News23 December 2009

Editor's Note: Research is on holiday

It’s time to close the book on 2009 as the Research Live team departs for the Christmas holidays.

News22 December 2009

Can people 'trick' themselves into liking something?

US— People may be able to ‘trick’ themselves into reducing aversion to things that they don’t like, according to a study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

News22 December 2009

Synovate strengthens China qual team

CHINA— Synovate has appointed Sareem Chen as associate director in the qualitative division at its Beijing office, where she will focus on developing proprietary qual tools for local clients.

News22 December 2009

TidalTV launches survey tool for online video advertisers

US— Online video ad network TidalTV has launched BrandScore, a real-time measurement, optimisation and reporting tool for online video advertisers.

News22 December 2009

US cell-only households hit 23%

US— The proportion of cell-only households in the US rose to 22.7% in the first half of this year, according to the latest figures from the National Health Interview Survey ( NHIS), which tracks landline and cellphone usage every six months.

News22 December 2009

US cell-only households hit 23%

US— The proportion of cell-only households in the US rose to 22.7% in the first half of this year, according to the latest figures from the National Health Interview Survey ( NHIS), which tracks landline and cellphone usage every six months.

Opinion22 December 2009

MR and PR – a marriage made in heaven?

Opinium’s Mark Hodson contends that the use of market research in PR is a very good thing – even if it isn’t always as rigorous as we might hope.

News21 December 2009

Bloomberg Television signs up for Rentrak ratings

US— Financial news provider Bloomberg has signed up Rentrak to provide audience measurement services for its TV channel, Bloomberg Television.

News21 December 2009

Cossette shareholders approve Mill Road takeover deal

CANADA— Shareholders in marketing services group Cossette have approved a takeover deal from US private equity group Mill Road.

News21 December 2009

Kadence names new insight director for US office

US— Susan Crohan has been appointed insight director for Kadence International’s US operation.

News21 December 2009

E-Rewards completes Research Now acquisition

UK— E-Rewards has completed its £85m takeover of rival online panel provider Research Now.

News21 December 2009

SIS and Brandtology partner for online buzz tracking

US— SIS International Research and online buzz tracking agency Brandtology have joined forces to track sentiment and conversations on social networking websites and blogs.

News21 December 2009

Evalueserve to boost Chilean presence

CHILE— Knowledge process outsourcing firm Evalueserve has revealed plans to triple staff numbers at its Chilean base over the next five years.

News21 December 2009

Business services sector sees highest closures in November

UK— The business services sector has once again seen the highest amount of insolvencies according to Experian’s latest monthly Insolvency Index.

News21 December 2009

Ethnography app debuts on iTunes store

UK— Research agency Everyday Lives has launched its iPhone-based ethnographic research app on Apple’s iTunes store – and revealed that a Blackberry version is in the works.

Opinion21 December 2009

A lament for fundraising research

Fundraising bodies have been making clear their frustration at the state of research in the third sector. They’re right, says Peter Maple of London South Bank University – the lack of marketing research into charity fundraising is a disgrace.

News18 December 2009

SeeWhy bags $2m funding for web conversion tool

US— Web analytics firm SeeWhy has secured an extra $2m investment from existing shareholders as it looks to bolster sales and support for its website conversion tool.

News18 December 2009

Vision Critical revamps virtual shopping technology

US— Vision Critical has launched ShelfsetPlus, which the company says “overhauls” its existing virtual shopper technology.

News18 December 2009

iPowow hires for US expansion

US— Australian research agency iPowow has beefed up its management team as part of its expansion into the US.

News18 December 2009

TNS-BMRB opens public sector comms research centre

UK— TNS-BMRB has launched a communications research centre to help public sector clients improve the delivery of their communications and campaigns.

News18 December 2009

Globalpark provides path for Christian Research

UK— Panel software firm Globalpark has been signed up by Christian Research to power its Faith Journey project.

News18 December 2009

Social networks 'hold hope' for b2b sample, but remain immature

US— A new report from Forrester says that social network sample offers hope for b2b researchers struggling to find quality sample, but remains “hard to rely on” because suppliers are still going through growing pains.

