News17 May 2011

Li named China boss for Kantar Health

CHINA— Kantar Health has appointed Simon Li as its general manager for China, where he will oversee the firm’s growth strategy in the country.

News17 May 2011

WPP takes $5m slice of data analyst nPario

US— WPP has formed a strategic alliance with consumer data analysis firm nPario and paid $5m for a minority stake in the company.

News29 June 2010

WPP 'ahead of budget' so far this year

UK— WPP has reported revenue and profits ahead of budget for the year so far in a trading update on the first five months of the year given at its AGM today.

News2 June 2010

Automated sentiment analysis gives poor showing in accuracy test

UK— Automated sentiment analysis is less accurate then flipping a coin when it comes to determining whether brand mentions in social media are positive or negative, according to a white paper from FreshMinds.

Feature2 June 2010

Insight is dead

Nick Johnson is so over insight. He wishes researchers would stop going on about it and start thinking instead about what businesses actually do with it.

News28 May 2010

Experian and Invidi in addressable advertising partnership

US— Invidi Technologies is to use audience segmentation data from Experian Marketing Services to help target addressable advertising.

News28 May 2010

Nielsen Online's UK managing director departs in restructure

UK— Nielsen Online’s UK managing director Stephen Brooks has left the company as part of a restructure.

News28 May 2010

People on the move

The latest appointments and promotions in the global market research industry, including the latest from MarketTools, Arbitron, RDSI and more.

News28 May 2010

Editor's note: No news on Monday

The Research office will be closed on Monday 31 May for a UK public holiday.

News28 May 2010

QualVu adds Russian option to video research tool

US— Video research technology firm QualVu has added a Russian language translation option to its qualitative offering.

News28 May 2010

3M signs up for Webtrends Facebook Analytics

US— Technology firm 3M has signed up to use Webtrends’ Facebook Analytics service to track and measure comments on the fan page for its Post-It range of products.

News28 May 2010

YouTube adds Moderator tool for user feedback and debate

US— YouTube this week rolled out new functionality to allow users to create and house online discussions within their own channels – effectively adding crowdsource capabilities to the online video site.

News28 May 2010

NPD buys jewellery sales data specialist LGI Network

US— The NPD Group has acquired jewellery sales information firm LGI Network for an undisclosed amount.

News28 May 2010

Orange picks Verve to run 'Better Together' customer panel

UK— Mobile phone network Orange has hired Verve to build, manage and run an online panel of its customers, called ‘Better Together’.

News27 May 2010

More funding for mobile ad and analytics firm Medialets

US— Medialets, a mobile advertising and analytics agency, has bagged $5.9m in new funding, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

News27 May 2010

Publisher Red 7 Media launches research practice

US— Business information publisher and event organiser Red 7 Media has launched a research and consulting division aimed at clients in the trade show and media sectors.

News27 May 2010

ComScore waives $5k setup fee for Media Metrix 360

US— ComScore is waiving the set-up fee associated with its hybrid panel and census-based web measurement platform Media Metrix 360, beginning with the US but going global in the summer.

News27 May 2010

The Leading Edge in Sydney hiring spree

AUSTRALIA— Strategic research consultancy The Leading Edge has recruited five new members of staff after winning work from several major new clients including Tabcorp, Kraft and Wrigley.

News27 May 2010

Satisfied with customer satisfaction?

We speak to Vincent Golding of Kadence International about how to use customer satisfaction research properly, and why it’s sometimes more useful to focus on dissatisfaction.

Opinion27 May 2010

Radio buttons are a real turn off

Radio buttons get a bad press. For a reason. Let’s ban them.

News27 May 2010

University researchers warn of response substitution in surveys

US— Consumers will use surveys to vent their frustrations about a brand or product if they are not given adequate opportunity to express themselves, according to academics.

News27 May 2010

Infogroup sale: Opposition mounts as investor buys more shares

US— Hotchkis & Wiley, a leading opponent of the private equity takeover of database marketing and research firm Infogroup, has again increased its position in the company – this time taking its shareholding to 8.5%.

News27 May 2010

Media Square posts loss while Illuminas shines

UK— Media Square has posted a 23% drop in revenue for the full year period ending February 28 2010, but its research agency, Illuminas, has seen an increase in both revenue and profits.

News26 May 2010

Social researchers ready themselves for the 'age of austerity'

Social researchers gathered in London today to discuss innovative approaches to charting social change, engaging respondents and creating effective communications – but between sessions, talk was of what the £6.2bn in UK government spending cuts would mean for the sector.

News26 May 2010

Beta release for Google's Analytics opt-out add-on

US— Google has introduced its previously announced browser add-on that prevents web users from having their internet activity tracked by the search giant’s free-to-use web analytics tool.

