junny Cho has joined the company as a project manager within the company’s AdInsights Group, and Emily Morgan and Natalia Tomasio have joined as customer service representative. The firm also named Alan Distassio market research manager. Meredith Klein-He rtzel has been promoted to project manager.

London-based Insight Research Group has named David Burke regional business director for mainland Europe.

Arbitron Inc., New York, has appointed Linda Dupree executive vice president, Portable People Meter, new product development.

New York research firm Dynamic Logic has named Jean Robinson president.

Norwalk, Conn.-based research firm Ipsos ASI announced the reorganization of the company into two regional divisions - Ipsos ASI North America West and Ipsos ASI North America East. Katie Koval has been promoted to senior vice president of the U.S. western region for the copy testing business. Fred Marshall has been promoted to senior vice president of the U.S. eastern region for the copy testing business. Mike Weisberger has been appointed senior vice president of the U.S. eastern region for the tracking and equity business. Steve Wynn has been promoted to senior vice president in the Cincinnati office.

Bill Etter, senior research executive at Research International, Chicago, has received the David K. Hardin Award for “Loyalty Leverage,” the best paper published in Marketing Research in 2005. The editorial review board of the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Research magazine selects a winner each year based on innovativeness of the research, its usefulness and applicability for other researchers and the potential societal or economic benefits or implications of the research. The paper addressed the difference between turning a neutral customer into a loyal customer versus resolving problems of an at-risk customer.
Separately, Research International added Kale Lepak and Nyssa Packard as part of its graduate development program.

Parsippany, N.J.-based Ipsos Loyalty has named Curt Carlson senior vice president of Ipsos Loyalty in the U.S.

Rockhopper Research, Whippany, N.J., has appointed Karl Buchholz director of data analytics.

London-based Research Now has named Marc Smaluhn managing director for central Europe. He is based in Frankfurt and will set up a second office for Research Now in Germany.

Los Angeles research firm OTX has named David Shanker chief operating officer and promoted Bruce Friend to president of media and entertainment insights.

Cincinnati-based marketing firm dunnhumbyUSA has named Jacob King associate director of custom insights.

MAXimum Research Inc., Cherry Hill, N.J., has promoted Chris Monaco to account executive.

Portland, Ore., research firm Doxus has named Edward B. (Beau) Martin senior marketing scientist.

Frances Nuzzi has joined Target Research Group Inc., Nanuet, N.Y., as senior vice president.

M/A/R/C Research, Irving, Texas has named Laurie Harrington research director.

LaTonya McCummings has joined the staff of AllPoints Research Inc., Winston Salem, N.C., as marketing research analyst.

San Mateo, Calif., research firm WWMR Inc., has named Sharon Grehan managing consultant, consulting services.

Polaris Marketing Research, Atlanta, has added George Van Eron as an operations process and quality manager and named Debra S. Semans senior vice president. In addition, Michelle Auda and Latasha T. Poindexter have joined the firm as marketing research project managers.

Bellomy Research Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., has named Courtney Dooley senior research manager.

Redlands, Calif.-based ESRI has named Guenther Pichler business development manager for the Europe, Middle East and Africa group.

Two members of On-Line Communications, a Bartlesville, Okla., research firm, were honored at the Marketing Research Association’s (MRA) 2006 Annual Conference and Research Industry Forum. Nancy Hayslett, the firm’s director of market research sales, was the recipient of the MRA’s Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes the extensive and distinguished service of an individual to both MRA and the opinion and marketing research profession. The MRA cited Hayslett’s 25 years of service as a volunteer, founding member of the MRA’s Southwest Chapter and national president 1989-1990. Bobbie Kirkland, director of Internet operations, was the recipient of the MRA’s Southwest Chapter’s Chapter Service Award. The award acknowledged her accomplishments as a chapter volunteer for the last 10 years, serving as chapter president, membership chair and newsletter editor.

New York research firm Medefield has named Jim Anderson executive director, client development.

Simon Kooyman has been named CEO of Knowledge Networks, Menlo Park, Calif. Murlidhar Rao has joined the firm’s Needham, Mass., office as vice president, client services. Arabella Greystoke has joined the New York City office as vice president, business development. Tom Greco has been promoted to vice president, managing director of the Chicago office and the KN/PDI office in Cincinnati. Norman Nie has accepted the position of non-executive chairman of the Knowledge Networks board of directors. He succeeds Fredric W. Har man, general partner of Oak Investment Partners, who remains a member of the Knowledge Networks board.

Eleanor Yates, director of the Philadelphia operation of Birmingham, Mich.-based Consumer Pulse, has also been appointed to the corporate staff as an operations manager. Kimberly Hofmeister, director of the firm’s Baltimore operation, has been appointed to the corporate staff as an operations manager.

The Meadowlands Consumer Center, Secaucus, N.J., has named Kevin Rente research consultant.

Barbara Katz has been named president of HealthFocus International, a St. Petersburg, Fla., research company.

New York research firm Advanced Focus has promoted Bruce Bond to recruitment supervisor and named Elise Dunn executive vice president, human resources and operations.

Cincinnati research firm Burke, Inc. has added several new employees, naming Olesya Govorun analyst, Van Do research associate, Cheryl Levy associate qualitative specialist, Lindsay Hossbach associate project manager, Susan Simpson and Thomas Mills vice president in client services, Irene Fedyushina senior account executive in client services, Rachel Agin account manager, and Kim Lyons project management assistant.
Separately, Joe Ottaviani, senior vice president and general manager at Burke, Inc., has been recognized for excellence in service by the Marketing Research Association. Each year, MRA recognizes one member who has brought excellence in service to the association during the past year and who has worked on national workgroups, committees and task forces.

G & S Research, Carmel, Ind., has named Laura Aspling project manager, Karin Gray analytics manager, Debbie Rolfsen accounting, and Kellie Woods lead data technician. Mark Walker has joined G & S Research as a vice president to lead the development of the firm’s new G & S Discovery division focusing on the life science research supply marketplace.

Vince Barabba, chairman and co-founder of Market Insight Corporation, Palo Alto, Calif., has been named to the Market Research Council Hall of Fame. The Market Research Council Hall of Fame was established in 1977 to recognize outstanding members of the market research profession. Barabba was inducted for his contributions in the field of market research and his leadership in major public and private enterprises that has led to significant societal and business contributions.