News notes
A lawsuit over exit polling in Minnesota has been formally dismissed after a new state statute took effect that allows exit pollsters to stand within 100 feet of a polling place, according to an August 6, 2010, article in the Star Tribune. In 2008, media outlets sued the state over a new law that would have kept pollsters far away from buildings where people were casting votes. The Associated Press, ABC, CNN, CBS, Fox News and NBC argued that the law made it virtually impossible to conduct exit poll interviews with voters and violated First Amendment rights. Both sides agreed on the dismissal.
The Marketing Research Association (MRA), Glastonbury, Conn., defended the need for confidentiality in marketing research following demands in June 2010 from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Rockville, Md., for Richmond, Va., cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris to surrender all market research regarding a dispute surrounding Marlboro Lights packaging. The MRA feared that the confidentiality of personally-identifiable information of research participants and possible proprietary and trade secret information on research processes could be violated by compliance with the agency’s demands.
LaToya Rembert-Lang, general counsel, MRA, informed the FDA that MRA understood the importance of pursuing an investigation in Philip Morris’s truth-in-advertising practices, but that, “the integrity of the survey and opinion research profession is in jeopardy when such broad sweeping mandates run counter to the standards of the survey and opinion research profession to protect the confidentiality of all research data.”
Additionally, Congress approved financial system reforms in July 2010, eschewing a provision approved earlier by the House that would have expanded the power of the Federal Trade Commission and increased Federal regulation of the marketing research industry. The MRA lobbied to defeat said regulation.
The Media Rating Council, New York, voted to grant accreditation to all 25 of New York researcher The Nielsen Company’s Local People Meter (LPM) markets. As part of the annual audit/accreditation process, the original 10 LPM markets had their original accreditation renewed, while the remaining 15 markets were granted accreditation for the first time. Nielsen has developed its own A/P Meter Improvement Program, which includes a household CodeCheck; redundant monitoring sites; regular reports on code performance; identification of low-performing stations; and more.
The Oxford Research Agency, Oxford, U.K., has rebranded and changed its name to Future Thinking. The company has also opened a U.S. office in Danbury, Conn.
GfK Technology, a division of GfK Custom Research North America, New York, has rebranded as GfK Business & Technology.
Las Vegas research company Precision Opinion has expanded and added 135 jobs.
Waltham, Mass., research company Invoke Solutions celebrated 10 years in business in June 2010. Additionally, the company has divided into two separate business units, one of which will be focused on its Engage Analytics reporting tool. Engage Analytics will be rebranded as a separate unit.
Parsippany, N.J., marketing company PDI Inc. has terminated its market research business unit, TVG Marketing Research and Consulting. PDI is working with a limited group of TVG management to continue to provide market research services under the TVG name on an independent basis.
Vancouver, B.C., research company Vision Critical instituted its 2010 intern program, which placed 12 young client services associates at the company’s offices across North America. Interns are all graduates of U.S. and Canadian colleges with degrees in marketing, research, sociology or business.
Acquisitions/transactions
Research company Webtrends has acquired app provider Transpond and released Webtrends apps for Facebook, Web and mobile. Both firms are based in Portland, Ore.
Cologne, Germany, research company Globalpark has acquired business software company WP-Experts, also of Cologne. Globalpark will add WP-Experts to its software development team, and WP-Experts’ two principals will join the Globalpark executive board.
Online polling aggregator Pollster.com has been acquired by New York news Web site The Huffington Post. The purchase is part of The Huffington Post’s push into political journalism ahead of the midterm elections in November 2010.
London investment firm Fieldbury has agreed to purchase for approximately £1 million MobileWave, which owns the market research social networking platform and mobile phone app PlanetOi’. Following the acquisition, Fieldbury has changed its name to MobileWave Group PLC.
London research company YouGov PLC has acquired Harrison Group LLC, a Waterbury, Conn., research consulting firm. Harrison Group’s clients will receive access to YouGov’s services.
