Sunday, 12 February 2012

Research
Sept 2009

  • $3m bonus earmarked for Cossette senior executives

    3-Sep-2009

    CANADA— Senior executives of marketing services group Cossette could share a bonus pot worth C$3.5m if an acquisition of the group goes ahead.

  • 60 Second Soapbox – Heather Payne

    Sept 2009

    Heather Payne, CEO of Research International in Asia Pacific, has had enough of using PowerPoint and cannot face another advert where people sneeze on each other.

  • A free take on the Free movement

    9-Sep-2009

    Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, recently published Free in the UK. In this Google Talk he gives you a taster of the ideas behind the book.

  • AAPOR calls out Strategic Vision over poll disclosure

    24-Sep-2009

    US— The American Association for Public Opinion Research has found pollster Strategic Vision in violation of its Code of Professional Ethics and Practices.

  • Added Value launches three marketing initiatives

    29-Sep-2009

    UK— Added Value has launched a trio of new global marketing initiatives, AV-id, Character Creation and a specialist approcah based on tracking trends.

  • Adobe to buy web analytics firm Omniture for $1.8bn

    16-Sep-2009

    US— Design software firm Adobe has agreed a $1.8bn deal to acquire web and marketing analytics software developer Omniture. Adobe says the deal paves the way for ad designers, developers and online marketers to embed Omniture’s “optimisation capabilities” into their creative work.

  • Ando Media acquired by Triton

    17-Sep-2009

    US— Ando Media, which provides ad measurement and insertion technology for online audio, has been acquired by Triton Digital Media, a firm providing software and digital services to the broadcast industry.

  • Angus Reid named marketing legend

    25-Sep-2009

    CANADA— Research industry veteran Angus Reid has been named as one of eight people joining the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends this year.

  • Arbitron and radio industry to create 'affinity' metric

    18-Sep-2009

    US— Arbitron and a group of radio broadcasters, advertisers and media buyers have formed a task force to develop a new metric to measure the relationship or ‘affinity’ listeners have with stations.

  • Arbitron awarded out-of-home ad audit task

    16-Sep-2009

    US— Arbitron’s portable people meter (PPM) technology is to be used to deliver a “proof of play” advertising audit for out-of-home video networks.

  • Arbitron disputes House committee claims on PPM sampling 'problems'

    23-Sep-2009

    US— Subpoenaed documents from the Media Rating Council show “persistent problems” with minority audience samples for Arbitron’s portable people meter radio measurement system, according to a congressional committee. Arbitron, however, says the committee’s conclusions are “erroneous”.

  • AskYourTargetMarket unveils 'research on-demand' service

    15-Sep-2009

    US— Beta testing is underway for an online, on-demand survey tool called AskYourTargetMarket.com that allows users to quiz its consumer panel for as little as $29.95.

  • Austria's Integral buys Sinus Sociovision

    8-Sep-2009

    AUSTRIA— Vienna-based Integral Market and Opinion Research has taken a majority stake in German psychological and social trend specialist Sinus Sociovision.

  • Barb sets sights on measuring online TV viewing

    21-Sep-2009

    UK— The Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (Barb) wants to start measuring TV content watched on PCs and laptops - providing it can find a satisfactory way of doing so.

  • Bauer Radio in hot water over Costa Coffee research claim

    15-Sep-2009

    UK— Bauer Radio is in hot water with regulator Ofcom over research claims made by Costa Coffee in its sponsorship of competitions on three radio stations.

  • BBM Canada switches on PPM TV and radio panel

    1-Sep-2009

    CANADA— Media ratings body BBM Canada has begun using Arbitron’s portable people meter (PPM) measurement system in what is said to be the world’s largest combined TV and radio audience panel.

  • Beaton merges with Taylor Management Consulting

    28-Sep-2009

    AUSTRALIA— Business-to-business research and consulting firm Beaton has merged with Taylor Management Consulting.

  • Blanket coverage

    Sept 2009

    Snuggie, the ‘blanket with sleeves’, became a surprise social media phenomenon. Nielsen decided to look at the success of the Snuggie to test ‘listening’ and ‘asking’ based approaches to research.

  • Borderless Access hires Lightspeed sales director

    3-Sep-2009

    US— Borderless Access, the online panel company launched earlier this year by India-based research outsourcing firm Cross-Tab, has hired Jason Tiffer as director of sales.

  • BrainJuicer plans Chinese expansion

    22-Sep-2009

    UK— Online research agency BrainJuicer is planning to open an office in China next year. CEO John Kearon said launching in the country is “not for the faint-hearted, but we’ve just got to be there”.

  • Brian Fine to step down from ORU and STW roles

    17-Sep-2009

    AUSTRALIA— Brian Fine is stepping down from his position as chairman of the Online Research Unit (ORU) and of the insight division of parent company STW.

  • Business services sector sees highest August insolvency rate

    25-Sep-2009

    UK— Insolvency rates during August were highest in the business services sector, according to Experian’s Insolvency and Distress Index.

