••• text analysis
Provalis offers WordStat 7
Includes enhanced taxonomy tools
Provalis Research, a Montreal software company, has released WordStat7, which includes a new topic-modeling tool designed to give users a quick overview of the most salient topics in a large amount of text to enable the exploration of the relationships of those topics with other numerical, categorical or date variables. A new link-analysis feature allows users to create network graphs and explore the relationship between concepts and see dashboard views to compare with structured data. Version 7 extends linguistic resources by providing new stemming routines for 18 languages, pattern-based named-entity extractions and improved handling and classification of misspellings, providing even more assistance for the creation of categorization dictionaries. Version 7 also features enhanced taxonomy development tools including support of more wildcard characters and improvements to proximity rules and the keyword-in-context table.
••• television research
Product suite for TV measurement
Piloting in SLC
Sorenson Media, Salt Lake City, has launched Spark, a suite of TV measurement, targeting and analytics software programs. Spark Enlight provides digital TV measurement services, while Spark Enhance handles digital targeting, personalization and interactivity across TV advertising. Spark Engage provides the same services for TV programming. The software programs are currently being piloted on smart TVs with initial rollout planned for the Salt Lake City market.
••• quantitative research
Schlesinger debuts dial-based tool
Uses Perception Analyzers
Iselin, N.J., research firm Schlesinger Associates has launched Dials by Schlesinger, a handheld dial, data collection tool using Perception Analyzers to capture quantitative responses to any form of test material. Users can collect and understand respondents' opinions and changing perceptions moment-to-moment, with the goal of reducing the effects of group dynamics. Results can be viewed in real-time. The tool is designed to be a one-stop in-house data collection solution, including acquisition of the latest dial models, dial maintenance and support by trained technical facilitators to guide researchers through their studies. As a mobile solution, Dials by Schlesinger is available across the firm’s network of focus group facilities and also in other central locations and environments, upon request.
••• data analysis
Quirkos software works with text-heavy source material
Generates visual reports
Quirkos, a software firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland, has launched a software platform which allows users to code and collate data from large, text-based qualitative sources such as interview transcripts, surveys and articles. As the researchers find themes in their work, the software creates visual reports in an interactive bubble graph. The tool can also generate traditional static reports which can be exported to Word, Excel or CAQDAS.
••• health and wellness
Ad software targets fitness app users
Mobile site users, too
FitAd, a New York advertising software specialist, is offering the first mobile and wearable advertising software for fitness app and mobile site users. These consumers, estimated at 46 million, access their apps on average 16 times per month. Via programmatic advertising and direct seller channels, FitAd will match brands with audiences through their apps. FitAd’s PrecisionTap platform offers publishers three ways to participate in its network: installation of the FitAd software developer kit, inclusion in the FitAd private marketplace or access to seasonal and event-driven sponsorship opportunities.
••• segmentation research
Software connects customer data silos
Discover new segments
Boston technology firm BlueConic has launched Actionable Journey Insights, software designed to connect disparate data silos so marketers have all their customer data in a single place, creating a profile on each individual user and creating customized interactions that can be delivered in real time. Among the additions in Actionable Journey Insights is a segment discovery capability that enables marketers to organize individual users to discover new segments. With this insight, marketers can then, for example, identify the qualities of those abandoning their online shopping carts and improve the experience for this specific segment.
••• mobile research
Sony to offer smartglasses kit
Google Glass, meet SmartEyeglass Attach
Sony has designed a kit to transform any regular eyeglass frame into a pair of smartglasses, similar to Google Glass. The clip-on unit weighs less than 2 ounces and includes a control board with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a compass, accelerometer and touch sensors. It produces a 640x400 OLED display which hovers in front of the wearer’s eye. It is slated to go into mass production in later 2015 under the working title of SmartEyeglass Attach.
••• spokesperson research
IME Star Index incorporates GfK MRI survey data
Adds Fan View and Brand Alignment features
InterMedia Entertainment, a Los Angeles marketing firm, has expanded its IME Star Index market research tool by adding data from the Survey of the American Consumer by GfK MRI, New York. The Star Index evaluates and ranks the spokesperson potential of celebrities. The new data allows two new features, Fan View, which includes demographic and lifestyle preferences of a celebrity’s fans, and Brand Alignment, which provides information on the brand preferences and purchasing trends of those fans.
www.intermediaentertainment.com/dr-star-index
••• quantitative research
Qualtrics, CFMC partner for sample management
Cross-mode evaluation
Provo, Utah, software firm Qualtrics and San Francisco researcher CFMC have partnered to combine CFMC’s Survox survey call center software with Qualtrics’ Research Suite, a move designed to provide centralized sample management across multi-mode options. With Qualtrics and CFMC, researchers can repurpose existing Qualtrics surveys as phone surveys. Both online and phone survey responses are stored in a centralized location for cross-mode evaluation. All analysis and reporting are conducted via the capabilities built into Qualtrics Research Suite while sample data are stored and call center operations are managed by CFMC’s Survox solution.