Portland, Ore., research software company SurveyMonkey has acquired Seattle research firm Precision Polling. Precision Polling co-founders Gaurav Oberoi and Charles Groom will stay employed with the company out of Seattle.
Research company comScore Inc., Reston, Va. has acquired the products division of Nexius Solutions Inc., a Reston-based business solutions company. The acquisition is intended to strengthen comScore’s mobile offerings. The division of Nexius will be integrated into comScore’s existing telecom and wireless practice. Nexius co-founder Nadim Taleb will join the comScore senior management team as executive vice president, comScore wireless solutions.
Encino, Calif., research company uSamp has acquired Dallas research division DMS Insights from AOL. The DMS Insights company name is not expected to change, and its brands and properties will remain active.
New York research company Hall & Partners has acquired Open Mind Research Group, Melbourne, Australia.
Alliances/strategic partnerships
San Antonio nonprofit Startech has collaborated with Mountain View, Calif., research company Frost & Sullivan to create a program to offers savings and benefits to select technology startups. The program is designed to accelerate the success of early-stage startups by providing access to Frost & Sullivan Growth Partnership Services, including market, technology, customer and best practices research and access to industry analysts.
Market Publishers Ltd., London, and Lyon, France, information services company Enerdata have formed a partnership authorizing MarketPublishers.com to distribute and sell Enerdata’s research reports.
Stamford, Conn., research company InsightExpress and Seattle marketing company Meteor Solutions have formed a partnership combining Meteor’s brand advocate identification system with InsightExpress’ ad effectiveness measurement via InsightExpress’ AdInsights solution.
MSW Research, Lake Success, N.Y., and Oldsmar, Fla., research company Loop Analytics have partnered to form msw loop - mobile strategy & insights.
Association/organization news
The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA), Toronto, has partnered with Montreal-based McGill University’s Department of Continuing Education, Career and Management Studies to develop online Certified Marketing Research Professional (CMRP) core courses. Under the contract, McGill will design and deliver 10 customized learning modules for the MRIA’s CMRP core curriculum.
Awards/rankings
Chicago research company Synovate’s Hong Kong division has been voted the No. 1 research company in both quantitative and qualitative categories as part of Marketing Magazine’s Agency of the Year 2010 survey. This award represents a ranking in Hong Kong and is based on selection by senior client-side marketers on which research agencies they would most likely hire to manage their business.
Sharon Paik, vice president of Ipsos Health, a New York research company, was awarded second prize for her brand positioning research at the European Pharmaceutical Market Research Association’s annual conference in Berlin in June 2010.
Marisa Pope of Jackson Associates Research, Atlanta, received the 2010 Distinguished Service Award from the Marketing Research Association, Glastonbury, Conn.
The Market Research Council, New York, has named Gerry Lukeman, chairman emeritus at Cincinnati research company Ipsos ASI, as one of the 2010 inductees to the Council’s Hall of Fame.
Evolution Marketing Research, Blue Bell, Pa., received the People’s Choice Award at the Philadelphia-based Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence and Research Group’s annual general meeting for its “Speaking Your Customer’s Language: Using Patient Profiling to Make the Buying Process Actionable” poster. James Heasley and Michael Heasley authored the poster content and stood as presenters during the event’s poster showcase.
Georgian College, Barrie, Ontario, has named Toronto research company Ipsos Reid as a distinguished partner. As part of the college’s Board of Governor’s Awards of Distinction program, the award recognizes partners in the community who have “made an exemplary contribution in support of student access and success, as well as the mission and goals of the college.”
Martin Cerda, founder and research director of Miami research company Encuesta Inc., received the HispanSource Award for Achievement in Hispanic Marketing Research, presented by Aguilar Productions and the James J. Hill Reference Library, both of St. Paul, Minn., at the Hispanic Marketing Midwest Conference in Minneapolis in June 2010.
