News notes
The producers of TMRE and The Quirk’s Event are teaming up to launch the Insights Leadership & Talent Summit, a closed-door, end-client/corporate researchers-only conference. The event will be held on July 15-16 in Chicago as part of the Summer Insights Fest – co-located with The Shopper Insights in Action Event and the UX Research & Insights Event.
The Certification Institute for Research Quality, an ISO audit and certification body and subsidiary of the Insights Association, has awarded certification to Los Angeles-based company Acuant Inc. for compliance to ISO 27001, which provides a framework for companies to manage their data security.
Apple has blocked Facebook’s Research app, which asks users to provide access to data on their phones in exchange for up to $20 per month, for violating its policies.
Jeff Anderson Consulting/AH! Advertising, a La Quinta, Calif.-based research and advertising firm, is celebrating its 32-year anniversary.
Des Moines, Iowa, consumer intelligence firm Quester has received Disability-Owned Business Enterprise (DOBE) certification from Disability:IN, a national nonprofit that helps businesses drive performance by leveraging disability inclusion in the workplace. DOBE certification requires at least 51 percent ownership by an individual with a disability.
Watertown, Mass., market intelligence firm InCrowd has answered its 2.5 millionth question posed by biotech, life sciences and medical device firms to its “Crowd” of health care professionals.
Plano, Texas, data services firm Dynata has received a U.S. patent for an automated graphing system that operates across its proprietary routing, delivery and profiling network. The graphing system ensures that accurate and relevant profile attributes, used to qualify individuals for participation in research studies, are complete and current. It also avoids the need for participants to answer long and duplicative profiling questionnaires by asking for specific information only when the required data is incomplete or has expired.
Acquisitions/transactions
Germany-based software company SAP has completed its acquisition of experience management software company Qualtrics. Ryan Smith will continue to lead Qualtrics, which will retain its current leadership, personnel, branding and company culture and operate as an entity within the Cloud Business Group at SAP. Qualtrics will maintain its dual headquarters in Provo, Utah, and Seattle.
Port Washington, N.Y., research company The NPD Group has signed an agreement with information services company SportsOneSource (SOS) to acquire assets relating to the company’s SSI Data POS Sports and Outdoor tracking business. The transaction was expected to close on April 1.
Brakethrough Research, Los Angeles, has acquired eye-tracking measurement and analysis firm Eye Faster LLC. The acquisition will bring eye-tracking capabilities to Brakethrough Research and allow BRI to offer deeper services in eye-tracking and shopper research.
Anaheim, Calif., research technology company mTAB has acquired Switzerland-based software company Slideworx GmbH. Hugo Ehrnreic, Slideworx CEO, will become president Europe and global CMO of mTAB. As a combined entity, mTAB and Slideworx will introduce the next-generation mTAB platform version 10, including: mTAB Analyze, which provides data analysis, crosstabulation and visualization; and mTAB Discover, which offers self-service visual analysis and collaboration through presentations, reports and storytelling.
Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired Singapore-based digital marketing agency Happy Marketer Group. It will be rebranded as Happy Marketer, a Merkle Company.
Iselin, N.J., researcher Schlesinger Group has acquired Baltimore Research, a data collection firm in Baltimore, Md. Ted Donnelly and Heather Ashley-Collins, leading the Baltimore team, have both been appointed vice president, client solutions.
Plano, Texas, data services company Dynata has reported that its acquisition of Reimagine Holdings Group has received all necessary regulatory approvals and has closed. Reimagine Holdings Group and its entities included in the transaction – Critical Mix, PopResearch and MarketSight, among others – will immediately begin operations under the Dynata brand. Gary Laben, chief executive officer of Dynata, will lead the combined organization. Hugh Davis and Keith Price, co-founders and managing directors of Reimagine Holdings, will assume executive leadership positions at Dynata. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Dublin-based professional services company Accenture has acquired London-based innovation firm ?What If!. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition will further enhance Accenture’s front-end innovation capabilities that help clients ideate, prototype and scale products and services for the digital economy.