Feature26 May 2010

New IAB mobile manager sets out research plan

Last week the Internet Advertising Bureau appointed Alex Kozloff as mobile manager. We caught up with her to find out what sort of information the mobile ad industry needs and how she plans to provide them with it.

News26 May 2010

InSites strengthens research team with four senior hires

BELGIUM— InSites Consulting has made four senior research appointments at its offices in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.

News26 May 2010

Toluna chief hails 'excellent' first quarter

UK— Online panel provider Toluna has beaten its projected figures for revenue and profits for the first quarter of 2010, CEO Frederic-Charles Petit told shareholders at its AGM today.

News26 May 2010

Intel leads Arbitron and WPP in $18.2m TRA funding

US— Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment arm, has invested $10m in TRA, which runs a combined TV viewing and purchase database to measure ROI for advertising spend.

News26 May 2010

Spring develops consumer-focused advocacy model

UK— Spring Research has developed a new consumer-focused model for understanding what drives word-of-mouth recommendations.

News26 May 2010

ComScore debuts Smart Control ad effectiveness tool

US— ComScore has introduced a new way of measuring the effectiveness of online advertising without using ‘test and control’.

News26 May 2010

Mountain Dew co-creates media planning

US— Consumers are influencing the media planning and buying process in the final phase of a co-creation project by drinks manufacturer Mountain Dew.

News25 May 2010

OFT urges for targeted advertising transparency

UK— The Office of Fair Trading has published the results of its market study into online targeted advertising and decided that “more could be done” to let the public know what is happening with their data.

News25 May 2010

UK government to halve ad spend this year

UK— More than £6bn in spending cuts were announced by the UK government yesterday, with £160m set to come from a freeze on all new advertising and marketing spend.

News25 May 2010

Rocket Fuel signs up for Nielsen purchase data

US— Online display advertising agency Rocket Fuel has struck a deal with Nielsen to use the latter’s aggregated consumer purchase data to help marketers reach their intended audiences via the web.

News25 May 2010

IAB goes multicultural as new council replaces Hispanic committee

US— The Internet Advertising Bureau ( IAB) has established a Multicultural Council to focus on issues, including research, that affect marketing and advertising.

News25 May 2010

Omniture finds web analytics tools fall short in measuring ROI

UK— The web may be the most measurable of all media but still marketers are struggling to gauge the return on investment of their online marketing activities, according to initial results from Omniture’s online analytics benchmark survey.

News25 May 2010

Constant Contact to acquire social media monitor NutshellMail

US— Email marketing agency Constant Contact has acquired social media monitoring firm NutshellMail for an undisclosed amount.

News25 May 2010

Simpson Carpenter appoints new head of qual

UK— Simpson Carpenter has appointed Abi Markey as head of qualitative research, where she will take charge of qual work across the consumer, retail, automotive and TMT sectors.

News24 May 2010

Starch research database to catalogue print ad variables

US— Print ad researcher Starch is retroactively cataloguing all the ads it has measured in the past two-and-a-half years in an effort to help marketers understand which components of an ad are most successful in generating readership and response.

News24 May 2010

E1 Entertainment signs Rentrak for on-demand measurement

US— TV, film and music distributor E1 Entertainment has signed up to use Rentrak’s OnDemand Essentials service to provide on-demand audience figures.

News24 May 2010

TORA appoints director for FMCG shopping and retail research

UK— The Oxford Research Agency has appointed Jamie Rayner as research director for FMCG shopper and retail research.

News24 May 2010

Recession bites hard for Marketing Intelligence

US— Arizona-based full-service research agency Marketing Intelligence will reportedly close its doors at the end of the month after just over a decade in business.

News24 May 2010

EasyInsites adds GMTV to Cint Panel Exchange

UK— The GMTV Viewback panel run by EasyInsites has been added to the Cint Panel Exchange, which gives third parties access to online panels around the world.

News24 May 2010

Added Value bolsters brand development division

US— Marketing insight agency Added Value has made three senior appointments within its brand development and innovation team.

News24 May 2010

Doctors.net.uk invests in MedUniverse and links with Medcenter

UK— Online medical network Doctors.net.uk has struck two deals in recent weeks that should pave the way for more international research briefs for its dedicated market research business MedeConnect.

Opinion24 May 2010

Back to the future

Much has changed during Sarah Buckle’s 25 years in research and marketing, but whatever new tools appear, a researcher’s real skill is still based on the quality of insights, conclusions and recommendations they draw, she argues.

Opinion24 May 2010

Landlines – don't get too attached

BT’s latest ad tells us that if a conversation’s worth having, you should have it on a landline. If only survey respondents felt that way, writes Robert Bain.