New accounts/projects
New York research company TRA Inc. has signed an agreement exclusively licensing the intellectual property of New York marketing management firm Media Trust to add new ROI features intended to Media TRAnalytics, TRA’s online advertising measurement system.
Portland, Ore., research company Rentrak Corporation has entered into contracts to provide its TV Essentials and/or StationView Essentials local market TV measurement services with the following broadcasting companies: Cowles California Media Company, Salinas, Calif., and KHQ Inc., a division of The Cowles Company; Raycom Media, Montgomery, Ala.; Trinity Broadcasting Network, Santa Ana, Calif.; Charter Communications, Town and Country, Mo.; Meredith Corporation, Des Moines, Iowa; London Broadcasting Company, Dallas; and Gray Television, Atlanta.
Surrey, U.K., research company EasyInsites has been selected to build and maintain an online custom research panel (EasyPanel) for British retailer WHSmith. WHSmith’s Privilege Club reward system will be used as a source for building the EasyPanel.
Wells Fargo, San Francisco, has renewed its agreement with Little Rock, Ark., marketing technology Acxiom Corporation to manage its customer and prospect database and provide customer insights.
San Francisco research company MarketTools Inc. has entered into a partnership with West Interactive, an Omaha, Neb., customer contact solutions company, to offer West Interactive’s Insight Customer Intelligence survey solution.
Separately, MarketTools has added five companies to its TrueSample Quality Council: Capital One, McLean, Va.; Dallas research company e-Rewards Inc.; Samsung Electronics, Seoul, South Korea; Unilever, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and Orem, Utah, research company Western Wats.
Port Washington, N.Y., research company The NPD Group and Best Buy Co. Inc., Richfield, Minn., have extended their agreement to share point-of-sale data through February 2013.
MSN, Redmond, Wash., has selected New York researcher The Nielsen Company to provide online audience measurement of MSN’s advertising portal properties in Taiwan.
Oslo, Norway, research software company Confirmit has adopted Gurgaon, India, research firm Annik’s SurveyFlashTools offering to integrate Flash components into its surveys.
Responsibilities of the ABC News Polling Unit, New York, have been transferred to Langer Research Associates, New York.
Reston, Va., research company comScore Inc. has adopted Westport, Conn., research company Imperium’s RelevantID digital fingerprinting system to provide duplicate respondent screening.
Austin, Texas, research company Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC has incorporated San Francisco research company Peanut Labs’ OptimusID digital fingerprinting system into its Kinesis Survey solution.
The National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins have signed an agreement with Columbia, Md., research company Arbitron Inc. to provide Arbitron’s Portable People Meter radio ratings services in Pittsburgh. As part of the agreement, the Penguins will receive individual game and season estimates along with pre- and post-game estimates.
New companies/new divisions/relocations/expansions
Reston, Va., research company comScore Inc. has opened offices in Spain and Portugal. The offices will collectively be called comScore Iberia. Media Specialist Jaime Agulló will serve as general manager for comScore Iberia.
Miami research company Medimix International has opened a location in Bacolod, the Philippines.
Portland, Ore., research company Rentrak Corporation has opened a Chicago office.
Dean Wiltse, former CEO of Dulles, Va., research company Vovici, has launched Thumbspeak LLC, a Scottsdale, Ariz., research company focused on mobile networking and measurement.
Research Now, a London division of Dallas research company e-Rewards Inc., has relocated its German offices in Hallbergmoos. Additionally, Research Now has opened an Indian office in New Delhi.
Stamford, Conn., research technology company FocusVision has opened an office in Singapore, dubbed FocusVision Asia.
Cincinnati research company Burke, Inc. has completed its headquarters move to new offices in downtown Cincinnati.
GfK Business & Technology, a division of GfK Custom Research North America, New York, has opened a West Coast location in San Francisco.
Separately, GfK Custom Research North America and London research company The Kantar Group have formed the Promedius Group, a noprofit consortium dedicated to online data quality. The Promedius Group will initially operate in the U.S. and expand into other markets in 2011.
