News28 August 2009

Restaurant owners' association in loyalty research partnership

US— The National Restaurant Association has announced a partnership with loyalty marketing association Loyalty 360 to conduct research on loyalty marketing programs in the restaurant industry.

News28 August 2009

Cagney shareholders approve AIM de-listing

UK— Shareholders at marketing services group Cagney, which owns research agency Tree, today passed a motion to de-list the firm’s shares from the Alternative Investment Market ( AIM).

Opinion28 August 2009

Weathering the storm: Can marketing services groups still bank on research?

Marketing services groups have been looking to the supposed resilience of research to help them weather the economic storm. Robert Bain asks whether this is wishful thinking.

News28 August 2009

Synovate to cut more costs in wake of £3m first half loss

“The assumption that MR would be less affected by the recession than other advertising and marketing activities proved to be incorrect,” firm says.

News28 August 2009

MR firm in mayoral finance probe

US— Sid Leiken, the mayor of Springfield, Oregon, is being investigated by the Oregon Secretary of State over a $2,000 payment he made to a market research firm run by his mother.

News28 August 2009

Spotlight shines on Kevin Ford

Kevin Ford, director of brand and communications research at Harris Interactive’s Global Centre of Excellence, is the latest industry figure to take his place in our Spotlight feature.

News28 August 2009

Philpott takes top job at Synovate as Adrian Chedore retires

US— Adrian Chedore ( pictured) is to retire from his position as global CEO of Synovate on 1 September after eight years in the role, handing control over to global chief operating officer Robert Philpott.

News27 August 2009

Research Now gains IT expertise through Computer Weekly

UK— Reed Business Information ( RBI) and Research Now have revealed the first fruits of their b2b panel partnership – the KnowIT panel of IT professionals.

News27 August 2009

CommonHealth's MBS/Vox research unit adds two

US— MBS/Vox the research consultancy arm of WPP-owned healthcare communications agency CommonHealth, has appointed David Curry as a senior analyst and Julie Hoops as an analyst.

News27 August 2009

Ex-Forrester analysts Owyang and Li reunited at Altimeter

US— High-profile Forrester Research analyst Jeremiah Owyang has joined his former colleague Charlene Li at Altimeter, a digital strategies consulting agency she formed last year.

News27 August 2009

Ipsos cuts 400 jobs in first half – and there's more to come

FRANCE— More jobs are set to go at Ipsos in the second half of the year as CEO Didier Truchot today predicted a further 12 to 18 months of weakness in the research and marketing industries.

Feature27 August 2009

A Sticky state of affairs

Viacom’s new MTV Sticky website promises to provide the media and ad industries with fresh insight into youth culture. We spoke to Helen Rose, director of insight, to find out about how the site came about and what she has planned for it in the future.

Feature27 August 2009

The surprising face of ‘co-opertition’

‘Co-opertition’ is a relatively recent addition to the business lexicon. But 'cooperating to compete' is a growing trend, as demonstrated by Nielsen and IRI's agreement to share back-end consumer panel resources.

News27 August 2009

Rentrak names Goerlich and Vinson to research team

US— Media measurement agency Rentrak has appointed Bruce Goerlich as chief research officer and Michael Vinson as vice president of statistical sciences and analytics, both newly created roles.

News27 August 2009

Iconoculture launches packaging advisory service

US— Trend researcher Iconoculture has launched a service to provide insight into how consumer values influence packaging preferences.

News26 August 2009

Schubert becomes YouGov Psychonomics CEO

GERMANY— Andreas Schubert, deputy CEO of YouGov Psychonomics, will take over as CEO from 1 September, replacing Horst Müller-Peters.

News26 August 2009

ISR appoints Survey Research Center director

US— William Axinn has been appointed director of the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research ( ISR).

News26 August 2009

Revenue down at Ipsos 'for first time in 30 years'

FRANCE— Ipsos has reported a 3.2% drop in revenue to €447.8m for the first half of 2009 – its first decline in group sales since 1977, the company said. Gross profit fell 1.9% to €279.7m.

News26 August 2009

Nielsen and IRI partner on consumer panel recruitment

US— Arch rivals Nielsen and Information Resources ( IRI) are creating a joint venture company to recruit, maintain and process data from a common set of households to fuel each firm’s consumer purchase panels.

