GfK pursues joint venture with community firm Passenger

Thomas Finkle (pictured), co-president of GfK Custom Research North America, said the partnership would enable mutual clients “to be immersed in conversations that provide a deeper level of insight into key industry segments”.

“Social media and online communities provide an ideal environment for gathering the intelligence marketers and managers need to make informed decisions,” said Finkle.

Passenger secured $7.5m in additional financing in October to help meet what CEO Bahram Nour-Omid described as the “increasing demand for deepening the role of private online communities in market research efforts”.

Since last April it has been pursuing a channel partner programme to win more business from market research and digital marketing agencies.