News17 December 2009

Crowd DNA launches effectiveness wing

UK— Research agency Crowd DNA is launching a marketing effectiveness research wing, to be headed by associate director James McLintock.

News17 December 2009

Skim to open London office

UK— Research agency Skim is to open a new office in London in mid-January.

News17 December 2009

Survey Executives appoints Donna Wise as president

US— B2b researcher Survey Executives has appointed Donna Wise as president.

News17 December 2009

Online ads target viewers' 'thinking style'

US— A new type of behavioural targeting could soon tailor online ads not just to topics you’re interested in, but to the way you think.

News17 December 2009

SPSS boss Jack Noonan to leave

US— Jack Noonan, chairman, president and CEO of survey and predictive analytics software maker SPSS, is to leave the firm as a result of its acquisition earlier this year by IBM.

News17 December 2009

Peanut Labs unveils gamer panel

US— Peanut Labs has launched a new panel of more than 194,000 gamers recruited through social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

News17 December 2009

Nielsen changes stance on 'live' TV metric

US— Nielsen has told clients that it will be keeping the ‘live only’ TV metric as currency in local markets after coming under pressure from customers.

News17 December 2009

Aviva appoints UK marketing chief

UK— Insurance group Aviva has appointed Gary Price to the newly created role of marketing director for its UK businesses.

News16 December 2009

Nurago appoints former TNS man Hummerston as MD

UK— Research technology agency Nurago International has appointed Arno Hummerston to the newly created role of managing director.

News16 December 2009

Harris adds social media data to flagship opinion poll

US— Harris Interactive has integrated text analytics software into its Harris Polls service to gauge public opinion on key issues by analysing comments on social media sites.

News16 December 2009

Video: last year's winners speak for themselves

From London’s Lancaster Hotel, we speak to the proud winners of this year’s Research Magazine Awards.

News16 December 2009

Tim Elkington joins IAB as head of research

UK— The Internet Advertising Bureau has appointed Tim Elkington as head of research.

News16 December 2009

Knowledge Networks buys pharmaceutical researcher CMR

US— Knowledge Networks has acquired pharmaceutical and biotech research agency CMR for an undisclosed amount.

News16 December 2009

Dell debuts feedback sessions on insight community

US— Dell has added a new feature to its IdeaStorm customer insight community allowing it to run feedback sessions, seeking input from targeted community members within an allocated time frame.

News16 December 2009

50 jobs go as Colmar Brunton closes New Zealand call centre

NEW ZEALAND— Australian research agency Colmar Brunton is closing its call centre in North Shore, New Zealand with the loss of 50 jobs.

News16 December 2009

Social marketing measurability set to take off in 2010

US— The next twelve months will see a push towards better ROI measurement of social media marketing, a survey of 133 chief marketing officers by Bazaarvoice and the CMO Club suggests.

News16 December 2009

Rentrak to buy Nielsen movie measurement arm in $15m deal

US— Media measurement firm Rentrak has agreed a $15m deal to acquire Nielsen EDI, a division of the ratings giant focused on measurement and research solutions for the film industry.

News15 December 2009

Lindsay Veling named acting MD of Cint USA

US/CANADA— Research software and services firm Cint has appointed Lindsay Veling as acting managing director of Cint USA.

News15 December 2009

Flamingo named best agency at Research Awards

UK— Flamingo took home the best agency award at the Research Awards in London last night.

News15 December 2009

MRI aims to improve marketing mix models for mags

US— Mediamark Research & Intelligence is beta testing a new syndicated software tool that it claims will improve the quality of marketing mix models for magazines.

News15 December 2009

Compete and WPP's MIG to evolve B3 ad service

US— Kantar-owned web measurement firm Compete has joined forces with WPP’s Media Innovation Group ( MIG) to upgrade the latter’s B3 online advertising service.

News15 December 2009

Synovate appoints UK commercial director

UK— Neil Davy has been appointed to the newly created role of commercial director at Synovate.

News15 December 2009

Government report raises concerns over research with children

UK— A report on children’s wellbeing has highlighted concerns over the use of “potentially intrusive” MR techniques.

