Kantar commits £2m to Lumi Mobile data collection tech

Lumi’s technology, which is device-independent, uses a combination of apps and HTML5 to enable companies to engage with and survey consumers on the go.

It’s most notable use to date has been on a project for Ipsos, centred around the Oscars film awards ceremony and involving a panel of TV viewers reacting in real-time to polls and open-ended questions about the content of the show and the surrounding ads.

The project won an award at the Globalpark mobile research conference this year and Ipsos and Lumi Mobile have also been shortlisted in the Best Innovation category for the 2011 Research Magazine awards.

However, Lumi and Kantar have been working together for more than three years, sharing a vision of the mobile device as affording “a unique opportunity to collect and connect unrivalled consumer insight from the provision of active research through polls and diaries, of passive mobile behavioural analytics and of mass, live focus groups”.

Kantar CEO Eric Salama (pictured) said the £2m deal reflects “the continued commitment by both parties to open up new opportunities through the use of mobile technology”.

Separately, Kantar’s parent company WPP has invested an undisclosed amount in Lumi, acquiring a minority equity stake in the business which was founded in 2008 by Rolfe Swinton, Mark Beilby, Marcus Wikars and Magnus Holtlund. Key clients include EMI, Endemol, Channel 4, ABC and Mediaset.

Earlier this month the firm received a £2m investment from Computershare founder Chris Morris.