News21 May 2010

FT follows Times in withdrawing from public ABCe audits

UK— The publisher of the Financial Times has followed rival News International in withdrawing its web traffic information from the public release of ABCe-audited data.

News21 May 2010

People on the move

The latest appointments and promotions in the global market research and consumer insight industry. This week: uSamp, Directions, Market Probe, Synovate, SCB Partners, InsightExpress, Vision Critical, MarketTools and the Advertising Association.

News21 May 2010

Synovate hires Dave Hannay as head of brand equity

UK— Synovate has appointed Dave Hannay to the role of global commercial head of brand equity. Hannay will work closely with innovation director Jan Hofmeyr and the Synovate Laboratories team.

News21 May 2010

Pew finds regular non-coverage bias in landline-only phone samples

US— With one in four American homes cell-only, Pew Research warns that “non-coverage bias is now appearing regularly in landline telephone samples”.

News21 May 2010

Peanut Labs rolls out social media sample in France

US— Peanut Labs has introduced its social media sample in France, which allows marketers and researchers to survey profiled users from the country’s online population of three million individuals.

News21 May 2010

Startex and Market Xcel partner for Indian mystery shopping venture

INDIA— Startex Marketing Services ( SMS) and data collection firm Market Xcel Data Metrix have launched a mystery shopping agency.

News21 May 2010

Marketing Workshop signs Sentiment360 for social media measurement

US— Research agency the Marketing Workshop has appointed Sentiment360 as its preferred social media measurement provider.

News21 May 2010

'Final impediment' to pharma surveys lifted in Minnesota

US— The “final impediment” to the re-emergence of pharmaceutical market research in Minnesota has been removed, according to research associations Casro, PMRG and MRA.

News20 May 2010

Big whoop! Researchers develop online sarcasm detector

ISRAEL— Researchers at Hebrew University have developed a machine algorithim that can recognise sarcasm in online postings – but does it have the potential to add a new layer to social media sentiment analysis?

News20 May 2010

Do House to offer virtual focus groups through 3Di deal

JAPAN— Marketing and research agency Do House is to offer online “virtual group interviews” after striking a deal with technology firm 3Di.

News20 May 2010

Hall & Partners in Singapore expansion

SINGAPORE— Brand and communications research agency Hall & Partners has appointed Hilary Lee as managing partner to lead its new office in Singapore.

News20 May 2010

Research book club to help launch Faber & Faber's big summer hope

UK— Youth research agency The Lounge Group has been picked to work with publisher Faber & Faber on research to inform the launch strategy of one of its major summer releases.

Opinion20 May 2010

The research behind the research

Commercial researchers can learn a lot from the research-on-research on display at AAPOR’s annual public opinion research conference, says Vovici’s Jeffrey Henning.

News20 May 2010

CBC in the clear over complaints of potential polling bias

CANADA— Public broadcaster CBC is in the clear over allegations of potential bias in its opinion polling process after one of the research firms it employs was wrongly accused of acting as an adviser to a political party.

News20 May 2010

Drye is homeward bound with Insitas office move

UK— Maggie Drye, the founder of Insitas, is moving her consumer research agency into offices recently vacated by her former business Buckingham Research.

News20 May 2010

IAB appoints mobile manager to lead research efforts

UK— The Internet Advertising Bureau has appointed Alex Kozloff as mobile manager to drive research and education efforts in the sector.

News20 May 2010

Ofwat hires McCallum Layton for c-sat survey task

UK— Water industry regulator Ofwat has commissioned McCallum Layton to run its regulatory customer experience survey, which tracks customer satisfaction levels across all 21 water companies in England and Wales.

News20 May 2010

Online qual specialist Revelation launches iPhone app

US— Revelation, an agency specialising in online qual software and services, has developed an iPhone app that can be used to capture and record consumer behaviour in real time.

News19 May 2010

Survey finds DIY tools popular for social media monitoring

UK— A significant number of marcoms professionals in the UK seem content with taking a DIY approach to online brand monitoring, according to the second wave of McCann Erickson’s Social Media Index study.

News19 May 2010

Q1 revenue down, losses increase at iPerceptions

CANADA— Web analytics firm iPerceptions has posted a drop in revenue and worsening losses for the first quarter of 2010.

News19 May 2010

A&E Television Networks orders NeuroLab

US— Cable and satellite network A&E Television has commissioned NeuroFocus to build it an on-site neuromarketing lab to test its viewers’ subconscious responses to programme content, advertising and promotions.

News19 May 2010

Poll transparency top priority in AAPOR code revision

US— Tougher rules on transparency and disclosure feature in a revised code of ethics and practices published this week by the American Association for Public Opinion Research ( AAPOR).

