••• concept research
A global GutCheck
Agile research solution expands outside the U.S.
Denver research company GutCheck has launched GutCheck International, a multilanguage version of its automated-recruitment consumer insights solution. The initial product release supports 16 markets and is available in nine languages. The solution aims to deliver research quality via in-country research experts who provide the local knowledge and help design effective ways to encourage dialogue and gather feedback from specific audiences.
http://gutcheckit.com
••• social media research
Facebook cuts to the Core
New Core Audiences options improve targeting via Facebook
Facebook, Menlo Park, Calif., has updated its targeting features via improved Core Audiences solutions, which include the targeting features built into all of Facebook’s ad-buying interfaces. The updates aim to allow advertisers to reach precise audiences based on four main targeting types: location, demographic, interests and behaviors.
In the U.S., Facebook has also added Partner Categories to the Ads Create Tool, which was previously available only in Power Editor.
www.facebook.com
••• data analysis
Optimize and Analyze
Two new tools from Cross-Tab
Mumbai, India, research company Cross-Tab has debuted the Cross-Tab Optimizer Suite (ctOS), designed to automate scripting, data management and charting; reduce internal errors; integrate with various industry tools and survey platforms; offer advanced reporting with API plugins; download data; create and share POV dashboards on the go; and draw data comparisons across markets, studies and time periods.
Separately, Cross-Tab has announced the commercial launch of Analyzer, its multi-device reporting and data analysis package. Features include a data storage and retrieval wizard; a choice of custom report authoring via a drag-and-drop tool or report templates; support for long-term data trending; and the ability to download and integrate raw and aggregated data from multiple studies.
www.cross-tab.com
••• media research
Collaboration combination
ComScore and CIMM partner to expand cross-platform measurement
Reston, Va., research company comScore Inc. has collaborated with the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, New York, to expand its cross-platform measurement service, combining TV, radio, desktop, smartphone and tablet platforms.
The expanded cross-platform measurement service will include multiplatform advertising, mobile video, time-shifted viewing and children’s viewing by incorporating person-level TV viewing data (obtained via the Portable People Meter technology licensed from Nielsen Audio) and set-top box viewing data, which includes viewing behavior from over five million households. The service also uses both panel and Census-based methods to measure online and mobile video viewing.
www.comscore.com
••• mobile research
Refreshing SODA
Confirmit updates its Survey On Demand App
Oslo, Norway, research software company Confirmit has released version 3.0 of its mobile app, SODA – The Survey On Demand Application. Confirmit SODA is designed to allow marketing research agencies to capture in-the-moment feedback from respondents. Updates include new program and field management capabilities; an expanded push notification system; and real-time views of staff location based on continuous GPS tracking.
www.confirmit.com
••• retailing
Real-time intel for retail
GroundCntrl launches SmartCheck for in-store intelligence
San Jose, Calif., research software company GroundCntrl has bundled its mobile platform and back-end analytics with on-the-ground resources to launch SmartCheck. The SmartCheck service is designed to provide retailers and brands a way to acquire real-time, in-store intelligence about their products, promotions and competitors.
SmartCheck is designed to deliver a searchable visual database that gives companies real-time visibility into their retail and promotional executions – and the ability for companies to modify the types of data being gathered by on-the-ground resources as a program happens.
The service is activated in three steps:
Engage: The team conducts a readiness assessment to understand what needs to be measured, gathered and analyzed.
Mobilize: SmartCheck mobilizes to collect and post the requested data, such as images of a new promotional display, product stocking levels, feedback on staff readiness to effectively deliver the product message or intelligence on competitor pricing.
Analyze: The field data is aggregated in real time into a searchable database, which customers can monitor via the intuitive online dashboards.
www.groundcntrl.com
••• concept testing
Video markup goes to iMarkIt
Itracks debuts real-time video content testing tool
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, research company itracks has updated its iMarkIt concept testing tool to allow users to test video content – with no limit to the length of the video – and researchers and clients to view the feed-back in real time.
The tool is currently being used to test television commercials, movie trailers and YouTube ads. In a secure testing environment, participants view the videos, stopping them at points where they can provide feedback. A range of markup tools, including text, highlighters and drawing tools, allow for project-specific initiatives.