News26 August 2009

MTV launches Sticky youth insight website

UK— MTV has launched Sticky, a website through which it aims to provide the media and advertising industries with insight into youth culture.

News26 August 2009

Sister firms FDS and 3000ft make appointments

UK— Research group Munro Global has added new staff at two of its subsidiaries, customer satisfaction specialist FDS International and social trend analyst 3000ft.

News26 August 2009

TNS Magasin tracks shoppers' eyes and brains

UK— TNS Magasin is combining mobile brain-scanning technology with its eye-tracking services in order to track shoppers’ emotional and cognitive responses to what they see in a store.

News26 August 2009

YouGov and Mediametrie debut in global rankings

US— YouGov and Mediametrie are the only new entrants in this year’s list of the world’s top 25 research agencies compiled by Inside Research.

News26 August 2009

WPP's like-for-like insight revenue down 10% in first six months of 2009

UK— Like-for-like revenue was down 10% in WPP’s consumer insight division in the first half of 2009 as the impact of the recession intensified, leading to worse than anticipated results.

News25 August 2009

Cossette board departure 'not tied to takeover bid'

CANADA— Marketing services group Cossette has lost one of its board directors in the middle of a takeover battle – but the departing member insists there has been no rift over the company’s handling of the situation.

News25 August 2009

IFF awarded gender pay gap survey contract

UK— The Equality and Human Rights Commission has commissioned IFF Research to conduct a survey into gender pay gaps.

News25 August 2009

Phones 4u launches uBar online community

UK— Mobile retailer Phones 4u has launched uBar, an online community to exchange feedback and ideas with mobile phone users to test new products and services.

News25 August 2009

Yahoo acquires Maktoob Research and parent

US— Yahoo has entered into an agreement to buy Middle Eastern online community Maktoob and its Maktoob Research subsidiary for an undisclosed amount.

News25 August 2009

Restructure for Opinion Leader as change in gov't looms

UK— Chime Communications is to restructure its Opinion Leader business, mindful that a possible change in government next year could lead to a change in research priorities.

News25 August 2009

Synovate adds to MMA, Business Consulting in Asia Pacific

HONG KONG— Synovate has appointed Erik Hellquist as head of Synovate Business Consulting in Hong Kong and Satoshi Ayukawa as business development manager for Marketing Management Analytics in Tokyo.

News25 August 2009

Rival Indian readership studies to merge

INDIA— Rival media research surveys the Indian Readership Survey and the National Readership Survey have been given the go-ahead to merge, according to local press reports.

News24 August 2009

Roy Morgan 'to compete' with new readership survey

AUSTRALIA— Roy Morgan has vowed to continue running its newspaper readership survey, despite a rival being planned by industry body The Newspaper Works, according to reports.

News24 August 2009

Telmar wins software task for revamped Postar planning system

UK— Out-of-home audience research body Postar has awarded Telmar the contract to supply the software for its revamped outdoor media planning system following a competitive tender.

News24 August 2009

GfK Custom NA appoints financial services MD

US— Douglas Cottings has been appointed managing director of the financial services business at GfK Custom Research North America.

News24 August 2009

Kadence appoints UK healthcare director

UK— Rachel Lewington has been appointed as healthcare director at Kadence International. She joins the firm from pharma research agency Genactis, where she was global head of the qualitative research centre of excellence.

News24 August 2009

Discovery brings clients to its Thinking Shed

UK— Discovery Group – owner of Discovery Research – has invested in a new online qualitative evaluation tool called The Thinking Shed which has already secured backing from 11 clients.

News24 August 2009

Investor withdraws bid for Media Square directorship

UK— Peter Lynch has withdrawn his request to join the board of marketing communications group Media Square, owner of research agency Illuminas.

News24 August 2009

Tokyo café offers diners a taste of new products

JAPAN— A café has opened up in Tokyo where there’s more than just food and drink on the menu. Customers are given tokens with every purchase they make which they can exchange for samples of new products.

Opinion24 August 2009

Is the research industry shooting itself in the foot over client incentives?

