News notes
Chicago-based Research International has adopted a new worldwide corporate identity which reflects substantial changes made within the firm. The new identity consists of a corporate mark made up of two images: a lower image containing a precise drop of water, and an upper image containing an ocean wave.
Stamford, Conn., research firm Nielsen//NetRatings, has received government approval to conduct Internet research in China. In compliance with regulations and to localize the service offering, the firm has involved a Chinese company for software development and testing.
Acquisitions
BrandPartners Group, Inc., New York, announced that through its subsidiary Willey Brothers, Inc. it has acquired the Strategic Market Intelligence Division of The Commonwealth Group for an undisclosed amount. The transaction will allow Willey Brothers to launch a new Branch Network Optimization Service for banks and other financial service companies. Under terms of the deal, Michael Purchia, a founder of The Commonwealth Group, and certain key employees of the Strategic Market Intelligence Division have joined Willey Brothers.
Cincinnati-based MarketVision Research, Inc., has purchased McLauchlan & Associates, a full-service research firm also based in Cincinnati.
Irwin Broh & Associates, a Des Plaines, Ill., research firm, has acquired HealthFocus Inc., an Atlanta research and consulting firm specializing in the health and nutrition markets. HealthFocus will now operate as HealthFocus International, an independent operating division of Irwin Broh & Associates. It will remain in Atlanta and be headed by its founder, Linda Gilbert.
Taylor Nelson Sofres has agreed to acquire the entire share capital of Sponsorship Information Services Limited (SIS) and its interests in Sponsorship Information Services Asia Pte. Limited and NetResult Limited. SiS monitors and evaluates sponsorship of major sporting events, such as UEFA Champions League football matches, Formula One, and ATP Tour Tennis, using its branded monitoring system. Key managers will remain with the company and will continue to aid in the development of the business, which will form part of the TNS Media Intelligence sector.
Nuremberg, Germany-based GfK Group has increased its minority stake of 49 percent in the Swiss Telecontrol Group to 100 percent. Swiss Telecontrol Group specializes in developing and producing radio and TV coverage measurement technology and the organization of radio and TV panels.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
Arbitron Inc. has signed a multi-year research technology development and licensing agreement with The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Md. Under this agreement, APL will provide research and development assistance to enhance Arbitron’s audience measurement capabilities and services, including its Portable People Meter audience measurement system.
Sao Paulo-based IBOPE eSurvey, part of the IBOPE.com holding company, and Seattle-based Global Market Insite, Inc. (GMI) have signed an enterprise licensing agreement for GMI’s Net-MR research management application. IBOPE eSurvey plans to integrate Net-MR into its online operations for overall management of projects, including panel management, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
Chicago-based SPSS MR has become an official distributor of Vancouver, B.C.-based Techneos’s Entryware software for MCAPI (mobile computer-assisted personal interviewing). Designed for use with handheld computers, the Entryware system is used for collecting survey data at remote locations.
ActiveGroup, an Atlanta-based provider of streaming media services for marketing research, has formed a partnership with AcuPOLL Research, Inc., to provide AcuPOLL clients the ability to hear the audio track from AcuPOLL research sessions in real time over the Internet.
Association/organization news
Larry Mock has been named president and CEO of The Council for Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR), Harrison, N.Y.
After five years as director general of the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR), Juergen Schwoerer will relinquish his position at the end of 2001. "We are grateful for the many contributions Juergen has made to ESOMAR. The Society is well placed to fulfill its global mandate and promote the best of research for better decisions, worldwide," says ESOMAR President John Kelly. A new appointment is expected in the first half of 2002. Until the new appointment is made, the role of the director general will be assumed by Mario van Hamersveld.
The Qualitative Research Consultants Association has named its officers for the 2001-2002 year: Jim Bryson, president; Dorrie Paynter, vice president; Elaine Gingold, treasurer; Gillian Tuffin, secretary. Other members of the 2001-2002 board of directors are Elizabeth Berry, Diane Harris, Hy Mariampolski, George Sloan, and Susan Sweet.
