Arbitron acquires mobile measurement firm Zokem in $24m deal

US— Media research firm Arbitron has acquired Finland-based mobile audience and analytics agency Zokem in a cash deal worth $11.7m, with possible extra payments worth up to $12m based on future performance.

Zokem, which offers clients custom and syndicated mobile research panels and a range of plug-and-play mobile media measurement tools, will now operate as Arbitron Mobile and remain under the leadership of founder and CEO Hannu Verkasalo.

Earlier this year, the Finnish firm secured €2m in funding to fuel its growth over the next 12 months and went on to strike a partnership with Ipsos to track smartphone and tablet usage through a Zokem-designed app.

Arbitron CEO William Kerr said: “To better position themselves in the global media marketplace, advertisers, content providers and mobile operators are more eager than ever to understand how consumers are using mobile devices.”

He said Zokem’s mobile measurement capabilities would complement the technology Arbitron acquired in 2010 from Integrated Media Measurement (IMMI), including a cellphone-based tool that collects information on cross-platform media usage by identifying audio signatures.

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Research Live is published by MRS.

The Market Research Society (MRS) exists to promote and protect the research sector, showcasing how research delivers impact for businesses and government.

Members of MRS enjoy many benefits including tailoured policy guidance, discounts on training and conferences, and access to member-only content.

For example, there's an archive of winning case studies from over a decade of MRS Awards.

Find out more about the benefits of joining MRS here.

0 Comments

Display name

Email

Join the discussion

Newsletter
Stay connected with the latest insights and trends...
Sign Up
Latest From MRS

Our latest training courses

Our new 2025 training programme is now launched as part of the development offered within the MRS Global Insight Academy

See all training

Specialist conferences

Our one-day conferences cover topics including CX and UX, Semiotics, B2B, Finance, AI and Leaders' Forums.

See all conferences

MRS reports on AI

MRS has published a three-part series on how generative AI is impacting the research sector, including synthetic respondents and challenges to adoption.

See the reports

Progress faster...
with MRS 
membership

Mentoring

CPD/recognition

Webinars

Codeline

Discounts