A ban on the use of client incentives in market research could spell bad news for the industry, says Virtual Surveys director Ray Poynter. Additional project costs are one concern, but how will respondents react to the loss of the branded goods and services they used to get for taking part in surveys and communities?

News21 August 2009

Patent row kicks off between Arbitron and Digimarc

US— Arbitron’s portable people meter ( PPM) has a fresh controversy to deal with. Digital watermarking firm Digimarc is claiming that a key component of the radio ratings system infringes on its patents.

News21 August 2009

People on the move

The latest appointments and promotions in the global market research industry. Today: IMS Health, Research Now, All Global, Datran Media, EMI Music

News21 August 2009

SPSS founder denied jury trial in row over trademark

US— SPSS co-founder Norman Nie has been denied a jury trial in his dispute with the research and analytics software company over its use of the ‘SPSS’ trademark.

News21 August 2009

MRS publishes proposed deliberative guidelines

UK— The Market Research Society’s standards board has published proposed guidelines for deliberative and public engagement research.

News21 August 2009

Q2 revenue flat and profit down for iPerceptions

CANADA— Web analytics firm iPerceptions has reported flat revenue and an increased loss for the second quarter of 2009.

News21 August 2009

Worlds apart: Bryan Urbick on cross-cultural insights

When looking at the striking differences between how people behave in different cultures, it’s easy to overlook the equally important similarities.

News21 August 2009

Google adds forecasting to search insights

US— Google’s free Insights for Search tool has been updated to include a forecasting feature which predicts future web searching trends based on historical data. More than half of its most popular terms turned out to be predictable over a one-year period, Google said.

News21 August 2009

Q4 continues run of disappointment for Harris

US— Harris Interactive saw revenue fall 32% to $43.5m in the three months ending 30 June, its sixth consecutive quarter of sales declines - yet CEO Kimberly Till expressed optimism for the new financial year.

Opinion21 August 2009

Stats in the news: Harmless nonsense?

Pollster OnePoll has defended its work against attacks from Bad Science author Ben Goldacre. But what does the presentation of survey data in the press do for the public’s trust in research?

News20 August 2009

Trendsta hopes to make waves with WOM/MR fusion

US— How do you sell to a generation of kids that have mastered the art of tuning out marketing messages? Newly-launched agency Trendsta has come up with a way that fuses word-of-mouth marketing, buzz tracking and consumer research.

News20 August 2009

ORC scoops insurer survey contract for third time

UK— The Association of British Insurers ( ABI) has awarded ORC International the contract to carry out its Customer Impact Survey for the third consecutive year.

News20 August 2009

OFT considers probe of behavioural targeting

UK— The Office of Fair Trading is considering whether to investigate behavioural targeting practices in a study into how consumers are affected by misleading online adverts and pricing.

News20 August 2009

New business FLOs for Rentrak, adds mobile TV client

US— Mobile TV service FLO has contracted Rentrak to provide audience and viewership impression data to serve as currency for advertising sales on the 15-channel network.

News20 August 2009

I've been reading... Nudge

Tom Woodnutt of Hall & Partners tells us how Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s bestseller influenced him.

News20 August 2009

Interpret examines mobile handset purchases

US— Interpret has launched a tool to understand what motivates consumers when choosing mobile phone handsets, especially in the final few moments before buying.

News20 August 2009

Globalpark posts 35% Q2 revenue hike to €2.5m

US— Online panel software provider Globalpark has reported a 35% jump in revenue to €2.5m for the second quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year.

News19 August 2009

Lightspeed's Hedde named global president at Ipsos ASI

US— Former Lightspeed Research boss Anne Hedde has been appointed president of Ipsos ASI Global, the specialist advertising research arm of the Ipsos Group.

News19 August 2009

BDRC launches rapid ad-evaluation tool

UK—  BDRC has launched AdForensics, an ad-evaluation tool to help organisations understand how their target market responds to advertising efforts.

News19 August 2009

Research Now appoints Asia client development team leader

AUSTRALIA— Online panel specialist Research Now has named Martin Filz as head of its newly formed client development team for Asia.

News19 August 2009

Vimto appoints McCallum Layton for sensory research task

UK— Soft drinks brand Vimto has appointed McCallum Layton to undertake a combined sensory and consumer research study for the company’s product development programme over the next two to three years.

