News15 November 2011

Scout Analytics launches research division

US— Web analytics firm Scout Analytics has spun out a research division that will develop behavioural models of online audiences to help publishers design new methodologies that predict revenue and profits based on audience size and behaviours.

News3 November 2011

ComScore posts record revenue but deeper loss in Q3

US— ComScore has reported record quarterly revenue of $58.8m for the third quarter of 2011, but net loss for the period has grown compared to last year.

News31 October 2011

Forrester posts Q3 and nine-month revenue rise

US— Forrester Research has reported revenue growth up 16.7% to $69.8m for the third quarter with net income up 54% to $5.7m.

News31 October 2011

Kantar to use Arbitron PPMs to measure Swedish radio audiences

SWEDEN— Kantar Media has won a six-year deal to measure radio audiences in Sweden, and will use Portable People Meters ( PPMs) licensed from Arbitron to carry out the work.

News31 October 2011

IMS to sell SDI audit businesses to appease FTC

US— IMS Health is buying healthcare data rival SDI but will have to sell two of SDI’s business lines in order to assuage concerns the acquisition would be anticompetitive.

Opinion31 October 2011

Esomar 3D: Winners and losers

Esomar 3D wrapped up on Friday. Plenty of concepts and techniques were discussed, but which ideas are on the ladder of success and which are sliding down the snake of ignominy? Tom Ewing reports.

News31 October 2011

Kadence International adds three to UK team

UK— Kadence International has bolstered its UK team with the appointment of George Tsakraklides as insight manager and Margaret Allen and Eimear Macgarty as insight executives.

News31 October 2011

SPA Future Thinking opens Quantum Lab

UK— SPA Future Thinking has opened an in-house think tank to develop “innovative” research services for the firm’s clients.

News28 October 2011

Socialbakers acquires Social RSS, adds Google+ capabilities

CZECH REPUBLIC— Social and digital media analytics agency Socialbakers has acquired Social RSS, a Facebook RSS reader application. The firm has also expanded its services to cover Google+.

News28 October 2011

International Do Not Call Network launched

Enforcement agencies from 12 countries have joined together to form the International Do Not Call Network ( IDNCN) in a bid to stamp out unwanted telemarketing calls.

News28 October 2011

HP tests predictive capabilities of social media data

US— Hewlett-Packard ( HP) has announced promising results for a pilot programme that combined social media and company-held data in a bid to predict customer behaviour.

News28 October 2011

SurveyMonkey adds Audience panel to DIY survey offer

US— SurveyMonkey has built its own panel. The DIY survey software supplier has been recruiting from its pool of survey takers for several months and now has 350,000 US panellists signed up.

Opinion28 October 2011

What Facebook thinks about market research

Sean Bruich, Facebook’s head of measurement research, promised to tell Esomar 3D delegates what research needs to do better. But was he there to praise the industry or bury it? Tom Ewing reports.

News28 October 2011

Relish names Thompson as managing partner

UK— Relish Research has made Simon Thompson managing partner of the full-service agency, a new position.

News28 October 2011

Austin Reed appoints Experian Footfall in new Regent St store

UK— High street retailer Austin Reed has appointed Experian Footfall to track shopper flow at its new flagship store in London’s Regent Street.

News28 October 2011

Intersperience bags ITV deal

UK— Broadcaster ITV has commissioned Intersperience to run an ad hoc research community as part of its efforts to develop a new web service.

Opinion28 October 2011

What the Foucault? Uses and misuses of social media research

Esomar 3D ventures into the “wild gardens” of social networks and internet forums. Tom Ewing follows.

News28 October 2011

Consumer insight division is WPP's slowest growing

UK— WPP’s consumer insight operations were the slowest growing of the firm’s service sectors in the third quarter of 2011 and for the first nine months of the year, according to a trading update published today.

Opinion27 October 2011

Three routes to digital enlightenment

Tom Ewing reports from a hectic first session at Esomar 3D in Miami.

News27 October 2011

People on the move

All the latest appointments and promotions in the global market research and consumer insight industry. This week: news from Turner Broadcasting, Incite, iGR, Survey Analytics, SocialTwist and ThinkVine.

News27 October 2011

MRS names former BBC marketer as chief executive

UK— Former BBC and Shell marketer Jane Frost CBE has been named the new chief executive of the Market Research Society ( MRS).

