The move comes as Kantar seeks “opportunities to use the GCS platform to bring our clients increased speed, agility and cost effectiveness,” said Wayne Levings, Kantar president.

Indeed, Kantar Group company Lightspeed GMI this week launched Survey Cycle, a service which essentially adds a consultancy layer to GCS projects.

As part of Survey Cycle, Lightspeed GMI executives review survey questions, advise on feedback, programme and launch the survey and track fieldwork for clients.

One of those joining the GCS advisory board is Frank Kelly, the senior vice-president of global marketing and strategy for Lightspeed. He’s joined by Renee Smith (pictured), Kantar’s chief research officer.

Smith said: “Across Kantar, we are working to transform research to fit today’s increasingly fast-paced consumer lifestyles by creating shorter, bite-size survey portions. We continue to encourage a laser-sharp focus on the purpose and value of every data element and leveraging the Google Consumer Surveys platform is one of the ways we can achieve this.”