News19 August 2009

German MR watchdog reprimands online marketer

GERMANY— Germany’s research watchdog has reprimanded an online marketing agency which gave details of survey participants to its clients for marketing and advertising purposes.

News19 August 2009

Time Warner signs 'three-screen' measurement deal with Nielsen

US— Time Warner has signed a seven-year contract with Nielsen to provide ratings services for all its businesses - the news coming in the same week that the media giant was reported to be part of a consortium planning to launch its own measurement system to rival the ratings firm.

News19 August 2009

BigChampagne scoops Universal Music analysis task

US— Music measurement firm BigChampagne has been contracted by Universal Music Group ( UMG) to track online listening and song downloading habits across social networks and music sites.

News19 August 2009

United Sample and eSpin launch teen community

US— Online panel provider United Sample has teamed up with teen social networking firm eSpin to launch a new teenage research community, Surveys4Teens.

Feature19 August 2009

Do phone surveys have a future?

When telephone pollsters start sounding the death knell for phone polling, it’s time to sit up and take notice. But Jeffrey Henning of Vovici argues that phone research is here to stay – in one form or another.

News18 August 2009

Nielsen responds to rumours of rival ratings consortium

US— Nielsen has responded to reports that a group of media agencies and advertisers are planning to launch a rival video measurement service, telling staff that “three-screen” measurement remains central to its strategy.

News18 August 2009

Leading Edge appoints new Asian managing director

SINGAPORE— The Leading Edge has appointed Stephen Spencer to head its Asian business, based in Singapore.

News18 August 2009

Ad targeting firm x+1 secures $2m funding

US— Online ad targeting firm x+1 has secured $2.1m in funding.

News18 August 2009

TPSi launches pharma opinion leaders panel

UK— Pharmaceutical market research agency The Planning Shop International ( TPSi) has launched a new online panel of key industry opinion leaders from around the world.

News18 August 2009

GfK Healthcare launches brand tracking service

US— GfK Healthcare has launched Brand Beat, a package of diagnostic tools to measure a brand’s cognitive and emotional strengths.

News18 August 2009

Coffey becomes co-chair of ARF quality council

US— The NPD Group’s chief research officer Steve Coffey has become co-chair of the Advertising Research Foundation’s Online Research Quality Council ( ORQC), replacing Bob Tomei of IRI.

News18 August 2009

Online audio measurement firm Ando Media merges with Spacial

US— Ando Media, which measures audiences for online audio, has merged with Spacial Audio Solutions, which provides software for audio streaming and ad insertion.

News18 August 2009

Marketest moves UK office to London

UK— Marketest has moved its UK office from Kent to London and appointed Eric Brandenburg to run the UK business.

News18 August 2009

EasyInsites appoints custom panel manager

UK— Online researcher EasyInsites has appointed Misha Tsvelik as custom panel manager.

News18 August 2009

Cossette looking for alternative takeover options

CANADA— Marketing services group Cossette has dismissed a takeover proposal from its former vice-chairman François Duffar and has instructed its financial advisers to solicit proposals from other parties.

News18 August 2009

Social media measurement 'must be embedded in business processes'

US— Effective measurement of social media marketing efforts requires commitment from across an organisation, a new study suggests.

News17 August 2009

In-Touch Survey Systems rues cancelled orders

CANADA— Data collection firm In-Touch Survey Systems has reported that its revenue grew by 8% in the second quarter of 2009, but the firm’s electronic data collection activities took a C$1m hit as clients cancelled orders.

News17 August 2009

Research owner Photon looking to raise AUS$115m

AUSTRALIA— The Photon Group, owner of research agencies The Leading Edge and Jigsaw, is looking to raise AUS$115 million through a share offering.

News17 August 2009

Quantcast fixes cookie resurrection loophole

US— Online measurement firm Quantcast has fixed a loophole in its system whereby cookies could be “re-spawned” after a user had deleted them, allowing behaviourial tracking to go on.

News17 August 2009

Virtual Surveys wins Kellogg's community contract

UK— Breakfast cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s has commissioned Virtual Surveys to set up and run an online research community of women looking to “manage their shape”.

