Scantron Corporation, a Tustin, Calif., provider of software, services and systems for the collection, management and interpretation of data, has announced a partnership agreement with the Dallas-based National Business Research Institute (NBRI) under which Scantron will broaden its survey offerings by providing national sales and marketing support of NBRI's organizational assessment services.
USADATA.com has opened a new Web site at http://USADATA.com, bringing together a range of intelligence on consumer patterns, media preferences, behaviors and product choices.
The Polk Company, Detroit, has reached an agreement to have its "Intender" file managed by list manager Response Media Products (RMP). Atlanta-based RMP will manage the file - to be named Polk's Life Transitions – effective immediately. Polk's life intention data identifies consumers in the market for new products or those about to make significant life changes associated with various new product and service needs. Intender data is self-reported and gathered from various surveys, including product registration questionnaires and Polk's Survey of America.
ADAPT Inc., a Minnetonka, Minn., survey processing firm, has relocated to a larger facility at 5610 Rowland Rd., Ste. 160, Minnetonka, Minn.
Market Probe, Inc., Milwaukee, has acquired Butler Research Associates, a Toronto firm specializing in consumer and business-to-business research.
MDI Research, Carlsbad, Calif., has changed its name to Analytique. The firm's address, phone and fax numbers remain the same.
PGM Incorporated, a Provo, Utah, data collection firm, has added a third CATI data collection center in St. George, Utah.
Dennis Research Service, Fort Wayne, Ind., and Bay Area Research, Baltimore, Md., have formed a partnership that will create a 30-station CATI facility using CfMC technology.
IPSOS-ASI, a Stamford, Conn., research firm, will team with Home Network, Redwood City, Calif., to research the effectiveness of on-line ads for seven consumer products and services companies. The goal is to allow advertisers to compare the impact of Internet ads and traditional media. Intel is co-sponsoring the research.
Atlanta-based Equifax has purchased 80 percent ownership in Seguranca ao Credito e Informacoes, a commercial financial information company and supplier of consumer information in Brazil. In separate news, Equifax has entered an alliance with IBM to develop and market services to help ensure more secure transactions over the Internet and other networked environments.
Erlich Transcultural Consultants, a Woodland Hills, Calif., research firm, has opened a Web site.
Rodgers Marketing Research, formerly of Canton, Ohio, has moved to The Range, 1038 Highway 485, Jemez Pueblo, N.M.
Woodward and Associates, a new research firm, has opened at 15967 State Route 725, Germantown, Ohio.
The Arbitron Company, New York, has received the Chesapeake Human Resources Association's 1998 James W. Rouse Diversity Award in recognition of its strategies to advance the concept and spirit of diversity in the workplace.
Ruppman Marketing Technologies, Inc., Peoria, Ill., has acquired AFFINA, a Troy, Mich., acquired AFFINA, a Troy, Mich., research firm. Ruppman's board of directors has voted to adopt AFFINA as the company's new name, with the full transition accomplished by 1999.
J.D. Power & Associates, an Agoura Hills, Calif., research firm, has launched a proprietary customer satisfaction research study of the recreation vehicle (RV) industry. The research, endorsed by RV industry associations, will provide an overview of RV consumer satisfaction by quality of vehicle, dealership and campground experiences.
Under a new agreement, Ceres Integrated Solutions, Raleigh, N.C., will incorporate SPSS Components from SPSS Inc., Chicago, to provide the analytical basis of the automated modeling module within the Ceres Intelligent Operational Systems for Targeted Marketing and Merchandising.
Cultural Access Worldwide, Arlington, Va., has formed a joint venture to create a consumer panel to measure Hispanic consumer purchase behavior. The service is being tested in 800 Los Angeles households and will track 120 product categories.
Market Facts, Arlington Heights, Ill., has acquired Product Intelligence Inc., a Rockville Centre, N.Y., firm that operates a national network of consumer interviewing stations in 35 markets under the name Interactive Opinion Network. Terms were not disclosed. Product Intelligence will operate as a subsidiary of Market Facts under the direction of its current management team.
tk associates of Minneapolis, Inc., and N.K. Friedrichs & Associates, Hamel, Minn., have merged to create a new research firm, The Market Solutions Group., Inc. The firm's address is 2500 Centre Village, 431 South 7th St., Minneapolis, Minn.
SOFRES Intersearch and Chilton Research Services has launched its new identity as Taylor Nelson Sofres Intersearch (TNS Intersearch). SOFRES Intersearch was acquired in February 1997 by the French-based SOFRES Group and in late 1997, SOFRES merged with U.K.-based Taylor Nelson AGB. In May 1998, SOFRES Intersearch announced acquisition of Chilton Research Services.
Clearwater Research, Boise, Idaho, has reached an agreement with Sawtooth Technologies, Inc. (STI), an Evanston, Ill., designer of CATI systems, to work with STI as its primary testing facility and provide programming resources for future software development. In addition, Clearwater has joined its two data collection centers in Idaho through a wide-area network.
Savitz Researcher Center, Dallas, has reorganized its operations into two distinct companies. The current Savitz companies providing customized primary research and strategic counsel will be consolidated as Savitz Research Solutions. Field research activities and focus group facilities will operate as Savitz Field & Focus.
The Marketing Research Association (MRA), the European Society of Opinion and Marketing Research, and the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education have signed an agreement in principle to form a worldwide education alliance. The alliance will introduce an education program, the Principles of Marketing Research, which is designed to give researchers working in marketing research companies and client companies easy access to a program teaching the core body of knowledge of marketing research through 10 study modules.
Arbitron NewMedia, New York, has acquired a majority stake in Northstar Interactive, an Internet research firm.