Acquisitions/transactions 

Holding company MCI has acquired customer experience company Market Force. 

Professional services company Accenture has completed the acquisition of digital experience and data analytics company Mindcurv.

Professional services company Accenture has acquired customer engagement agency Unlimited. 

Hootsuite has agreed to acquire Talkwalker, an AI social listening solution.

Alliances/strategic partnerships  

The University of Georgia Master of Marketing Research Program has named data collection provider Rep Data as its newest advisory board member and as a partner of UGA’s Terry College of Business. 

Integral Ad Science has partnered with Snap Inc. to offer its advertisers increased transparency across Snapchat campaigns through IAS’s Total Media Quality Brand Safety and Suitability Measurement product.

Consumer and media intelligence solutions company Cision and Reddit have expanded their partnership to offer deeper social insights. 

Consumer intelligence company NIQ has partnered with McDonalds to develop the BASES Cultural Resonance module for its NIQ BASES ad testing portfolio.

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement has partnered with advertising company OpenAP to conduct a study exploring the future of identity resolution in advanced TV advertising.

Music video network Vevo has partnered with video analysis company KERV Interactive to add new ad formats to its global CTV portfolio. 

Insights platform Fuel Cycle has added Universal Connections to its Research Engine platform to allow users to run projects from their insight community with partners and tools that are not fully integrated with Fuel Cycle. 

Investment firm Nalka Invest has partnered with Kirk Kapital to purchase European data collection provider Norstat from Triton for an undisclosed sum.  

Information and insights company TransUnion has partnered with consumer insights company MRI-Simmons to improve actionability across the advertising ecosystem. 

Market Research Institute International has signed a formal supporting agreement with World Association for Public Opinion Research Latin America. 

Behaviorally has partnered with Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba to make its packaging analysis tool PackFlash available on Alibaba’s Tmall Innovation Center platform. 

Kantar has been named one of TikTok’s measurement partners for brand lift studies. 

Canadian consumer research company Vividata has partnered with data solutions and data science company Consumer Orbit to improve consumer and media insights in Canada.

Association/organization news 

The Marketing Research Education Foundation will host the 4th annual Race Around the World for Education, a virtual race held throughout the month of May to help raise money to support global education for children.

The Australian Data and Insights Association and the ESMOAR Foundation have opened entries for the 2024 Research Got Talent Award competition. To enter visit https://dataandinsights.com.au/research-got-talent-2024/. 

QRCA, the Insights Association and RIVA Market Research have opened applications for the Naomi Henderson Legacy Awards. To apply visit www.qrca.org/page/naomi-henderson-legacy-awards.

The Tony Cowling Foundation has opened submissions for the 2024 Tony Cowling Foundation Industry Innovation Award. To apply visit https://tonycowlingfoundation.org/awards.  

Awards/rankings 

Consumer research company quantilope has been named as a Fastest Growing Tech Company on Deloitte’s Tech Fast 50 list for the fifth consecutive year.  

Insights platform Canvs AI has been ranked as the No. 1 text analysis solution in North America in the G2 Spring 2024 Relationship Index for Text Analysis. 

The Insights Association has named the South Central Chapter as the Chapter of the Year for 2023 and has named Marissa Fohlin, market research delivery consultant, S&P Global, as the Chapter Volunteer of the Year for 2023.

New accounts/projects 

Michigan State University School of Packaging has unveiled the MSU Collective for NewProductWorks at the Smithers Facility in Lansing, Michigan. It contains more than 140,000 packaged goods manufactured from 1980 onwards, encompassing 350 categories, letting visitors compare products or gather ideas for research and development. Ipsos donated the NewProductWorks collection and facilitated its relocation to MSU.

New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions  

Jem Fawcus and Richard Owen have launched QualifyAI, a company aiming to automate qualitative research. 

Insights data company TestSet has launched in Europe, backed by a strategic investment from ACKWEST Group. It will be led by Colin Turner-Kerr as managing director and Dina Patel as director of operations. 

ResTech solutions provider High Tech Dev has rebranded to HTAIR.

Research company Sago has launched Sago Health to improve health care research and to simplify the complexities health care organizations and agencies face. 

Research company earnings/financial news 

Customer experience management company Sprinklr has released its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results. It reported a fourth-quarter revenue of $194.2 million and a subscription revenue of $177 million. It also reported revenue of $732.4 million and an operating income of $33.9 million for its full year. 

Emporia Research has closed its $4.7 million seed funding round.