News notes
New York research company Arbitron Inc. has testified before the New York City Council regarding the Arbitron Portable People Meter (PPM) radio ratings services. In the remarks of Steve Morris, chairman, president and CEO, and in documents submitted to the New York City Council, Arbitron emphasized that: the participants in the Arbitron PPM radio ratings services are as representative of the diversity of New York and other top markets as diary respondents; the fundamental techniques used to recruit PPM respondents in New York and other markets are the same as Arbitron uses for the diary; the difference between PPM ratings and diary ratings is a function of the survey tool, not the sample; PPM collects actual exposure, whereas the diary collects recall-based “habitual” behavior; the paper-and-pencil diary allows loyal listeners, of any and all formats, to overstate their habitual listening; broadcasters of all formats, including urban and Hispanic, who have embraced PPM have improved their audiences and their standing in the marketplace; Arbitron will continue to adhere to the Media Rating Council Voluntary Code of Conduct and will continuously strive to improve the PPM radio ratings service; and Arbitron remains committed to working constructively with the Council and with clients in the radio industry to address specific diary-to-PPM transition issues.
Arbitron does not believe that the FCC has jurisdiction over the company or its operations and assets and consequently lacks the authority to commence a Section 403 investigation.
Research International (RI), Chicago, has begun a new global rebranding initiative. As part of these efforts, RI is restructuring its 40,000-case innovation databases to make normative data more accessible at the local market level and launching a redesigned Web site (www.research-int.com). RI has also redesigned its Global Innovation Sphere logo.
The New York branch of Ipsos, the Paris-based research company, has announced its sponsorship of the Principles of Pharmaceutical Marketing Research course offered by the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education. The course’s 12 modules cover fundamentals for market research professionals.
Chadwick Wilson Young, a former employee accused of wire fraud at Knoxville, Tenn., research firm U30 Group Inc., has been denied his request for house arrest and sentenced to spend approximately three-and-a-half years in prison for the crime. In May 2008, Quirk’s reported that U.S. authorities had charged Young for defrauding U30 of more than $1.1 million in roughly four years. Young worked as the interactive Internet group manager for U30 and set out to bilk U30 using a series of e-mail accounts that were supposed to belong to customers but instead were his. “He would use his position as an employee for the U30 Group Inc. to fraudulently obtain Amazon.com gift cards at U30 Group Inc. expense and send them to several e-mail accounts that he exercised control over,” according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Atchley in the Knoxville News Sentinel. “(Young) would then convert the gift cards to his own use by purchasing goods or convert them to cash by selling them to a third party.”
McCallum Layton, a Leeds, U.K., research company, has launched a new company Web site (www.mccallum-layton.co.uk).
Acquisitions/transactions
Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has agreed to sell Greenfield Online Internet survey solutions, a division of Wilton, Conn., research company Greenfield Online, to ZM Surveys LLC, a Brookline, Mass., research company affiliated with ZM Capital LLC. The transaction is in connection with the acquisition of Greenfield Online Inc. by Microsoft.
T3i Group LLC, a Parsippany, N.J., research consultancy, has acquired the Telecom Intelligence Group (TIG) division of Access Intelligence, a Rockville, Md., research company. The acquisition closed on August 1, 2008. TIG’s name has been changed to T3i Group. T3i Group is a newly-formed entity established specifically to make this acquisition.
Paris research company Ipsos has acquired Alfacom, a Sao Paolo, Brazil, automotive research company which services almost all the car manufacturers active in Brazil and through Latin America. Ipsos has acquired 100 percent of the share capital of the company from its managers. Renato Fecchio will remain the president of the company, which will be integrated within Ipsos Loyalty at both the regional and worldwide levels.
TechWeb’s Light Reading Communications Network, a Manhasset, N.Y., research company, has acquired Pyramid Research, Cambridge, Mass. Pyramid will be integrated with TechWeb’s Heavy Reading, a division of Light Reading.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
MRops, a Doylestown, Pa., research company, has entered into an agreement with San Francisco research company Peanut Labs for its survey tool Optimus in an effort to provide improved survey data quality to its clients.