  • Cambiar opens marketing and product positioning practice

    22-Sep-2009

    US— MR consulting agency Cambiar has launched a new practice to help companies improve the positioning and marketing of their products.

  • Campaign seeks to boost charitable giving through surveys

    14-Sep-2009

    US— A survey panel has launched with the lofty aims of boosting charitable donations while engaging typically hard-to-reach communities in the market research process.

  • Carma upgrades social and media monitoring tools

    9-Sep-2009

    US— Media research house Carma is to upgrade its social media measurement service and add new features to NewsAccess, its media monitoring tool.

  • Cello income and profits down, but group positive on second half

    15-Sep-2009

    UK— Cello’s research and consulting business reported income and profit declines today for the first six months of 2009, though the firm is hopeful for operating profit growth in the second half.

  • Ci goes to market with new retail research team

    4-Sep-2009

    UK— Cheshire-based agency Ci Research has formed a new retail research team headed by former Iceland and Littlewoods researcher Gareth Hodgson.

  • CIMM preparing first audience measurement RFPs

    25-Sep-2009

    US— The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) will release its first two requests for proposals (RFPs) for new audience measurement techniques next week, according to reports on the web.

  • Cint and Habbo launch online teen panels

    24-Sep-2009

    SWEDEN— Research software firm Cint has teamed up with Sulake, the owner of online teen community Habbo, to build a series of youth panels around the world.

  • Civic Science to help charities poll donors

    19-Oct-2009

    US— Civic Science, a provider of online polling software, has partnered with the maker of the DonorPro online fundraising software to create polls for visitors to charity websites.

  • CMOR urges caution over Maine data-handling law

    16-Sep-2009

    US— Industry lobbyist CMOR is urging researchers to check that their data sets and research plans comply with a new law in Maine that prohibits the sale or transfer of personal data about state residents under the age of 18.

  • Coke and Unilever to trial ARF online quality programme

    29-Sep-2009

    US— Later today the Advertising Research Foundation is set to unveil a process it has developed in collaboration with industry partners which is designed to improve quality in online research.

  • Coleman Insights acquires MediaEKG

    24-Sep-2009

    US— Media research firm Coleman Insights has acquired MediaEKG and its patent-pending consumer feedback technology, which is used to conduct online evaluations of radio and television shows for media companies.

  • Colmar Brunton and Communispace partner in AsiaPac

    8-Sep-2009

    AUSTRALIA— US-based Communispace has teamed up with Australian research agency Colmar Brunton to develop online research communities in the Asia Pacific region.

  • Communispace's Diane Hessan takes to the Spotlight

    25-Sep-2009

    Spotlight has been on its hols but is back in style with Diane Hessan, president and CEO of Communispace

  • ComScore promotes Dale to COO

    15-Sep-2009

    US— ComScore has promoted chief technology officer Gregory Dale to the newly created post of chief operating officer, where he will oversee all the firm’s operating activities.

  • Confirmit Horizons reviewed

    Sept 2009

    Our technology correspondent, Tim Macer, puts this new mixed-mode interviewing system to the test. It’s certainly powerful, but is it going to be a breeze to use?

  • Cossette shuts out co-founder from sale process

    10-Sep-2009

    CANADA— Cossette has refused to open its books to its former vice chairman François Duffar, who is bidding to buy the marketing services group through his investment vehicle Cosmos Capital.

  • Critical Mass launches marketing measurement arm

    10-Sep-2009

    CANADA— Omnicom-owned digital marketing agency Critical Mass has launched a new business arm to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

  • Data distrust: lies, damned lies and statistics

    Sept 2009

    In an era of spin, public trust in statistics has taken a knock. Add in fears about the handling of personal data, and you have the makings of a crisis of trust. Richard Young surveys the scene.

  • Devilfish tests the market research waters

    7-Sep-2009

    UK— Devilfish Gambling, the owner of a poker site fronted by renowned British card player David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott (pictured), is branching out – into market research.

  • Digital fingerprinting 'may be unlawful in Canada', warns MRIA

    29-Sep-2009

    CANADA— The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) has warned its members that digital fingerprinting may be unlawful in Canada as it “may collect more information than is necessary to identify fraudulent and duplicate respondents in online research”.

  • Direct Marketing Association hails insight as crucial

    15-Sep-2009

    UK— The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has urged marketers to make greater use of research and insight in their campaigns.

  • Double Lives – Jonathan Shingleton

    Sept 2009

    Researchers reveal how their out-of-hours pursuits impact on the 9-to-5. This month we speak to Jonathan Shingleton, who’s a director of Giraffe Research and Consulting, and has also sailed across the Atlantic.

  • Draftfcb shifts MR work to Interpublic

    17-Sep-2009

    US— Draftfcb has closed its Worldwide Marketing Research Services group, transferring its work to Interpublic’s Center for Marketing Intelligence.

  • Easyjet re-signs Virtual Surveys for community task

    16-Sep-2009

    UK— Easyjet has renewed its contract with Virtual Surveys to operate its online customer community in 2009-10.