••• hybrid research
Askem Know uses qual/quant approach
Aims to be friendly, playful
Tel Aviv, Israel, software firm Askem is offering Askem Know, a qual/quant research platform, designed to engage complex audiences across a wide demographic by tapping into existing ad-targeting engines using a patent-pending, meta-targeting algorithm. The platform aims to target consumers in interactive conversations on various social networks, mobile apps and blogs in a way that is friendly, playful and seamlessly integrated into their digital experience.
••• Briefly
- Boston researcher InCrowd has designed a new app which allows users to question groups of screened health care professionals and then receive their responses within minutes. The app includes features such as advanced branching logic and data visualizations with Power Point or Excel exports. www.incrowdnow.com
- Fort Washington, Pa., research firm TRC has posted a video of its fall 2014 event featuring Vlad Griskevicius, a University of Minnesota professor of marketing, discussing his new book The Rational Animal. It is available at http://trchome.com/news-a-events
- Berlin technology firm SensoMotoric Instruments has upgraded its eye tracking platform for the Oculus Rift DK2 virtual reality headset to include an C/C++ SDK and support for popular VR engines such as Unity and Vizard.
www.smivision.com/en.html - San Francisco software firm Adobe has launched Intelligence Location Marketing, which allows companies to send content to smartphones which come into range of Bluetooth-enabled iBeacons, which can be positioned in any retail location. The system also offers a dashboard designed for real-time viewing of all mobile app data.
www.adobe.com/solutions/digital-analytics.html - London marketer MediaZest has launched MediaZest Retail Analytics, which uses facial recognition technology to help retailers track shopper dynamics. The software utilizes the Cognitec FaceVacs Videoscan and was developed with Argus Global Biometrics Technologies, Sydney, Australia.
www.mediazest.com - New York-based digital marketing firm MediaMath has integrated its service with Apple’s iAd platform. This move is designed to allow marketers to utilize Apple’s targeting data and find the most appropriate audiences for their ad campaigns, then run the campaigns within the apps on Apple devices.
www.mediamath.com - According to AdWeek, Facebook, San Francisco, is providing a new platform, Grapevine, which can act as a real-time focus group. Advertisers can monitor discussion by Facebook users on specific topics and then provide ads customized to the discussion. However, the platform is available only to high end advertisers, based on bankroll.
- Encino, Calif., researcher uSamp is extending its on-demand research platform Instant.ly Concept Test in the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The platform had launched in the U.S. in July. It aims to provide insights using a nationally representative consumer sample, leading to screening new product ideas within a few days.
www.instant.ly/concept-test - London-based Ipsos Healthcare has begun a study of U.S. laboratories involved in cancer biomarker testing, the Oncology Molecular Diagnostics Lab Mapping. The study data is aimed at helping subscribers to examine the type and structure of the laboratories and the volume of their work, identified by cancer type and methodology. Ipsos plans to expand the study to Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.), Australia and China.
www.ipsos-na.com - New York marketing firm PageScience has launched its Health Insight dashboard, designed to match pharmaceutical brands with Internet sites on any of 60 major health condition categories and then deliver ads specifically to those pages. The PageMatch technology aims to rank pages based on historical ad performance, viewability, sentiment and content. The health categories include allergies, cancer, diabetes, orthopedic and pregnancy.
www.pagescience.com - East Sussex, U.K., software firm Mobikats is offering its Beura iBeacon Mobile Marketing Platform. It is geared toward allowing brands to track store, mall, museum and airport audiences in real time, sending relevant ads and offering reward points and service information. The platform is also designed to create heatmaps of app audiences over large spaces.
www.mobikats.com - Stockholm firm Tobii Technology has released a new EyeX plug-in for Unreal Engine 4, designed to simplify the integration of eye tracking in games, entertainment software and office and productivity tools.
www.tobii.com - New York digital marketing technology firm MediaMath has launched a new T1 app designed to give marketers access to the Online Campaign Ratings of New York researcher Nielsen. Users will be able to check the efficacy and reach of their campaigns, determine their daily reach, frequency and TV metrics and examine the demographic and geographic characteristics of their audiences.
www.mediamath.com - San Francisco software firm App Annie has launched Audience Intelligence, a tool for in-depth analysis of the demographics of app users, related apps and sentiment data. The software can be bundled with the firm’s Store Intelligence software or purchased as a standalone.
www.appannie.com - San Antonio software firm Promoter.io has released an analytics platform which can automate the delivery, calculation and feedback loop of Net Promoter Score customer loyalty programs. The new program is self-service, allowing users to identify their strongest advocates, increase loyalty and receive recommendations.
www.promoter.io - Paris-based researcher Kantar Media has launched its Twitter TV Ratings service in Spain, following its acquisition of The Data Republic, a Barcelona-based TV and social media analytics agency in April. Kantar Media had recently enhanced its Instar Social TV platform which is used in Spain and the U.K.
www.kantarmedia.com - Toluna, a Wilton, Conn., researcher, has launched a short-term panel product, PanelPortalLight, which can be launched in less than four weeks and can serve as a trial or short-term community. PanelPortalLight can accommodate all PanelPortal engagement features and can host up to 2,000 members.