The Southwest Chapter of the Marketing Research Association has completed a successful Second Annual Scholarship Program. The program offered monetary awards to members and employees of member companies to encourage and assist educational pursuits among those in the marketing research industry. Coursework eligible for assistance was broad enough to allow applicants to enhance or develop skills primary as well as ancillary to marketing research. Education could include such topics as software applications, moderator training, writing techniques and the Principals of Marketing Research program sponsored by the national MRA.
The program was so well-received in 2000 that the board this year decided to award up to $5,000 in scholarships. The eight 2001 Scholarship Award recipients are: Gloria Mellinger, Survey Sampling, Inc, Principals of Marketing Research, MRII Institute, University of Georgia, $500 award; Carmen Muniz, Galloway Research Service, Introduction to SPSS Syntax, $500; Gabriel Maltos, Galloway Research Service, Introduction to SPSS Syntax, $500; Stephanie Smith, WestGroup Research, Fundamentals of Moderating, Riva Training Institute, $500; Melissa McCumber, Galloway Research Service, Beginning Access Class, $450; Charles Dickinson, Clearwater Research, Inc., Introduction to ArcView, Boise University, $500; Thomas Hogan, Galloway Research Service, Managerial Economics, University of San Antonio, $450; Andrea Feher, Survey Sampling Inc., Global Management Integration, Sacred Heart University, $500.
Awards
The Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc., has announced Indianapolis research firm Walker Information as one of two winners of the 2001 National Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics in its category based on company size. The award recognizes companies for their honorable business practices and longterm value.
New accounts/projects
Access Worldwide Communications, Inc., Los Angeles, has announced the expansion of an agreement with ACNielsen U.S. for multicultural research services conducted in support of the ACNielsen Homescan Hispanic Panel. ACNielsen is Access Worldwide’s largest research client.
Schaumburg, Ill.-based ACNielsen U.S. announced that Pharmavite Corporation has selected the market research firm as its new preferred provider of syndicated market research.
Information Resources, Chicago, has expanded its partnership with retail food supplier ConAgra Foods and is now the primary supplier of consumer information and analytics to the company. The term of the new agreement is three years.
Princeton, N.J.-based Opinion Research Corporation has been awarded a $4.7 million contract by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement National Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS). Under this contract, the company’s ORC Macro Social Research Business will, among other things, collect data from national samples of students in the United States in grades nine through 12 to evaluate health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of mortality, morbidity and social problems within this group. The new contract runs through early 2006.
New companies/new locations
Marketing Systems Group, Fort Washington, Pa., has opened two newbranch offices: one in St. Louis for GENESYS sample customer service; and one in Research Triangle, N.C., for PRO-T-S telephony system support.
Opinion Dynamics Corporation, Cambridge, Mass., has opened a new office in San Diego.
Database marketing executives Donald J. Holtz and Andrea D. Shantz have launched Benchmarketing Analytics LLC to help companies with their CRM programs. The firm is located at 55 Walls Drive, Suite 205, Fairfield, Conn., 06430.
Specializing in customer and employee satisfaction research, Lisa Thomas has opened LFT Market Research Services at 2281 Fairlane Dr., Suite 100, Largo, Fla., 33771.
GfK North America has launched its worldwide business intelligence division, GfK Database Solutions, which will integrate marketing research, database marketing, and customer relationship management.
Company earnings reports
Consolidated revenues for Paris-based Ipsos in the first half of the current financial year rose to EUR 216.9 million, up 64 percent from the same period last year. Operating profit outpaced revenues at EUR 13.9 million, up 91 percent over the first half of 2000, and now represents 6.4 percent of revenues compared with 5.5 percent for the same period last year. Since the start of the year, the group has pursued its strategy of external growth, with the acquisition of NPD’s custom market research divisions (renamed Ipsos- NPD) integrated on January 1st. Ipsos also acquired Demoskop in Poland and Riehle Research in the United States.
Nuremberg, Germany-based GfK Group increased total revenue by 13.4 percent from EUR 223.9 million to EUR 253.8 million in the first six months of the year, confirming its target growth of 15 percent to EUR 550 million, for the year as a whole.