  • Echometrix receives $2m investment

    17-Sep-2009

    US— Investment house Rock Island Capital has invested $2m into marketing intelligence software provider Echometrix through the purchase of stock at $9.09 a share.

  • eDigital names Eccleston to board, hires research manager

    14-Sep-2009

    UK— Online agency eDigital Research has promoted Derek Eccleston to the board of directors and hired a new research manager, Daniel Curtis.

  • Emnos partners Payback into Poland

    23-Sep-2009

    POLAND— Retail data analytics agency Emnos has opened an office in Warsaw to support the Polish expansion of the German loyalty card programme Payback.

  • E-Rewards adds AeroMexico passengers to panels

    11-Sep-2009

    US— E-Rewards and AeroMexico have agreed a deal that will see the airline’s passengers join the online researcher’s Mexico business-to-business and affluent-consumer panels.

  • Esomar announces 2009 award winners

    18-Sep-2009

    SWITZERLAND— Esomar has announced the winners of its 2009 Congress Awards from Montreux in Switzerland.

  • Esomar reports 2008 global MR revenue up 4.5% to $32bn

    8-Sep-2009

    NETHERLANDS— Global market research revenues reached $32bn in 2008, up 4.5%, or 0.4% after inflation, according to the latest figures from Esomar.

  • ESRC appoints new council members

    7-Sep-2009

    UK— John Beath has been appointed a member of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the organisation responsible for funding research into social and economic matters.

  • European launch for The Sound

    25-Sep-2009

    UK— Canadian youth research agency The Sound has opened an office in London in the first step of its European expansion.

  • Evo US relaunched as Think Conservatory following MBO

    2-Sep-2009

    US— Evo Research & Consulting in New York has relaunched as Think Conservatory after the demise of its UK parent company.

  • Ex-SSI chief joins rival Authentic Response as CEO

    16-Sep-2009

    US— Former Survey Sampling International (SSI) boss Jim Follett has joined rival Authentic Response as chief executive.

  • Facing up to difficult questions about panels

    1-Mar-2010

    At Casro’s panel conference in New Orleans, researchers shared their efforts to answer some of the tough questions about how panels should and shouldn’t be used in order to get consistent, reliable results.

  • FCC urged to consider need for tougher online privacy protections

    8-Sep-2009

    US— The Federal Communications Commission is being urged to consider whether there is a need for additional consumer privacy protections in light of public concern over online targeting.

  • First public sector wins for Spring Research

    15-Sep-2009

    UK— Spring Research has won its first public sector clients - Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the Central Office of Information and communications watchdog Ofcom.

  • Game on for IAB with ad measurement rules

    24-Sep-2009

    US— Guidelines for measuring exposure to advertising in PC and console games have been published by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

  • German exit poll 'leaked' on Twitter

    1-Sep-2009

    GERMANY— Results of exit polls for Sunday’s regional elections in Germany were apparently leaked on Twitter before polling stations closed.

  • GfK Technology promotes Krajicek to MD in US

    22-Sep-2009

    US— David Krajicek has been promoted to managing director of GfK Technology from his previous role of executive vice president of the firm’s brand and communications business.

  • GfK's EMO Sensor to gauge emotional response to adverts

    7-Sep-2009

    GERMANY— GfK has launched a service to measure consumers’ emotional reactions to advertising and marketing campaigns, called the EMO Sensor.

  • Google creates online stats repository

    11-Sep-2009

    UK— Google has created an online repository of facts about consumer trends, media consumption, the media landscape, macro economic trends and technology.

  • Hansa 'renews' Indian reader survey contract

    28-Sep-2009

    INDIA— Hansa Research is reported to have secured a three-year contract to run the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) – despite plans to merge that survey with its rival from next year.

  • Healthy curiosity

    Sept 2009

    To find out more about the causes of childhood obesity, 2CV’s Selena King spent two days living with a family in North Tyneside. This is her story.

  • Hitwise debuts web measurement service in Brazil

    4-Sep-2009

    BRAZIL— Hitwise’s internet measurement service made its debut in Brazil this week, with Google-owned sites occupying four slots in a ranking of the ten most visited domains in the country.

  • HMV appoints Retail Eyes for customer service task

    23-Sep-2009

    UK— Entertainment retailer HMV has contracted Retail Eyes to create and operate a customer experience programme.

  • IAB Singapore appoints new leadership

    9-Sep-2009

    SINGAPORE— The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Singapore has elected a new chairman and a 10-strong leadership council.

  • IBM follows SPSS deal with RedPill acquisition bid

    22-Sep-2009

    SINGAPORE— Hot on the heels of its deal to buy SPSS, computing giant IBM has agreed to acquire the business of customer analytics services firm RedPill Solutions.

  • If there's one thing I've learnt... Julia Horlov

    Sept 2009

    Career tips for research practitioners. This month: Julia Horlov, partner at McCallum Layton.

  • IFF Research posts 40% sales rise and turnover of £7m

    28-Sep-2009

    UK— IFF Research has reported a 40% rise in sales to £8.7m for the year ending 31 March 2009. Turnover was up marginally to £6.99m from £6.98m the previous year.

