News notes
Columbia, Md., research company Arbitron Inc. and the PPM Coalition (PPMC) have settled their outstanding disputes. Arbitron and the PPMC have worked jointly with the Media Rating Council (MRC), New York, to implement a series of steps designed to enhance the recruitment methodology of the Arbitron Portable People Meter (PPM) ratings service. The initiatives include the addition of targeted in-person recruitment to Arbitron’s PPM panelist recruitment approach, which currently includes mailings and phone calls. Arbitron will also use address-based sampling to select landline households. The approach is scheduled to begin in July 2010.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Washington, D.C., is seeking public comment on the costs and benefits of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule, designed to protect children online. The comment period will end on June 30, 2010. Interested parties can submit written comments electronically or in paper form. Comments in electronic form should be submitted using the following Web link https://public.commentworks.com/ftc/2010copparulereview. Comments in paper form should be mailed or delivered to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-135 (Annex E), 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C., 20580.
Los Angeles research company OTX has sued Kevin Goetz, former president of the worldwide motion picture group, for allegedly using OTX’s data to launch a rival firm. Goetz left OTX in February 2010 to launch Screen Engine LLC, Beverly Hills, Calif. The suit accuses Goetz of breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets and intentional interference with contractual relations, among other alleged offenses.
Article submissions are being sought for a new marketing research book. Sage Publishing, a Thousand Oaks, Calif., research publishing house, has commissioned Leading Edge Marketing Research: 21st Century Tools and Practices, to be offered in 2011. Editors Bob Kaden, Gerry Linda and Mel Prince are inviting 6,500-10,000-word articles by industry experts. Expression of interest must be received by June 15, 2010. Authors will be selected by August 1, 2010, and final drafts are due December 31, 2010. Submissions should be written in English and submitted as Word documents to info@leadingedgemarketingresearch.com.
Orem, Utah, research company Western Wats has paid $500,000 in civil penalties in response to child-labor violations cited by the U.S. Department of Labor. Violations included employing children too young to work and allowing children to work longer hours than allowed by law. The fine was paid in December 2009 and is accompanied by a full remediation plan.
Omaha, Neb., research company Infogroup’s former CFO Stormy Dean has rejected a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding a law suit filed for approximately $1.15 million for severance and bonuses Dean claims the company has refused to pay following his termination in October 2009.
Leeds, U.K., research company Nunwood has rebranded with a new look and slogan - “Insights, Analytics, Activation.”
Chicago research company Information Resources Inc. has changed its name and rebranded as SymphonyIRI Group Inc. The firm is online at www.symphonyiri.com.
Baltimore research company Observation Baltimore has constructed a new green building to serve as its headquarters and implemented a green initiative, which includes workplace policies designed to reduce the company’s environmental impact.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has signed a bill into law that legalizes exit polling at Minnesota voting places. The Marketing Research Association, Glastonbury, Conn., had previously testified in support of the law in the state legislature.
Cincinnati research company Colloquy has redesigned its Web site www.colloquy.com. The site includes a resource center and blog (http://blog.colloquy.com).
Acquisitions/transactions
Leeds, U.K., research company Nunwood has acquired fellow Leeds research company The David Conway Consultancy. The David Conway Consultancy will merge with Nunwood, and David Conway will serve as strategy director and join the Nunwood board.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Horsham, Pa., research company TNS and Research and Marketing Services Limited, Lagos, Nigeria, have entered into an agreement to provide customized research for West Africa.
New York researcher The Nielsen Company and Openwave Systems Inc., a Redwood City, Calif., software company, have collaborated to develop a mobile insight engine intended to mine mobile data to generate content recommendations. The insight engine will combine features of the Openwave Analytics platform and Nielsen’s PRIZM consumer segmentation system.
Additionally, Beijing online video site Youku and Nielsen’s China division CR-Nielsen have partnered to perform third-party auditing on all in-video (pre- and post-roll) advertisements on Youku. The venture is intended to promote transparent data for advertisers.
International Data Corporation, a Framingham, Mass., research company, has partnered with Monaco business information company naseba Group to collaborate on research, production and selling a series of events in the Asia-Pacific region.
Beaverton, Ore., research technology company Digimarc Corporation and Columbia, Md., research company Arbitron Inc. have entered into a collaborative licensing arrangement, contingent upon payment of $4.5 million from Arbitron. Arbitron will receive a non-exclusive, worldwide and irrevocable license to a substantial portion of Digimarc’s domestic and international patent portfolio (including related future and pending patent applications).
Maxus, a New York media division of London research company WPP’s GroupM, has formed a strategic alliance with BPG Media, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to establish a presence in the Middle East and North Africa. Called BPG Maxus, the collaboration aims to offer clients analytics, digital communications, strategic planning and media-buying services.
Florida mystery shopping companies Hindsight and Simon Survey have merged.
New York digital advertising measurement companies KN Dimestore and [x+1] have partnered to create a tool to enhance online ad campaign performance by adjusting offers and media based on real-time consumer feedback. The solution is designed to gauge consumer attitudes like purchase intent, brand or product recognition and message recall.
The NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y., has merged with Scottsdale, Ariz., research company In-Stat. In-Stat’s analysis of mobile Internet and digital entertainment will be used with NPD’s consumer tracking services.
Minneapolis research company Iconoculture Inc. has partnered with Norrköping, Sweden, research company Dapresy to integrate quantitative consumer information into its research and advisory services and provide Iconoculture’s clients access to global consumers. Dapresy’s reporting technology will power the data.