News17 August 2009

Youth news site Ypulse merges with researcher SurveyU

US— Ypulse, an online news and comment site for youth media and marketing professionals, has merged with SurveyU, an online research community made up of college students.

News14 August 2009

Ban on client incentives raises fears over survey participation

UK— Client and agency researchers have expressed concern over an incoming ban on the use of client goods or services as incentives following a revision to the MRS code of conduct.

News14 August 2009

Networks and marketers 'plan rival TV ratings'

US— A group of media companies, advertisers and marketers are planning to launch a TV and digital video audience measurement service to rival Nielsen, the Financial Times has reported.

News14 August 2009

Mintel Comperemedia appoints senior vice president

US— Mintel Comperemedia, the direct marketing competitive intelligence arm of consumer goods researcher Mintel, has appointed Andrew Davidson as senior vice president.

News14 August 2009

Text analytics firm looks into 'consumer intent'

US— OpenAmplify, an online text analysis platform, has introduced a feature that aims to predict consumer intentions in social media content.

News14 August 2009

TNS's Andrew Czarnowski takes to the Spotlight

Andrew Czarnowski is the chief executive officer of TNS UK and the latest interviewee in our Spotlight series of video interviews.

News14 August 2009

Creston reports like-for-like Q1 revenue down 6%

UK— Research and marketing services group Creston has seen like-for-like revenue fall 6% in the first quarter of the new financial year, compared to growth of 5% last year.

News14 August 2009

Arbitron ups cell-only target to 20% in PPM markets

US— Arbitron has increased its target for the proportion of cellphone-only households in the sample for its portable people meter ( PPM) radio ratings markets to 20% by the end of 2010.

News13 August 2009

Media Square moves to block appointment of new director

UK— Media Square, the marketing communications group that owns research agency Illuminas, has urged shareholders to vote against a resolution at its AGM that would see one of the firm’s investors take a seat on the board.

News13 August 2009

Core data business gives Nielsen 'stability'

US— Stability in its core data business and cost-cutting measures are helping Nielsen weather the recession, finance chief Brian West said today as the company reported a 6% decline in second quarter sales.

News13 August 2009

Disney launches UK parent panel with Opinion Matters

UK— Disney Interactive Media Group ( DIMG) has launched a panel of around 10,000 parents, the UK Family Panel, in partnership with online research agency Opinion Matters.

News13 August 2009

People on the move

The latest appointments and promotions in the global market research industry. This week: Brahm Insight, River Research, Verve Partners, RDSi, In4mation Insights, NCB and Discovery Research.

News13 August 2009

Tough first half for GfK despite quarter-on-quarter improvements

GERMANY— GfK’s revenue and operating income were down year-on-year in the first half of 2009 despite improvements between the first and second quarters.

News13 August 2009

Privacy pros and cons aired in White House cookie debate

US— White House proposals to lift a ban on the use of cookies on federal government websites have met with a mixed response, with the American Civil Liberties Union warning of a “sea change” in government privacy policy.

News13 August 2009

Buy aims to boost MDLinx's reach among cancer specialists

US— Healthcare panel firm MDLinx is hoping to gain access to a wider pool of cancer specialists following the acquisition of The SmartestDoc, a company that operates a popular oncology quiz website.

News12 August 2009

TNS and Rovi team up for set-top-box measurement

US— TNS Media Research and digital technology firm Rovi have struck a deal to collaborate on advanced audience measurement services using data from TV set-top boxes.

Feature12 August 2009

Commitment to MR 'as strong as ever', says SPSS

Amidst all the reports about IBM’s $1.2bn bid to buy software firm SPSS and the hype over the possibilities for predicitive analytics post-acquisition, one question has largely gone unanswered - whither market research?

News12 August 2009

ICF Macro awarded $15m Homeland Security contract

US— ICF Macro has been awarded a $15.2m contract by the Department of Homeland Security ( DHS) to conduct the National Survey on Recreational Boating Safety over the next five years.

News12 August 2009

Kantar adds LatAm president and P&G account director

UK— Kantar has appointed a new president for its Latin-American operations and a key client account director in the UK.