News14 December 2009

Guardian axes customer insight jobs

UK— The owner of the Guardian newspaper has cut five jobs in its customer insight and data marketing departments, as part of a wider restructuring.

News14 December 2009

Wichita broadcaster signs up for Rentrak's local TV ratings

US— Sunflower Broadcasting, which operates local TV stations in Wichita, Kansas, has become the first client to sign up to use Rentrak’s StationView Essentials measurement service for three of its channels.

News14 December 2009

Nielsen and Catalina form marketing ROI joint venture

US— Nielsen and Catalina Marketing have formed a joint venture to provide consumer packaged goods and media companies with measurement tools to link consumers’ buying behaviour with their exposure to marketing materials.

News14 December 2009

CDMS takes Transactis name in 'radical restructure'

UK— Customer insight and database management firm CDMS is to rebrand as Transactis, taking the name from the transactional data provider it acquired earlier this year.

News14 December 2009

Terapeak launches eBay research iPhone app

CANADA— Analytics firm Terapeak has launched an iPhone application that allows users to conduct market research before selling products on eBay.

News14 December 2009

ONS debuts household wealth survey

UK— The Office of National Statistics ( ONS) has published results from its new Wealth and Assets survey, which looks at private household wealth in Great Britain.

News11 December 2009

ComScore launches digital ad effectiveness tools

US— ComScore has launched a new set of measurement tools designed to give clients a way to gauge the effectiveness of their online campaigns, in a way tailored to their objectives.

News11 December 2009

MacroSolve serves up iPhone app for restaurant feedback

US— Mobile technology firm MacroSolve has developed an iPhone app for restaurants to gather feedback and gain insight from their customers.

News11 December 2009

Aura reaches for the Sky with new chairman

UK— Danny Russell, the marketing strategy director at broadcaster BSkyB, has been appointed the new chair of the Association of Users of Research Agencies ( Aura).

News11 December 2009

MRI adds data on green issues to consumer survey

US— The Natural Marketing Institute and Mediamark Research & Intelligence have formed a partnership that will see NMI’s LOHAS consumer segmentation model combined with MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer database.

News11 December 2009

Arbitron works with agencies to determine impact of radio ads

US— Arbitron and a trio of radio broadcasters have launched an initiative to improve the analytics that advertisers use to measure the impact of radio advertising on sales.

News11 December 2009

IFF Research's Mark Speed on the dangers of procurement

Mark Speed is the co-managing director of IFF Research and the latest interviewee in our series of Spotlight interviews.

News10 December 2009

MTV appoints research and insights SVP

US— Nick Shore has been appointed SVP of strategic insights and research at broadcaster MTV, where he will lead research efforts across all brands.

News10 December 2009

Connect Insight wins Newspaper Society contract

UK— The Newspaper Society has appointed Connect Insight to conduct a qualitative survey into how people engage with online local news services.

News10 December 2009

MDC Group to acquire analytics agency Communifx

US— Marcomms group MDC Partners has agreed to buy data analytics and database marketing firm Communifx for an undisclosed amount.

News10 December 2009

Six firms form international online panel JV

A group of six panel providers have formed a joint venture to provide access to online panels in 25 countries.

News10 December 2009

NBC awards Olympic WOM task to Keller Fay

US— Broadcaster NBC Universal has contracted the Keller Fay Group to monitor and analyse brand-related conversations during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

News10 December 2009

Nielsen promotes Leung to director of HK retail arm

HONG KONG— Nielsen has promoted Eva Leung to executive director of retail measurement, replacing Angel Young who has moved to a regional role.

News10 December 2009

Confirmit teams up with Plum Voice for IVR surveys

US— Research software maker Confirmit has teamed up with automated telephony firm Plum Voice to provide interactive voice response ( IVR) services for data collection.

News10 December 2009

People on the move

The latest appointments and promotions from the industry, including news from Synovate, NeuroFocus, E-Tabs and more.

News9 December 2009

OTX launches film and TV critics panel

US— OTX and MPRM Public Relations have launched a panel made up of film and television critics to provide feedback on the latest movie and TV productions.

News9 December 2009

Millward Brown appoints chief client officer for Australia

AUSTRALIA— Daren Poole has been appointed to the new role of chief client officer at Millward Brown in Australia.

