News notes
Fairfield, Conn.-based Survey Sampling, Inc. announced in April that its surveyspot.com Web research panel has grown to over 250,000 households, representing over 425,000 individuals. The firm plans to increase the panel to 450,000 households by the end of 2001.
Cheskin Research, Redwood Shores, Calif., has shortened its name to Cheskin to reflect the expansion of its consulting practice to include emerging markets and technologies, particularly wireless, broadband, and transmedia brand communication. To that end, the company has recently hired Amy Francetic, former CEO of Zowie Intertainment, as a senior strategy consultant.
On April 2, shares of New Yorkbased Arbitron Inc., began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ARB. On March 30, Arbitron became independent of its former parent company, Ceridian Corporation, through a reverse spinoff.
In the annual "Choice in Chains" study commissioned by foodservice publication Restaurants and Institutions, consumers ranked Don Pablo’s Mexican Kitchen the No. 1 casual dining Mexican restaurant in the U.S. in terms of food quality, menu variety, value, service, atmosphere, cleanliness and convenience. The magazine commissions a national survey of restaurant consumers who rate restaurant brands on seven key attributes. This year, nearly 3,000 consumers participated in the research. The survey has conducted by Greenwich, Conn.-based NFO Research, Inc.
The e-survey software division of Ottawa-based Manta Corporation has changed its name to Halogen Software. In addition, its mantaINSIGHT software has been renamed Halogen eSurveyor.
The research partnership icon & Landis has reorganized its core operations into two business-directed units. Icon brand navigation US, a subsidiary of the icon brand navigation group, will remain headquartered in New York City. The New York business will continue to be managed by Uwe Munzinger, president. Landis Strategy & Innovation will retain its global headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The Florida business will continue to be managed by Stephen Landis and Robert Posten, manang principals.
Mill Valley, Calif., research firm MarketTools, Inc., has closed a $20 million round of strategic financing. The new capital will fuel the firm’s plans for global expansion of its Internet infrastructure and software platform. Strategic investors include advertising and marketing services firm the WPP Group; packaged goods firms General Mills and Procter & Gamble; and Marketing ltol Ventures, LLP, a venture capital fund, MarketTools’ previous investors also contributed to the round. This is MarketTools’ third round of funding in as many years, with a cumulative $50 million raised.
Acquisitions
Nuremberg, Germany-based GfK Group has acquired a 51 percent stake in Wiesbaden, Germany, radio research firm Enigma.
Port Washington, N.Y., research firm The NPD Group, Inc. has completed the sale of its custom marketing research division to French research provider Ipsos. The sale facilitates a shift in NPD’s business strategy that will allow it to focus on the transformarion of its syndicated tracking businesses to Web-based marketing information portals, known as the NPD "Worlds," in selected vertical markets.
With the sale, Ipsos has acquired the HTI Consumer Panel and other NPD consumer panels used for mail and telephone research, branded ad hoc research products, proprietary marketing models, several tracking services known as the Behavioral Tracking businesses, and a 25 percent interest in a management company of the NPD Online Panel. The businesses will be operated as an independent company within the Ipsos international network and will be known as Ipsos-NPD.
Joining Ipsos are approximately 500 employees located in Pt. Washington and Uniondale (N.Y.), Greensboro (N.C.), Cincinnati, Chicago, Houston, and Toronto. The new company will be headed by Rupert Waiters, NPD’s former chief operating officer. NPD syndicated tracking businesses will not be affected by the sale. The firm will continue to offer its consumer and retailer point-of-sale (POS) tracking services, and accounts will be serviced by the same NPD staff as prior to the sale. NPD will also continue to operate the NPD Online Panel, while maintaining a 75 percent share in the management company of that asset.
London-based WPP Group PLC has acquired Nuremberg-based icon brand navigation group AG, a brand consulting and market research firm.
NPD INTELECT Market Tracking, a joint venture of the NPD Group and GfK AG, has acquired the point-of-sale tracking division of PC Data, the Reston, Va.-based provider of market research for the computer hardware and software industries.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Bcom3 Group, Inc., a global marketing communication holding company, has announced its intent to form a strategic alliance, linking the media and research capabilities of several of its operating units with the information technology capabilities of Knowledge Networks.
Rochester, N.Y., research firm Harris Interactive has entered into an agreement with drkoop.com, an Internet health and wellness network, to recruit members to participate in Harris Interactive research for the health care industry. Under the agreement, Harris Interactive will compensate drkoop.com for each of its two million registered members who elect to join and participate in the Harris Interactive chronic illness panel. Panel members will be able to voluntarily provide information about their concerus, behaviors and attitudes toward their or a family member’s medical condition(s) and treatment. This knowledge can then be used by the health care industry to improve policy, products and services.
Separately, Harris Interactive and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Itracks, an Interact-based data collection provider, have signed a three-year online market research agreement. Under this agreement, Itracks will provide online focus groups, bulletin board focus groups, online one-on-one interviews, and custom survey programming for Harris Interactive during each year of the agreement.