MultiMedia Intelligence, a Scottsdale, Ariz., research consultancy, and Experian Consumer Research, New York, have partnered to examine the 12-17-year-old population using wireless phone services.
E-Rewards Europe Limited, the London division of Dallas research company e-Rewards, and Airmiles, a U.K. travel loyalty program, have partnered to invite Airmiles’ members to enroll in the e-Rewards Opinion Panel and collect Airmiles by participating in online market research surveys.
Macy’s Inc., a Cincinnati-based retailer, has entered into a multiyear agreement with DunnhumbyUSA, a Cincinnati research firm, under which Macy’s will be DunnhumbyUSA’s exclusive client in the department store category. DunnhumbyUSA will analyze Macy’s customer sales data and develop customer group models.
Awards/rankings
Inc. has announced its annual Inc. 5000 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. GMI, a Seattle research company, ranked 753rd on the list, with three-year revenue growth of 464 percent from 2004 to 2007. GMI also ranked favorably on several of the publication’s 2008 Inc. 5000 Top 100 Lists, including: 59th in the marketing and advertising industry and 23rd in the Puget Sound region.
Additionally, Gongos Research, Auburn Hills, Mich., has been named to the Inc. 5000 list. This year, the company rose in rank, experiencing a 55.9 percent three-year growth.
Decipher, a Fresno, Calif., research company, has been recognized by the U.S. Local Business Association as the winner of the 2008 Best of Fresno Award in the Market Research and Analysis category.
Reston, Va., research company comScore Inc. has been recognized in the 35th annual Honomichl rankings as the 16th-largest U.S. market research firm and the 20th-largest firm globally, based on 2007 revenues.
New accounts/projects
New York research company TNS has adopted Dulles, Va., research company Vovici’s enterprise feedback management platform and Community Builder Module as its standard platform for building custom online panels and communities for its customers.
The city of Frankfort, Ky., has signed a Small Municipal and County Government Enterprise License Agreement with ESRI, a Redlands, Calif., geographic mapping software company. This agreement allows all staff in the capital city’s government to access geographic information system (GIS) software. Separately, CCIM Institute, a Chicago commercial investment brokerage real estate network, will implement a GIS solution developed by ESRI at the heart of its new commercial property listing and data exchange service platform. The portal will manage commercial property listings for sale and lease throughout the U.S.
ATP Canada Software and Services Ltd., an Ontario, Canada, data processing company, and Starfire Consulting LLC, a Sparks Glencoe, Md., retail consulting company, have entered into an agreement whereby Starfire Consulting will provide sales and marketing assistance for ATP’s Rosetta Studio in the capacity of official sales agent.
EMI Surveys, a Hyde Park, London, research company, has entered into an agreement with Itracks, a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, research company, to expand EMI’s qualitative offerings using Itrack’s online qualitative software applications.
LevelVision LLC, a Roanoke, Va., media and digital signage company, has signed an agreement with New York research company Arbitron Inc. for Arbitron custom research studies to measure store traffic, engagement with and reaction to its medium.
Additionally, Arbitron has expanded its sample-quality improvement programs for diary markets. The new efforts are designed to further enhance the participation of 18-34-year-olds in diary-based radio ratings services. Arbitron plans to add cell phone-only households to the survey sample in 125 diary markets beginning with the Fall 2009 survey; increase cash and other incentives for persons age 18-34 while reducing incentives for those 55-plus-only households in all diary markets; and accelerate the development and deployment of electronic and online alternatives to the paper-and-pencil diary for all markets.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Applied Marketing Science, a Waltham, Mass., research company, has expanded its office space by 50 percent. The mailing address of the company has not changed.
Innovative Concepts, a New York-area research company, has relocated its call center to Long Island City, N.Y., in the facilities of Opinion Access Corp. The company has also opened a bilingual call center in the Dominican Republic.