IMarkIt is designed to integrate with third-party quantitative applications in addition to itracks’ qualitative products. The product also comes with its own enhanced reporting.
www.itracks.com
••• financial services
Feeling out the news
Thomson updates big data solution for financial markets pros
Thomson Reuters, New York, has added its news sentiment data, including sentiment analysis of Twitter feeds, to Thomson Reuters Eikon, its flagship financial markets desktop. The new data is intended to allow financial markets professionals to identify trends and potential signals in huge amounts of unstructured data.
To cater to growing interest in tracking news and social media sentiment to gauge and predict the impact of breaking news on market prices and volatility, Thomson Reuters Eikon takes feeds from both Twitter and StockTwits and weights and analyzes sentiment using a proprietary methodology. The charting application aims to give financial professionals a clear picture of the volume of positive and negative tweets surrounding any given listed company, as well as advanced technical analysis. The feed incorporates identified key influencers, as well as a broad cross-section of all activity. Customers can also drill down into the underlying data to investigate what is being said and by whom.
http://thomsonreuters.com
••• advertising research
Targeting the like-minded
Custom Audiences helps aim advertising at consumers similar to existing customers
AdStation, Kansas City, Mo., research company Adknowledge’s e-mail channel, has launched AdStation Custom Audiences, a product featuring targeting technology intended to allow advertisers to aim offers at new consumers via demographic data.
AdStation Custom Audiences utilizes response-based targeting algorithms that are powered by Adknowledge’s demographic data of over 400 million consumers. This allows AdStation to target new customers for advertisers that match the existing customer base. The product is also anonymous, with advertisers’ CRM data and highly secure. The deployment is transparent, allowing for control and brand-safe distribution.
www.adknowledge.com
••• data analysis
Simplified stats
Statwing debuts automated statistical analysis tool
San Francisco research company Statwing has launched a data analysis tool designed to automate common statistical analysis tasks. First, the analyst tells Statwing which variables they’re interested in relating. Then Statwing automatically selects the appropriate statistical test (including nonparametric techniques), runs it, translates the p-value and effect size into a plain-English sentence and selects the appropriate visualization for the data in question (e.g., binned scatterplots, paneled histograms, etc.).
Though Statwing does not require statistical proficiency, it also provides statistical output and every analysis comes with confidence intervals, effect sizes and checks for statistical validity.
www.statwing.com
••• media research
What we watch + what we buy
Nielsen solution pairs TV-viewership with transactional data
New York researcher The Nielsen Company has launched Local Buyer Reach, a solution designed to connect what viewers watch with what they buy by linking proprietary Nielsen local television-viewing data with actual consumer transactions and auto registrations. The solution extends into 40+ buyer categories, including automotive, retail shopping, quick-service restaurants and grocery stores.
www.nielsen.com
••• segmentation
Charting the FutureScape
New research approach targets high-yield consumers and opportunities
Nuremberg, Germany, research company The GfK Group has launched GfK FutureScape, an approach designed to identify and size a range of opportunity spaces within a market, prioritizing those with the most potential and then using segmentation to pinpoint the highest-value consumers to target.
The strategic assessment provided by GfK FutureScape is based on a holistic analysis of evolving consumer needs, the existing and emerging benefits offered in the marketplace and the company’s own business strengths and assets. This perspective aims to increase the ROI of companies’ growth and innovation investments by focusing resources on those spaces that are not only a good fit for their business but are also the most likely to deliver maximum growth.
www.gfk.com
••• diy research
Monkey around on mobile
SurveyMonkey debuts iOS app
SurveyMonkey, Palo Alto, Calif., has launched a SurveyMonkey app for iOS devices. The app features expert-certified questions and 160+ survey templates; the ability to send surveys via e-mail, social media and Web site; an analytics engine to filter, compare and analyze results; kiosk functionality; advanced features like skip logic and page randomization; and full security features.
The app is available for free in the U.S., Canada, Australia and most other English-speaking markets. Customers can upgrade to a paid plan via Apple’s App Store or through SurveyMonkey.
www.surveymonkey.com
••• restaurant research
We are what we buy and eat?