News19 May 2010

Casro's ISO push begins with launch of certification body

US— The Council of American Survey Research Organisations ( Casro) has formed an independent subsidiary to audit and certify US research companies wishing to comply with the international market research standards ISO 20252 and 26362.

News19 May 2010

Millward Brown and Scangroup establish new West Africa hub

GHANA— Millward Brown and marketing services firm Scangroup have opened a hub office in Accra to serve the West African market through a joint venture arrangement.

News19 May 2010

Cisco to acquire product design consultancy MOTO

US— Communications technology firm Cisco Systems has inked a deal to acquire product design, development and strategy consultancy MOTO Development Group for an undisclosed amount.

News19 May 2010

Members approve merger of WIN Network and GIA

CANADA— Members of opinion polling body the Gallup International Association ( GIA) and the Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research ( WIN) have voted in favour of merging the two organisations.

News19 May 2010

Former Capital One insight manager joins Nunwood

UK— Nunwood has appointed former Capital One researcher David Blackburn as an account director within its European Insight division.

News19 May 2010

Visible Technologies to make European push with UK office

UK— Social media monitoring firm Visible Technologies has opened a new office in London to spearhead its expansion into Europe.

Feature18 May 2010

New SPSS boss navigates a sea of data

We speak to Deepak Advani, the new CEO of SPSS, about what the future holds for the firm’s predictive analytics and data mining services.

News18 May 2010

Lightspeed Research testing iPhone survey app

UK— WPP-owned Lightspeed Research is working on an app that will allow panel members to take part in surveys through their iPhone.

News18 May 2010

Yahoo man to lead Quantcast expansion into Europe

UK— Web measurement firm Quantcast has appointed Philip Macauley as UK managing director to lead the company’s expansion into Europe.

News18 May 2010

Ratings-hungry Gannett appoints two for TV audience measurement

US— News broadcaster Gannett has signed up for local TV audience measurement from both Nielsen and Rentrak. The deal with Nielsen is a renewal of long-standing arrangement, but the Rentrak agreement is new and encompasses the latter’s StationView Essentials service.

News18 May 2010

Opponent of Infogroup sale ups shareholding

US— Infogroup investor Hotchkis & Wiley has upped its stake in the firm, having earlier voiced opposition to the planned sale of the database marketing and research company.

News18 May 2010

Mag ad researcher Mediamark rebrands as GfK MRI

US— Magazine measurement agency Mediamark Research & Intelligence is rebranding as GfK MRI in a move that acknowledges its ownership by the GfK Group, headquartered in Germany.

News18 May 2010

Nielsen reshuffles European leadership

GERMANY— Nielsen has reshuffled its European management team, with Denmark’s Ivar Michaelsen taking responsibility for the German-speaking countries and UK managing director Justin Sargent becoming group MD for the UK and Ireland.

News18 May 2010

IFF Research scoops Employer Perspectives study

UK— The Commission for Employment and Skills ( CES) has contracted IFF Research to conduct a major study designed to help bridge the gap between employers’ needs and the country’s skills provision.

News18 May 2010

BrainJuicer in Brazilian launch

BRAZIL— BrainJuicer has opened an office in Brazil and appointed Gabriel Aleixo as managing director for the country. Aleixo was most recently a marketing services director for Philips.

News18 May 2010

Synovate sees signs of improvement in Q1, says Aegis

UK— Organic revenue growth is within sight for Synovate with the first quarter down just 1.9% year on year, compared to a decline of 5.5% in the fourth quarter of 2009, parent company Aegis said in an interim management statement today.

News17 May 2010

Sands Research promises faster brain scanning

US— Neuromarketing agency Sands Research is claiming a ‘breakthrough’ in the field with technology that enables sensors to capture brainwave activity 10,000 times per second.

News17 May 2010

Mobile app analytics firm launches privacy initiative

US— Flurry, which provides analytics sevices for mobile app developers, has launched an initiative to promote consumer privacy.

News17 May 2010

Ex-MTV and Coca-Cola researcher takes TNS youth role

HONG KONG— TNS has appointed Ian Stewart as regional director for youth in the Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa region.

News17 May 2010

Existing customers are top priority, says IBM's SPSS boss

Deepak Advani, who was brought in by IBM to head survey and analytics software maker SPSS after its $1bn purchase last year, has said that serving the firm’s existing customers, including many research agencies, is its number one priority.

News17 May 2010

OnePoll unveils iPhone survey app

UK— Online survey firm OnePoll has launched a free iPhone app that allows users to take part in surveys and receive rewards.

News17 May 2010

SAP to acquire database software firm Sybase for $5.8bn

US— Business software firm SAP has acquired mobile database software specialist Sybase in an all-cash deal worth $5.8bn, or $65 per share.