News27 October 2011

YouGovPsychonomics gets new identity

GERMANY— YouGovPsychonomics, YouGov’s German subsidiary, is dropping the ‘Psychonomics’ from its name as of January next year.

News27 October 2011

American Magazine Survey shifts to quarterly reporting

US— Affinity is to begin reporting total brand audience estimates for its American Magazine Study on a quarterly basis as opposed to the current twice-yearly reporting period.

News27 October 2011

Growth trend stable – Nielsen up 10% in Q3

US— Nielsen has seen third-quarter revenue rise 10% to $1.4bn thanks to a 12% increase in consumer research sales and 6% growth in media research activities.

News27 October 2011

Ipsos sees 4% revenue rise for first nine months of 2011

FRANCE— Ipsos has posted a 4.1% rise in sales for the first nine months of 2011, taking revenue for the period up to €845.8m.

News27 October 2011

Alterian plans job cuts to save £10.6m

UK— Alterian is looking to save an additional £10.6m in operating costs through staff cuts and office closures as part of the business transformation initiative being implemented by new CEO Heath Davies and chairman Phil Cartmell.

News26 October 2011

Obesity group wants marketers to stop tracking teens

US— Childhood obesity action group NPlan has raised concerns over marketers use of social media monitoring and neuromarketing techniques to develop campaigns to target junk foods at children and teens.

News26 October 2011

Stream Research hoping to make developers H(app)y

UK— Stream Research is launching a new qualitative syndicated study that will span four countries examining what consumers ‘need’ from their apps.

News26 October 2011

Credit card data to target online advertising?

US— Credit card networks Visa and Mastercard are working on plans to segment card users based on their offline purchase behaviour to target them with online advertising, according to a report.

News26 October 2011

USamp looks to play SurveyMonkey at its own game

US— Online sample provider uSamp has launched a free SurveyBuilder tool that allows users to create and distribute surveys among their friends and contacts.

Feature26 October 2011

Sometimes 'like' just ain't enough

Social media has been called ‘word of mouth on steroids’ – but it accounts for less than 10% of brand-related conversations. That’s why measuring online buzz isn’t enough, says Keller Fay’s Steve Thomson.

News26 October 2011

Pew Research Center picks Crimson Hexagon for journalism project

US— The Pew Research Centre’s Project for Excellence in Journalism ( PEJ) has signed up Crimson Hexagon’s ForSight platform to support its research into traditional and new media.

News26 October 2011

McCrindle issues 'correction' for sample size errors

AUSTRALIA— McCrindle Research has issued a “correction” following allegations made in the ABC TV show Media Watch, acknowledging that in the past it had erroneously recorded the wrong sample sizes on press released surveys.

News25 October 2011

Spergel to lead TV insights at Ipsos OTX MediaCT

US— Ipsos has promoted Ben Spergel, manager of its TV Dailies tracking study, to senior vice president of TV insights.

News25 October 2011

AMSRS probes McCrindle survey allegations

AUSTRALIA— The Australian Market & Social Research Society ( AMSRS) is investigating member company McCrindle Research after concerns were raised about the basis of several survey findings quoted in the press.

News25 October 2011

US gov't agency looks to online data for early warning system

US— A US government intelligence research body is hoping it can predict major events such as disease outbreaks and resource shortages by analysing public data online.

Opinion25 October 2011

Measuring what matters

Communications professionals are finding their remuneration tied to measures of a company’s reputation strength. But Kerstin Liehr-Gobbers sounds a note of caution as not all reputation measurement methodologies are fit for purpose.

News25 October 2011

Diageo's Dawn Henry joins Insight Research Group

US — New York-based Insight Research Group has hired Diageo’s former vice president of consumer planning to lead insights and strategy.

News25 October 2011

Arbitron sees Q3 growth, eyes cross-platform future

US— Arbitron has seen third quarter revenue rise 6.1% to $105.6m thanks to the continued commercialisation of portable people meter-based ( PPM) radio ratings services in new US markets and planned PPM price increases.

News24 October 2011

Vision Critical adds mobile and Facebook capabilities

CANADA— Vision Critical has added mobile and Facebook capabilities to its Sparq online research tool.

News24 October 2011

Toluna rolls out data reporting and analysis tool

US— Panel and technology provider Toluna has developed a web-based data reporting and analysis tool, TolunaAnalytics.

News24 October 2011

EU trade orgs lobby European Commission to ban 'sugging'

BRUSSELS— Trade bodies Efamro and Esomar have written to the European Commission calling for rules that would ban companies from selling and fundraising under the guise of research.