San Mateo, Calif., survey software company SurveyMonkey has entered into an agreement to acquire Usabilla, an Amsterdam-based voice of customer technology company, for approximately $80 million. Usabilla allows companies to collect, analyze and act on real-time user feedback to improve products and customer experience. The acquisition is expected to close in Q2 2019.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Iselin, N.J., research services company Schlesinger Group has partnered with U.K. video analytics company Voxpopme to provide Schlesinger OnDemand Plus, a combined solution for video insights. Schlesinger’s Plus service includes access to video data, human transcription, automated video analytics, a video management platform and storage of analyzed data. Schlesinger studio recordings are uploaded directly to the Voxpopme platform within one hour of the session, allowing remote clients to stay close to the research and moderators to review sessions sooner.
Reston, Va., firm Comscore and NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations (NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations), a division of NBCUniversal that includes 40 television stations, have formed a multi-year partnership. All NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations will use Comscore’s linear TV currency as well as its local mobile and desktop insights to enhance how the stations measure their performance. The stations will also use Comscore’s automotive, political and consumer targeting segments.
Port Washington, N.Y., research company The NPD Group and the U.S. Census Bureau have announced an agreement where NPD will deliver regular data feeds to the Census Bureau’s monthly retail programs. The agreement is meant to help retailers decrease the burden of responding to Census Bureau data requests.
New Orleans-based sample-buying platform Lucid has partnered with Welcome Research, a U.S.-based survey panel that specializes in reaching unacculturated Hispanic audiences. SABEResPODER (which translates to “knowledge is power”), Welcome Research’s platform for the U.S. Spanish-speaking community, includes over 1 million users who will now be available on the Lucid Marketplace.
London-based research company Kantar has joined the board of Movin’ On LAB, a sustainable mobility “think and do tank” originally founded by tire manufacturer Michelin. Kantar’s automotive practice will provide consumer insight expertise to discussions and initiatives across the mobility ecosystem. Guillaume Saint, global automotive lead, will represent Kantar on the board.
Strategic brand consultancy Hall & Partners has signed a three-year partnership with research software company Askia. Hall & Partners has been utilizing the Askia suite since 2014, which has supported the business in gathering, processing and analyzing respondent data.
In New York, CBS Corporation has formed a strategic relationship with consumer insights platform Canvs. CBS will utilize Canvs Surveys to automate the coding of open-ended responses to survey questions.
The Category Management Association has entered into a joint venture with the Category Management Knowledge Group. Through the partnership, the organizations will provide a category management training platform and training courses for members and employees.
HERE Technologies, a mapping and location platform company, and Blis, a location data technology company, have formed a partnership. HERE Places, the company’s database of places, will enhance Blis’ points of interest database, which maps GPS data to real-world locations. The database is segmented by location categories and audiences to help brands identify and target locations of interest for media planning and buying.
Association/organization news
The Insights Association, Washington, D.C., has reported that membership has grown across all categories. The organization says year-over-year research company membership grew 45 percent, while corporate insights and analytics department membership is up 79 percent.
IAB Australia, Sydney, has launched the Future of Measurement project, which will see the IAB deliver a plan that encompasses measurement solutions, standards for ad measurement, delivery and verification as well as guidelines and best practices. The project aims to deliver data and metrics to marketers, agencies and publishers to allow them to assess opportunities and track performance. The project will be spearheaded by IAB Australia CEO Gai Le Roy and newly appointed Research Director Natalie Stanbury.
The Certification Institute for Research Quality (CIRQ), an ISO audit and certification body and subsidiary of the Insights Association, has updated and streamlined ISO 20252. ISO 20252:2019 market, opinion and social research, including insights and data analytics – vocabulary and service requirements – has officially been published. It replaces all three of the older ISO 20252, ISO 26362 and ISO 19731 standards. All CIRQ certification clients will have until December 2020 to transition to and audit under the new standard.
