News notes
As reported by the Insights Association, total funding for the Census Bureau for fiscal year 2018 now amounts to $2.814 billion following legislation that passed in the House and has yet to pass in the Senate, $1.344 billion above the fiscal year 2017 level. The association says $2.544 billion of this funding is for the Periodic Censuses and Programs account (including the 2020 Census, American Community Survey and Economic Census) and $270 million is for the Current Surveys and Programs account.
Jeff Anderson Consulting/AH! Advertising, a La Quinta, Calif.-based research and advertising firm, celebrated its 31-year anniversary in February.
Acquisitions/transactions
Information and advisory services firm Frontier Strategy Group (FSG) has acquired business-to-business research and consulting firm Ducker Worldwide. In the short term, each company will continue to operate under its own brand. A holding company, Ducker FSG Holdings, has been formed to manage the combined firms. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and led by Richard Leggett as CEO. Joanne Ulnick, CEO of Ducker Worldwide, will lead the global consulting practice of the combined firm and serve on the board of directors.
Beaverton, Ore., researcher Dialsmith and research-based communications consultancy Presentation Testing have announced a merger. The companies have also launched Engagious, a new business venture that is a rebrand and expansion of the Presentation Testing research consultancy. Rich Thau, former president and co-founder of Presentation Testing, will take on the role of president of Engagious. Dialsmith will remain its own distinct group. Engagious has offices in New York City, Portland, Ore., and a location in London.
Schmiedl Marktforschung, a German research marketing services firm and a Schlesinger company, has acquired Hamburg, Germany, focus group facility and data collection company Active Research. Active Research will rebrand as Schmiedl Marktforschung Hamburg, A Schlesinger Company and will continue under the leadership of Managing Director Thomas Oellrich.
London-based customer experience solutions firm Sabio has acquired customer service data and analysis company Bright UK Limited. The acquisition follows Lyceum Capital’s strategic investment in Sabio and is part of an acquisition plan to broaden the company’s solution portfolio.
Canada-based customer intelligence software firm Vision Critical has acquired certain assets of Vancouver-based artificial intelligence start-up Aida Software Corp. The acquisition is expected to accelerate the development and integration of machine learning and AI-based applications for Vision Critical’s Sparq 3 customer intelligence platform. As part of the acquisition, the Aida data science team will join Vision Critical, including Aida Founder Jenny Yang, who will lead data science initiatives for Vision Critical.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Data science firm Civis Analytics has expanded its partnership with Reston, Va., firm comScore by extending its licensing of comScore viewership data. Civis uses the data to create custom audiences to provide its commercial, political and nonprofit clients with better targeting capabilities for their TV advertising campaigns. ComScore viewership data also allows Civis' Media Optimizer clients to analyze TV engagement of custom audiences on a more granular level and optimize their total advertising spend.
New York-based data and technology company PlaceIQ has expanded its partnership with omnichannel identity resolution firm LiveRamp. PlaceIQ will offer its location-based audiences through LiveRamp's IdentityLink Data Store feature, which offers people-based audience data. This integration gives Data Store buyers access to PlaceIQ's audience library.
Cincinnati-based text analytics solutions firm Ascribe has formed a partnership with Los Angeles-based firm PopResearch (Pop) to provide marketers and advertisers with insights from consumer feedback. Pop will provide an automated consumer testing platform to collect feedback and Ascribe’s text analytics software will provide insights by automatically analyzing verbatim comments and linking the emotions with associated topics to reveal themes and opinions.
Warren, N.J., research firm Lightspeed is modernizing how it buys and manages data. The company’s modernization program includes a new licensing partnership with Stockholm-based technology providerCint. Cint’s sample procurement tool Access Pro will replace Lightspeed’s existing technology platform. Lightspeed will also leverage Cint Engage to manage its proprietary double-opt-in panels and Cint’s private network capabilities to onboard and consolidate existing sources in direct private-pricing deals.
Association/organization news
The QRCA, St. Paul, Minn., has broadened its membership criteria, removing the restrictions on qualitative researchers who work in-house and those who work at ad agencies. Professionals who design, conduct, analyze or support the conduct of primary qualitative research are now eligible to join the QRCA, no matter where they work.
Awards/rankings
U.K. consumer insight agency Join the Dots has received the AURA Insight Communication Award, given by AURA, a networking forum for client-side insight professionals. The Communication Award is given for communication that creates a “wow factor.”
Liz Granahan, CEO of Ambler, Pa., language services firm SyncScript, has been nominated for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) 2018 Woman of the Year. The LLS’s Man & Woman of the Year program is a philanthropic competition to support blood cancer research.