News9 December 2009

Robert Hart lands innovation role at OTX

US— Robert Hart has been appointed senior vice president and team leader of the marketing science and innovation group at OTX.

News9 December 2009

Aussie newspaper body reveals readership survey shortlist

AUSTRALIA— Print industry body The Newspaper Works has announced the shortlist of companies that it will invite to tender for the country’s new magazine and newspaper readership survey.

News9 December 2009

Tweetminster unveils Twitter sentiment search tool

UK— Broadcaster Sky News has signed up to use a new “sentiment search engine” from Tweetminster, which allows Twitter users to follow MPs and keep track of political issues.

News9 December 2009

BlueKai launches audience analytics service

US— Online data provider BlueKai has launched a new service that profiles online shoppers by the market segments they are interested in.

News9 December 2009

TiVo chief Rogers talks up television measurement offer

US— TiVo’s CEO Tom Rogers has played up his firm’s ad measurement capabilities, saying TiVo is now more a “television behaviour company” than a digital video recorder company.

News9 December 2009

MARC Research and Zocalo launch WOM index

US— MARC Research and word-of-mouth marketing agency Zocalo Group have launched an index to track which brands are getting the most or fewest recommendations, and the reasons why.

News9 December 2009

Speed-Trap provides online tracking info to Database Group

UK— Speed-Trap is to provide information on online customer behaviour for the Database Group’s cross-channel customer data service.

News9 December 2009

Ad agency Bark in Mindmetic neuromarketing partnership

DENMARK— Advertising agency Bark Group has announced a partnership with neuromarketing firm Mindmetic, to analyse people’s brain activity while they are exposed to marketing messages.

News9 December 2009

Institute of Fundraising to form charity research body

UK— The Institute of Fundraising is to form a new think tank to focus on the research needs of charities, such as examining donor behaviour, which it says is “desperately needed” to improve the success of fundraising activities.

News8 December 2009

Ad targeters struggle to reassure FTC on privacy

US— Advertisers and media owners faced claims yesterday that their efforts to give internet users control over how their data is used for targeting have been a failure, as they try to convince regulators not to introduce new privacy laws.

News8 December 2009

Media measurement coalition appoints managing director

US— Time Warner’s Jane Clarke has been appointed MD of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, the body set up by broadcasters, media agencies and advertisers to develop new audience measurement techniques.

News8 December 2009

ZL files fresh libel complaint against Gartner

US— Software firm ZL Technologies has filed a new libel complaint against IT researcher Gartner, after an earlier complaint was dismissed by a court last month.

News8 December 2009

EasyInsites to run new GMTV research panel

UK— Custom panel provider EasyInsites is to build and maintain a new research panel for breakfast TV channel GMTV.

News8 December 2009

Millward Brown and Moment Systems to measure digital ads in China

CHINA— Millward Brown has signed a licensing agreement in China with Moment Systems, to provide digital ad measurement services.

News8 December 2009

Evoc Insights signs up for Omniture analytics

US— Customer experience consulting agency Evoc Insights has struck a deal with Omniture to use its web analytics software to track consumers’ online behaviour.

News8 December 2009

ComScore expands Asia Pacific reporting services

INDONESIA— ComScore has launched internet measurement services in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

News8 December 2009

Ipsos integrates gaming services into new practice

US— Ipsos has set up a new practice to serve video game developers, marketers and console manufacturers.

News7 December 2009

US Army launches $35m social network research project

US— The Army Research Laboratory is setting up a new research centre to study social and cognitive networks.

News7 December 2009

Balloon hunt shows research power of social networks

US— A team of students from MIT’s Media Lab has won a competition to see how long it would take people using social networking sites to determine the locations of 10 weather balloons released around the country.

News7 December 2009

Few companies using social media for insight, survey says

UK— Only a quarter of companies using social media are tapping its potential for customer feedback, according to Econsultancy’s latest report on customer engagement.

News7 December 2009

Tulsa call centre closes its doors

US— More than 100 employees have been left without wages after Automated Research & Marketing closed its Tulsa call centre.

