Acquisitions/transactions
Loyalty marketing, gift card and payments services provider Ackroo Inc. has formed an agreement with Resulto Développement Web Inc. to acquire WinWin Marketing, Resulto’s hospitality and retail gift card and loyalty business.
Data collection and research company Schlesinger Group has acquired Market Cube. Market Cube’s principals Ted Pulsifer, Dipak Singh and Aditya Raj remain with the company along with their team.
GroupM, a WPP company, has acquired data science company Sandtable.
Digital transformation business Publicis Sapient has acquired management consultancy firm Third Horizon.
Forecast5 Analytics Inc., a provider of data analytics software for the public sector, has acquired GuideK12 LLC, a Minnesota-based firm that provides geovisual analytics tools to school districts.
Insights firm Kantar has acquired Mavens of London, a digital marketing and analytics consultancy.
Marketing analytics company Conversion Logic has been acquired by VideoAmp Inc.
Personalization company LiftIgniter has been acquired by media brand Maven.
According to The Drum, MMR Group has acquired digital creative agency Together.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Analytics firm Veriglif has added i360 and Powr of You to its data supply chain network. As part of the partnership, i360 will integrate its database of 270 million U.S. adults with Veriglif and Powr of You will provide data inventory taxonomy and marketplace functionality on its PY Insights platform.
Health and wellness company Pharmavite has partnered with IRI for consumer insights.
Insights platform Dynata and CMNTY Corporation, a provider of online community platforms, have partnered for combined audience engagement solutions.
Social media management platform Hootsuite has partnered with Brandwatch to launch its listening solution Insights Powered by Brandwatch.
Media data intelligence firm Burrelles has partnered with Agility PR Solutions and will integrate the latter's database and social listening tools into its online portal.
Business intelligence and analytics company Cloverleaf Analytics has partnered with Streff Insurance Services, an independent actuarial consulting firm.
Media measurement company Comscore has partnered with Twitch to add tagless audience reporting of Twitch livestreaming, including gaming and e-sports insights, to Comscore's digital audience solutions.
Civis Analytics has selected Audience Acuity to integrate its Super Identity Graph into Civis' audience insights tool.
Association/organization news
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, several industry associations have released resources and guidelines to help businesses cope with the shifting climate. To view these resources, follow the links for ESOMAR, Insights Association, MRSB and MRS.
In response to the effect of the coronavirus on the business community, the Insights Association joined 33 other industry groups to urge the California Attorney General to refrain from enforcing the CCPA until January 2, 2021 so that businesses are able to ensure compliance.
M/A/R/C Research, Irving, Texas, announced it has won a class action lawsuit in which the court decided that distributing a survey that includes participation incentives does not constitute an unsolicited advertisement under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Exclusively Cats Veterinary Hospital, P.C. v. M/A/R/C Research, L.L.C., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45181, Case No. 11228, was heard in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Responding to the third draft of regulations to implement the CCPA, the Insights Association filed comments with the California Attorney General urging for greater clarity on CCPA rules as well as a delay in enforcement.
In a letter sent on March 24, 2020, Insights Association CEO Melanie Courtright called on the Federal government to support the marketing research industry in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
EphMRA has released COVID-19 business guidance, which advises companies to take an ethical approach to research, avoid some specialties such as certain health care research and continue to be flexible and watch developments by country.
ESOMAR has released its position and guidance on research during the pandemic. The statement encourages researchers to continue essential research but use digital means wherever possible, and when unique or exceptional circumstances apply to abide by local guidance.
Awards/rankings
Forrester has released its New Wave: EX Management Platforms For Large Enterprises, Q1 2020 report, naming Qualtrics, Confirmit, Medallia and MaritzCX as “leaders” in the category.
Transcription and translation firm SyncScript has received certification as a Women Business Enterprise and a Women Owned Small Business.
Analytics provider Yellowfin has scored second highest for both Augmented Analytics and Enterprise Analytics Use Cases in Gartner's March 2020 Critical Capabilities for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms report.
Nominations for the 2020 Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards are now open. Nominations will run through July 8, and the early-bird deadline is April 30. For more information and to view a list of award categories, visit QuirksAwards.com.
B2B contact database ZoomInfo has earned top placements in G2’s Spring 2020 Grid Reports for multiple categories, including sales intelligence, marketing intelligence, marketing account intelligence and buyer intent data tools.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Marketing researcher L&E Research has expanded to New York with the addition of its New York Consumer Center.
London-based Opinium has opened a new office in New York.
Israeli analytics startup Oribi has launched in the U.S.
Public opinion researcher ReconMR has opened its Corpus Christi, Texas, call center, which brings ReconMR's seat capacity to 700.
Marketing researcher Kids Insights has launched in Mexico.
Research company earnings/financial news
Media measurement company Comscore announced that revenue for 2019 was $388.6 million compared to $419.5 million in 2018.
Marketing research platform Remesh announced a $25 million Series A2 funding round led by General Catalyst, with participation from LionBird, North Coast Ventures and several external investors.
Video analytics company Deep North has closed a $25.7 million Series A funding round led by Celeres Investments, with participation from Engage, AI List Capital and others.
Insights firm UserTesting has completed a $100M funding round led by Insight Partners with participation from Accel, OpenView and Greenspring.
Customer community Vanilla Forums has secured an investment from Level Equity.
Insights firm Nepa has reported a net sales increase of 8.9% for 2019, along with a gross profit increase of 10.5%.
Speech recognition platform Deepgram has completed a $12 million Series A round led by Wing VC, with participation from NVIDIA, Y Combinator, Compound and SAP.iO.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Dremio has closed $70 million in a Series C funding round led by Insight Partners, with participation from Cisco Investments, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Redpoint Ventures. Additionally, Insight Partners Managing Director Teddie Wardi will join the Dremio board of directors.
Coin Metrics, a provider of cryptocurrency data, has completed a $6 million round of funding led by Highland Capital Partners with participation from FMR LLC, Castle Island Ventures, Communitas Capital, Collaborative Fund, Avon Ventures, Raptor Group, Coinbase Ventures and Digital Currency Group.