Feature24 October 2011

The rules of cool

What makes a brand cool? Robert Bain looks at researchers’ efforts to find out.

News24 October 2011

Chevignon to lead YouGov operations in France

FRANCE— YouGov has appointed former Nielsen executive Julien Chevignon to lead its French operations based in Paris.

News24 October 2011

Alterian rejects £50m takeover offer from SDL

UK— Marketing analytics software business Alterian has rejected an informal offer from web content management and translation software maker SDL, which would have valued the business at just under £50m.

News24 October 2011

$20m funding for Chinese digital marketing measurement firm

CHINA— Digital marketing measurement firm Moment Systems has raised US$20m in a series B financing round involving WPP Digital and a number of venture capital groups.

News21 October 2011

3M adds video capabilities to visual attention analysis tool

US— Technology firm 3M has added video analysis capabilities to its Visual Attention Service, which is used by marketers as an alternative to eye-tracking.

News21 October 2011

Analytics firm Fuel appoints Smiley-Jones as MD

UK— Data analytics agency Fuel, part of the Engine Group, has appointed Edmund Smiley-Jones as managing director, replacing founder Simon Wall who becomes CEO.

News21 October 2011

Nielsen and Carrier IQ team up to measure mobile service quality

US— Nielsen and mobile intelligence firm Carrier IQ have partnered to assess the performance of mobile services, networks and devices around the world.

Opinion21 October 2011

Chunk it!

Smart marketers can prompt big behavioural shifts by breaking changes down into manageable chunks. Crawford Hollingworth offers some examples. Plus, how behavioural economics is at work in a restaurant.

News21 October 2011

RII sees 'continued stagnation' of US MR business

US— A stale economy is no friend to market researchers, it seems – the latest wave of the US Research Industry Index finds “continued stagnation” of business.

News21 October 2011

1HQ's Tom Ellis joins Brand Genetics

UK— Innovation consultancy Brand Genetics has appointed Tom Ellis as director of insight and innovation.

News21 October 2011

Research associations lobby for Census Bureau funding

US— A collective of census users including the American Association for Public Opinion Research and the Marketing Research Association have written to senate leaders to plead for more funding for the Census Bureau.

News20 October 2011

Confirmit strikes Brazilian partnership

BRAZIL— Research software maker Confirmit has struck a reseller agreement with Brazilian online panel and research services firm eCGlobalPanel.

News20 October 2011

Ex-ComScore CPG specialist joins Perception Research Services

US— Shopper research agency Perception Research Services International has appointed Mary Cooper as vice president of account management.

News20 October 2011

Econsultancy launches survey of Australian digital marketing

AUSTRALIA— Digital marketing and e-commerce information site Econsultancy is launching a survey on the state of digital marketing in Australia.

Opinion20 October 2011

What's the Mandarin for 'work/life balance'?

John Wigglesworth and Wynne Cheng examine the culture of long-working hours in the North Asian research industry.

Opinion20 October 2011

What's the Mandarin for 'work/life balance'?

John Wigglesworth and Wynne Cheng examine the culture of long-working hours in the North Asian research industry.

News20 October 2011

Facts International grows call centre

UK— Facts International has expanded its call centre after winning new work from clients including Chartis and Greenflag and commissions from research agencies.

News20 October 2011

Planet Retail hires Ipsos Mori shopper chief Cowan

UK— Retail analyst Planet Retail has appointed Ipsos Mori’s Lindsay Cowan as chief knowledge officer.

News20 October 2011

Ex-Toluna manager launches online fieldwork firm in India

INDIA — A former Toluna sales manager is starting his own data collection firm in India.

News19 October 2011

People on the move

All the latest appointments and promotions from the global market research and consumer insight industry. This week: Razor Research, Research Now, AMSRO, Brand Potential,

News19 October 2011

Horizon Media appoints consumer insights MD

US— Media agency Horizon Media has appointed Christopher Snook as senior vice president and managing director of consumer insights.

News19 October 2011

Engage Research posts revenue rise

UK— Engage Research has posted a 13% increase in sales for the year ending 31 March, bringing revenue up to £2.7m from £2.5m.

News19 October 2011

Crowd Factory adds analytics to social media tool

US— Crowd Factory has added analytics capabilities to its social marketing tool that allows users to assess the impact of social media on their advertising campaigns.