News7 December 2009

Research Now in segmentation partnership with Environics

CANADA— Panel provider Research Now has partnered with Environics Analytics to apply the firm’s PrizmC2 segmentation system to its panel of 400,000 Canadians.

News7 December 2009

Vision Critical names new MD for Australia and New Zealand

AUSTRALIA— Peter Harris has been appointed managing director for Australia and New Zealand at online research agency Vision Critical.

News7 December 2009

FTC ponders pros and cons of online ad targeting

US— Consumer groups, publishers, marketers and technology companies discussed the privacy implications of behavioural ad targeting today at a roundtable hosted by the Federal Trade Commission.

News7 December 2009

Nielsen scoops Puerto Rico TV contract

PUERTO RICO— Nielsen has been awarded a contract to measure TV usage in Puerto Rico, and will deliver the first set of ratings in the first quarter of 2010.

News4 December 2009

NBC signs Arbitron, ComScore and Omniture for Winter Olympics

US— Arbitron, ComScore and Omniture have been signed up by NBC to provide cross-platform audience measurement for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

News4 December 2009

NeuroFocus appoints innovation chief

US— Neuromarketing agency NeuroFocus has appointed Stephen Genco to the new position of chief innovation officer.

News4 December 2009

Chartwell forms research council for energy firms

US— Utilities industry information provider Chartwell has launched a research council to help companies in the sector better understand their customers.

News4 December 2009

Life's an investigation for McCallum Layton's Sarah Askew

Askew is associate director at McCallum Layton and in the latest of our Spotlight videos she admits to enjoying life On the Road.

News4 December 2009

IAB campaign addresses ad targeting privacy fears

US— The Interactive Advertising Bureau ( IAB) has launched an information campaign to raise awareness of online ad targeting and respond to internet users’ concerns.

News4 December 2009

Fragrance firm opens Moscow consumer insight centre

RUSSIA— Flavour and fragrance producer IFF has opened a new facility in Moscow for consumer insight and sensory analysis.

News4 December 2009

People on the move

The latest appointments and promotions from around the industry, including news from GfK Custom Research North America, TNS Media Intelligence, The Modellers and more.

News4 December 2009

Investors pump $5.8m into OwnerIQ

US— Behavioural targeting firm OwnerIQ has been awarded $5.8m in growth financing from a group of private equity houses.

News3 December 2009

Arbitron boss defends PPM technology at House hearing

US— Arbitron chief executive Michael Skarzynski defended his firm’s portable people meter ( PPM) technology at the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government reform yesterday.

News3 December 2009

Vizu scoops $6.75m private equity funding

News3 December 2009

Mob4Hire and InfoStretch team up to test mobile apps

News3 December 2009

Market Rates Insight launches financial services tracking report

US— Market Rates Insight has launched a report that allows consumers to compare products in the financial services sector.

News3 December 2009

Teaching of quant methods 'lacking' at UK universities

UK— A lack of tuition in quantitative methods threatens to hold back the social sciences in the UK, according to a new study.

News3 December 2009

CIM survey finds marketers 'quietly confident'

UK— Marketers are “quietly confident” about the UK economy and their companies’ prospects over the next year, according to the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s latest trends survey.

Feature3 December 2009

The new rules of web analytics in Germany

German authorities declared last week that the use of web analytics tools such as Google Analytics is illegal without the consent of the person being tracked. We speak to Marit Hansen, head of data protection in Schleswig-Holstein, about what it means.

News2 December 2009

Itracks upgrades Populis community tool

CANADA— Itracks has released an updated version of its Populis online research community tool.

News2 December 2009

MBO at the Future Foundation

UK— The management team at consumer insight agency the Future Foundation has completed a buy-out of the firm from parent company Experian.

News2 December 2009

Harris adopts RelevantView digital fingerprinting tool

US— Harris Interactive has begun to use RelevantView’s digital fingerprinting tool to weed out fraudulent and duplicate online survey respondents.

News2 December 2009

QualVu launches QuickVu webcam service

US— Video research technology firm QualVu has unveiled a new tool that gives clients access to online panels equipped with webcams.