News17 May 2010

News bodies seek $224,000 costs over Minnesota exit poll dispute

US— A group of news organisations is seeking nearly a quarter of a million dollars in legal fees from the state of Minnesota following a successful challenge to restrictions on exit polls.

News17 May 2010

One in four US homes now cell-only

US— One in four US homes is now cellphone-only, according to figures for the second half of 2009.

News17 May 2010

Cello reports 'strong' performance in first quarter

UK— Marketing services group Cello has reported a “solid recovery” in profitability in the first quarter of 2010, as client research activity settles.

News14 May 2010

People on the move

The latest appointments and promotions in the global market research and consumer insight industry. This week: Compete, Intersperience, TNS RI Brazil, Burger King, JD Power, Askia UK, Vision Critical, Digital Radio UK, ORC International, Bellomy Research, MarketShare Partners and the Web Analytics Association.

News14 May 2010

FT develops new model for measuring average daily audience

UK— The Financial Times has introduced a new model for measuring its average daily global audience ( ADGA) across print and online.

News14 May 2010

Lovett and Pugh Immerse themselves in new venture

UK— James Lovett and Mark Pugh have launched a new research and consulting agency, Immerse, which aims to work with clients in the retail, telecoms, financial and professional services sectors.

News14 May 2010

AOL names Joslin as UK director of research and business intelligence

UK— AOL has appointed Scott Joslin as director of research and business intelligence – one of three key appointments to its UK marketing team.

News14 May 2010

Obama nominates pollster for USAID administration role

US— President Barack Obama has nominated pollster Mark Feierstein for the position of assistant administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean, USAID ( United States Agency for International Development).

News14 May 2010

Western Wats recruiting in call centre expansion

US— Fieldwork agency Western Wats is expanding its call centre operations in three states and creating 170 jobs in the process.

News13 May 2010

Fox and Innerscope expand research partnership

US— Neuromarketing agency Innerscope has designed a new service for Fox Broadcasting to test advertising and content effectiveness.

News13 May 2010

AnswerLab hires former Nielsen Mobile Insights director

US— Online user experience research agency AnswerLab has appointed Kate Taplin as director of research.

News13 May 2010

SPSS analyses smiley faces

US— The latest version of SPSS’s Modeler data mining and text analytics software allows users to analyse the emoticons used in consumer-generated online content.

News13 May 2010

Experian and BSkyB launch insight and database JV

UK— Information services company Experian has struck a deal with British Sky Broadcasting to form a consumer and media insight and database marketing agency.

News13 May 2010

Skopos unveils online buzz-tracking tool

UK— Skopos has launched a new tool to help clients track online buzz and monitor what is being said about them on social media sites.

News13 May 2010

Anglican Church of Canada conducts major online qual study

CANADA— The Anglican Church of Canada has been using online qualitative research to find out how it can remain relevant to Anglicans over the next decade.

News13 May 2010

Insight Marketing Systems appoints NA client director

US— Insight Marketing Systems, which produces the Research Reporter research management software, has appointed Leslie Crist as client director for North America.

News13 May 2010

Twitter data mirrors opinion poll results, study finds

US— A study from Carnegie Mellon University has found that an analysis of messages posted on Twitter yielded similar results to opinion polls.

Opinion13 May 2010

Learning how to listen

Social media data can be enormously valuable, says Thompson Morrison of i-OP Inc. But he urges companies to be cautious in applying it.

News12 May 2010

2CV gets Bloke to investigate 30-50 year old male demographic

UK— Chris Bates, a founding director of youth research agency Vegas, has joined 2CV Research to lead a new team called Bloke, focused on the “often overlooked” 30-50 year old male demographic.

News12 May 2010

Growth in online and mobile video ad spend spurs Kantar unveilings

US— Kantar has formed a new division and announced new video measurement and tracking tools in response to what it sees as the speedy growth in global ad spend in online and mobile video.

News12 May 2010

CIMM publishes new set-top box data lexicon

US— The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement has published a set of common terms for use in the analysis and processing of set-top box data for audience measurement.

News12 May 2010

Peanut Labs and Conversition Strategies offer a SocialVoice for researchers

US— SocialVoice, a social media research tool, has been launched by sample firm Peanut Labs and research firm Conversition Strategies.

News12 May 2010

Government committee to probe TV ratings setup in India

INDIA— A government committee has been formed to review the current TV ratings setup in India, and to suggest ways of improving the “accuracy, accountability, transparency and objectivity” in the measurement of television audiences.

News12 May 2010

MDC Partners takes majority stake in Integrated Media Solutions

US— Marketing and communications group MDC Partners has acquired a majority stake in direct response media and analytics agency Integrated Media Solutions ( IMS). Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

News12 May 2010

Lithium buys Scout Labs to add social media monitoring to CRM platform

US— Scout Labs, a social media monitoring firm which launched publicly less than two years ago, has been acquired by online community builder Lithium Technologies.