News19 October 2011

Synovate Retail Performance and Firs partner for China store research

CHINA— Synovate Retail Performance and Firs Technologies have struck a partnership to offer data reporting services to stores across Greater China.

News18 October 2011

Insight Research Group hires chief possibility officer

US— Insight Research Group has hired Perry Baldwin to fill the newly created role of chief possibility officer.

News18 October 2011

Euro RSCG Discovery launches in New York

US— Ad agency Euro RSCG has added to its data-centric Euro RSCG Discovery network of agencies by launching in New York.

News18 October 2011

BritainThinks goes international with Shire reputation work

UK— BritainThinks has launched a new international arm, WorldThinks, which has been appointed to run a reputation research project for global pharmaceutical company Shire.

News18 October 2011

Research arm boosts Next Fifteen

UK— Next Fifteen Communications, the owner of Redshift Research, has reported a 19% rise in revenue for the year ending 31 July 2011.

News18 October 2011

Ipsos OTX MediaCT appoints Lightner to lead games research

US— Former Sega man Robert Lightner has been appointed executive vice president within the media and technology group at Ipsos OTX MediaCT. He will also lead the firm’s office in San Francisco.

News17 October 2011

Luma Research conducts Australia's 'first' smartphone survey

AUSTRALIA— Research Now and Luma Research have teamed up to carry out what they claim is the first survey in Australia to use smartphones to conduct fieldwork.

News17 October 2011

IAB Australia launches mobile council with measurement focus

AUSTRALIA— The Interactive Advertising Bureau Australia has formed a mobile advertising council to look at mobile audience measurement, ad standards, guidelines and best practice.

News17 October 2011

Aevolve continues Asia push with Malaysia office

MALAYSIA— Aevolve, the insight and evaluation unit of Aegis Media, has moved into Malaysia with Mark Chaves at the helm.

News17 October 2011

Ex-George Street director re-joins RFM Research

UK— Ex-George Street Research director David Primrose has re-joined RFM Research as director of market research, eight years after he last worked there.

News17 October 2011

Ipsos's Kristin Sharp joins TNS as qual COO

UK— TNS has appointed Kristin Sharp to the newly created position of chief operating officer of its qualitative business.

News14 October 2011

IFF Research promotes five, names Davies director

UK— Ben Davies has been promoted to the position of director at IFF Research, one of five promotions at the company.

News14 October 2011

Double deal for Rentrak

US— Media measurement firm Rentrak has struck an expanded deal with Fisher Communications and added Shorts HD as a new customer.

News14 October 2011

Experian Simmons completes mobile meter test

US— Experian Simmons has completed an “extensive” test of new mobile metering technology that links smartphone behaviour with consumer brand preferences, multiplatform media consumption, demographics and attitudes.

News14 October 2011

Ebiquity snaps up Faulkner Media Management

UK— Media intelligence firm Ebiquity has acquired Australian media analytics consultancy Faulkner Media Management in a deal that could be worth up to £3.7m.

News14 October 2011

Co-founders Talbot and McCarthy leave Alterian

UK— Alterian directors Michael Talbot and Tim McCarthy, who co-founded the business in 1997 with former CEO David Eldridge, have resigned “by mutual consent”.

News13 October 2011

Retail traffic counter ShopperTrak readies European expansion

UK— ShopperTrak, whose technology counts and analyses footfall in malls and retail stores, has announced its expansion in Europe following the acquisition of its UK-based licensee.

News13 October 2011

Bellwether sees healthy Q3 – but uncertain outlook

UK— There was good news for research in the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising’s ( IPA) quarterly Bellwether Report on marketing spending, but uncertainty remains about the future.

News13 October 2011

IFM Sports Marketing Surveys wins Volvo Ocean Race task

UK— Volvo Ocean Race has appointed IFM Sports Marketing Surveys as its research consultant for the 2011-2012 event, which starts in Spain next month.

News13 October 2011

Aviva appoints BritainThinks for reputation task

UK— Global insurance group Aviva has commissioned BritainThinks to conduct a qualitative and quantitative reputation audit among key stakeholders.

News13 October 2011

Indian TV ratings row hots up

INDIA— The row over the reporting frequency of TV ratings in India has stepped up a gear after the Indian Broadcasting Foundation joined a campaign to shift to monthly, instead of weekly, ratings.

