Hodson's Opinium Research goes live

UK-- The new agency set up by former YouGov research director Mark Hodson went live this week.

Research first broke news of Opinium Research back in August, outlining Hodson's plan to target the “quality” end of the online market.

As part of the launch, Opinium has signed a deal with Vision Critical to build and manage an online panel using its Panel Plus software platform.

The deal is the first such signed by Vision Critical in the UK, and preceded the launch this week of its new European office in London, staffed by sales director Jeremy Holt and sales manager Paul Albert.

As Opinium goes live, Hodson told Research he was still in the process of hiring for senior roles, but did confirm that Tony Langham, chief executive of Lansons Communications – which holds a 25 per cent stake in the business – will join the board. “We're still looking for a senior non-exec director,” Hodson says. “And we're looking for people who are happy to work for share options rather than cold hard cash”.

Hodson was also keen to point up the positives in joining the market now. “There's been talk of a slowdown that will hit internet businesses but we seem to be bucking that trend, which is a good sign,” he says.

“There are lots of larger companies who are now looking to bring online research in-house, which makes sense as many of them have the necessary skills in the company. But of course there's no reason why they won't need market researchers to help write the questions and design surveys.”

Commenting on the Vision Critical deal, Hodson said he was sure the partnership would be a productive one. “I bought the software partly on the basis of a review in Research magazine,” Hodson said. “I really do believe it's the best software of its type in the world, which is why we bought from a Canadian company and didn't just stick with the UK option.”

Author: Christian Doherty

Related links:

Ex-YouGov man offers his Opinium

Vision Critical Panel Plus review