News12 August 2009

Data points to cultural difference in community participation

US— Researchers at Communispace are investigating whether culture affects the types of activities people are willing to take part in within online communities.

News12 August 2009

Mediabrands goes 'hyper-local' with Geomentum

US— Media management firm Mediabrands has launched a new insight agency, Geomentum, to help marketers and advertisers pinpoint and market to audiences at a local level.

News12 August 2009

Phone surveys can't last, says polling boss

US— Jay Leve, CEO of polling firm SurveyUSA, says we are seeing “the tail end” of the life cycle of telephone surveys, and that both live and recorded telephone surveys will not be able to survive for much longer.

News11 August 2009

Unser replaces Lucas as NPD retail business head

US— Consumer and retail research firm The NPD Group has named Don Unser as head of its retail business group, replacing Bill Lucas who retires at the end of September.

News11 August 2009

Nielsen transfers on-trade service to CGA Strategy

UK— On-trade research agency CGA Strategy has taken over Nielsen’s sales tracking activities in the sector, with Nielsen taking a minority stake in the company in exchange.

News11 August 2009

ComScore introduces Ad Metrix in Canada

CANADA— Web audience measurement firm ComScore has introduced into Canada its Ad Metrix service, which reports on where display ads are viewed online and the demographic composition of the audiences reached.

News11 August 2009

Datascension sees gross profit rocket but revenue decline

US— MR and data collection outsourcing firm Datascension has reported a huge rise in gross profit for the second quarter of 2009, but a double-digit decline in revenue.

News11 August 2009

Capgemini bags UAE TV measurement consulting task

UAE— The National Media Council ( NMC) and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority ( TRA) have appointed Capgemini to manage the first phase of the country’s new TV audience measurement initiative.

News11 August 2009

SPSS turned down IBM twice before agreeing $1.2bn deal

US— SPSS turned down IBM’s acquisitive advances twice before agreeing a $1.2bn deal last month, according to documents recently filed by the research and analytics software provider.

News11 August 2009

Broadcasting reps urge Obama to join PPM wrangle

US— Representatives of minority-owned radio broadcasters have written to President Barack Obama urging the federal government to step into the ongoing row over Arbitron’s PPM.

News10 August 2009

DisplaySearch launches solar panel reports

US— DisplaySearch, which specialises in researching the market for flat panel displays ( FPDs) used in other TVs and other devices, has announced that it is launching new reports focusing on the market for solar panels.

News10 August 2009

MarketTools promotes Millard to marketing SVP

US— MarketTools has promoted Amy Millard to senior vice president of marketing.

News10 August 2009

Yahoo probes 'engagement' with online videos

US— Yahoo has developed a model for measuring levels of engagement in viewers of online videos.

News10 August 2009

Market Force Information appoints COO

US— Mark Newhall has been appointed chief operating officer at customer experience information and insight agency Market Force Information.

News10 August 2009

Datamonitor integrates technology subsidiaries

UK— Business information group Datamonitor is to merge its three technology businesses - Butler Group, Datamonitor Technology and Ovum - under the Ovum brand in September.

News10 August 2009

Keeping up with consumers is crucial, says Unilever boss

UK— Unilever’s CEO Paul Polman has highlighted the importance of consumer focus for the business as it reveals its latest quarterly financial results.

News7 August 2009

StrategyEye and Cleantech Group join forces for tracking

UK— Business intelligence firm StrategyEye and Cleantech Group have teamed up to monitor the latest news in the clean technology sector.

News7 August 2009

Diamond deal for Peanut Labs' sample business

US— Players of online fantasy game Runes of Magic will be invited to take part in surveys through a deal struck between the game’s distributor Frogstar Amercia and MR sample supplier Peanut Labs.

News7 August 2009

ResponseTek launches Twitter scanning tool

CANADA— Software firm ResponseTek has launched a tool to scan Twitter, social media and news networks for discussions and coverage of brands.

News7 August 2009

Ads you can Digg go live on news site

US— News aggregator Digg is beta-testing its unusual new advertising system, where users vote for their favourite creatives while ‘burying’ those they do not like.

News7 August 2009

Vinspired aims to give voice to youth - and data access

UK— Youth charity Vinspired is backing an open-source research project that aims for a better understanding of young people - while helping them to understand their peers better.

