Acquisitions/transactions
Software companies SAP, based in Germany, and Qualtrics, headquartered in Provo, Utah, and Seattle, have entered into a definitive agreement under which SAP intends to acquire Qualtrics. Under the terms of the agreement, SAP will acquire all outstanding shares of Qualtrics for $8 billion in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2019, subject to customary closing conditions and attainment of regulatory clearances. The boards of directors for both companies and Qualtrics’ shareholders have approved the transaction. Following the closing of the transaction, Qualtrics is expected to maintain its leadership, personnel, branding and culture and will operate as an entity within SAP’s Cloud Business Group. Ryan Smith, CEO of Qualtrics, will continue to lead the company. Qualtrics is also expected to maintain its dual headquarters.
Belgium-based research company InSites Consulting has acquired Johannesburg-based insights agency Columinate. Henk Pretorius, co-founder and CEO of Columinate, will remain as managing director of the South African office and will also join the global InSites Consulting organization as a managing partner.
Paris-based researcher Ipsos has acquired New York-based social media intelligence company Synthesio for over $50 million in cash. With the acquisition, Synthesio plans to grow its international presence and services beyond its existing five offices. The company will be a standalone business unit at Ipsos, maintaining the name and brand. Synthesio CEO Loic Moisand and the Synthesio leadership team will remain with the company.
BioInformatics Inc., an Arlington, Va., life science research and advisory firm, has acquired market research publisher Kalorama Information from MarketResearch.com. Under the terms of the deal, MarketResearch.com will continue selling Kalorama’s reports for BioInformatics.
Cincinnati-based employee feedback and talent analytics firm Talmetrix Inc. has acquired Critical Metrics LLC, a Seattle-based consulting firm that specializes in employee engagement and human capital ROI. The acquisition complements Talmetrix’s existing SaaS employee survey and reporting platform to include strategic guidance and associated support for talent-related initiatives.
London-based communications company WPP plans to sell a stake of up to 80 percent in Kantar, according to WPP CFO Paul Richardson. In November, WPP said it was looking to sell a majority stake in Kantar and retain a minority holding in the market research company. Richardson has said WPP’s remaining stake in Kantar would range from 20 percent to 49 percent depending on the price.
U.K. reviews and customer insights technology company Feefo has announced that Chief Revenue Officer Matt West, supported by the management team, has completed a management buyout of the company, backed by London-based private equity firm Vespa Capital. The management team will acquire the shareholdings from the company’s co-founders, CEO Andrew Mabbutt and CSO Matt Eames, along with those of Chairman Nicholas Wheeler and the minority shareholders. The team now includes: Matt West as CEO; Richard Sawney as CFO; Paul Greatbatch as technical director; Steph Heasman as director of customer success; and James Winn as U.S. vice president of sales and operations.
Cambridge, Mass., company Forrester Research has agreed to acquire Wilton, Conn., business-to-business research and advisory firm SiriusDecisions for $245 million in cash, subject to adjustment. The transaction is expected to close in January and is subject to customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory filings.
Data company Claritas has acquired media tracking and measurement company Barometric. Through the acquisition, Claritas will invest in new technologies that allow marketers to identify, deliver and optimize audiences. Barometric’s proprietary identity graph technology collects mobile IDs across digital environments to increase marketing efficiency and campaign measurement. By adding Barometric’s capabilities, Claritas allows clients to measure advertising performance and optimize audiences across media channels in real-time using offline and online data.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Dallas-based marketing and advertising company Limetree has formed a strategic partnership with behavioral research and design consultancy TriggerPoint. The partnership allows marketers to identify top prospects and better understand behaviors with data that informs neurological and psychological factors.
U.K.-based software company Digital Taxonomy and Paris-based research software firm Askia have formed a long-term strategic partnership, allowing Digital Taxonomy’s coding solution Codeit to be embedded directly into the Askia platform.
Reston, Va., firm Comscore has announced content company A+E Networks and entertainment companies AMC Networks and Discovery Inc. as beta partners for Comscore Campaign Ratings, Comscore’s new cross-platform video ad measurement solution. The beta program was launched in September in consortium with 12 media brand partners.
Nielsen, New York, and Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., have formed a strategic alliance focused on helping FMCG and retail companies find growth within an open data environment through Nielsen Connect, an enterprise data solution powered by Microsoft Azure. Using analytics and artificial intelligence services built on Azure, Nielsen Connect is designed to help companies integrate data assets to better spot emerging trends, diagnose performance gaps and act faster on growth opportunities. The platform also allows clients to use their data as an enterprise asset across all parts of their organization.
