Acquisitions/transactions
Las Vegas research company Applied Analysis has acquired research company SalesTraq, also in Las Vegas.
Englewood, Colo., research company IHS Inc. has acquired IMS Research, Wellingborough, U.K., for approximately $46 million.
New York research software company Buddy Media has acquired London social advertising software company Brighter Option.
London marketing company St Ives Group PLC has acquired London research company Incite Marketing Planning Ltd.
Englewood, Colo., outsourcing company TeleTech Holdings Inc. has acquired Burlington, Mass., research company iKnowtion.
Aegis Group PLC, London, has acquired Budapest, Hungary, advertising company PPI Central Europe Ltd. PPI will be rebranded to become part of the Posterscope EMEA division of Posterscope Worldwide.
Separately, Aegis has also acquired Beijing digital agency eLink Advertising Co. Ltd. ELink will become part of the Isobar digital creative network in China.
Finally, Aegis has acquired Chicago digital agency Roundarch Inc. for an initial consideration of $125 million. Roundarch will be combined with Isobar, Aegis Media’s digital creative network in the U.S., to form RoundarchIsobar.
Horsham, Pa., research company ImpactRx has acquired San Mateo, Calif., research company AlphaDetail Inc.
Informa Research Services Inc., Calabasas, Calif., has acquired ICANBUY Corp., a Santa Ana, Calif., financial technology services company.
Elkins Park, Pa., language services company CETRA Language Solutions has acquired International Language Solutions, Alexandria, Va. International Language Solutions will become part of CETRA, continuing to operate with its current staff and in cooperation with the CETRA executive team.
Nuremberg, Germany, research company The GfK Group has acquired Bridgehead International, a U.K. medical consulting firm. The company will operate as GfK Bridgehead.
New Brunswick, N.J., research company Connotate Inc. has acquired El Segundo, Calif., software company Fetch Technologies.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Research companies Mzinga, Waltham, Mass., and ISM, Bethesda, Md., have partnered to combine Mzinga’s OmniSocial platform and ISM’s social customer relationship management solutions.
London research company Ipsos MORI has partnered with The Design Laboratory, a London creative agency based within the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. This collaboration aims to improve the visual representation of data for research clients.
New York public relations agency Ketchum has partnered with Salt Lake City research company The Modellers to create an offering designed to quantify the dollar-value return on clients’ public relations investments.
Association/organization news
Research associations Asia Pacific Research Committee (APRC), Glebe, Australia; European Federation of Associations of Market Research Organizations (EFAMRO), Brussels, Belgium; and Americas Research Industry Alliance (ARIA) have partnered to form the Global Research Business Network (GRBN). GRBN aims to support national associations regarding issues that have global impact, such as data privacy, personal identity protection, regulatory compliance and process quality. The network will be codirected by Peter Harris of APRC, Alex Garnica of ARIA and Barry Ryan of EFAMRO. GRBN is online at www.grbn.org.
Awards/rankings
Cincinnati research company Convergys Corporation has received the 2012 Service Award in Outsourcing from Customer Relationship Management magazine. Convergys was chosen based on high marks in customer satisfaction, company direction and depth of services and analyst comments praising the company’s research division and investment in multichannel care.
Roy Morgan Research, Melbourne, Australia, has announced the winners of its inaugural Customer Satisfaction Awards. The Customer Satisfaction Awards recognize outstanding customer service providers in 35 categories, based on Roy Morgan’s annual Single Source survey of approximately 50,000 Australians. Winners included Virgin Mobile, Apple, Lexus, Qantas and Aldi. A full list of winners is online at www.customersatisfactionawards.com.
New accounts/projects
Portland, Ore., research company Rentrak Corporation’s TV Essentials television ratings service has been adopted by The CW Television Network, Burbank, Calif. Additionally, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel, Studio City, Calif., have extended their contract for TV Essentials. Horsham, Pa., video and music network Music Choice has also expanded its contract with Rentrak to adopt Rentrak’s TV Essentials.
Separately, Local TV LLC, Fort Wright, Ky., has signed a contract for Rentrak’s StationView Essentials television measurement service for FOX-affiliate WJW in Cleveland.
NBCUniversal, New York, has selected Columbia, Md., research company Arbitron Inc.’s Portable People Meter service to track out-of-home television viewing of the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London.
C+R Research, Chicago, has adopted Vancouver, B.C., research company Vision Critical’s suite of tools as a certified partner.
Stamford, Conn., research company InsightExpress has been commissioned by Chicago communications company VivaKi to measure advertising effectiveness on tablet devices using InsightExpress’s Tablet AdInsights solution. The project is part of VivaKi’s The Pool research initiative.
Munich, Germany, research company TNS Infratest has adopted Norrköping, Sweden, research company Dapresy’s Dapresy Pro software to create dashboards and online portals for its ad hoc and tracking surveys.
Gauge Mobile Solutions Inc., Vancouver, B.C., has signed agreements with Canadian outdoor advertising suppliers Astral Outdoor and Newad to integrate Gauge’s Scanvee mobile advertising management technology into their ad campaigns.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
New York communications company Omnicom Group Inc. has launched sparks & honey, a New York research agency, as part of Omnicom’s Diversified Agency Services division. Terry Young will serve as founder and CEO of sparks & honey.
Researchers Kevin O›Neill and Christopher Korody have formed Audience Metrix LLC, an El Prado, N.M., research company specializing in event measurement. The company is online at www.audiencemetrix.com.
London communications company Chime’s Insight and Engagement Division has launched Watermelon Research, a digital research agency.
London research company OpinionPanel has rebranded as YouthSight.
New York consulting firm Campbell Alliance has launched Encuity Research, Newtown, Pa., serving the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
New York research company WorldOne has opened an office in Shanghai, China.
Steve Babcock has launched Insights Market Research LLC, a Roswell, Ga., research company. The company is online at www.insightsmarketresearch.com.
Paris research company Ipsos has reorganized its Ipsos Marketing division, forming four separate practices: market understanding and measurement; innovation and forecasting (Ipsos InnoQuest); health care (Ipsos Healthcare); and qualitative (Ipsos UU).
Aachen, Germany, research company Dialego has launched its Innovation Consulting division. Detlef Happel will lead the operation.
Researcher Scott Koenig has launched Social Marketology, a Dallas marketing company. The company is online at www.socialmarketology.com.
Jupiter, Fla., research company MVL Group has launched research company 3Q Global, also in Jupiter. Lori Weingarten and Iris Blaine will lead the development of 3Q Global.
London research company BrainJuicer Group PLC has relocated its New York office to 225 Broadway, Suite 800, New York.
Research company earnings/financial news
Vision Critical, Vancouver, B.C., reported 2011 revenues of $72 million, an increase of 17 percent over 2010.
Ipsos, Paris, reported 2011 revenues of $1,362.9 million, up 19.5 percent over 2010.
B2B International, Manchester, U.K., reported 2011 revenues of $6.3 million.