The Insights Association, Washington, D.C., has launched the Canadian Advisory Council, its ninth committee, to provide guidance on the needs of Canada-based members. The council includes: Catie Brooks, strategy and insights, McDonald’s; Joseph Chen, insights lead, chocolate, North America, Mondelez; Corrin Harper, president, Insightrix Research; Isabelle Landreville, president and chief insight seeker, Sylvestre & Co.; Bernie Malinoff, president, element 54; Scott Megginson, president, insights division, Kantar Canada; Raj Manocha, chief revenue officer, Delvinia and president, Methodify; Aileen O’Doherty, head of customer insights, Home Depot; Alyssa Rodrigo, director of insights, AB InBev; Lee Vernon, manager, commercial insights and planning, Metro; and Catherine Yuile, executive vice president, insights and analytics, Edelman. Megginson will chair the council, with Rodrigo serving as vice chair.
ESOMAR has formed a strategic partnership with the Canadian Research and Insights Council (CRIC). As part of the partnership, CRIC will adopt a localized version of the most recent ICC/ESOMAR Code of Conduct and global standards. CRIC will also have a seat on ESOMAR’s Professional Standards Committee and the support of ESOMAR’s advocacy and standards teams. The two associations will establish a pathway to migrate former MRIA individual members into ESOMAR and ensure the continued value and relevance of the Certified Marketing Research Professional designation.
The National Retail Federation (NRF), Washington, D.C., has sent two letters to Congress in connection with hearings on federal privacy legislation. The NRF supports uniform federal standards that would apply to all entities that handle sensitive consumer information to avoid confusion and conflicts caused by state-level laws. The first letter was sent by NRF to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the second letter was sent by 12 associations including NRF to both the House Energy and Commerce Committee and to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee has joined EU member states in voting on and passing a preliminary agreement on a new copyright directive that includes exemptions for text and data mining. ESOMAR has been working with partners in the European Alliance for Research Excellence in support of the agreement. It was originally proposed that the exemption be limited to academic institutions. The final text for the exemption requires EU member states to allow text and data mining for all research actors regardless of funding source.
Awards/rankings
Kevin Ferger, Nicholas Pepitone and Kenneth De Young, a team of three undergraduates from the College of Staten Island’s School of Business, have won the inaugural GfK NextGen Data Science Hackathon Competition. The competition required students to develop recommendations for a hypothetical AI-based smart speaker just entering the market. Each team had five minutes to present its findings and another five minutes to field questions from a panel of judges. The winning team received $5,000.
The QRCA, St. Paul, Minn., has named the recipients of the 2019 QRCA Awards. The winners are: Shannon Danzy, who received the Impact Award; Pascal Patenaude, who received the Maryanne Pflug Award; Mark Sumpter, who received the President’s Award; Meagan Morgan, who received the Qualitative Excellence (“Qually”) Award; and Kelsey Segaloff, who received the Rising Star Award.
Sarah Dinsmore, a senior success consultant at Berlin-based market insights company Market Logic, has been awarded Unilever’s 2018 CMI Partner Excellence Award. Dinsmore supports Unilever’s PeopleWorld platform, an insights engine that’s powered by Market Logic.
Heather Schlesinger, chief marketing officer of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, has received the Marketer for Good Award by the Atlanta Chapter of the American Marketing Association for her efforts in the not-for-profit arena.
New accounts/projects
European-based insurance start-up VouchForMe has selected London-based research company Further to conduct a research project that examines the attitudes of driving-age consumers. VouchForMe aims to use social connections among friends to reduce the costs of insurance services. The company used insights from an online community to understand the relationship between friendship, money matters and trust and how they relate to its product.
Marketing services company DG Solutions has selected Canada-based survey software solutions firm Voxco to provide CATI software for its new call center.
Nielsen, New York, has expanded contracted services for data insights and analytics for convenience store chain Casey’s General Stores Inc. With the expanded agreement, Nielsen’s coverage of the convenience channel will now include census store information for all Casey’s General Store locations, covering over 2,100 stores in 16 states across the Midwest and South.
U.K.-based agency DJS Research Ltd has been awarded a contract for cultural market research. The agency will conduct ongoing audience research within London, Manchester, Liverpool and St. Ives for a consortium of U.K. cultural venues over the next four years.