  • IMS dispenses cures for biopharma firms

    25-Sep-2009

    US— Healthcare research giant launches Ask IMS, a web-based market intelligence service aimed squarely at early-stage biopharmaceutical companies.

  • IMS offers outsourcing services to drugs companies

    16-Sep-2009

    US— IMS Health has been cutting costs internally through outsourcing and offshoring. Now it is looking to do the same for its pharmaceutical clients.

  • Insight agency Snowball bought by Tangent for £3m

    17-Sep-2009

    UK— Digital marketing firm Tangent has acquired customer insight agency Snowball in a cash and shares deal worth up to £3.2m.

  • In-Stat launches STB, Wi-Fi and pay TV databases

    18-Sep-2009

    US— Technology market research agency In-Stat has launched three new databases, covering the markets for pay TV, set-top box and Wi-Fi enabled products.

  • Introducing Research Live blogs

    2-Sep-2009

    Today we’re pleased to announce the launch of blogs on Research Live. When we overhauled the site in June we wanted to provide new avenues for you to have your say on what we write about. Now it’s your turn to do the writing.

  • Introducing Research Live forums

    10-Sep-2009

    Research Live is eager to offer you a platform for discussion that is easy to use, powerful and flexible. That’s why we’re launching forums - a space where you can react to, or chew over, our market-leading coverage and kick-start fresh debate.

  • Ipsos creates Hispanic research centre in US

    10-Sep-2009

    US— Ipsos’s public affairs practice has launched a dedicated research centre to study the US’s burgeoning Hispanic population.

  • Ipsos picks RelevantView for online panel task

    25-Sep-2009

    US— Ipsos has struck a technology deal with RelevantView to run the latter’s RelevantID digital fingerprinting technology across its online panels.

  • IQ Holdings raises £150,000 through loan note issue

    15-Sep-2009

    UK— IQ Holdings, the owner of IQ Research, Viewpoint Field & Studios and Rossyln Research, has raised £150,000 for working capital purposes through the issue of convertible unsecured loan notes.

  • IRI acquires sister company The Hendry Corporation

    2-Sep-2009

    US— Information Resources (IRI) is acquiring sister company The Hendry Corporation, which provides consumer goods firms with market structure modelling and business simulation software to help them optimise their marketing strategies.

  • Is co-creation over-hyped?

    10-Sep-2009

    Co-creation promises to break down the barriers between researchers, consumers and marketers. But how much substance is there behind all the hype? Sheila Keegan of Campbell Keegan and Jeremy Brown of Sense take sides in the debate.

  • Is social media measurement meaningless?

    3-Sep-2009

    Social media has caused a great deal of fuss in the worlds of marketing and research, but do the attempts to measure and make sense of all those friends, fans, followers, pokes, posts and retweets really amount to anything?

  • James Turner to head FreshMinds' online business

    15-Sep-2009

    UK— FreshMinds has hired former BT head of research James Turner to head up its restructured online research division.

  • JRA hires former Harris divisional leader

    7-Sep-2009

    UK— JRA Research has appointed David Hassall, formerly in charge of the business and industrial research division at Harris Interactive, as head of business research.

  • Kimberly Bastoni joins GfK Custom in US marketing role

    11-Sep-2009

    US— Kimberly Bastoni has joined GfK’s North American Custom Research business to head marketing, business development and global key account management.

  • Kuoni and Club Med sign for GfK travel monitor

    14-Sep-2009

    UK— Swiss tourism company Kuoni and French resort chain Club Med have signed up to GfK Ascent MI’s Leisure Travel Monitor (LTM), which provides market intelligence on forward booking information for the outbound holiday market.

  • Kwik Fit picks SPSS for customer retention

    29-Sep-2009

    UK— Kwik Fit Insurance has chosen SPSS’s predictive analytics software tool PASW Statistics to analyse and understand customer motivations when buying motor insurance.

  • Laid-off ICT employee calls off claim for compensation

    29-Sep-2009

    US— A compensation claim by a former employee of a research call centre in Pennsylvania that was shut down last year by data collection firm ICT Group has been dismissed voluntarily.

  • Leapfrog restructures management around key verticals

    30-Sep-2009

    UK— Cello-owned research agency Leapfrog has restructured its senior management team into separate areas - health and wellbeing, retail, and brand, communications and media.

  • Lee named Asia CEO of auto specialist Enprecis

    7-Sep-2009

    US— Automotive customer research firm Enprecis has set up an Asian subsidiary, which will be headed by Ike Lee, an investor in the business.

  • Lightspeed appoints Cayton as CEO for EMEA

    22-Sep-2009

    UK— Lightspeed Research has appointed Andrew Cayton as CEO for EMEA, replacing David Day who became global chief executive earlier this year.

  • Lightspeed's David Day takes to the Spotlight

    4-Sep-2009

    The new global CEO of WPP’s online panel firm talks to us about the recession, his mentor and why every research firm should be fit for purpose.

  • Majestic MRSS in Middle Eastern expansion

    8-Sep-2009

    UAE— India-based full service agency Majestic MRSS has strengthened its presence in the Middle East with a trio of new appointments.

