News notes
The Murray Hill Chicago focus group center ceased operations in November 2013.
Acquisitions/transactions
Sterling, Va., research company Neustar has acquired San Mateo, Calif., research company Aggregate Knowledge. Neustar will integrate Aggregate Knowledge’s media intelligence platform and Neustar’s E1 marketing analytics platform.
Paris communications company Publicis Groupe has acquired ETO, a Paris and Lille, France-based research company. Publicis intends to expand into CRM and data mining.
Miami research company QualMetrix has acquired the health care analytics platform of Visual Intelligence LLC, a Newtown Square, Pa., research company.
WPP’s New York advertising agency Y&R has acquired a majority stake in Plasenta Conversation Agency, an Istanbul, Turkey, social media monitoring and analytics agency.
Chicago research company Mintel has acquired the Mail Monitor direct mail analysis service from Ipsos, a Paris research company. Mail Monitor will be incorporated into Mintel Comperemedia, its direct marketing analysis business in North America.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
London research company Kantar Media and Twitter, Palo Alto, Calif., have partnered to develop a suite of tools to support planning and analytics for the TV industry in the U.K. and Spain.
Olso, Norway, research software company Confirmit has partnered with Futurelab, a Brussels, Belgium, research company, to combine Confirmit’s voice-of-the-customer and voice-of-the-employee solutions with Futurelab’s customer-centric programs.
Research companies comScore Inc., Reston, Va., and Shareablee, New York, have partnered to provide comScore clients with Shareablee’s analytics platform for social media benchmarking and competitive intelligence insights.
Kantar, the London data investment management division of WPP, has renewed its partnership with the Merlien Institute, a Singapore events and publishing company, to sponsor Merlien’s mobile marketing research conference series. Kantar will be the series’ title sponsor for 2014, covering all four conferences in Asia, Europe, North America and Africa.
Research companies ClickTale, Israel, and Optimizely, San Francisco, have partnered to integrate Optimizely’s A/B testing platform with ClickTale’s anonymous user session playback, heat maps, conversion funnels and form analytics.
Association/organization news
The Qualitative Research Consultants Association, St. Paul, Minn., has elected its 2013-2014 board of directors: Kendall Nash of Burke, Inc., president; Mark Sumpter of Consumer Link Moderating and Research Consulting, vice president; Manny Schrager of Consumer Centers of New York and New Jersey, treasurer; Monica Zinchiak of Z. Research Services, secretary; and board members Susan Sweet of Sweet Insight Group; Shaili Bhatt of C+R Research; Marc-Andre Leduc of M Leduc and Co.; Corette Haf of Corporate Research Consultancy; and Liz Van Patten of Van Patten Research/Consumer Advisory.
The Neuromarketing Science and Business Association, Venlo, the Netherlands, and its board of advisors have begun drafting a policy on corporate accreditation. Accreditation by the NMSBA signifies that an applicant company offers neuromarketing services that are valid, scientifically based and have a purpose appropriate to the field of neuromarketing.
Awards/rankings
Karri Bass of Illumination Research, Cincinnati, was named one of 12 winners of Ernst & Young’s 2013 class of Entrepreneurial Winning Women, a national competition and ongoing executive leadership program that identifies high-potential women entrepreneurs whose businesses show real potential to scale.
New accounts/projects
New York media network CBS will be the first participant in New York researcher The Nielsen Company’s trial to measure cross-media campaigns on local television and radio. The trial will focus on combining CBS local TV audience data with CBS Radio audience data to measure unduplicated reach and time spent across both media. The trial will also measure reach and frequency for cross-media campaigns.
HSR Specialist Researchers, Brazil, has adopted Miami research company eCGlobal Solutions’ platforms and panels for all HSR online surveys.
Farmington Hills, Mich., research company Morpace Inc. has adopted Oslo, Norway, research software company Confirmit’s Confirmit SODA platform for its mobile research initiatives.
Paris research company Cocedal Conseil has selected London research company DigitalMR’s eCommunity platform for private online communities and DigitalMR’s and social media research services.
Lippman Connects, a Washington, D.C., event producer, has selected Red Bank, N.J., research company Exhibit Surveys Inc. as its exclusive market research partner for the Lippman Connects Roundtables through 2014.
Montreal loyalty program coalition Aeroplan has selected Vancouver, B.C., research company Vision Critical to power its Aeroplan Advisors insight community.
Nuremberg, Germany, research company The GfK Group has signed an agreement with four Brazil television broadcasters – Band TV, Record, RedeTV! and SBT – to conduct audience measurement in Brazil.
Gurgaon, India, research company Annik Technology Services has adopted Fresno, Calif., research company Decipher Inc.‘s Beacon research and reporting platform.
Additionally, Research Interactive, Holborn, U.K., has also selected the Beacon platform from Decrypt, the London branch of Decipher.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
New York research company GfK has opened a user-experience research facility in the Financial District of downtown San Francisco.
AMRB, a Dubai, United Arab Emirates, research consultancy and part of Kantar Group, has launched a client service hub in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Insight Exchange, a London research company, has changed its name to Big Sofa. The company is online at www.bigsofa.co.uk.
WiseSample, a Toronto online sample company, has opened for business. The company is online at www.wisesample.com.
Northstar Research Partners, Toronto, has opened a new insights practice in London and hired Noah Roychowdhury as principal.
The Futures Company, a Chapel Hill, N.C., research company, has opened an office in Singapore. Stephane Alpern and Jeremy Sy will lead the office.
Bridgeport, Conn., research company QuestBack has opened an office in Austin, Texas at 9442 Capital of Texas Hwy., North Arboretum Plaza One, Suite 500. The office will be led by Jeff Jones.
Researchers Gayle Ireland and Nancy Irwin have launched Voccii, a Ballantyne, N.C., research company. Voccii is online at www.voccii.com.
Chennai, India, research agency krea has launched QHub, a focus group facility. The facility is online at www.qhub.in.
New York research company OnePoint Global has opened an office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
U.K. marketing intelligence company The Exchange Lab has expanded into the U.S. with offices in New York and San Francisco.
Research company earnings/financial news
The GfK Group, Nuremberg, Germany, announced finanical results for the first nine months of 2013. At 126.3 million euros, adjusted operating income rose 0.6 percent over the previous year.
SPAR Group Inc., White Plains, N.Y., reported financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2013. For third-quarter 2013, revenue increased 9 percent to $27.8 million; international revenue increased 15 percent to $16.4 million; and net income was $331,000.
For the first nine months, net revenues increased 16 percent to $80.2 million; domestic revenues increased $1.2 million to $32.4 million; international revenues increased 26 percent to $47.8 million; and net income was $244,000.
KPMG International, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has formed KPMG Capital, an investment fund created to accelerate innovation and analytics for big data.
Information Services Group, Stamford, Conn., reported record third-quarter 2013 revenues of $51.4 million, up 11 percent over the same prior-year period. Operating income was $1.8 million, compared to $2.4 million in the third quarter of 2012.
Gartner Inc., Stamford, Conn., reported results for the third quarter of 2013. Total revenue was $410.7 million, an increase of 10 percent on a reported basis compared to third-quarter 2012. Net income was $38.2 million, an increase of 22 percent. For the nine months ended September 30, 2013, total revenue was $1,263.5 million, an increase of 11 percent over the same period in 2012. Net income increased 13 percent to $121.4 million.