Health care services company Cardinal Health has selected Nielsen, New York, as its primary U.S. analytics provider for retail-syndicated market and panel data, supporting its network of independent retail pharmacy partners.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Panel management software solutions company SampleNinja has launched, led by Tariq Mirza as CEO and founder and Juha Vehnia as CTO and founder. The company will offer automatic dynamic profiling, sub-sampling from multiple sub-panels and a new sampling feasibility tool. SampleNinja is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with an office in London.
Research group MIG Global, part of Next15 communications group in London, is combining its family of specialist agencies – Morar HPI, VIGA, Charterhouse and Circle – into one to launch research company Savanta. Roger Perowne, global CEO and Morar HPI co-founder, will head up Savanta, supported by a senior team of Lewis Reeves, global CCO; Paul Bath, global COO; Alistair Cunningham, global CTO; Nick Baker, U.K. CEO; and Vin de Robertis, Americas CEO. Savanta will offer intelligence services including data collection and analysis, bespoke research and intelligence products.
GfK MRI and Simmons Research have combined to create MRI-Simmons, a joint venture co-owned by GfK and SymphonyAI Group, with GfK as the majority partner. Gregg Lindner, president of GfK North America, will be chairman of the new joint venture and John Ouren, Simmons chairman, will be a board member. Anna Welch, current managing director of MRI, will lead the joint venture and Mike Drankwalter will lead all sales for the new entity.
Pollster Angus Reid has formed Angus Reid Global, a Canada-based opinion and market research company. The company’s leadership team will be headed by Ed Morawski as president and chief operating officer and will include Demetre Eliopoulos as senior vice president and managing director of the company’s public affairs consultancy; Cailey Asher as senior vice president of strategy and development; and Sonia Bishop, who will head up panel operations as senior vice president of operations. The new company is centered around the Angus Reid Forum, a research panel comprised of Canadian respondents who can be reached online via text, e-mail or social media.
Drive Research in Syracuse, N.Y., has opened its brand office and focus group facility. As part of the office build-out, the company now offers a focus group facility in upstate New York. The facility includes a camera to digitally record research sessions for clients and stream sessions through a private link to off-site viewers. The focus group room includes a TV that wirelessly connects to visitor and employee laptops for screen sharing.
Periscope LLC, a Los Angeles-based research and strategy agency, has launched. The company was founded by Amy Snow, who was most recently VP of research and insights at The Wonderful Company and a former partner at Kelton Global. The company’s approach is rooted in traditional research and incorporates principles from design, journalism and management consulting.
Rhinebeck, N.Y., research firm Phoenix Marketing International has opened two U.S. offices in New York and Oldsmar, Fla., as a result of the company’s acquisition of Nielsen Brand Effect in early 2018. The New York office will accommodate the Brand Effect team and a number of existing Phoenix team members, while the Oldsmar, Fla., office will house the company’s global data collection and technology hub.
Research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey has moved its headquarters to Boston’s Financial District.
Research company earnings/financial news
Stamford, Conn., research company Gartner Inc. reported revenues of $1.1 billion for fourth-quarter 2018 and full-year revenues of $4 billion for 2018.
Market and competitive intelligence company Crayon, Boston, raised $6 million in venture capital funding led by Bedrock Capital. The company will use the funds to double its team and support growth across engineering, sales, services and marketing.
London-based consumer insights platform Zappi announced an $8 million growth round led by investors Cipio Partners and Prime Ventures. The growth round will help the company further expand in Europe and the U.S., help expand its existing product suite and provide new solutions. Christoph Wedegaertner, a managing partner at Cipio Partners, will join the Zappi board of directors.
Nielsen, New York, reported revenues of approximately $1.7 billion for the fourth quarter of 2018, down 5.8 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2017. Revenues for the full year decreased 0.9 percent to approximately $6.5 billion.
Reston, Va., firm Comscore reported revenue of $419.5 million for full-year 2018, an increase of 3.9 percent compared to the same time last year. Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $109.3 million, up from $102.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.