www.toluna-group.com - Voice Polls, a New York Internet company formerly known as Poutsch, has updated its polling app to make it available on iOS, Android and the Web. It includes a community of users who receive payment for their answers. Customers should be able to create a poll, target appropriate Voice Polls users and get results in an hour, the firm claims.
www.voicepolls.com - Reduce Data, a Mountain View, Calif., information technology firm, has launched a new platform which incorporates artificial intelligence and real-time data to help marketers deliver personalized ads across multiple devices. The firm also can also analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns, while they are alive or after they ended.
www.reducedata.com - Lexalytics, a Boston software firm, has launched an updated version of Salience, its multilingual text analysis software. The program is designed to assess customers’ intent to buy, sell, recommend or quit by extracting the sentiment and tone of their blogs.
www.lexalytics.com - Boston software company Data Ladder has released its latest version of DataMatch Enterprise, which provides data matching, data cleansing and a new mid-process cancellation feature. The updated version is designed to provide more speed and efficiency and offers improved matching statistic reports.
www.dataladder.com - San Francisco marketing firm inPowered has launched inPowered 2.0, a platform which charges advertisers based on consumer’s actual engagement with the ad, defined as reading or sharing the content, rather than on ad clicks.
www.inpwrd.com - Facebook has released an updated Android app which displays trending stories, with a similar update to its iOS app coming soon. The app allows users to tap on a trending story and see news articles, posts from people who are part of the story and posts from the user’s friends and groups. The desktop version of Facebook had included a trending section since January.
- Mopinion has launched a software program, Conversion Insights, to alert retailers when online customers abandon a shopping cart and to collect and analyze feedback before, during and after the online purchase process.
mopinionlabs.co.uk - New York researcher ORC International has created an online communities division, ORC Communities. It will offer a platform for both project-based and ongoing ventures, providing idea generation, product development, concept and ad testing and white space analysis. The new division will be led by Jennifer Adams.
www.orcinternational.com - Midwest Video, Troy, Mich., has launched M-Stream, a new videostreaming service which only requires Internet connectivity to be available, allowing it to be used in focus group facilities, hotels, convention centers, homes or vehicles.
www.midwestvideo.com - Answers Corporation, a St. Louis-based Internet and software firm, is now offering its Employee Experience measurement product, which uses ForeSee’s predictive methodology to gauge employee satisfaction. The product offers survey development, analyst support, executive reporting and an online portal for monitoring survey results.
www.answers.com - Yandex, a Moscow search engine firm, has launched the Yandex Data Factory. The technology will integrate its software for machine learning, image and voice recognition, deep neural networks and natural voice processing and will assist clients in analyzing data from sensor readings, audio and video recordings and order and transaction data.
www.yandex.com - Prezi, a San Francisco software firm, has added a feature to its cloud-based presentation software which allows users to deliver their presentations remotely. Users can work with partners who already use Prezi or provide a link to interested participants.
http://prezi.com - Parllay, a Kirkland, Wash., software startup, has launched Parllay Studio, which identifies and repurposes social content, and Parllay Channels, which builds social hubs for integrated loyalty marketing and commerce.
www.parllay.com - Red Carpet Research, Stockholm, has designed LuxuryOpinions.com, a panel of affluent and high net worth consumers. Each panelist goes through an eight-point validation process before being included in surveys. At press time, the panel was scheduled to launch in the U.K. in January and be rolled out to new markets every six to eight weeks.
www.redcarpetresearch.eu - Stockholm, Sweden, software firm Cint has partnered with London researcher Opinium to create a panel of independent financial advisers, the first B2B panel for Cint in the U.K.
www.cint.com - DataHero, a San Francisco software firm, is offering a program which integrates with Google Analytics to create charts based on site traffic data. The charts can be customized according to sources, campaign goals, region and other factors.
https://datahero.com - San Francisco technology company Apigee is expanding its Apigee Edge API platform to include a dash-board which measures response time, diagnostic tools and customized reporting according to selected variables.
www.apigee.com - MarketResearch.com, Rockville, Md., is partnering with both CMR Market Research, Longport, N.J., and Kentley Insights, New York, to allow MarketResearch.com to market and distribute the CMR and Kentley proprietary market analyses through the MarketResearch.com site.
- SoapBoxSample, a Los Angeles-based researcher, is partnering with True Sample to utilize its Sample Validation and Multi-Device Fingerprint software solutions. The Multi-Device Fingerprint product is designed to prevent duplication of participants by analyzing the characteristics of the devices respondents use, thus identifying the same participant across multiple devices.
www.soapboxsample.com - U.S. television firms FOX, Tribune Media and Univision have joined with Timeline Labs, a Santa Monica, Calif., social media analyst, in a venture called NewCoin. Using software from SeaChange International, New Coin will create a broad-based tool to measure audiences across both linear and digital platforms. A pilot project in the Dallas market is planned.
- Market Publishers Ltd., London, and the Travel & Tourism Intelligence Center have partnered to allow MarketPublishers.com to distribute and sell the Travel & Tourism research reports.
www.marketpublishers.com