News13 October 2011

Former Nielsen man named SoundOut president

US— Rob Sisco has been appointed president for North America at music insight, testing and analytics firm SoundOut, which provides clients with feedback on new music releases.

Opinion13 October 2011

Getting the story straight

Esomar Congress recently heard calls for researchers to get better at telling stories and to find new ways of inspiring clients. But we need to make sure the stories we tell are grounded in reality, warns Dan Kvistbo.

News12 October 2011

Gemius replaces ComScore on Czech online study

CZECH REPUBLIC— Gemius and partner firm Mediaresearch have replaced ComScore as the provider of the Czech Association for Internet Advertising’s ( SPIR) audience measurement services for online and mobile media.

News12 October 2011

Synovate's Beeck joins Metrix Consulting

AUSTRALIA— Former Synovate Australia managing director Julie Beeck has joined Metrix Consulting as an executive director.

Feature12 October 2011

Didier Truchot introduces the new Ipsos

Ipsos has completed its acquisition of Synovate, bringing together around 16,000 employees in 84 countries to create the world’s third-largest research company. Now comes the task of integrating the two businesses.

News12 October 2011

MRA sees survey opportunity in Obama deficit plan

US— The Marketing Research Association ( MRA) is hoping to hitch an exemption for the use of autodiallers in cellphone-based survey research to President Barack Obama’s package of deficit reduction measures.

News12 October 2011

Facebook buys Friend.ly Q&A service

US— More big moves in the social Q&A space: Facebook has acquired application developer Friend.ly.

News12 October 2011

Experian FootFall tech tailor-made for Gieves & Hawkes

UK— Men’s tailor Gieves & Hawkes has hired Experian FootFall to provide shopper insight for its flagship London store, No.1 Savile Row.

News12 October 2011

Ipsos completes Synovate acquisition

FRANCE— Ipsos has completed its £525m acquisition of Synovate, creating the third largest market research company in the world by turnover.

News11 October 2011

NPD Group and Sam's Club strike data deal

US— Walmart-owned retailer Sam’s Club has reached an agreement with The NPD Group to supply the research firm with point-of-sale data from its stores and website.

News11 October 2011

Sun Microsystems founder embarks on Q&A app venture

US— Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy has gone from selling computers to selling opinions through his new venture Wayin.

News11 October 2011

Market Force Information wins Baja Fresh work

US— Mexican restaurant chain Baja Fresh has hired Market Force Information to carry out a mystery shopping and customer intelligence project.

News11 October 2011

Australia's online measurement system launches next week

AUSTRALIA— The Interactive Advertising Bureau will release the first wave of data from its online audience measurement provider, Nielsen, next week.

Feature11 October 2011

Understanding IBM's big analytics bet

An IBM study finds chief marketing officers unprepared to deal with the data explosion caused by social media. Just as well, then, that the company has invested $14bn in buying analytics businesses. How can market researchers hope to compete?

News11 October 2011

Chime buys Gulliford Consulting in deal worth up to £4.75m

UK— Chime Communications has acquired marketing strategy consultancy Gulliford Consulting from its founder, Simon Gulliford, in a deal worth up to £4.75m.

News11 October 2011

Nielsen's DMA maps are copyright protected, says judge

US— An Illinois judge has ruled that Nielsen has a valid copyright claim for its designated market area ( DMAs) maps which it accuses outdoor advertising firm Truck Ads of copying.

News11 October 2011

Twitter analytics startup SocialGrapple joins Google

US— Google has acquired the team behind Twitter analytics tool SocialGrapple.

Opinion10 October 2011

Counting the beats: a critique

Does heart always lead head? Steven Walden challenges some of the assumptions and myths he sees running through our recent series of articles on measuring emotion.

News10 October 2011

Vision Critical signs Sparq deal in Italy

ITALY— Vision Critical has reached a deal with Demoskopea that sees the Italian research agency use Vision Critical’s Sparq platform to build community panels for clients.

News10 October 2011

Mintel acquires market intelligence firm Access Asia

UK— Mintel Group has acquired Access Asia, a UK-based provider of market intelligence for companies looking to develop a presence in Greater China and south-east Asia.

News10 October 2011

Truth bags funding from private equity firm

UK— Strategic insight consultancy Truth has received investment from private equity group Vitruvian as part of a takeover of Truth’s early-stage backer, The College Group.

News10 October 2011

OnePoint Global unveils mobile survey app

UK— Mobile research technology provider OnePoint Global has launched a new mobile survey tool, the TellMe App.

