News notes
Research International Greece, Athens, has rebranded as Millward Brown RI after having joined New York research company Millward Brown in May 2010.
2010 marks the 25th anniversary for Campos Inc., a Pittsburgh research company.
The Advertising Research Foundation, New York, celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2011.
Dan Wiese Marketing Research, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, celebrated its 25th anniversary in January 2011.
Acquisitions/transactions
Horsham, Pa., research company TNS has acquired a majority stake in Research and Marketing Services (RMS), Lagos, Nigeria, and Nairobi, Kenya, following a partnership formed in March 2010. The firm will operate as TNS RMS. The acquisition will add Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Ghana to its existing African network.
Global Marketing Services, a King of Prussia, Pa., marketing firm, has acquired ClearSaleing, a Columbus, Ohio advertising analytics firm. ClearSaleing will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Global Marketing Services. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Portland, Ore., research company Rentrak Corporation has acquired Manhattan Beach, Calif., communications company Media Salvation Inc. The acquisition secures an additional studio to Rentrak’s roster of entertainment clients for its Studio Revenue Share Essentials, Digital Download Essentials and Mobile Essentials services.
Port Washington, N.Y., research company The NPD Group has signed an agreement to acquire Scottsdale, Ariz., research company In-Stat LLC.
The GfK Group, a Nuremberg, Germany, research company, has increased its stake from 40 percent to 60 percent in German research firms SirValUse Consulting and nurago.
Research software company SurveyMonkey, Portland, Ore., has acquired a 49.9 percent interest in privately-owned research software company Clicktools, Poole, U.K. Clicktools and SurveyMonkey will also form a partnership to provide joint customers cloud-based survey tools integrated with San Francisco software firm Salesforce CRM. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Research firms The Futures Company, Chapel Hill, N.C., and TNS India, New Delhi, have partnered to allow The Futures Company access to the TNS Consult team to support client work in India.
New York research company LogicLab Inc. has partnered with Boston research company Compete to provide its clients access to Compete’s metrics from its LogicLab targtetLab platform. The access is intended to give users more detailed information on traffic, audience and engagement metrics for media planning.
GfK Custom Research North America, New York, and Los Angeles research agency Think Passenger Inc. have entered into a joint venture to build private online communities.
Awards/rankings
Ladd Research Group, Cincinnati, has debuted an annual Ladd Research Group Scholarship of $1,000 for junior-level university students interested in pursuing marketing research as a career. One scholarship will be awarded to the individual who demonstrates leadership in both academics and community service. The deadline for applications is March 21. To apply visit www.laddresearchgroup.com.
Kristin Luck, president of Fresno, Calif., research company Decipher Inc., has been named to the Portland Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 for 2011. Recipients of the award were chosen based on leadership in business, business recognition and community involvement. Luck is based in Decipher’s Portland, Ore., office.
Atlanta professional services company Creative Growth Group Inc. has recognized Atlanta research company CMI as a 2010 Client Advisor Awards winner in the small client category for its work with Atlanta public relations firm Weaver Stephens Group in the areas of industry thought leadership development, media relations, speaker placements and marketing communications.
New accounts/projects
Chicago research company Synovate and Duke University, Durham, N.C., have partnered to create the Duke/Synovate Shopper Insights Center for Leadership and Innovation. The center will focus on advancing research in shopper decision-making and how to create demand generation through the shopping experience.
Accenture, a Dublin, Ireland, consulting firm; Reston, Va., research company comScore Inc.; and Cincinnati research company dunnhumbyUSA have partnered to conduct a study to help consumer packaged goods marketers better understand the link between consumers’ usage of brand Web sites and in-store brand-buying behavior. The study will be based on an integrated panel of one million U.S. Internet users who have given comScore explicit permission to have their online behavior continuously measured and matched to dunnhumbyUSA’s in-store brand-buying data.
Ruby Tuesday Inc., a Maryville, Tenn., restaurant chain, and Cincinnati research company dunnhumbyUSA have signed a three-year agreement to incorporate continually-updated information about customer behavior and preferences into Ruby Tuesday’s operations in U.S. restaurants. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Port Washington, N.Y., research company The NPD Group has renewed its information-sharing alliance with Framingham, Mass., office supply company Staples Inc.
Decision Analyst, an Arlington, Texas, research firm, has adopted Westport, Conn., research company Imperium’s RelevantID digital fingerprinting technology.
Encino, Calif., research company uSamp has been selected by Denver, Colo., research company GutCheck to provide the automated delivery of screened and qualified participants for moderated, online qualitative market research studies.
Additionally, Washington, D.C., financial information company Kiplinger has chosen uSamp to power a custom online market research panel under the Kiplinger name.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Westlake Village, Calif., research company J.D. Power and Associates has formed a dedicated digital research team to further incorporate online and mobile media platforms into its market information research services. The company has hired Fabien Reille to lead the company’s digital research activities.
London research company Populus has launched a data collection and processing business dubbed Populus Data Solutions (PDS). Patrick Diamond will lead the division.
Research veterans Sam McGuire and Alison Bigsby have founded Samson Research in London. The firm is online at www.samsonresearch.co.uk.
Gazelle Global Research Services LLC, New York, has opened its qualitative viewing room located at the company’s headquarters. The room holds a group of eight participants with a separate viewing room for four-to-eight clients.
The Dieringer Research Group Inc. (DRG), Brookfield, Wis., has opened a Focus Center to host in-person focus groups and in-depth interviews at its headquarters. The DRG Focus Center includes two focus group suites, plus a smaller suite designed for in-depth interviews.
Chicago research company Synovate has opened a full-service office in Geneva, Switzerland.
Fresno, Calif., research company Decipher Inc. has created a division to serve users of its Beacon software suite.
Innerscope Research Inc., Boston, has opened a dedicated biometrics and neuroscience media lab. The Innerscope Media Lab is located in Boston and features two client viewing rooms with a large test room that has the space and capability to biometrically test up to 30 people at one time. The lab also features a separate area with seven eye-tracking stations.
Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC, an Austin, Texas, research company, has opened a London office. Tariq Mirza has been appointed managing director, Europe.
Orem, Utah, research company Opinionology has opened a service bureau in London to support its European panels.
Radius Global Market Research, New York, has opened Radius EMEA, a London office and team dedicated to serving clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Michael Fodor has been named managing director, Radius EMEA.
Research company earnings/financial news
The Nielsen Company, New York, priced its initial public offering of 71,428,572 shares of its common stock at $23 per share. Shares of common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol NLSN on January 26, 2011.