Survey Sampling International, a Fairfield, Conn., research company has moved to new global headquarters: International Place, 6 Research Drive, Shelton, Conn.
Research Now, London, has opened a new office in Dallas. The office will be headed up by Joe Cunningham, vice president, client development.
Additionally, Research Now, has launched in Asia. The group will initially be represented by two new operations in the region, one in Shanghai and one in Singapore. In addition to the new operations, Research Now has also launched eight new proprietary online panels in the region to support the growing international demand for Asian opinion.
Toluna, a New York research company, has expanded into the Asia-Pacific region with the opening of a new office in Sydney, Australia, headed up by Mike Billingsley.
Information Services Group Inc., a Stamford, Conn., research company, has formed a new business unit with TPI, a Houston data advisory firm. The new unit, TPI Momentum, will assist the service provider community in addressing the needs of today’s buyers of outsourcing and offshoring services.
BrainJuicer Group PLC, a London research company, has furthered its global expansion by establishing a presence in both Australia and Switzerland.
Research company earnings/financial news
In the first half of 2008, Paris research company Ipsos has reported revenues of EUR 462.8 million, up 4.5 percent compared with the same period of 2007. This performance was shaped by three contrasting factors: a negative currency effect of 7 percent; a positive consolidation effect of 3.1 percent with companies acquired since July 1, 2007, being included in the scope of consolidation; and first-half organic growth of 8.4 percent. As a proportion of revenue, gross margin continued to rise, from 60.0 percent in the year-earlier period to 61.6 percent.
Harris Interactive, a Rochester, N.Y., research company, has released results for its fourth fiscal quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2008. Consolidated revenue was $63.5 million, at the mid-point of guidance, and up 11 percent when compared to the same period last year. Favorable effects of foreign currency exchange added $0.5 million in the quarter. Pro forma organic revenue growth of 12 percent in Europe was countered by a 7 percent decline in North America, which caused consolidated pro forma organic revenue to decline by 3 percent.
$2.7 million in restructuring and other unusual items, along with the preliminary $123.0 million goodwill impairment charge, created a ($124.2) million operating loss for the quarter, compared with operating income of $4.2 million reported for the same period last year. The net loss for the quarter was ($121.2) million, or ($2.28) per share, compared with net income of $3.4 million or $0.06 per fully diluted share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007.
Revenue for fiscal year 2008, which ended on June 30, 2008, was $238.7 million, and up 13 percent when compared with $211.8 million of revenue reported for fiscal year 2007. Favorable effects of foreign currency exchange added $2.5 million in the fiscal year. European pro forma organic revenue grew 6 percent, but North American pro forma revenue declined 3 percent, pushing consolidated pro forma organic revenue down 1 percent.
Operating loss for the fiscal year, including $4.6 million of restructuring and other unusual items and an estimated $123.0 million goodwill impairment charge, was ($121.1) million, compared with operating income of $12.3 million last year. Net loss for the full fiscal year was ($120.2) million, or ($2.27) per share, compared with net income of $9.1 million or $0.16 per diluted share in fiscal 2007.
BrainJuicer Group PLC, a London research company, has announced its interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2008. Significant top-line organic growth with revenue rose by 37 percent to £3,970,000. Operating profit increased by 33 percent to £196,000. Profit after tax increased by 42 percent to £161,000.
The GfK Group, a Nuremberg, Germany, research company, has announced results for the second quarter of 2008. Organic growth in sales rose by 11.4 percent in the second quarter. Adjusted operating income rose by 13.4 percent on the same quarter in the prior year. In the first half of 2008, organic growth in sales amounted to 8.4 percent (prior year 4.9 percent) and sales increased overall to EUR 589.7 million. Adjusted operating income for the first six months rose to EUR 66.8 million (5.2 percent up on the prior year). Performance was particularly strong in emerging markets and the retail and technology sector.