And Harris Interactive has signed an agreement with the MMI Group, based in Oslo, Norway and Stockholm, Sweden, to make it a Harris Interactive Global Network member company. MMI Group will represent Harris Interactive in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
New York marketing firm DoubleClick Inc. and comScore Networks, a Reston, Va., provider of data-based Internet infrastructure services, have entered into a partnership to create a suite of online audience measurement products. The first of these products is a tool called netScore, a comScore product, which DoubleClick will exclusively sell to its client base of advertisers, ad agencies and Web publishers. NetScore is based on comScore’s database of over 1.5 million opt-in people, which, with consumer permission, captures Web traffic and purchase transaction information.
Onetone Research, Milan, Italy, and Paris-based Intemet information firm NetValue have formed a strategic alliance to deliver Internet audience and behavior information in Italy. Under the agreement, Onetone becomes the exclusive partner for NetValue in Italy. Onetone operates a representative panel of approximately 2,500 households connected to the Internet, which will be converted to NetValue’s metering and analysis technology. Onetone Research will also act as the exclusive vendor of NetValue products and services in the Italian market, including both standard and custom panels. NetValue will install its technology on Onetone Research’s panel in exchange for a licensing fee and a revenue share.
Walker Information, an Indianapolis research firm, has added two new members to its Global Network, Paris-based CSA-TMO, and Milan-based Eurisko.
Wilton, Conn., research firm Greenfield Online, Inc., has formed a partnership with Directions for Decisions Marketing & Research under which Greenfield Online’s FieldSource division will handle online surveys and focus groups for the Jersey City, N.J., firm.
New York-based health care research firm WebSurveyResearch and NFO Migliara/Kaplan, an Owings Mills, Md., health care marketing research firm, will work together to deliver online surveys to assess marketing research information from physicians and other health care professionals. Under the terms of the letter of intent, NFO Migliara!Kaplan will have immediate access to WebSurveyResearch’s physician panel for performing marketing research. NFO Migliara!Kaplan will perform the questionnaire design and analysis of data.
Association/organization news
The Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO), Port Jefferson, N.Y., has announced the adoption of standards for Internet Research. Adoption means that all of the 186 CASRO member organizations are committed to observe the standards in connection with research projects that they perform. CASRO members are responsible for almost 90 percent of survey research revenues in the U.S.
Because of its extremely low cost of entry and thus high potential for abuse, the Interuet medium raised unique concerns regarding the use of e-mail as a means of recruiting research respondents. CASRO members united to confront these concerns for respondent harassment via unsolicited e-mail recruiting (spamming)by adapting their Code of Standards to specifically address the characteristics of Internet research.
The standards were adopted by a vote of the full CASRO membership after more than a year and a half of study and deliberation by a committee chaired by Kevin Mabley, vice president, operations, Cyber Dialogue. "Internet research is different from other data collection methodologies and requires standards appropriate for that enviroument," Mabley says. "The new standards give market research companies a proactive stance with the ISPs to enforce a high standard of privacy protection on the Intemet."
Awards
The 2001 ARF David Ogilvy Research Awards were handed out at the Advertising Research Foundation conference in New York in April. Each year, the ARF honors research that has made an important contribution to creating, identifying and improving advertising. Awards are presented based on case history submissions of research initiatives that were instrumental in steering winning advertising campaigns. The top award, the ARF Ogilvy Grand Winner award, was presented for the research that drove the Census 2000 campaign.
Grand Winner and winner in the services category: the Census 2000 campaign
Accepting the award: Darlene Billia, senior partner, managing director brand planning, Young & Rubicam
Advertiser: The Bureau of The Census
Agencies: Young & Rubicam New York, The Bravo Group, Kang & Lee, G&G Advertising, The Chisholm-Mingo Group
Research: The Maya Group, The KGroup, Michael Jones, Market Development, Asia Link, Data & Management Counsel, Edna Sanabria, Penn Schoen & Berland Associates
Winner in the packaged goods category: the Aleve "Dramatic Difference" campaign
Accepting the award: Leslie Perrell, manager, marketing research, Bayer Consumer Care
Advertiser: Bayer Consumer Care
Agency: BBDO Chicago
Research: IRI, Monroe Mendelsohn Research, CLT Research Ascts., Moskowitz Jacobs, Inc.; rsc - the quality measurement company, Viewpoints Consulting, Carol Bernstein Ascts., Ipsos-ASI, Media Marketing Assessment, Mediscope, ACNielsen, Simmons Market Research Bureau
Winner in the durables category: the OnStar "Batman" campaign
Accepting the award: David Lockwood, senior vice president, director of account planning, Campbell-Ewald.
