Feature31 December 2012

Preview of 2013 – part 4

Rounding off our Preview of 2013, Howard Fienberg considers what four more years of Obama might mean for research, Phil Burgess talks co-creation and Mark Zielinski raises the prospect of tapping IPTV as a real-time source of consumer opinion.

Feature28 December 2012

Preview of 2013 – part 3

David Day on the lasting impact of the recession, Barry Ryan on what to expect from the EU’s data protection overhaul and Tim Britton on why getting to grips with big data will sort the winners from the losers.

Feature27 December 2012

Preview of 2013 – part 2

Frédéric-Charles Petit on the road to democratisation, Paul Flatters on why the BRIC acronym should be retired and Alistair Hill on the importance of mobile.

Feature24 December 2012

Preview of 2013 – part 1

Richard Evensen, Lenny Murphy and Sean Pillot de Chenecey kick-off our four-part preview of the next 12 months with thoughts on disruption, British branding and the need for MR to make friends with database geeks.

News21 December 2012

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our readers

So that’s another year done. As always, our sincerest thanks to the thousands of you who visit us, read our content, comment on it and share it with friends and colleagues. We appreciate your continued support.

News21 December 2012

GfK renews AGF TV ratings contract worth €130m

GERMANY — Germany’s TV measurement partnership AGF has commissioned GfK to continue monitoring TV viewing in Germany until at least 2018 in a contract worth €130m.

News21 December 2012

Kontagent makes analytics dashboard iOS compatible

US — Mobile customer intelligence provider Kontagent has announced new iPhone and iPad apps to run its kSuite analytics dashboard.

News21 December 2012

Wapor calls on industry to protect polling freedoms

GLOBAL — Major governmental impediments to the free flow of public opinion surveys remain common across the globe with blackout periods pre-election being the biggest cause for concern, according to a study by the World Association for Public Opinion Research ( Wapor).

Feature21 December 2012

Top tens of 2012

2012 has been a big year for market research, which meant a busy year for us. Here’s a roundup of our most popular news stories and feature articles, according to what you – the reader – clicked and commented on.

News21 December 2012

Research Now promotes Bowen to Canada VP role

CANADA — Research Now has promoted director of client development in North America Jason Bowen to the new role of vice president of client development for Canada.

News21 December 2012

Leger Marketing acquires Agility Metrics

CANADA — Canadian polling firm Leger Marketing has acquired a majority stake in Agility Metrics, a Montreal-based software company specialising in customer experience management solutions.

News21 December 2012

Kantar acquires AdGooroo in the US

US — WPP has announced that its insights network Kantar has acquired AdGooroo, specialists in providing global digital media intelligence.

News20 December 2012

Lumi Mobile hires Kernan as relationship manager

UK — Mobile survey technology firm Lumi Mobile has appointed Amie Kernan as relationship manager following a six-year spell as head project manager at TNS.

News20 December 2012

DirecTV taps eCGlobal for TV ratings app

US — Satellite broadcaster DirecTV has launched an app for its DTV ratings system in Latin America that allows subscribers to check programme performance and audience share through their mobile devices.

News20 December 2012

YouTube analytics platform gets $2.5m investment

US — Tubular, an analytics platform designed to support YouTube content creators, has closed a $2.5m financing round.

News20 December 2012

Placed unveils app for charitable donations using points

US — Location analytics specialists Placed have launched a mobile app that allow users to turn earned points into charitable donations in exchange for opting in to location measurement.

Opinion20 December 2012

Big data and the consumer

Consumers are coping better with information overload than you might think. IBM’s Vivian Braun highlights the key findings of a recent survey of how people are adapting to a big data world.

News20 December 2012

Nielsen wins Czech Republic TV measurement contract

CZECH REPUBLIC — Nielsen has been appointed by the Czech Republic’s Association for Television Audience Measurement ( SPMS) to measure television viewing nationally. 

News20 December 2012

WPP acquires Australian analytics firm Bienalto

AUSTRALIA — WPP has acquired a majority stake in digital marketing and analytics consultancy Bienalto, based in Sydney, Australia.

News20 December 2012

Christmas budgets lift marketing gloom, says Warc GMI

GLOBAL — The Christmas season is giving marketers a little reason for cheer with marketing budget outlook less gloomy than it was in November, according to Warc’s latest Global Marketing Index ( GMI).

Opinion19 December 2012

Stop the presses

The closure of The Daily raises plenty of questions, says Carbonview’s Keith Burtis. For instance, were the right questions asked about consumer behaviour in the early stages of development?

News19 December 2012

Ventana Research to focus attention on location analytics

US — Business IT specialists Ventana Research are opening up a new research programme to investigate the importance of location analytics to enterprise customers.

News19 December 2012

Media measurement 'needs to be real-time and predictive'

US — Digital media measurement must evolve towards real-time and predictive analytics, according to a ‘manifesto’ recently published by ComScore.

News19 December 2012

Ace Metrix gets sentimental with new emotion metric

US — TV and video analytics firm Ace Metrix has introduced a new Emotional Sentiment Index ( ESI) metric for determining the level of emotional engagement consumers have with ads.

News19 December 2012

The Modellers opens strategic analytics unit

US — Omnicom-owned data specialist The Modellers is creating a business unit dedicated to strategic analytics.