New York media company SourceMedia has launched a syndicated research and data business to operate in tandem with its existing operations. The unit will be led by Jim Moore, managing director, research and data.
New Orleans research company Jackson Square Group has launched its subsidiary Federated Sample.
Portland, Ore., research company Revelation has relocated its headquarters to 1200 NW Naito Parkway, Suite 630, Portland, Ore., 97209.
Skim, a Rotterdam, the Netherlands, research company, has opened an additional Rotterdam research facility called Triggerpoint, designed for conducting qualitative research.
Denver research company Sprout Strategy has launched GEM, a qualitative research recruiting company, with locations in Denver and Chicago.
Turner Research Network, Atlanta, has opened a West Coast office in Seattle.
Manchester, U.K., research company B2B International has opened offices in London and Shanghai, China.
Nuremberg, Germany, research company The GfK Group has launched an independent subsidiary in Saudi Arabia and opened a Kenyan branch of its Retail and Technology sector.
California research companies Insightlink Communications Inc. and GrayInsight have moved headquarters to 80 S. Lake Avenue, Suite 680, Pasadena, Calif., 91101. The firms can be reached at 866-802-8095.
Paris research company Ipsos has created the Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange, an organization within Ipsos to be led by Shelley Zalis.
Research company earnings/financial news
The GfK Group, Nuremberg, Germany, has acquired the outstanding shares of the GfK Mode subsidiary in India and GfK Kynetec in the U.K. In Brazil, GfK’s subsidiary IFR has increased its stake in Shopping Brasil.
Additionally, from April to June 2010 GfK generated EUR 328.7 million in sales.
InsightsNow Inc., Corvallis, Ore., announced revenue growth of 54 percent in fiscal-year 2010 over 2009.
BrainJuicer Group PLC, London, reported revenue growth of 48 percent for the first half of 2010.
E-Rewards Inc., Dallas, has completed its $6.75 million mixed-securities offering with eight investors.
The Nielsen Company, New York, announced financial results for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2010. Reported revenues were $1,270 million, an increase of 7 percent over the same period in 2009 of $1,182 million. Reported operating income was $182 million, compared to $172 million in 2009.
Reported revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2010, were $2,466 million, an increase of 8 percent over the prior-year period. Reported operating income was $314 million compared to $284 million for the first half of 2009.
Separately, Nielsen plans to raise $2.01 billion through an initial public offering, according to an August 2010 U.S. regulatory filing.
Kadence International, Framingham, Mass., reported a 10 percent revenue increase for the financial year 2009-2010. Net revenue increased from $11.7 million in 2008-2009 to $12.8 million.
Vision Critical, Vancouver, B.C., released its operating results for the first half of 2010. Total revenues were up 43 percent over the first half of 2009 on a constant currency basis.
National Research Corporation, Lincoln, Neb., announced results for second-quarter 2010. Revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2010, was $14.1 million, compared to $13.6 million for the same quarter in 2009. Net income was $1.7 million, compared to $1.6 million for the second quarter of 2009.
Revenue for the first half of 2010 increased 4 percent to $31.5 million, compared to $30.3 million for the same period in 2009. Net income increased 12 percent to $4.8 million.
ComScore Inc., Reston, Va., reported revenue of $42 million for the second quarter of 2010, an increase of 34 percent over the second quarter of 2009 and a quarterly record.
Ipsos, Paris, achieved growth of 14.3 percent in the first quarter of 2010 and 21.4 percent in the second, making 18.1 percent for the first half of 2010. The company’s organic growth was 6 percent in the first quarter and 9.1 percent in the second, giving growth of 7.7 percent for the first half of 2010.
IPerceptions Inc., Montreal, reported second-quarter revenues of $1.2 million, up 10 percent over the same period in the previous year. Gross margin as a percentage of revenue was 64 percent for the second quarter of 2010, compared to 58 percent for 2009. Net loss and comprehensive loss was $597,383, compared to $981,600 for the prior-year period.