2009 was ‘dismal’ for top 25 with revenue down 3.1%, says Honomichl
Inside Research founder Jack Honomichl, who has compiled the figures since 1995, said a “down year” was “no surprise given the dismal state of the world’s economy”.
Adjusted for inflation, revenue for the group was down 4.5% while the reported number of full-time employees declined 4% on the prior year.
Fifteen of the firms – among them top 10 agencies Kantar, IMS Health, GfK, Ipsos and Synovate – saw revenues fall in 2009, while 10 companies boasted an increase.
Abt SRBI, a new entrant in the rankings at 19, had the highest growth rate, with revenue up 26% to $89.5m. UK-based retail data analysis specialist Dunnhumby was another new face on the list at 13, and had the second-highest reported growth rate of 17%.
Japanese online research firm Macromill made its debut at 25, replacing compatriot Dentsu, who dropped out of the rankings along with the UK’s YouGov and BVA Group of France.
Honomichl’s full report is available as a PDF download from the American Marketing Association’s website. The top 10 companies are listed below.
| Rank | Revenue1 | % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 2008 | Organisation | (US$ millions) | from 20082 |
| 1 | 1 | The Nielsen Company | 4,628.0 | 1.0 |
| 2 | 2 | The Kantar Group* | 2,823.2 | -9.5 |
| 3 | 3 | IMS Health Inc. | 2,189.7 | -2.4 |
| 4 | 4 | GfK SE | 1,622.8 | -6.0 |
| 5 | 5 | Ipsos Group S.A. | 1,315.0 | -3.8 |
| 6 | 6 | Synovate | 816.4 | -9.6 |
| 7 | 7 | SymphonyIRI Group | 706.3 | 1.2 |
| 8 | 8 | Westat Inc. | 502.4 | 7.0 |
| 9 | 9 | Arbitron Inc. | 385.0 | 4.4 |
| 10 | 10 | INTAGE Inc.** | 368.6 | 0.3 |
Notes: * Estimated by Top 25. ** For fiscal year ending March 2010. ( 1 ) Total revenues that include non-research activities for some companies are significantly higher. ( 2 ) Rate of growth from year to year has been adjusted so as not to include revenue gains or losses from acquisitions or divestitures, and excludes currency exchange effects.
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1 Comment
Kathryn Korostoff
13 years ago
So the sister article states "US— Revenue growth for the Top 50 US market research agencies was 5.1%, or an inflation-adjusted 2.9% in 2011, according to industry watcher Jack Honomichl." and this one states "The research industry’s top 25 agencies saw their 15-year run of growth come to an end last year, with total revenues for the group down 3.1% to $17.4bn." Anyone have any insights about this contrast?
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