News7 August 2009

Is search the answer to the PR measurement debate?

UK— Mark Westaby of media analysis firm Spectrum says search trend tools could provide an answer to the nagging question of how to measure the effectiveness of PR activity.

Feature7 August 2009

Measuring PR effectiveness: Is search the answer?

Mark Westaby of media analysis firm Spectrum believes online search ratings offer an answer to the perennial question of how best to measure the outcome of public relations activity.

News7 August 2009

Rasmussen Reports secures 'major' investment

US— Pollster Rasmussen Reports has received a “major growth capital investment” from private equity firm Noson Lawen Partners.

News6 August 2009

Mayor of London seeks agencies for city rebrand

UK— The Greater London Authority ( GLA) is looking for agencies to engage with the public over Mayor Boris Johnson’s plans to rebrand the city after the 2012 Olympics.

News6 August 2009

Carphone Warehouse picks Face for social media task

UK— Co-creation planning agency Face is to work with the mobile phone retailer to inform its social media engagement strategy.

News6 August 2009

Webtrends releases version 9 of flagship analytics platform

US— Hot on the heels of its acquisition of Widemile last week, Webtrends has released version 9 of its web analytics platform.

News6 August 2009

BigChampagne upgrades analytics dashboard

US— Music audience measurement firm BigChampagne has overhauled its BC Dash reporting tool with the aim of giving users more flexibility in how sales, download and streaming charts are displayed and analysed.

News6 August 2009

TNS launches sports passion measurement service in Asia

HONG KONG— TNS has launched a syndicated report to cover the sporting and entertainment passions of people in Hong Kong and Singapore. The research sets out to identify what is ‘hot’ in the region.

News6 August 2009

New P&G chief talks up value of research in innovation

US— Procter & Gamble’s $350m annual outlay on consumer research seems secure under new chief executive Bob McDonald, who yesterday talked up its role in helping the consumer goods firm innovate and grow revenues.

Opinion6 August 2009

The question isn’t what research is. It’s what research will be

CMOR is attempting to agree a definition of market research in order to protect it from potential threats. But the move comes at a time when views of what research is – or should be – are in flux.

News5 August 2009

AOL's Adtech launches analytics tool for campaign measurement

UK— Adtech, the AOL-owned provider of ad serving platforms, has announced a new tool to provide ad agencies and publishers with insight into the performance of advertising campaigns and placements.

News5 August 2009

IBM target SPSS reports second-quarter revenue down 8%

US— IBM takeover target SPSS saw revenue and profit fall 8% and 12% respectively in the second quarter of 2009 as a promising “full pipeline” of business proved difficult to convert into actual sales, according to Jack Noonan, CEO of the survey and analytics software firm.

News5 August 2009

Passenger Focus renewing research roster

UK— Passenger Focus, the national passenger watchdog, is looking for between eight and 24 agencies to join its market research roster.

News5 August 2009

IASH picks ComScore for website vetting task

UK— The Internet Advertising Sales Houses ( IASH), a council of the Internet Advertising Bureau, has appointed ComScore to provide independent site vetting services to ensure online ads are placed next to suitable content.

News5 August 2009

Motally launches beta version of iPhone apps tracker

US— Mobile analytics firm Motally has launched a beta version of a service to track usage of applications on iPhone and BlackBerry handsets.

News5 August 2009

TNS to measure Australian pay-TV viewing habits

AUSTRALIA— TNS has secured a three-year contract to develop and manage a set-top box data collection service, through which it will report viewing information for subscription satellite and cable TV services.

News5 August 2009

Cossette asks investors to hold fire on Cosmos bid

CANADA— Marketing communications group Cossette has asked shareholders to hold fire on responding to a takeover proposal from one of the firm’s co-founders.

News5 August 2009

Cagney wants AIM de-listing to concentrate on MR

UK— Cagney, owner of research agency Tree, wants investors to approve the firm’s de-listing from the stock exchange so it can concentrate on developing new market research offerings.

News4 August 2009

Gartner posts double-digit declines in revenue and profit

US— IT market researcher Gartner has reported double-digit decreases in second quarter revenue and profits, with sales down 22% to $270m.

