News notes
Fairfield, Conn., research company Survey Sampling International (SSI) has fulfilled its commitment to donate up to $50,000 through a charitable campaign to support children and families devastated by the recent natural disasters in China and Myanmar. The money donated through SSI’s In Our Thoughts Campaign for Asia supported the relief efforts by the Red Cross Society of China and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Opinion Research Corporation, Princeton, N.J., has adopted a new corporate logo, which will be used across all regions and divisions. The new logo features an updated representation of the company’s business and will be phased in throughout the remainder of 2008.
Omaha, Neb., research company infoGROUP has unified two of its market research businesses, Guideline of New York and Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) of Princeton, N.J., under a single senior manager. Gerard Miodus, president of ORC, will assume responsibility for all Guideline operations in addition to those of ORC.
New York research company Ziment has modified its corporate image, which is reflected in a new logo, Web site and marketing materials.
New York research company Gazelle Globalization Group, part of Gazelle Global Research Services, has begun a rebranding initiative, including a new logo and Web site redesign.
A May 31, 2008 article by New York Times reporter Stephanie Clifford (“Billboards That Look Back”) discussed out-of-home advertising and measurement technology. Clifford’s article featured research companies such as TruMedia, Tampa, Fla., and touched on consumer privacy. TruMedia’s CEO, George Murphy, issued a response via a short letter to The New York Times, saying that TruMedia’s privacy policy states that “we do not and will never engage in any video recording and that the data we collect is anonymous and will only be reported in the aggregate. No individually identifiable data is ever collected. Images from our sensors are processed and converted in real-time into counts (how many) and durations (how long). Using complex proprietary algorithms these counts are further assigned to specific demographic categories such as gender and age-group. No images are ever and will ever be stored for use, review or sharing with any private or governmental body.”
Acquisitions/transactions
Reston, Va., research company comScore Inc. has acquired M:Metrics Inc., a New York mobile measurement firm. The transaction involved a cash payment of $44.3 million. M:Metrics offers three primary measurement products: MobiLens, MeterDirect and M:Ad, which are fully available to comScore post-acquisition.
Research firm MedData, a division of Agdata, Charlotte, N.C., has acquired analytics firm ManagedCare.com.
Common Knowledge Research Services, Dallas, has been acquired by European panel and survey technology provider Toluna PLC, based in the U.K.
Wilton, Conn., research company Greenfield Online Inc. has entered into an agreement to be acquired by an entity affiliated with Quadrangle Group LLC, a New York private investment firm. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Quadrangle will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Greenfield Online Inc. for approximately $426 million.
Waltham, Mass., research company Decision Resources Inc. has acquired Manhattan Research, New York. The acquisition of Manhattan Research is expected to provide access to physician and consumer opinions on the global health care market.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, research company Itracks has partnered with GroupNet, a joint venture of independently-owned and -operated qualitative research facilities and support services in the U.S. Itracks’ online qualitative research tools will supplement GroupNet’s facilities.
Phoenix research company MultiMedia Intelligence has partnered with Dublin, Ireland, credit information company Experian to deliver market segmentation, insights and forecasts based on combined supply-side and demand-side views of the markets.
Charleston, S.C., architectural firm RhodesDahl has formed a strategic partnership with Impacts Research & Development to provide predictive intelligence and market research to its clients.
New York research company Ipsos Interactive Services U.S. and San Francisco research company Peanut Labs have formed a multiyear research alliance to enhance market research interaction with 13-34-year-olds who are active on social networks. The collaboration will couple Ipsos’ experience with Peanut Labs’ Sample3.0 technology to help recruit and maintain younger populations on Ipsos panels in the U.S. and Canada.
New York research company TNS and Information Resources Inc. (IRI), Chicago, have partnered to help consumer packaged goods and retail executives better understand the green market. IRI will integrate TNS’ Shades of Green segmentation methodology into IRI’s Consumer Network Household Panel.
East Greenbush, N.Y., data management firmI-Centrix has partnered with London marketing software firm smartFOCUS to offer clients access to campaign management, analysis and reporting capabilities.
Association/organization news
Marketing Research Association (MRA), Glastonbury, Conn., has honored four market researchers with national awards: Richard Rands has received the Honorary Lifetime Membership Award; Merrill Dubrow and Steven Schlesinger, the Distinguished Service Award; and Merrill Shugoll, the Award of Excellence.
In addition, MRA has introduced PRC 2.0, a revision of the Professional Researcher Certification program, which is intended to recognize the qualifications and expertise of marketing and opinion research professionals.