Advertiser: OnStar
Agency: Campbell-Ewald
Research: J.D. Power, MRI, Diagnostic Research International, Millward Brown International
Distinguished finalist in the services category: the AT&T Broadband "Boundless" campaign
Accepting the award: Sara Lipson, vice president, brand asset management, AT&T; Randall L. Zeese, division manager - brand asset management, AT&T
Advertiser: AT&T
Agencies: Young & Rubicam, FCB Worldwide
Research: NPD, Lieberman Research, SE Surveys, MS&P
Distinguished finalist in the packaged goods category: the Easy Mac "Siblings" campaign
Accepting the award: Lori Bollom, market research manager, Kraft Foods
Advertiser: Kraft Foods
Agency: FCB Worldwide Research: ACNielsen, Millward Brown International, Insights in Marketing, Media Marketing Assessment
Distinguished finalist in the durables category: the KitchenAid "Ingredients" campaign
Accepting the award: Gretchen Jezerc; director of brand marketing for KitchenAid, Whirlpool Corporation
Advertiser: KitchenAid
Agency: Ayer
Research: Doblin Group, NFO, Sheskin Research, Gallup & Robinson, Millward Brown International
New accounts/projects
Westport, Conn.-based IMS Health has expanded its business relationship with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Under a new five-year contract, the FDA will use IMS Health market research services to improve its knowledge of drug use and the impact of pharmaceutical products on patient outcomes.
ACNielsen U.S., Schaumburg, Ill., has announced an information agreement with Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer Meijer in which ACNielsen will become Meijer’s preferred provider of syndicated product sales information and analysis. The agreement also enables consumer packaged goods manufacturers that do business with the retailer to obtain sales information organized by Meijer-defined trading areas.
Chicago research firm Market Facts has selected SPSS MR’s Verbastat software for coding its studies, purchasing 30 licenses of the software.
Torrance, Calif.-based Eye Dynamics, maker of SafetyScope, a product for worker impairment testing, has retained Gene Taylor & Associates, an Irvine, Calif., research firm, for a special marketing research project. Taylor has added interactive elements to Eye Dynamics’ Web site that allow capture of information related to level of interest in the SafetyScope by potential users. Product information and a questionnaire will be disseminated electronically with results of the survey to be used for strategic market planning and brand positioning of SafetyScope.
Austin, Texas-based Tonic Software Inc., a provider of Web applications management (WAM) software, has licensed Spanish online market researcher Sigma Dos interactiva (SDi) to use Tonic as an online research tool. SDi is implementing an adaptation of Tonic’s original WAM software, formulated for online market research as the Automated Mystery Shopper (AMS). AMS simulates the mystery shopping techniques used by banks, retailers and other distribution chains.
Kmart Corporation has selected Kansas City-based Service Management Group (SMG) to develop a comprehensive customer satisfaction program for over 2,000 Kmart stores nationwide. Kmart’s new Super Service Index is a measurement program developed by SMG to monitor satisfaction at the store level using surveys of over 250,000 Kmart customers each month.
The Disney Kids Network and C&R Research, Chicago, have announced a working partnership to help Disney maintain an active dialogue with its core audiences using C&R’s online research panel KidzEyes.com.
Monster.com, an online recruiting company, has Subscribed to the Nielsen//NetRatings service in multiple countries in Europe and Asia Pacific.
New companies/new locations
New York-based digital marketing firm DoubleClick Inc. has announced a new division, Diameter, an online research business that will offer a suite of research tools in addition to media intelligence, audience measurement and advertising effectiveness products.
Interviewing Service of America, Van Nuys, Calif., has opened a new telephone research center in Lancaster, Calif.
Service Management Group has moved to new offices at 210 West 19th Terrace, Suite 200, Kansas City, Mo., 64108.
CENSYDIAM, an Antwerp, BelNum, research farm, has opened a new office in Brazil. It will be headed by Regina Borowski.
Robert Hale has founded Robert Hale & Associates, a marketing strategy firm, at 1927 Chicago, Suite A, San Diego, Calif., 92110.
Carlos Santiago and Isabel Valdes have joined forces to form Santiago & Valdes Solutions, a Newport Beach, Calif., multicultural marketing, research, and consulting firm.
Fairfield, Conn.-based research firm Millward Brown and one of its divisions, Millward Brown IntelliQuest, have opened an office on New York’s Madison Avenue.
RDD Inc., a Portland, Ore., telephone research firm, has moved to 5510 S.W. MacadamAve., Suite 500, in the John’s Landing area of the city. The firm has also unveiled a new logo and tagline.
Boston-based research and consulting firm the Yankee Group has launched its new Australasian Market StrateNes research and consulting practice. The offices for The Yankee Group Australia & New Zealand Pty. Ltd. are located at Level 14, 309 Kent St., Sydney NSW, Australia.
Cincinnati-based MarketVision/Gateway Research, Inc. and Universal Studios Hollywood have opened a new consumer interviewing center and office at Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles. The interviewing facility is located in the lower level of the studio backlot. Consumer surveys will be conducted with selected domestic and international visitors to the park.
Company earnings reports
SPSS Inc., Chicago, announced results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2000. On a pro forma basis consistent with previous reporting and revenue recognition practices, net revenues in the quarter were $43.2 million and diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $0.60, which compare to 1999 pro forma figures (which also exclude acquisition charges) of $40.7 million and $0.63 respectively. For the fiscal year, pro forma net revenues were $157.8 million and diluted EPS were $1.79, which compare to 1999 pro forma figures of $141.9 million and $1.66 respectively.
Nuremberg, Germany-based GfK has reported the best-ever results in company history in fiscal 2000, with total revenue increasing 24.3 percent to Euro 483 million.