News12 May 2010

TORA takes slice of social media agency Simply Zesty

UK— The Oxford Research Agency ( TORA) has paid €500,000 for a “significant minority stake” in Irish social media research and communications firm Simply Zesty.

News12 May 2010

Game on for Gold and Losen's pure-play online omnibus business

US— Former Harris Interactive executives Peter Gold and Jordan Losen have launched a pure-play online omnibus research and consulting company called VeraQuest.

News12 May 2010

Chime's research business sees return to profit in first half

UK— Chime Communication’s research division has returned to profit in the first half of this year thanks to “substantial cost savings” made by new CEO Crispin Beale, shareholders were told today.

News12 May 2010

First Ipsos, now GfK posts improved first quarter sales

GERMANY— GfK has reported a “strong” first quarter of 2010 with increases in sales, gross income and operating income. The firm posted a revenue drop of 4.6% for 2009, but saw signs of a recovery in the final quarter of the year that have carried over into the first three months of 2010.

News12 May 2010

Gallup International Association and WIN Network strike merger deal

CANADA— The Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research ( WIN) is set to merge with global research and opinion polling body the Gallup International Association ( GIA).

News11 May 2010

Ipsos sees return to growth in first quarter with revenue up 14%

FRANCE— Ipsos has reported double-digit revenue growth and a return to organic growth for the first quarter of 2010, with sales increasing across all its operating regions and business lines.

News11 May 2010

Ex-YouGov qualitative head takes Engage role

UK— Engage Research has appointed Andy Barker, YouGov’s former head of qualitative research, as a director. Barker had been with YouGov since 2008 and was responsible for building the firm’s qual offering from scratch.

News11 May 2010

Rentrak adds another two TV audience measurement clients

US— Rentrak has won two new TV audience measurement clients in the shape of Spanish-language education network HITN and Canadian private broadcaster CTV.

News11 May 2010

Itracks and Artafact head back to court over online focus group patent

US— Itracks and Artafact are heading back to court after failing to agree settlement terms in their patent dispute. Itracks accuses Artafact of infringing its patent for a system and method of conducting online focus groups using remotely located participants.

News11 May 2010

RadioGauge to get the measure of South African ad effectiveness

SOUTH AFRICA— RadioGauge, the radio ad effectiveness study launched by the UK’s Radio Advertising Bureau ( RAB), is to go international from this month with RAB South Africa signing up as a licensee.

News11 May 2010

Nielsen rolls out Australian mobile internet measurement service

AUSTRALIA— Nielsen has added mobile internet audience measurement to its Australian market intelligence service.

News11 May 2010

Nunwood studies consumer engagement for CMO Club

UK—The Chief Marketing Officers’ Club has teamed up with Nunwood to research how brands can better engage with their customers.

News11 May 2010

Millward Brown partners with Tivo to probe TV habits of consumer segments

US— Tivo has struck a deal with Millward Brown, giving the advertising research agency the ability to run custom segmentations of its TV audience measurement panel to help advertisers understand the viewing habits of their target customer groups.

News10 May 2010

EphMRA commissions study of web-connected doctors in BRIC countries

SWITZERLAND— The European Pharmaceutical Market Research Association ( EphMRA) has hired three agencies to conduct research into the internet usage and attitudes of doctors in Brazil, Russia, India and China.

News10 May 2010

OTX sues Luck for breach of contract and unfair business practices

US— OTX has filed a counterclaim against former executive Kristin Luck. She is accused of breach of contract and unfair business practices.

News10 May 2010

Second Nebraska call centre closed by Western Wats

US— Fieldwork agency Western Wats has closed its call centre in Wayne, Nebraska, axing around 50 part-time jobs in the process.

News10 May 2010

Google puts analytics apps on display in online gallery

US— Google has unveiled its analytics application gallery, putting on display a host of apps developed to extend the functionality of its free web analytics package.

News10 May 2010

Orlando CVB picks Tree for tourism research task

UK— The Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau ( Orlando CVB) has appointed research agency Tree to investigate what makes consumers decide to holiday in Orlando.

Opinion10 May 2010

Research innovation: How far and how fast?

Anna Thomas reports from the Danish Market Research Day in Copenhagen, where delegates pondered the risks and benefits of adopting online methodologies.

News10 May 2010

Ex-Leading Edge directors launch Fiftyfive5

AUSTRALIA— Karen Phillips and Darren Kemp, former directors of The Leading Edge, have launched a research agency called Fiftyfive5.