Specific enhancements of PRC 2.0 include: PRCs have been transferred from a specific job category to a broad certification classification; PRCs can submit their education and update personal information online; and PRCs can select any education topic to fulfill their education requirements within three categories: business, research and legal (conferences, chapter events, online courses and writing research-related articles also qualify for PRC credits).
Other program highlights include: flexible education requirements, a simplified classification structure, increased recognition for PRCs, a new PRC Web site and open enrollment through December 31, 2008. During open enrollment, industry professionals can apply for PRC without having to take an exam. To apply visit www.mra-net.org/prc.
Finally, MRA has named its executive committee and its board of directors. The executive committee includes: John Last, president; Kim Larson, president elect; Lawrence Brownell, CEO; Steven Schlesinger, secretary; Elisa Galloway, special appointee; Merrill Dubrow, treasurer; and Colleen Moore Mezler, past president.
The board of directors includes: David Ashley, program analyst, Department of Homeland Security; Ginger Blazier, senior vice president, Directions in Research; Elisa Galloway, president, Galloway Research Service; Anne Hedde, president and CEO, Lightspeed Research; Carla Lindemann, COO, Issues and Answers Network Inc.; Bette Anne Champion, senior director, field operations, GfK Strategic Marketing; Jill A. Donahue, manager, Nestle Purina; W. Christopher King, CFO, Sawtooth Software Inc.; Ana Lucia Mendes, project director, Albar Pesquisa de Mercado; Donna Neal, Miller Brewing Company; Marisa Pope, president, Jackson Associates Research Inc.; Kenneth Roberts, president, Cooper Roberts Research Inc.; Amy Shields, vice president, operations, Nichols Research Inc.; Ed Sugar, vice president, On-Line Communications Inc.; and Adam Weinstein, regional sales director, Authentic Response (a division of Return Path).
The Advertising Research Foundation, New York, has elected nine members to its board of directors for a three-year term: David Ernst, vice president, digital media and market resources, Discovery Communications; Colleen Fahey Rush, executive vice president, research, MTV Networks; Gian Fulgoni, chairman, comScore; Byron Lewis, chairman and CEO, Uniworld Group; Bob Lord, president, Eastern region, Avenue A and Razorfish; Mike Pardee, senior vice president, Scripps Networks; Debra Pruent, COO, GfK Custom Research North America; George Shababb, COO, TNS Media Research; and Stan Sthanunathan, vice president, knowledge and insights, The Coca-Cola Company.
Awards/rankings
Humphrey Taylor, chairman of Rochester, N.Y., research company Harris Interactive’s The Harris Poll, has received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the New York Chapter of the American Association for Public Opinion Research.
Nuremberg, Germany, research company GfKNŸrnberg e.V. and Holger Dietrich have won the German market research innovation award.
New accounts/projects
Bellevue Radio Inc. has signed a multiyear contract with New York research company Arbitron Inc. for Portable People Meter (PPM) radio ratings services for KIXI-AM, KQMV-FM, KKNW-AM, KWJZ-FM and KRWM-FM in Seattle. This agreement will take effect as and when Arbitron commercializes the new audience ratings technology in Seattle.
Arbitron will resume the commercialization of PPM radio ratings service in eight markets: New York, Nassau-Suffolk, Middlesex-Somerset-Union, Los Angeles, Riverside-San Bernardino, Chicago, San Francisco and San Jose. The eight markets will commercialize with the release of the September PPM survey report on October 8, 2008. On that date, the company’s diary-based radio ratings will be withdrawn from those eight markets, and radio transactions among Arbitron-subscribing stations and agencies will take place solely using PPM-based radio ratings. Arbitron commercialized the PPM ratings service in Philadelphia in March 2007 and Houston-Galveston in July 2007. In addition, PPM technology is currently being used for radio and/or television measurement in Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Canada, and Singapore.
Additionally, Jose Lopez-Varela, chairman of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA), McLean, Va., has formed the AHAA Council on PPM. The Council on PPM is tasked with ensuring that the methodology and design of the Hispanic sample accurately represents the Hispanic population and their listening behavior. Board members include: Isabella S‡nchez, vice president and managing director, Tapestry; Gloria Constanza, partner and chief contact strategist, d. Exp—sito & Partners; Jim Irvine, senior director, media strategies, L—pez Negrete Communications; Tracy Decker, executive vice president and media director, GlobalHue; Tomas Ruiz, director, media buying, Bromley Communications; Nancy Tellet, vice president and director, media and strategic planning, Siboney; Oswald Mendez, managing partner, integrated communications, The Vidal Partnership; Jeanette Millan, activation director, MV 42¡; Lula Olmedo, media director, Zubi Advertising; Raul Lopez, president, Phoenix Multicultural; Jeff Lieberman, president, radio division, Entravision; Ceril Shagrin, senior vice president, corporate research, Univision; Belia Jimenez, director, multicultural research, ABC Radio Networks; Kathleen Bohan, vice president, research and marketing, Univision Radio; Pio Ferro, national program director, Spanish Broadcasting System; Stacie de Armas, director, office of multicultural business affairs, Arbitron; and Bob Patchen, CRO, Arbitron.