Two research strategies developed by IQS Research, Louisville, Ky., as part of its work with the Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project have been recognized as national best practices by the Transportation Research Board, a program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The company was recognized for its work designing and implementing engagement strategies to reach low-income and minority residents and leaders. The feedback from these populations informed the design of the Ohio River Bridges Project tolling policy.
New accounts/projects
Nielsen, New York, has formed a data and technology agreement with IPG Mediabrands, the media management and data arm of marketing solutions firm Interpublic Group. The integration will match IPG Mediabrands' consumer IDs with Nielsen's TV viewing and purchase behavior insights, including purchase-based audience data from a set of anonymized frequent shopper cards in the U.S. from Nielsen Catalina Solutions, as well as Nielsen Buyer Insights' transaction data from U.S. credit cards.
Maritz Motivation Solutions, St. Louis, has used its artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to predict the redemption of loyalty program rewards associated with banking and financial services firm HSBC’s new suite of credit cards. Maritz’s AI algorithm predicts the rewards a loyalty program member is likely to redeem over the next year then suggests a redemption category to promote to each member, calculating the percentage of clients likely to redeem in different categories.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Charlotte, N.C.-based researcher AOC Marketing Research has rebranded with a new facility design, logo, tag line and Web site.
Iselin, N.J., researcher Schlesinger Group has opened a new New York City research space in Manhattan to coincide with the company’s rebrand. The space includes a research room, private briefing rooms and client offices, dual receptions, a terrace, The Wall by Schlesinger, as well as seven focus group suites and additional client work spaces.
Marketing consultancy The B2B Marketing Lab has opened its new central London office following a period of business growth and expansion.
New York-based marketing analytics company Truesight Consulting has launched a new office in Delhi, India, serving as the company’s main office for India and its regional hub for greater Asia. Nitesh Sahay has been appointed managing director and associate partner.
In New York, conference company Worldwide Business Research (WBR) has launched WBR Insights, its research and custom marketing solutions division that will help marketers create content for their target audience. David Matthews will serve as managing director of WBR Insights.
Arlington, Va., research company Fors Marsh Group has launched a customer experience (CX) division to address industry demand for improving customer experiences with products, Web sites and services. The CX division gives clients insight into how their customers use their services and will provide clients with solutions to improve the experience and measure their impact.
Research company Q-insights has opened a new location in Marina Del Rey, Calif. The research facility will be used for focus groups, product testing and appliance research and includes two standard focus group rooms with two-way mirrors for client viewing and a multipurpose room for quantitative IDIs, usability, shelf testing or appliance research.
Research agency Market Probe Europe recently joined the Kynetec Group, a U.K. animal health and agriculture research firm, and will now be known as Kynetec b2.
KJT Group Research Panel, the health care panel for Honeoye Falls, N.Y., research and consulting firm KJT Group, has been renamed the ClinicalVoice Community.
Columbia, Md.-based marketing agency Merkle has launched in Australia. Dentsu Aegis Network’s Australia-based agency Columbus will become Columbus, a Merkle Company and be led by current Columbus CEO Rebecca Tos.
Jersey City, N.J., location data technology company SITO has formed the SITO Institute for Consumer Behavior and Location Sciences, a thought leadership and membership initiative that aims to educate and advocate for the advancement of location data intelligence as a core component of modern marketing organizations. The institute will convene an advisory board of marketers and academics who will set the research and publishing agenda for the institute and its members.
Research company earnings/financial news
Cincinnati-based customer experience outsourcing company Convergys Corporation reported revenues of approximately $2.8 billion for full-year 2017, a 4 percent decrease compared with approximately $2.9 billion in 2016.
Wilton, Conn., consumer insights firm Toluna reported year-over-year double-digit revenue growth driven by more than 40 percent revenue growth from its automated consumer insights platform and the acquisition of KuRunData by parent company ITWP in January 2018, increasing its global panel size by nearly 40 percent.
Research company Ipsos has agreed to invest approximately £3 million in London-based visual content management company Big Sofa. The investment will allow Big Sofa to enhance its sales and marketing functions and further invest in its video analytics platform and technology infrastructure. Laurence Stoclet, deputy CEO, group CFO and support functions director at Ipsos, will be appointed to the board of directors of Big Sofa as a non-executive director.
Paris-based researcher Ipsos has reported revenue of approximately €1.78 billion and an organic growth rate of 2.4 percent for 2017.
U.K.-based cross-media measurement firm RealityMine has received a follow-on-investment from existing investors Kennet Partners in conjunction with other shareholders to accelerate product development and geographic expansion. The company has also appointed Chris Havemann as CEO.
U.K. consumer insight agency Join the Dots has reported revenue of £12.3 million for end-of-year 2017. The agency has also named Pauline Reeves as chief financial officer.