Research services firm Knowledge Excel has partnered with Insights Curry, a technology firm that creates cloud-based platforms for research solutions, combining the companies’ teams. Knowledge Excel – Insights Curry is expected to extend its team in the coming months.
Nuremberg, Germany, researcher GfK and Trax, a computer vision solutions company for the retail industry, have formed an alliance to provide technology and durable goods brands with digital insights to improve in-store performance. Through the alliance, the two companies have introduced In-store Intelligence, a solution that incorporates GfK’s proprietary point-of-sales and catalogue data and Trax’s proprietary image recognition technology, business intelligence platform and computer vision platform.
Association/organization news
Joaquim Bretcha has been elected as the new president of research organization ESOMAR for the 2019-20 term, while Kristin Luck has been elected as vice president. The following council members have also been elected to the ESOMAR Council: Anne-Sophie Damelincourt; Lucy Davison; Umesh Kumar; Nikki Lavoie; Alain Mizrahi; Nijat Mammadbayli; BV Pradeep; and Ray Poynter. Niels Schillewaert will remain on the council in an ex-officio capacity as past president. Outgoing council members include Laurent Flores (ex officio), Luisa Ravelo Contreras, Marcello Sasso, Pervin Olgun and Pieter Paul Verheggen.
The Insights Association, along with a coalition of data-driven industry groups, filed comments in response to a request from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on how President Trump’s Administration should approach consumer privacy. The industry groups advocated for a new privacy paradigm that is “best suited to create lasting protections for consumers and foster a competitive and innovative marketplace.”
The Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC), the new industry association established in response to the MRIA’s closure, announced new decisions in a statement following a November board meeting. The nine founding CRIC board members voted to approve articles of incorporation, bylaws and other policies and direction was taken regarding industry programs such as standards and advocacy and the CMRP designation. The statement says steps will immediately be taken to incorporate CRIC as a nonprofit organization. Board members also re-appointed Barry Watson (Environics) as chair and Don Mills (CRA) as co-chair. Gary Bennewies (Ipsos) was appointed secretary treasurer. The board is aiming to hold its first open board meeting in Q1 of 2019.
The Global Research Business Network (GRBN) has published the GRBN 2018 Global Top 25 Report, which provides an analysis on the trends in the research and data analytics industry as well as a list of the Top 25 companies in the industry and their profiles. GRBN has formed a new partnership with Diane Bowers, the report author.
Awards/rankings
The Salt Lake Tribune has named Lehi, Utah, customer experience company MaritzCX a 2018 Top Workplace.
The QRCA, St. Paul, Minn., has announced Shem Kiprono as the recipient of its Global Outreach Scholarship for 2019. Kiprono lives in Nairobi, Kenya, and has four years of experience in the qualitative field. He currently operates a qualitative research consultancy. The 2019 scholarship recipient receives free conference registration to attend the QRCA Annual Conference, travel and accommodation expenses associated with attending the conference (up to $1,000) and free QRCA membership for the 2019 membership year.
The QRCA, St. Paul, Minn., has announced the finalists for the 2019 QRCA Award for Excellence in Qualitative Research or the Qually Award. The award finalists include: Meagan Morgan with Heads Up Inspiration; Meredith Morino and Gloria Watson with Sklar Wilton & Associates; and Marlena Mattei with Kudzu Research. The finalists will give a live 15-minute presentation at the QRCA 2019 annual conference and conference attendees will be provided with a text-based voting platform to submit their votes against a number of criteria.
U.K. consumer insight agency Join the Dots was named High Growth Business of the Year by the British Chamber of Commerce at its annual Chamber Business awards. The High Growth Business of the Year category recognizes businesses that have experienced growth in sales, profit, market share, jobs or international trade.
New accounts/projects
Audio broadcast network Westwood One and podcast technology company Panoply Media have selected the Nielsen Auto Cloud fueled by J.D. Power for their auto marketing and measurement capabilities. The Nielsen Auto Cloud allows auto marketers to target car buyers across radio, streaming audio and podcast media using car shopping and purchase data.
Material handling company TVH has selected Oslo, Norway, research solutions firm Confirmit to support the implementation of its new worldwide voice of the customer program. The program, which focuses on the TVH Parts business, will be delivered as part of a three-year deal with Confirmit.