Montreal research software company Voxco announced that Milwaukee research company Market Probe will implement Voxco Command Center and the Pronto dialer at three of Market Probe’s centers, two located in the U.S. and one in Canada.
New York researcher The Nielsen Company has renewed its agreement with Deerfield, Ill., drugstore chain Walgreens through 2013. Under the contract, Nielsen will provide Walgreens with category management, business planning, merchandising services and consumer data and insights, as well as Nielsen Answers Retail Edition, the first edition of Nielsen’s custom analytics platform designed for retailers.
Separately, Nielsen has signed a global agreement with Atlanta beverage company The Coca-Cola Company, enabling Nielsen to provide services to Coca-Cola in 70+ countries. Under the agreement, Nielsen will provide Coca-Cola with information and insights on consumer purchase behavior and targeting, product movement, pricing strategy, media spending, television ratings, as well as analytical tools, cross-country reporting, customized research and Nielsen Answers.
Tampa, Fla., research company TruMedia Technologies Inc., which is seeking to create accountability in the out-of-home display industry through its audience measurement solutions, has selected New York public relations agency KCSA Strategic Communications to represent the company.
Switzerland ratings research company AGB Nielsen has received the contract to measure the size of TV audiences of the Beijing Olympic Games in 38 countries on five continents. AGB Nielsen will measure audiences in 10 provinces of China, covering a total of 660 million people.
San Francisco research company Peanut Labs has formed its Optimus Advisory Board to study the problem of fraudulent online responses in order to create best practices around data quality using digital fingerprinting and other technologies. Inaugural members include: Amy Raihill, consumer insights manager, Shell Lubricants; Artie Bulgrin, senior vice president, research, ESPN; Chuck Miller, general manager, DMS-AOL; Greg Durkin, vice president, research, Warner Bros; Henry Schapiro, vice president, MarketCast; James Mendelsohn, vice president, corporate strategy, Capital One; Josh Chasin, CRO, comScore; Justin Fromm, research director, ABC Television; Kristin Luck, president, Decipher Inc.; Mike Donatello, director, research, USA Today; Patricia Graham, CMO, Knowledge Networks; Patrick Glaser, director, respondent cooperation, CMOR; Rich Ratcliff, executive vice president, Carbonview Research; Ron Gailey, senior vice president and director, research, Washington Mutual; Simon Chadwick, partner, Cambiar; Steve McHugh, senior vice president, Millward Brown; Steve Oi, senior CIM, Kraft Foods.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Vancouver, British Columbia, research consultancy Angus Reid Strategies has expanded with a New York office. Tom Neri will serve as executive vice president and managing director.
Nashville, Tenn., research company edo Interactive has launched. Edo Interactive will initially offer two products: the edo Marketing Platform and the Facecard Prepaid MasterCard.
Research Now, London, has expanded its online fieldwork team in southern California with the opening of an office in Los Angeles. The office will be led by Tobin Bailey, vice president, client development, West and Central regions.
Boston research company Kadence has launched in China with the opening of a Hong Kong office.
Chicago research company Survey Sampling International has opened an office in Seoul, South Korea, and appointed Simon (Quan) Zhang to lead it.
Iowa City, Iowa, research company Kleffmann North America (KNA) has allotted $300,000 to accommodate expansion over the next three years. The company is seeking a $40,000 forgivable loan from the Iowa Department of Economic Development and $15,000 from Iowa City. KNA plans to remodel its current office, lease approximately 1,700 square feet of space, purchase new computer equipment and coordinate a jobs training program with Kirkwood Community College. KNA plans to employ nine salaried workers and six hourly interviewers in the next three years.
Chicago research company Synovate has launched its Customer Experience practice. Synovate Customer Experience includes customer loyalty and employee engagement, performance tracking, mystery shopping, footfall and shopper behavior analysis, automated collection of customer feedback and customer experience management consulting.
Toronto research company Alliance Data Loyalty Services has launched Precima, an analytics firm. Precima was formerly the in-house analytics arm of Alliance.
London research company BrainJuicer Group PLC has agreed to license its products to Slater Marketing Group, a research firm in Melbourne, Australia. BrainJuicer has also formalized plans to open an office in Switzerland. BrainJuicer has appointed Mark Johnson as the Switzerland manager in order to build on the existing client base in the territory.