News2 December 2009

IRI looks to gauge effectiveness of online ads

US— Information Resources ( IRI) is to use purchase data from its consumer panel to help CPG and retail clients target online advertising, through partnerships with online research providers and ad networks.

News2 December 2009

Thornton takes global role as Cint moves sales HQ to UK

UK— Cint’s UK managing director Richard Thornton has been promoted to the role of global sales director, as the firm moves its global sales HQ from Stockholm to London.

News2 December 2009

Gartner agrees AMR Research acquisition

US— IT analyst Gartner has agreed a $64m deal to acquire AMR Research, which specialises in research services for the supply chain and IT sectors.

News2 December 2009

Techneos adds location and photo functions to mobile surveys

CANADA— Mobile survey software provider Techneos has added location capture and photographic capabilities to the latest version of its survey tool.

News2 December 2009

Forrester buys Strategic Oxygen from Monitor

US— Forrester Research has acquired the Strategic Oxygen marketing research business from management consultant Monitor Group.

News1 December 2009

Pollster gets the public to ask the questions

US— Members of the public are being invited to put their questions to the nation by submitting them for free to a new public opinion poll.

News1 December 2009

Harris Interactive regains Nasdaq compliance

US— Nasdaq has told online researcher Harris Interactive that it has regained compliance with its listing standards.

News1 December 2009

Webtrends unveils social media tracking service

AUSTRALIA—Webtrends has launched a new tool that tracks conversations across social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

News1 December 2009

New consulting arm at Cadient Interactive

US— Cadient Interactive has launched a new division, Hatch Consulting, to offer clients a range of research, insight and CRM services.

News1 December 2009

Incite announces four new starters

UK— Incite has bolstered its ranks with the addition of four new staff members.

News1 December 2009

Cossette agrees to sweetened takeover offer from Mill Road

CANADA— Marketing services group Cossette has accepted a sweetened takeover bid from US private equity group Mill Road Capital.

News1 December 2009

Former Hilton International director joins BDRC

UK— Jude Bissert, the former director of global business products and promotions at hotel chain Hilton International, has joined research firm BDRC as a client services director in its hotels and hospitality team.

News1 December 2009

New radio ratings client on the Radar for Arbitron

US— Marketing and ad agency Burrell Advertising has agreed a multi-year deal to use Arbitron’s Radar network radio rating service.

News1 December 2009

Kadence posts growth, despite second-half challenges

UK— Kadence International has reported a 9% increase in turnover for 2009 – despite a harsh slowdown in business in the second half of the year.

Feature1 December 2009

Lies, damned lies...

The journey that a statistic takes from a research report to a member of the public’s brain is long and fraught with difficulty. Tim Phillips meets some of the people trying to improve how stats are communicated and understood, and asks what role the market research industry should be playing in making sure the numbers add up.

Feature1 December 2009

New view on an old landscape

Synovate’s innovation director Jan Hofmeyr says it’s time to start asking difficult questions about long-established research practices.

Feature1 December 2009

The click of it

Limited metrics like clickthroughs have held back the development of online advertising. Robert Bain asks whether new research can liberate the medium.

Feature1 December 2009

Once upon a time...

We asked readers to write a short story on the theme of market research in 2029. Rob Edwards’ tale of love, groceries and survey fatigue in the not-too-distant future captured our imaginations.

Feature1 December 2009

60 Second Soapbox – Roger Donbavand

BDRC director Roger Donbavand wants the industry to stop assuming that every piece of research work will provide insight and hopes that attitudes towards the ‘grey market’ are changing.

Feature1 December 2009

If there's one thing I've learnt... Lorenz Gräf

Career tips from research practitioners. This month we speak to Lorenz Gräf, CEO of Globalpark.

Feature1 December 2009

Ascribe ACM reviewed

Tim Macer reviews the latest incarnation of this verbatim content management and coding environment. Will our reviewer subscribe to the charms of Ascribe?

Opinion1 December 2009

Closing one book, opening another

The number of agencies relieved to close the book on 2009 is dwarfed only by the number fearful of opening the book on 2010.

Feature1 December 2009

How online brand communities work

Feature1 December 2009

Promises and pitfalls of social media