  • Making space for conversation

    Sept 2009

    Over the past decade journalists have had a real fight on their hands. They’ve had to come to terms with a public that is spending more and more time talking to each other and sharing with each other. The patriarchal, all-controlling media organisation is an entity that is, broadly speaking, on borrowed time.

  • Maven debuts customer satisfaction measure

    25-Sep-2009

    UK— Maven Research has launched CSM Pro, a data measurement tool designed to score, benchmark and track customer satisfaction.

  • Mayor's mother quizzed over gas tax poll

    16-Sep-2009

    US— Oregon state investigators have written to the mother of Springfield mayor Sid Leiken demanding information about a telephone poll allegedly carried out by her market research company.

  • Merkle launches LogicLab analytics business

    18-Sep-2009

    US— Database marketing agency Merkle has launched a new business, LogicLab, to provide data and analytics to media buyers.

  • Mesh opens 'experience database' to media planners

    22-Sep-2009

    UK— In the three years since its launch, communications research agency Mesh Planning has catalogued over 100,000 interactions between consumers and brand touchpoints. Now the firm has compiled all that information into a planning database.

  • Metacognition and the anterior superior temporal gyrus

    17-Sep-2009

    Manfred Mareck joins Jonah Lehrer for a spot of mental gymnastics as the neuroscience writer attempts to help researchers train their brains to aid the insight discovery process.

  • Microsoft invites brands through the LookingGlass

    24-Sep-2009

    US— Microsoft is planning a move into social media analysis with a new tool code-named LookingGlass, which was unveiled yesterday at Advertising Week in New York.

  • Mixed messages from new TV industry consortium

    11-Sep-2009

    A coalition of US media buyers, TV broadcasters and advertisers has stressed that it doesn’t intend to replace Nielsen’s existing rating system, but it is actively looking for another way to measure television viewing. Its message is muddled.

  • MR set to benefit if UK scraps product placement ban

    14-Sep-2009

    UK— Scrapping the ban on product placement on British television could net research agencies millions in additional revenue as marketers seek to measure the effectiveness of this new brand-building channel.

  • MRI touts expanded AdMeasure as print ad 'currency'

    14-Sep-2009

    US— Mediamark Research (MRI) is touting an expanded version of its AdMeasure service as a syndicated industry currency for print ad measurement.

  • MSW names Insight Engineers as UK partner

    2-Sep-2009

    UK— New York-based research group McCollum Spielman Worldwide (MSW) is partnering with UK agency Insight Engineers to push its brand and communications research approaches in the European market.

  • Mzinga scoops $10m financing

    25-Sep-2009

    US— Online analytics software firm Mzinga has received $10m through its second round of private equity funding.

  • Nasdaq warns Harris over share price

    21-Sep-2009

    US— Nasdaq has given Harris Interactive 180 days to raise its share price as the research agency’s stock has closed below the minimum listing price of $1 for the last 30 consecutive business days.

  • Needham appointed to Tangible board

    25-Sep-2009

    UK— Cello Group has appointed Face CEO Andrew Needham (pictured) to the board of its Tangible business division.

  • NeuroFocus appoints lab operations director

    21-Sep-2009

    US— Steven Miller has been appointed director of global NeuroLab operations at NeuroFocus. He will be based at the neuromarketing agency’s main lab in Berkeley, California.

  • Nielsen and Facebook form alliance and unveil ad testing tool

    22-Sep-2009

    US— Facebook and Nielsen have launched an online tool to measure the effectiveness of adverts that appear on the social networking website.

  • Nielsen appoints consumer research director in India

    14-Sep-2009

    INDIA— Nielsen has appointed former Heinz India research manager Sandeep Ranada as director of client solutions in the consumer research division.

  • Nielsen confirmed as UK web currency supplier

    29-Sep-2009

    UK— Nielsen has been confirmed as the official supplier of a web audience measurement system funded by media owners, data from which is intended to be used as currency for buying and selling online advertising.

  • Nielsen makes Korean web measurement acquisition

    10-Sep-2009

    KOREA— Nielsen has acquired online measurement firm KoreanClick. The firm uses proprietary technology to measure usage and attitude data across online messaging, gaming and multimedia web platforms.

  • Nielsen moves to dismiss new Sunbeam complaint

    23-Sep-2009

    US— Ratings firm Nielsen has again asked a court to dismiss anti-trust proceedings bought against it by Florida-based broadcaster Sunbeam Television.

  • Nielsen TV panel to track online viewing

    9-Sep-2009

    US— Nielsen has developed a new meter to track online TV viewing, and will start adding it to households in its National People Meter panel by the end of the year.

  • No sign of ‘green shoots’ as summer ends

    7-Sep-2009

    Economic commentators may have started calling the bottom of the recession, but research agencies will still struggle to return to growth as information buyers continue to rein in spending. Stuart Butler-Smith reports.

  • NPD promotes in food and beverage unit

    8-Sep-2009

    US— Mark East has been promoted to president of the North American food and beverage business unit at The NPD Group.