South San Francisco media company Future US and New York research company Ipsos OTX MediaCT have entered into a strategic alliance to create GamePlan Core, a consumer research tool game marketers can use to gauge consumer interest in video games. GamePlan Core will integrate data about users’ behavior and interests from Future’s online properties with other marketplace data captured by Ipsos OTX MediaCT, U.S. GamePlan Insights, a weekly syndicated tracking study.
Awards/rankings
London research company E-Tabs has received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise. The award was granted for innovation and recognizes its performance and commercial success as outstanding.
Chicago research company GeeYee has received a 2010 Great Mind Award for Innovation from the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), New York.
Separately, the ARF has named Shelley Zalis, founder and CEO of Los Angeles research company OTX, winner of the 2010 Grand Prize Award for Innovation.
In addition, the ARF awarded Walmart, Bentonville, Ark., two David Ogilvy Awards for Excellence in Advertising Research. Walmart’s Hispanic Heritage Month campaign received the gold medal in the multicultural campaign category, and the Winning With Mom During the Great Recession campaign received the silver medal in the retail/e-tail category.
MarketResearchCareers.com, New York, has placed New York research company Ipsos North America first in its client satisfaction index. The site surveyed U.S. purchasers of market research services and asked for comment on supplier satisfaction over the past year.
Ladd Research Group, Cincinnati, has awarded Mary Spooner, a junior at Miami University, a $1,000 college scholarship.
New accounts/projects
Portland, Ore., research company Webtrends has been chosen by Mountain View, Calif., software company Mozilla to supply Web measurement analytics and track usage and activity on its main Web sites.
Additionally, Facebook, San Francisco, has selected the Webtrends Optimize platform to increase the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Shelton, Conn., research company TABS Group has extended its contract with Rotterdam, Netherlands, consumer packaged goods company Unilever. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 2010 Out Now Global LGBT Market Study from Out Now Consulting, the Netherlands, has expanded to include both the U.S. and Canada. Gay Ad Network, Los Angeles, has been selected as the exclusive partner to bring the market study to the U.S. and Canadian markets.
China panel company DXY has granted MDLinx, a Washington, D.C., research company, exclusive access to DXY’s physician panel for international pharmaceutical market research. DXY will provide the verified panel and in-country project management, and MDLinx will provide its technology and PRC-certified staff.
Stamford, Conn., research company InsightExpress has been named a flagship partner in the Open Insights initiative of the New York marketing services company PointRoll. Open Insights is a partner program designed to bring science to advertising by helping marketers use data to inform and improve creative campaigns.
New York researcher The Nielsen Company has launched television audience measurement in Puerto Rico. Ratings are being collected from a sample of 500 homes chosen through Nielsen’s sampling to represent all demographics and regions of Puerto Rico.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
San Mateo, Calif., research company AlphaDetail has launched its RapidRecruit division, an independent fielding organization intended to provide clients end-to-end fieldwork management in the health care research market. The firm is online at www.rapidrecruit.com.
Pulse Group PLC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has launched its health care and automotive practice. The divisions include specialty online panels, CATI expertise and full-service offerings throughout Asia.
Former Wirthlin Worldwide executives have founded Heart+Mind Strategies, a Washington, D.C., research company. Dee Allsop will serve as CEO and managing partner; Michael Dabadie as president and managing partner; Beth Strackbein Forbes as partner and chief of staff/operations; Jennifer Airey as partner, senior solutions strategist; and Jim Hoskins as senior consultant and executive advisor. The firm is online at www.heartandmindstrategies.com.
London research company Munro Global has opened Munro Analytics to provide analysis for clients within a strict quality and security code.
New York research company WorldOne Inc. has opened its North American headquarters at 200 Park Ave. South, Suite 1301, New York, 10003. The firm can be reached at 212-358-0800.
Naperville, Ill., research company Millward Brown has launched a neuroscience research practice, which will integrate neuroscience techniques into the company’s existing research offers and develop new neuroscience informed solutions.
Vickie Abrahamson and Mary Meehan, co-founders of Minneapolis research firm Iconoculture Inc., have opened Panoramix Global, a market research firm with a lens on the G-20 consumer. The firm is online at www.panoramixglobal.com.
Former Synovate researcher Neil Gains has launched Tapestry Works, a Singapore market research consultancy to service clients across Asia. The company is online at www.tapestryworks.asia.
Research Panel Asia Inc., Tokyo, has established its local subsidiary, Research Panel Korea Inc., in Seoul, South Korea.
Alexis Research Corporation has opened its corporate headquarters in North Wales, Pa., and can be reached at 215-260-1625 or at www.alexisresearch.com.
Jim Miller has opened Business Intelligence Online LLC, a research company located at 311 South Arlington Heights Rd., Suite 40, Arlington Heights, Ill., 60005. The company can be reached at 847-342-1135 or at www.bizintellonline.com.
Brand Amplitude, a Stevensville, Mich., research company, has launched a Millennial marketing unit dedicated to developing marketing programs to engage Gen Y consumers. Carol Phillips will lead the unit.
Research company earnings/financial news
Vision Critical, Vancouver, B.C., has announced plans to double its investment in technology for 2010 and, in conjunction with this effort, launch five new products.
The GfK Group, Nuremberg, Germany, achieved an operating margin of 12.6 percent in 2009, which was close to the prior year’s margin of 13 percent. With sales of 1,164.5 million euros, GfK achieved the adjusted forecast given in its 2009 half-year report. Overall, sales declined by 4.6 percent. Adjusted operating income declined by 11.5 million euros to 147.2 million euros.
Gongos Research, Auburn Hills, Mich., has endeavored in 2010 to double its revenues derived from ConsumerView, the company’s Webcam-based qualitative research ($225,000 in 2009).