News10 October 2011

Opinium Research hires client relations manager

UK— Full-service agency Opinium Research has appointed Kate Norfolk as client relations manager.

News10 October 2011

Nine cities added to Indian radio measurement service

INDIA— TAM Media Research has added nine cities to the list covered by its radio audience measurement ( RAM) service.

News10 October 2011

US acquisitions help drive YouGov growth

UK — Online researcher YouGov has reported 27% annual revenue growth, with operating profit up 40%. Revenue was £56.1m, up from £44.2m.

News7 October 2011

People on the move

The latest appointments and promotions in the global market research and consumer insight industry.

News7 October 2011

ComScore's Ad Metrix gets social with new metrics

US— ComScore’s display ad measurement tool Ad Metrix now reports impressions for ‘socially published’ and ‘socially enabled’ ads.

News7 October 2011

Aimia appoints Harris for loyalty study

CANADA— Loyalty management firm Aimia has appointed Harris Interactive to carry out an online study of consumers in Canada, the US and UK to compare the attitudes and behaviours of Millennials and older consumers.

News7 October 2011

Veteran CNN news man launches Poll Position

US— Former CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan has launched a polling, social media and news website, Poll Position, which polls Americans about topical issues.

News7 October 2011

Lego makes crowd-sourcing platform global

DENMARK— Lego has launched a global website, Lego Cuusoo, to crowd-source new product ideas, after testing the concept in Japan for the past three years.

News7 October 2011

Kantar buys out Sri Lanka's LMRB

SRI LANKA— WPP’s research group Kantar has bought the remainder of Sri Lanka’s LMRB, taking its stake from 49% to 100%.

News6 October 2011

USamp iPhone app to allow location-based polls

US— Online sample provider uSamp has developed an iPhone app called iPoll to allow its panellists to complete surveys on the go, including those targeted on a user’s current location.

News6 October 2011

Passenger aims for ideation with community upgrade

US— Online community builder Passenger has added ideation tools to the latest version of its Social Brand Intelligence platform.

News6 October 2011

LSE picks Opinium to study youth politics in Europe

UK— The London School of Economics’ ( LSE) Enterprise Team has appointed Opinium Research to carry out a study across seven European countries examining young people’s political attitudes.

Opinion6 October 2011

Facing up to the industry skills gap

A flooded job market doesn’t necessarily make life easy for research recruiters. Jessica Bower of Sundance London looks at what employers can do to make sure they find the right people and how candidates can show their best side.

News6 October 2011

AOP names ComScore for ad effectiveness task

UK— The Association of Online Publishers has hired ComScore to research how websites that score highly for consumer trustworthiness can deliver better returns on advertising investments.

News6 October 2011

Lindstrom brain science claims 'unsupported'

US— A group of dozens of scientists have criticised neuromarketing writer Martin Lindstrom for claiming that brain scans show that people “love” their digital devices.

News6 October 2011

Suppliers 'trailing buyers' on new techniques

US— Research suppliers are not keeping up with buyers over some of the most promising research techniques, according to the latest wave of the Greenbook Research Industry Trends survey.

News6 October 2011

Essential's Kendrick set for BBC research role

UK— The BBC has appointed Essential Research’s Simon Kendrick as a research manager within the Future Media Audiences team.

Opinion5 October 2011

The biochemistry of temptation

As consumers, we’re all familiar with that irrational urge to buy something that’s not good for us or that we don’t really need. Some blame peer pressure, others the power of marketing. But Crawford Hollingworth says biochemistry has a lot to answer for.

News5 October 2011

Facts International adopts Confirmit Horizons

UK— Facts International has adopted Confirmit’s Horizons software for its research activities.

News5 October 2011

GfK invests in Egypt and Japan

GERMANY— GfK has increased its stake in its Japanese joint venture and fully acquired the assets of mystery shopping firm Nippon Media and GfK Egypt, the firm said today.

News5 October 2011

WorldOne appoints Germany MD

GERMANY— Online healthcare data collection firm WorldOne has appointed Gerald Wackert to the newly created position of managing director for Germany.

News5 October 2011

Rentrak syndicates Bluefin's 'social TV' data

US— Media measurement firm Rentrak is to incorporate social media data from Bluefin Labs into its TV Essentials service.

News5 October 2011

AskingCanadians to build SavvyMom panel

CANADA— Data collection firm AskingCanadians has been appointed by digital publisher SavvyMom Media to create a branded community made up of Canadian mothers with young children.