News7 May 2010

Panasonic looks to boost emerging market knowledge through research

JAPAN— Electronics firm Panasonic is looking to become less “Japan-centric” and more “globally-oriented” through the creation of lifestyle research centres in key emerging markets such as India and Brazil.

News7 May 2010

SponsorMap to sponsor Canadian Formula 3 racing

CANADA— Sports sponsorship measurement agency SponsorMap has struck a deal to be one of the sponsors of the Formula 3 motor racing championship in Canada.

News7 May 2010

Cint and Krea partner for panels in India

INDIA— Research software and services firm Cint has formed a strategic alliance with local panel company Krea to service clients in India.

News7 May 2010

MarketRx co-founders embark on new analytics venture, Axtria

US— MarketRx co-founder Jaswinder Chadha is back in the analytics business with Axtria, a new company supported by venture capital and private investors, that aims to provide analytics technology and consultancy for sales and marketing management.

News7 May 2010

Paddy Power bets on Unica for web analytics solution

UK— Bookmaker Paddy Power has signed up marketing software firm Unica’s NetInsight OnDemand technology to measure user interaction with its online gambling services.

News7 May 2010

Simmons and Affinity challenge for magazine measurement supremacy

US— Research agencies Simmons and Affinity are looking to steal some thunder from Mediamark Research, the dominant player in magazine audience measurement, with a new syndicated print planning tool.

News7 May 2010

Former researchers Zahawi and Danczuk win seats in UK parliament

UK— The results of yesterday’s general election have mostly been declared and among the winners are two former bosses of market research agencies.

News7 May 2010

Esomar mobile guidelines 'address legal, ethical and practical issues'

NETHERLANDS— Esomar has published official guidelines for conducting telephone and text message-based research via mobile phones following a consultation.

Opinion7 May 2010

Why graduates aren't making the grade

Bryan Urbick, founder and CEO of the Consumer Knowledge Centre, explains why his company has given up looking for graduate recruits.

News6 May 2010

Kinetic looks to the future through new think tank

US— Kinetic Worldwide, the GroupM-owned outdoor advertising agency, has launched a new global group to focus on the long-term future of the media and marketing business.

News6 May 2010

Antitrust enforcers eye changes to Apple app development rules

US— Apple’s changes to its iPhone developer agreement, which includes a ban on the sharing of device data with third party analytics companies, could face scrutiny from antitrust enforcers.

News6 May 2010

Invoke Solutions appoints new chief executive

US— Invoke Solutions, a provider of online and mobile research technology and services, has appointed Basil Bennett as its new chief executive officer.

News6 May 2010

Casro companies report year-on-year improvements in Q1 sales

US— Three-quarters of research companies surveyed by Casro ( the Council for American Survey Research Organisations) have reported year-over-year increases in revenue during the first quarter of 2010.

News6 May 2010

Gartner toasts double-digit growth in research revenue

US— IT researcher Gartner has posted an 8% increase in revenue to $295.8m for the first quarter of 2010, compared to $273.5m in the same period last year.

News6 May 2010

CozyCot appoints Nielsen for web analytics and audience measurement

SINGAPORE— Women’s website CozyCot has signed Nielsen to carry out web analytics and audience measurement services.

News6 May 2010

Corporate Executive Board to buy trends researcher Iconoculture

US— Consumer trends researcher Iconoculture is set to be acquired by the Corporate Executive Board ( CEB), an executive research and advisory firm, for upwards of $15m.

News6 May 2010

GfK makes investment in web tracking technology partner Nurago

GERMANY— GfK has bought a 40% stake in Nurago, the web tracking technology partner for its Media Efficiency Panels in Germany and the UK.

News5 May 2010

Harris looks to tap the social media 'lifestream' of survey respondents

US— Sometimes in social media research it is hard to discern the person behind the username. Harris Interactive hopes to have found a solution to this problem by recruiting its online panellists to a new ‘lifestreaming’ platform.

News5 May 2010

Ace Metrix eyes 'next level of growth' with ex-Yahoo man at the helm

US— TV ad analytics firm Ace Metrix has hired former Yahoo insights chief Peter Daboll as CEO, replacing co-founder Steve Goldman who remains with the business.

News5 May 2010

BrainJuicer hails 'juicy' win from Ocean Spray

US— Juice drink company Ocean Spray has named BrainJuicer as its preferred supplier for new product concept testing – representing a third global mandate for the online research agency’s ‘Juicy’ products.

News5 May 2010

People on the move

The latest appointments and promotions from the global market research and consumer insight industry. This week: Ci Research, Synovate Healthcare, InMobi, Jovoto, River Research, ComScore, FD, MarketTools, Service Monitor Group and Saatchi & Saatchi X.