  • Nurago launches Digital Club for insights into online activity

    1-Sep-2009

    UK— Research technology firm Nurago has launched a service that uses a web browser plug-in to track the online activity of 8,000 people. The technology records what sites they visit, the ads they see and the videos they watch.

  • Ogilvy handed regional role at Effective Measure

    8-Sep-2009

    UAE— Brendon Ogilvy has been appointed regional director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region at online audience measurement firm Effective Measure.

  • Omniture strikes deal with ComScore for 'unified' measurement

    21-Sep-2009

    US— In an attempt to close the gap between site-specific and panel-based web traffic data, Omniture and ComScore said today they were working together on developing a unified system for digital audience measurement.

  • Online 'no less accurate' than phone, says ARF

    11-Sep-2009

    US— According to new data from the Advertising Research Foundation, there is “no clear pattern” of telephone research based on random samples providing more accurate results than surveys conducted using online panels.

  • Opinion Leader names Boelman associate director

    30-Sep-2009

    UK— Opinion Leader has appointed Olivier Boelman as an associate director. He spent the last five years at Consensus Research, where he primarily covered the financial services sector.

  • P&G and HeadlightVision veterans form new agency

    18-Sep-2009

    UK— Two former P&G researchers and a co-founder of HeadlightVision’s HV3 division have formed a new agency, InsightOut.

  • Paco Underhill on shopping behaviour and MR's failings

    16-Sep-2009

    Part two of Manfred Mareck’s Esomar Congress report. The Wednesday afternoon session began with a keynote talk on consumer and shopper behaviour by Envirosell’s Paco Underhill (pictured) and follow up papers on corporate social responsibility and ethical consumerism. Read on…

  • People on the move

    18-Sep-2009

    The latest appointments and promotions in the global market research industry

  • People on the move

    10-Sep-2009

    The latest appointments and promotions in the global market research and consumer insight industry. This week: YouGov Psychonomics, Passenger, Opinion Leader, iCrossing and Experian.

  • People on the move

    4-Sep-2009

    The latest appointments and promotions in the global market research industry. Today: Comscore, Fox Searchlight, Merkle and more.

  • People on the move

    25-Sep-2009

    The latest appointments and promotions in the global market research industry

  • Phishing for a solution to online research challenges

    17-Sep-2009

    Day two of Esomar Congress finds our correspondent Manfred Mareck wrestling with issues of privacy, data security and confidentiality in online research. He also takes in a paper on best practices in interviewing children and gauges delegate response to a new charity fundraising initiative centred on online surveys.

  • Phorm cuts first-half loss, but still no revenue to report

    21-Sep-2009

    UK— Online targeted advertising firm Phorm managed to cut its losses in the first six months of the year but still has no revenue to report, according to results.

  • Photon Group raises AUS$114m through share offering

    17-Sep-2009

    AUSTRALIA— Photon Group, the owner of research agencies The Leading Edge and Jigsaw, has raised AUS$114.6m in two rounds of new share offerings.

  • Privacy group logs FTC complaint over Echometrix

    30-Sep-2009

    US— A privacy group is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Echometrix, the maker of marketing intelligence software that analyses teens’ online conversations, alleging unfair and deceptive behaviour and violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

  • Privacy groups put proposals to Congress

    3-Sep-2009

    US— As Congress considers new privacy legislation, consumer and privacy groups have put forward their proposals for limiting online data collection.

  • PSB chairman Don Baer takes board role at DailyMe

    4-Sep-2009

    US— Don Baer, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton turned chairman of polling firm Penn, Shoen & Berland, has been appointed to the board of DailyMe, an online personalised news site.

  • Public sector procurement leaves small suppliers out in the cold

    4-Sep-2009

    New government procurement recommendations designed to help SMEs win business in the public sector could end up making things worse, say independent researchers.

  • Putting wisdom of crowds to good work

    14-Sep-2009

    Four years ago, clientside researcher Ed Martin set about developing a way to fund millions of dollars worth of charitable programmes by tapping into the billions spent on MR each year. The result is Pause to Support a Cause.

  • Rentrak continues to build out measurement offer

    21-Sep-2009

    US— Rentrak is continuing to build out its media measurement offer, adding Steven Walsh and Jeremy Gabor as senior vice president and director of sales respectively.

  • Rentrak gets stuck in to measuring TV 'stickiness'

    28-Sep-2009

    US— Audience size isn’t everything, says Rentrak. The firm, which has ambitions to become a key player in the media research field, today launched a new ‘stickiness’ index to rate the most engaging TV programmes and channels.

  • Research exempt from Federal Trade Commission's robocall ban

    1-Sep-2009

    US— The Federal Trade Commission has banned telemarketing ‘robocalls’ from today - but market research calls are exempt.

  • Research industry charity requests double

    9-Sep-2009

    UK— The Market Research Benevolent Association has seen applications for financial support nearly double this year amid the recession.

  • Research Partnership names Gaj as director in US

    3-Sep-2009

    US— Pharma market research specialist The Research Partnership has appointed Chris Gaj as a director at the company’s operations in Philadelphia.