Toronto-based research company Vividata has announced that its cross-media audience measurement and consumer study will be built with Ipsos, its new core measurement partner.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Kantar Insights Canada, part of WPP’s data investment management division, has launched its media and analytics practice, which brings together its audience measurement, digital measurement and analytics capabilities. The Canadian practice is an addition to the previously announced launch of Kantar’s new analytics practice. To support the growth of the new practice, Kantar has hired Lisa Freedman as director, digital and media research and Hilary Borndahl as vice president, analytics, brand and marketing ROI.
Piscataway, N.J., research solutions firm Azure Knowledge Corporation has opened two new offices in Palo Alto, Calif., and Bangalore, India. The Bangalore office will be led by Vice President Amit Verma, while CEO Jay Ruparel has relocated to Palo Alto to lead the company’s growth on the West Coast.
Mingle, a London-based company that creates “customer closeness experiences” for businesses, has been launched by researchers Morgan Arnell and Craig Scott. The company says it aims to help employees interact directly with customers, consumers and patients. It provides events designed to help companies connect with customers, a longer-term program that uses ongoing activities to develop a customer-centric culture for businesses and training events for employees.
Behavioral consultancy BVA Nudge Unit has launched its U.S. operations, allowing the company to expand on client engagements in the EU, U.K., Latin America and Asia. BVA Nudge Unit is part of the BVA Group, a France-based market research company.
Market research company Macromill Inc. and Yokohama City University will open the Yokohama City University/Macromill Data Science Joint Lab in April 2019. Located at Macromill’s headquarters in Tokyo, the Joint Lab will focus primarily on academic research themes and aims to accelerate research and development and talent development in data science and marketing business.
U.K.-based customer data science company dunnhumby has expanded into the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) region by opening an office in Sydney. Kylie Gleeson-Long has been appointed as managing director for ANZ, responsible for leading the company’s expansion in the region.
Research company MESH Experience has moved to bigger offices in Soho, London, following recent business growth.
U.K. research firm Kynetec has opened a new office in Nordelta, Argentina, which will be supported by a team of 10 agricultural market research professionals. Ricardo Arribere will lead the new team and the company’s operations in southern Latin America – Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Patient satisfaction measurement firm SPH Analytics has reached an agreement with research company Market Strategies International-Morpace to merge the Morpace Health division into SPH Analytics, creating a combined member experience measurement and analytics firm. The transaction is expected to close by Dec. 31. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Susan Semack, senior vice president, health at Morpace Health, will join the SPH executive leadership team as senior vice president, consumer experience. The Morpace Health team will continue to operate from Farmington Hills, Mich., with SPH Analytics headquarters in Alpharetta, Ga.
Research company earnings/financial news
Cambridge, Mass., company Forrester Research has reported total revenues of $84.9 million for the third quarter of 2018, compared to $80.4 million for the third quarter of 2017. Research revenues increased 4 percent and advisory services and events revenues increased 9 percent compared to the third quarter of 2017.
Los Altos, Calif.-based foot traffic analytics platform Placer.ai has raised $4 million in funding and has launched a free online tool for the retail industry. Placer.ai uses mobile data along with AI, machine learning and big data analytics to generate insights and behavioral predictions for any location, store or geographic area.
Stamford, Conn., research company Gartner Inc. has reported revenues of $922 million for the third quarter of 2018, up 11 percent compared to the same period in 2017. The company is projecting fourth-quarter revenues to be between $1.07 billion and $1.12 billion.
Durham, N.C., data science company IQVIA has reported revenue of approximately $2.6 billion for third-quarter 2018, an increase of 6.3 percent at constant currency and 5.2 percent reported, compared to the third quarter of 2017.
Reston, Va., firm Comscore has reported total revenue of $102.9 million for the third-quarter of 2018, up from $100.3 million reported the same time the previous year.
Private equity firm Vestar Capital Partners will lead a new investment in Chicago-based researcher IRI. Following the transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018, Vestar will jointly govern IRI with New Mountain Capital, IRI’s current owner. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Jeffrey Ansell, a Vestar senior advisor and IRI board member, will serve as chairman of IRI. According to the press release, New Mountain and other existing investors will retain a “meaningful” investment in IRI.
White Plains, N.Y., retail merchandising and marketing services firm SPAR Group Inc. has reported revenues of $58.4 million for third-quarter 2018, up 20 percent compared to the same time in the previous year.
China-based e-commerce company JD.com Inc. has reported net revenues of RMB 104.8 billion (U.S. $15.3 billion) for the third quarter of 2018, an increase of 25.1 percent compared to the third quarter of 2017.