IRI and Technomic launch Restaurant to Retail Insights
Chicago research companies IRI and Technomic have partnered to launch Restaurant to Retail Insights, a joint service offering designed to provide a holistic view of the food industry by combining consumers’ retail point-of-sale data with insight into what those same consumers buy and eat at major chain restaurants. The customizable, cross-channel analysis is intended to enable collaboration between manufacturers, retailers and restaurant operators and generate opportunities to increase sales through innovation, product placement, licensing and co-promotion.
www.iriworldwide.com
••• Briefly
Survey Analytics, Seattle, has launched FlashLet, a solution for gathering and analyzing employee feedback. FlashLet aims to allow managers to take ownership of tasks; help break down, estimate and provide design for small increments of work; and promote improvements in version control, continuous integration, project build and project automation.
www.surveyanalytics.com
Research companies Ipsos MediaCT, New York, and comScore Inc., Reston, Va., have introduced an offering that fuses the Ipsos Affluent Survey with comScore Media Metrix data to target affluent based on how they access media across channels.
www.ipsos.com/mediact
Netherlands research company Nebu has released version 7.3.3 of its Dub InterViewer software, featuring 52 improvements. Updates include integration with rune, a system for managing a CATI call center; capability to publish surveys on Facebook; additional dHTML-plugins; and further improvements in the CATI-blacklisting function.
www.nebu.com
InsideHeads, a St. John, Virgin Islands, research company, has partnered with VerbalizeIt, a New York translation company, to use VerbalizeIt’s human-powered translation platform to interpret live online chats in real time. VerbalizeIt interpreters are available in 11 languages.
www.insideheads.com
Norrköping, Sweden, research software company Dapresy has introduced Dapresy TurnKey Solutions, a research presentation solution that includes a completed, professional dashboard.
www.dapresy.com
Blue Bell, Pa., research company BehaviorMatrix has been granted a foundational patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office that establishes a system for classifying, measuring and creating models of the elements that make up human emotions, perceptions and actions leveraged from the Internet and social media. The BehaviorMatrix patent, U.S. patent number 8,639,702, covers a method for detecting and measuring emotional signals within digital content.
http://behaviormatrix.com
Burke Institute, Cincinnati, has partnered with New York search engine MasterStreet to make Burke Institute’s marketing research seminars available to professionals through MasterStreet’s free search engine and booking platform for business and technology classes and training.
www.burkeinstitute.com
Harpeth Marketing, a Franklin, Tenn., marketing firm providing consulting and outsourced marketing services in the market research industry, has released a 20-page e-book, titled Marketing & Sales for the Market Research Firm: A Content Marketing Guidebook. The e-book is available as a free download at http://bit.ly/1fFynUy.
Washington, D.C., research company Artemis Strategy Group has released Don’t Just Talk to Your Audience, Persuade Them: Research for Effective Brand Positioning, a 14-page e-book for corporate marketing and communication strategists and the researchers who support them. The e-book is available as a free download at www.artemissg.com/motivation-research/free-ebook.
Reston, Va., research company comScore Inc. has published a white paper, titled Marketing to Millennials: 5 Things Every Marketer Should Know. The paper examines media consumption habits of 18-to-34-year-olds. The paper is available as a free download from www.comscore.com.
Decipher Inc., a Fresno, Calif., research company, has firm, has released a white paper, titled Participation of Mobile Users in Online Surveys, drawing on data from hundreds of independent surveys across Decipher client projects. The white paper is available as a free download from www.decipherinc.com.
Schlesinger Associates, an Iselin, N.J., research company, has launched its PayerPlus panel, designed to incorporate influencers and decision makers with traditional payers to provide access to executive-level clinical and business decision makers and influencers in health care.
www.schlesingerassociates.com
Research Now, Plano, Texas, has launched its Autoimmune Panel for Americans and Canadians who suffer from autoimmune related diseases, including celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, lupus, multiple sclerosis or psoriasis.
www.researchnow.com
Chennai, India, research company Krea has launched ONCO+, a panel focused on Indian Oncology. ONCO+ comprises an access base of 3,000 oncologists segmented by specialty; 150 key opinion leaders; and a validated base of cancer hospitals and clinics. Patients, caregivers and nurses are being added.
http://krea.in
The CASRO Institute for Research Quality (CIRQ) has awarded certification to New York research company Kantar Health for compliance to the ISO 20252 Standard for Market, Opinion and Social Research. Processes outlined in ISO 20252 are designed to produce transparent, consistent, well-documented and error-free methods of conducting and managing research projects.
www.casro.org