  • Researcher to represent England in Miss Earth contest

    2-Sep-2009

    UK— England’s Miss Earth contestant is not just a pretty face – she’s also a market researcher with online agency Attain Insight.

  • RightNow to acquire community provider HiveLive

    9-Sep-2009

    US— Customer relationship management firm RightNow has agreed a deal to buy online research community business HiveLive for $6m.

  • RIM to quiz BlackBerry users for insights

    4-Sep-2009

    US— Smartphone manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) is recruiting a panel of BlackBerry owners, IT administrators and company partners to take part in monthly surveys.

  • RS Consulting shuffles leadership pack

    17-Sep-2009

    UK— Research group Cello has named a new leadership team for its RS Consulting subsidiary and confirmed that Neil Swan is leaving the company.

  • Saber Khan joins STRC as Middle East boss

    9-Sep-2009

    UK— Saber Khan, former research director at STRC group company Ethnic Focus, has returned to the group as director of Middle East and emerging markets for STRC Research and Intelligence.

  • Science fiction: The creeping threat of survey abuse

    9-Sep-2009

    Science writer Simon Singh has been railing against the abuse of survey research by companies who want free publicity and journalists who want free copy. Tim Phillips fears that the trend bodes ill for genuine market researchers.

  • Sears to destroy web tracking data

    11-Sep-2009

    US— The Federal Trade Commission has approved a final consent order that requires the owner of Sears and K-Mart to disclose the installation of tracking software on consumers’ computers in the future.

  • Sermo unveils on-demand physician panel

    30-Sep-2009

    US— Online physician community Sermo has launched an on-demand panel service that gives researchers the opportunity to survey its 110,000 members.

  • Severn Trent Water picks Maven for three-year visitor study

    2-Sep-2009

    UK— Maven Research has been commissioned by Severn Trent Water to run a three-year study of visitors to the utility firm’s recreational sites.

  • Shoppercentric hires Ipsos veteran as director

    24-Sep-2009

    UK— Former Ipsos retail and shopper research MD Sharon Hodgson has joined Shoppercentric as a director.

  • Skopos unveils social media and UGI tools

    9-Sep-2009

    UK— Skopos has announced details of Netnography, a social media tool and Webalyzer, a website analysis product.

  • Small MR suppliers 'excluded' by public sector procurement

    4-Sep-2009

    UK— Independent researchers are claiming that public sector procurement practices are leaving them out in the cold - and changes designed to open up the field to smaller providers could make things worse.

  • Social marketer adds Powered-up analytics capabilities

    7-Sep-2009

    US— Powered, a social marketing firm that runs campaigns for the likes of Sony, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola, has updated its branded online community platform with “enhanced” measurement and analytics capabilities.

  • SPSS investors to vote on IBM bid in October

    1-Sep-2009

    US— Shareholders in research and analytics software firm SPSS are to have their say on the company’s sale to IBM at a special meeting on 2 October. If approved, the takeover is expected to be complete before the end of the year.

  • SPSS settles with founder Nie over trademark dispute

    28-Sep-2009

    US— SPSS has reached a settlement in a legal dispute with its founder Norman Nie over the use of the ‘SPSS’ trademark.

  • Strategic Vision chief vows legal action over AAPOR rap

    24-Sep-2009

    US— David Johnson, the CEO of pollster Strategic Vision, has vowed legal action against the American Association for Public Research after the professional body ruled the agency was in breach of its rules around survey methodology disclosure.

  • Sunbeam files amended complaint in Nielsen antitrust case

    3-Sep-2009

    US— Sunbeam Television has filed an amended complaint in its anti-trust action against Nielsen, after a court dismissed its earlier complaint.

  • Survey Sampling opens office in Mexico City

    30-Sep-2009

    MEXICO— Survey Sampling International (SSI) has opened a new office in Mexico City, following the expansion of its online panel in the country earlier this year.

  • Synovate debuts community panels

    8-Sep-2009

    HONG KONG— Synovate has gone to market with its community panels offering, which has been developed in partnership with Vision Critical.

  • Synovate expands Retail Performance business

    28-Sep-2009

    UK— Synovate is looking to expand its Retail Performance shopper counting and analytics business across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

  • Synovate hires community panels director

    22-Sep-2009

    UK— Synovate has appointed Marc Chester to the newly created role of community panels director.

  • Synovate to close Iowa call centre

    18-Sep-2009

    US— Synovate is to close its call centre in Ottumwa, Iowa, in November, according to press reports.

  • Synovate's new boss looks to the future

    2-Sep-2009

    We speak to Robert Philpott about taking over the global agency amid the recession, and about what he’s learned over the years from his predecessor Adrian Chedore.

  • The future will be grim, you can bank on that

    16-Sep-2009

    Manfred Mareck is our man in Montreux, the setting for this year’s Esomar Congress. Here he takes us through this morning’s conference sessions, explaining why current optimism about a speedy upturn in the economy is misplaced and how post-recession market research will become a form of psychotherapy for distressed consumers.