News5 October 2011

Federated Media to acquire analytics provider Lijit Networks

US— Federated Media Publishing, which provides advertising services to small websites, has acquired Lijit Networks, whose services include online audience analytics.

News5 October 2011

Ex-Nielsen leader Arthur C. Nielsen Jr dies aged 92

US— Arthur C. Nielsen Jr, son of the founder of market research giant Nielsen and a long-time president and chairman of the company, has died aged 92.

News4 October 2011

Ingledew named MD of YouGov Definitive Insights

US— YouGov has appointed Steve Ingledew as managing director of its Definitive Insights custom division in San Francisco.

News4 October 2011

AJ Johnson joins BrainJuicer to lead mobile innovation

UK— Ipsos’s mobile guru AJ Johnson has joined BrainJuicer’s research and development arm in the new role of director of innovation technology – with a particular focus on mobile research.

News4 October 2011

Redshift opens office in New York

US— Redshift Research, the UK-based agency owned by communications and PR group Next Fifteen, has opened its first overseas office in New York.

Feature4 October 2011

The future, by those who'll make it

What does the future have in store for market research? Our graduates offer their view in part two of our careers round table.

News4 October 2011

New readership research supplier for Norwegian magazine body

NORWAY— The Media Business Association ( Mediebedriftenes Landsforening) has picked TNS Gallup to run its magazine and weekly press readership survey from 2012.

News4 October 2011

TNS appoints marketing sciences head

UK— Ipsos Marketing’s UK MD Mark Kingsbury is to leave the company to join TNS as head of marketing sciences in January 2012.

News4 October 2011

Facebook to tell brands what people are talking about

US— Facebook is ramping up its Page Insights product to give brand owners a clearer view of the engagement levels generated by their page and wall posts.

News4 October 2011

Cymfony heads to Europe and opens London office

UK— Media monitoring firm Cymfony, part of Kantar Media, is pushing out from the US into Europe with an office in London.

News4 October 2011

BDRC launches Asia business

SINGAPORE— BDRC has launched an Asian business in Singapore headed by Piers Lee, formerly of Kadence and Synovate.

News3 October 2011

Socialbakers celebrates $2m investment

CZECH REPUBLIC— Social and digital media analytics agency Socialbakers has been awarded $2m in a financing round led by technology investment firm Earlybird Venture Capital.

News3 October 2011

DoCoMo and Intage plan research joint venture

JAPAN— Mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo is planning a market research joint venture with Intage, according to tech news website Nikkei.com.

News3 October 2011

Pollster André Pineda dies aged 46

US— André Pineda, a Democratic pollster, has died at the age of 46. Reports say he took his own life.

News3 October 2011

Mobile media needs 'solid metrics', says IAB

US— Cookies are unreliable; server logs are stymied; the ecosystem is fragmented and privacy concerns loom large – none of which changes the fact that mobile advertising needs a standardised set of measurements, according to a new IAB paper.

News3 October 2011

German research watchdog accuses US-based firm of sugging

GERMANY— A US-based company has been accused by the German research watchdog of selling under the guise of research.

News3 October 2011

New research manager as EasyInsites gears up for expansion

UK — Online researcher EasyInsites has hired Sandra Jehoel as research manager.

News3 October 2011

USamp founder calls for change in sample pricing model

US— USamp co-founder Matt Dusig is pushing for a new pricing model in the online sample business – moving away from cost-per-interview ( CPI) to cost-per-finish.

Feature1 October 2011

Centre of attention

Channel 4’s Big Fat Gypsy Weddings triggered a huge response in terms of viewing figures and word-of-mouth buzz. Robert Bain hears how the broadcaster combined surveys with social media monitoring to dissect the show’s impact.

Feature1 October 2011

What’s it worth?

Buyers and suppliers are struggling to define the business impact of research. Is time running out for them to do so? Tim Phillips reports.

Opinion1 October 2011

Going native

Paul Hudson of Intersperience explains five things researchers need to know about the Facebook generation.

Feature1 October 2011

When it comes to the crunch

Jeffrey Henning of Affinnova on how techniques inspired by the theory of evolution helped Snack Factory extend its product range.

Feature1 October 2011

The special relationship

Claire McAlpine explains how MediaCom’s research unit helped the Metropolitan Police understand what makes people give up their spare time to police London’s streets – for free.