Strategic Mapping Inc. (SMI), Santa Clara, Calif., has completed its acquisition of Donnelley Marketing Information Services (DMIS),aunit of A.C. Nielsen Co., from the Dun & Bradstreet Corp. (D&B). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. However, D&B will retain an investment in Strategic Mapping. D&B will also continue to be one of SMI's data suppliers. The combined company (SMI/DMIS) will operate under the Strategic Mapping Inc. name. The organization will combine expertise in software, data, custom applications and services, and offer a single source for desktop mapping and information tools. The acquisition means that SMI now has approximately 250 employees and estimated first-year (calendar 1994) combined revenues near $40 million.
Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. has entered into a letter of intent to acquire Market Trends Inc., a provider of syndicated market tracking services based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Terms of the proposed transaction were not disclosed.
The M/A/R/C Group, Irving, Texas, has signed a letter of intent with GfK Holding AG, based in Nuremberg, Germany, to form a strategic partnership to commercialize and develop the Assessor/MACRO family of sales forecasting models. The partnership will include sharing certain technologies and products and will allow the firms to jointly pursue assignments for multinational clients. The two companies expect to sign a formal agreement soon, under which GfK will purchase the rights to market and develop the Assessor modeling system in Europe. The Assessor model allows the user to generate an assessment of volumetric potential and predict sales levels across a range of marketing variables.
Philadelphia-based RSVP/Interviewing Services has changed its name to RSVP/Research Services. The change reflects the broader range of services the firm offers. In conjunction with its WATS interviewing functions, services include questionnaire assistance, sample design, coding, data processing and expanded computer-assisted interviewing capabilities.
Quantime Corp.'s New York offices have moved to: 11E. 26th St., 16th floor, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Constance Petersen has founded Capstone Research, based in Lyndhurst, NJ. The firm provides custom marketing research and proprietary services on an international, national, regional and local scale. Services include custom and syndicated sales tracking studies, distribution audits, controlled store testing, mystery shopper programs, customer satisfaction surveys and product purchasing. Petersen, a partner in ACP Research, said that Capstone will continue to offer "TRENDS," a national in-store observation service that has been part of ACP's operations, and D.A.R.T., which delivers data in 24 hours using telecommunications technology. The firm is at: 623 Ridge Road, Lyndhurst, NJ. 07071.
FrontLine Research has opened for business. The firm is at: 647 Panchita Way, Los Altos, Calif. 94022. Ed Klar is the firm's president.
Hispanic Marketing Communication Research and Consumer Research Associates/Superooms, two San Francisco Bay area firms, have established a jointly owned firm, SuperDatos de Mexico. The new company has headquarters in Mexico City and provides a range of quantitative and qualitative research services throughout Mexico, including central location intercept interviewing, telephone interviewing, data tabulation and analysis, focus group recruiting, focus group facilities, and focus group moderation and analysis. The firm is at: San Miguel 31, #3, Delegation Coyoacan, Mexico D.F., Mexico CP 04030.
Marketing Advertising Communications Specialists, formerly of Seattle, has changed its name and moved to a larger facility in Bellevue, Wash. The company now is called Northwest Research Group Inc.