  • The Leading Edge chief executive steps down

    23-Sep-2009

    AUSTRALIA— Mark Sundquist has stepped down as chief executive of The Leading Edge, a role he has held for three years.

  • The Newspaper Works opens Australian readership tender

    8-Sep-2009

    AUSTRALIA— Print industry body The Newspaper Works has officially opened tendering to find an agency to carry out its new readership survey.

  • TiVo 'not looking to dislodge Nielsen'

    1-Sep-2009

    US— Nielsen faces many challenges to its dominance in the TV ratings business - but it need not completely fear TiVo, according to Tom Rogers, CEO of the digital video recorder firm and aspiring media measurement player.

  • TNS and NDS track individual TV viewing

    3-Sep-2009

    US— TNS Media Research and NDS, which provides technology to pay TV operators, have introduced a system to link TV set-top box data with individual viewers in a household.

  • TNS Infratest and TrustYou track online hotel reviews

    10-Sep-2009

    GERMANY— TNS Infratest and search engine TrustYou have launched a tool for tracking online customer opinion for the travel industry.

  • Toluna posts 67% first-half revenue rise

    17-Sep-2009

    UK— Toluna has reported a “strong” first half of 2009, with total revenue up 67% to £13.7m from £8.2m in the same period last year. Operating profits were up 21% on last year, at £1.6m compared to £1.3m, and pre-tax profits rose 12% to £1.6m from £1.4m.

  • TV industry unveils the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement

    10-Sep-2009

    US— A group of 14 advertisers, TV content providers and media agencies have officially launched the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, with the aim of “promoting innovation in audience measurement for television and cross-platform media”.

  • Ugam bolsters US offer with new business and ops hires

    3-Sep-2009

    US— Outsourcing firm Ugam Research Solutions has bolstered its US presence with new hires in the areas of account management, project management and business development. 

  • UK mobile industry agrees media measurement deal

    2-Sep-2009

    UK— Mobile industry body GSMA has announced that it has formally selected ComScore to implement its Mobile Media Metrics (MMM) service in the UK.

  • United Sample launches panel for RedFlagDeals.com

    16-Sep-2009

    CANADA— Online sample supplier United Sample has launched a new panel for shopping comparison website RedFlagDeals.com, which is owned by Clear Sky Media.

  • Unlikely alliances

    21-Sep-2009

    As the recession causes clients to pay more attention to how they buy research, Phil Rushfirth and Caroline Walker of Nunwood say that agencies need to get used to working with their competitors in ‘split service’ models.

  • Verve opens in Australia and New Zealand

    14-Sep-2009

    AUSTRALIA— Verve has opened an office in Sydney as it launches its customer advisory panel and online brand community offer in Australia and New Zealand.

  • Veteran statistician launches BarryAnalytics

    14-Sep-2009

    UK— Marketing statistician Barry Leventhal has launched a new data analytics consultancy, BarryAnalytics.

  • Vishney launches Vivid quant offer in Sydney

    8-Sep-2009

    AUSTRALIA— Former Essential Research executive Alex Vishney has joined Vivid Research in Sydney to head the agency’s quantitative offer.

  • Visual IQ launches Audience IQ to test marketing ROI

    25-Sep-2009

    US— Marketing intelligence firm Visual IQ has unveiled Audience IQ, a tool that aims to provide analysis on customer behaviours generated by marketing campaigns.

  • Western Wats fined over child labour violations

    30-Sep-2009

    US— The Department of Labor (DOL) has fined fieldwork agency Western Wats more than $500,000 for breaking child labour laws at several of its telephone call centres.

  • What can Jay-Z teach us about social behaviour?

    23-Sep-2009

    Anna Thomas, research director at Define, on what Mark Earls, Jay-Z and Greg Dyke can teach us about social behaviour.

  • What's in it for me? Researchers study cynicism

    28-Sep-2009

    A team at the London School of Economics has begun researching the social impact of cynicism – the tendency to believe that other people are motivated by self-interest. Research spoke to Charles Liasides and Alain Samson about their work.

  • Who do you trust?

    Sept 2009

    What drives trust in market research, and how is it changing in different markets? With the help of some fresh data from GfK’s Trust Index, Phyllis Macfarlane looks at how the profession is perceived and how that affects the entire industry.

  • WOM measurement to continue strong growth - study

    18-Sep-2009

    US— Spending on research and measurement of word-of-mouth marketing in the US is set to grow at ‘double-digit’ rates this year, according to a study by researcher PQ Media.

  • WPP and Google open second round of research funding

    23-Sep-2009

    US— Google and WPP are inviting bids for the second stage of their $4.6m three-year programme to fund media research projects.

  • YouGov and Sky News launch daily political polls

    28-Sep-2009

    UK— YouGov and Sky News have launched a daily polling service to coincide with the annual Conservative and Labour party conferences.

  • YouTube adds Insight data to Content ID tool

    29-Sep-2009

    US— YouTube is to add data from its Insight statistical service to its Content ID tool, which allows users such as TV broadcasters to identify user-uploaded versions of their videos.

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