News5 May 2010

Bradford takes client role at Nielsen Online post-AOL Europe

UK— Andrew Bradford, AOL Europe’s former director of insight and strategy, has joined Nielsen Online in the role of vice president of media client consulting for the EMEA region.

News5 May 2010

Panel provider Netquest in Brazilian launch

BRAZIL— Online panel and fieldwork agency Netquest has opened a new office in São Paulo. The firm, which already operates panels in its native Spanish market, Portugal and Mexico, says the new office positions it to offer “quality panels and advanced survey tools” to researchers in Brazil.

News5 May 2010

OTX hits back at co-founder Luck's claims for acquisition payout

US— OTX is demanding a jury trial over co-founder Kirstin Luck’s claim that she is owed money in connection with OTX’s recent sale to Ipsos for $71m – claims the company denies.

News4 May 2010

Netigate posts 33% rise in online survey revenue

SWEDEN— Online survey company Netigate has reported a 33% rise in revenue for 2009 to SEK 21.5m ( £1.9m), helped by the addition of 230 new customers.

News4 May 2010

Judge dismisses libel complaint over Gartner's Magic Quadrant report

US— A district court judge has thrown out a claim for libel damages brought by an email software company angry at being described as a “niche” vendor in a Gartner research report.

News4 May 2010

Llewellyn takes over as acting MD of Synovate Malaysia

MALAYSIA— Ben Llewellyn has been appointed acting managing director in Malaysia, taking over from Steve Murphy who left the firm at the end of April.

News4 May 2010

Gayle Moberg to head New York office for Truth

US— British insight consultancy Truth has opened its first overseas office in New York. The agency has hired innovation and brand strategy expert Gayle Moberg to head the US operation.

News4 May 2010

Fabrizio Giordano leaves Synovate to head TNS Portugal

PORTUGAL— TNS has hired Fabrizio Giordano as managing director for Portugal. He has spent that past three years with Synovate as managing director of the firm’s Milan office.

News4 May 2010

Nielsen buys video analytics partner GlanceGuide

US— Nielsen has acquired its video analytics technology partner GlanceGuide in a move that ties in with its ‘extended screen’ TV measurement plan.

News4 May 2010

AGB Nielsen renews TAM contracts in South Africa and Australia

SWITZERLAND— AGB Nielsen has renewed TV audience measurement contracts in South Africa and Australia, with the contracts running for seven and six years respectively.

News4 May 2010

Infogroup first-quarter sales down, profits up

US— Infogroup has reported falling revenue but higher profits in the first quarter of 2010, dampening some of the optimism expressed earlier this year by CEO Bill Fairfield when he said the database marketing and research group was on course for single-digit organic growth.

Feature1 May 2010

Online unplugged

As online research comes of age, have we faced up to questions about representivity? We brought together four industry figures to thrash out the issues.

Feature1 May 2010

Forward thinking

Duncan Stuart and Alastair Gordon pick out ten trends that are shaking up the way research is conducted.

Feature1 May 2010

Forward thinking

Duncan Stuart and Alastair Gordon pick out ten trends that are shaking up the way research is conducted.

Feature1 May 2010

Latin America: Breaking the barriers

Thomas Rideg of Global Intelligence Alliance on the challenges of gathering market intelligence in Latin America – and some tips on getting things right.

Feature1 May 2010

Using your loaf

Phil Burgess of FreshMinds on how Warburtons got its staff to contribute to new product development and reinvigorate its innovation process.

Feature1 May 2010

Hear me out: Let's invite customers into the boardroom

Ever had an idea that you know is genius, but everyone else thinks is crazy? Here is your chance to share it with the world of research.

Feature1 May 2010

60 Second Soapbox – Eleanor Thornton-Firkin

Eleanor Thornton-Firkin, head of the technology group at Synovate, wants to see more long-term commitment between client and agency and a lot less of the Go Compare man.

Feature1 May 2010

Diary: Orwell, Geordies and the Dunkirk spirit

Stuff that caught our eye in and around the research industry this month.

Opinion1 May 2010

Chirpy chirpy tweet tweet

Cliché has it that music hall performers who outstayed their welcome would get yanked off the stage with a shepherd’s crook. Research 2010 presenters who overran faced a somewhat less violent, though no less public, humiliation.

Feature1 May 2010

2009 Globalpark MR software survey results

Tim Macer and Sheila Wilson present the findings from the industry’s most comprehensive survey covering research software usage.

Feature1 May 2010

2009 Globalpark MR software survey results

Tim Macer and Sheila Wilson present the findings from the industry’s most comprehensive survey covering research software usage.

News30 April 2010

Clear Channel Radio names Bob Michaels as research chief

US— Bob Michaels, a veteran of the TV and radio business, has been appointed to the newly created role of executive vice president of research at Clear Channel Radio.