News4 August 2009

RivalWatch names new CEO and president

US— Competitive intelligence agency RivalWatch has appointed Marty Hodgett as president and chief executive officer.

News4 August 2009

InfoGroup MR revenue down 16% to $24m in Q2

US— InfoGroup’s market research revenue fell 16% year-on-year to $24.7m in the second quarter of 2009, but sales were up slightly on the first three months of the year, the company revealed today.

News4 August 2009

Starcom and Telemundo to delve into Latino population

US— Media agency Starcom MediaVest and broadcaster Telemundo Communications Group have launched the Beyond Demographics Latino Identity study.

News4 August 2009

Baird looks to research to change energy use

US— The House of Representatives is set to vote on a proposal from Congressman Brian Baird that would establish a research programme to “identify and understand social and behavioural factors that influence energy consumption”.

News4 August 2009

Synovate rolls-out MMA in Asia Pacific

INDIA— Synovate has launched its marketing mix modelling business Marketing Management Analytics in the Asia Pacific region. MMA will work alongside the Synovate Business Consulting operations in India.

News4 August 2009

Law firms probe value of IBM's takeover bid for SPSS

US— A handful of law firms have initiated investigations into IBM’s $1.2bn bid to buy research and analytics software maker SPSS, with a view to determining whether the deal provides fair value to investors.

News3 August 2009

The Research Alliance adds Clarity to network

AUSTRALIA— Recently-launched Sydney-based agency Clarity Strategic Research has joined The Research Alliance ( TRA), a multinational network of research firms.

News3 August 2009

People on the move

The latest appointments and promotions in the global research and insight industry. This week: Lightspeed Research, Innovate Analytics & Training, Neo@Ogilvy and Insight Research Group.

News3 August 2009

What is 'research'? CMOR seeks the answer

US— Research industry lobbyist CMOR, part of the Marketing Research Association, is asking for input on a proposed legal definition of ‘research’.

News3 August 2009

Blyk youth surveys axed with UK shutdown

UK— Blyk, a mobile virtual network operator that offered young people free calls for taking part in surveys and receiving ads, is winding up its service in the UK market.

News3 August 2009

Microsoft and ComScore team up for digital ad tool

US— Microsoft and ComScore have joined forces to launch the Reach and Frequency Planner for predicting and measuring the succes of online advertising campaigns.

News3 August 2009

YouGov trading in line with expectations

UK— YouGov said today that business for the year ending 31 July “was in line with current market expectations”.

News3 August 2009

Recession squeezing indies' fees, says ICG

UK— One third of independent consultants have seen their fees per project decline, while 41% say they have reduced their daily charges in response to the recession.

Feature1 August 2009

Winds of change

What changes is the recession bringing to the research industry? Robert Bain asked some of the people on the frontline what they’re seeing and what they think the future holds.

Feature1 August 2009

Eyes wide open

Eye-tracking is moving out of the lab and into the real world, making it an increasingly tempting way to get inside consumers’ heads. Tim Phillips eyes up its potential.

Feature1 August 2009

The standard bearers

It feels like the industry has been discussing the issue of quality in online research forever. Robert Bain asks where the debate has got us, and where it should lead us next.

Feature1 August 2009

The social gauge

The question of how to measure social media is holding many firms back from grasping new opportunities. Holly Seddon, community manager at FreshNetworks, offers some answers.

Feature1 August 2009

60 Second Soapbox – Tim Duhamel

Tim Duhamel, CEO of InSites Consulting in Belgium, thinks it’s about time researchers started showing respondents – and each other – a bit more respect.

Feature1 August 2009

If there's one thing I've learnt... Sarah Jordan

Career tips for research practitioners. This month: Sarah Jordan, analytics consultant at Engage.

Feature1 August 2009

Double Lives – Gavin Mulholland

Researchers reveal how their out-of-hours pursuits impact on the 9 to 5. This month we meet Gavin Mulholland, who’s a director of Illuminas by day, and trains cage fighters by night.

Opinion1 August 2009

Here's some free advice

Chris Anderson has long been a highly regarded member of the technorati. As Wired’s editor in chief he mirrors and, some would say, helps tosteer opinion among the web-savvy, e-commerce-powered masses.