News19 December 2012

Kantar and Nielsen collaborate on book buying data

UK — Kantar Worldpanel and Nielsen BookScan are working together to produce information on the buying habits of print and e-book consumers.

Feature18 December 2012

Together at last

Competitors for much of their history but willing collaborators at other times – Nielsen and Arbitron will get the chance to work together full time once their $1.3bn marriage is complete.

News18 December 2012

Critical Mix acquired by reInvention

US — Global sampling and data collection services provider reInvention has acquired cloud-based software technology company Critical Mix to create a new end-to-end data collection, analysis and reporting solution.

News18 December 2012

DJS makes two staff promotions

UK — DJS Research has announced promotions for two of its team members. Matt Bristow and Annie Young will become research manager and research executive respectively.

News18 December 2012

PivotLink hires Coremetrics execs to drive analytics growth

US — Cloud marketing specialist PivotLink has appointed two former Coremetrics executives to drive the company’s next stage of growth in analytics. Caroline Waterson joins as vice president of field marketing and Bill DeLauro joins as vice president of operations.

News18 December 2012

Nielsen in $1.3bn deal to buy Arbitron

US — Nielsen has signed a definitive agreement to buy radio measurement firm Arbitron for about $1.26bn, or $48 per share, the company announced today.

News18 December 2012

Russian research market worth $390m, up 5% in 2012

RUSSIA — Market research industry turnover in Russia grew 5% to $390m in 2012, according to the latest figures from the Russian Association for Market and Opinion Research ( OIROM).

News18 December 2012

Socialbakers buys Socialbrando to expand analytics

CZECH REPUBLIC — Social analytics firm Socialbakers has acquired the Croatian social media advertising company, Socialbrando, incorporating both its platform and its team.

News18 December 2012

Twitter plans new social TV ratings system with Nielsen

US — Nielsen has signed an exclusive multi-year agreement with Twitter to create a Nielsen Twitter TV Rating for the US market. The system aims to deliver a syndicated-standard metric around the reach of TV conversations on Twitter.

News17 December 2012

Populus sees 2012 annual revenues up 38%

UK — Populus Group has reported an annual revenue lift of 38% for the year to March 2012 to just over £3m, compared to the consolidated operating figures for the previous 12 months.

News17 December 2012

ESRO unveils new identity

UK — Social research agency ESRO has revamped its identity, complemented by a new website. The move comes after the firm scooped two MRS awards last week.

News17 December 2012

The Football League unveils The Changing Room online panel

UK — The Football League has unveiled an online panel called The Changing Room, created by Vision Critical Europe.

News17 December 2012

NDTV defends request for TAM legal fight to be heard in New York

INDIA — New Delhi Television ( NDTV) has published its reply to pleas for dismissal of its petition by TAM in the New York Supreme Court, arguing that the case should be tried in the US because the Nielsen Process originates and is controlled in the country.

Feature17 December 2012

Insight's role in the changing soft drinks marketplace

Peter Jenkins, head of FMCG at GfK NOP, looks at how consumer insights are helping soft drinks brands to reconsider the ways that they communicate with consumers.

News17 December 2012

Repucom signs Milnes as new UK marketing chief

UK — Sports research agency Repucom has signed Andrew Milnes, currently head of marketing and communications at The Ageas Bowl, to head up its marketing in the UK and Ireland.

News17 December 2012

Senate Judiciary Committee approves location-privacy bill

US — The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a location-privacy bill that aims to give people new privacy protections in their digital data.

News17 December 2012

Heart+Mind lands Don Hawk to steer healthcare unit

US — Heart+Mind Strategies has appointed Harris Interactive VP Don Hawk, to support further growth in its healthcare business and to expand the strategic offerings of the company.

News17 December 2012

Engage sees annual sales rise by 7% and relocates office

UK — Engage Research, the consumer insight and market research agency specialising primarily in the FMCG and media sectors, has reported a 7% increase in sales to £2.95m for the year ending March 2012.

News14 December 2012

WPP's Y&R partners Sinomonitor on consumer study

CHINA — WPP’s Y&R agency network and Chinese market researchers Sinomonitor have announced a partnership to conduct proprietary in-depth research and analysis into China’s rural consumers and its changing middle class.

News14 December 2012

Canopy Labs raises $1.5m to expand analytics range

CANADA — Toronto-based customer intelligence startup Canopy Labs has closed a $1.5m investment led by the BDC Venture Capital IT Fund with participation from Valar Ventures and a number of angel investors.

News14 December 2012

Internet Explorer flaw lets mouse movement be tracked

UK — A flaw in certain versions of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer that allows third parties to track and monitor the mouse movements of web users is being exploited by at least two large online analytics companies.

News14 December 2012

Repucom hires Foxtel's Finlayson to lead business development

AUSTRALIA — Repucom, the sports marketing research specialist, has appointed James Finlayson as director of business development.

News14 December 2012

DMR launches MediaBug media consumption tracker

UK — Decipher Media Research ( DMR) has unveiled a new bi-annual media consumption tracker called MediaBug, based on an online consumer survey of 3,000 UK consumers.

News14 December 2012

Arbitron COO Creamer to replace Kerr as CEO

US — Arbitron chief operating officer Sean Creamer is to replace William Kerr as president and CEO of the media measurement firm on 1 January, the company has announced. Kerr is retiring after a three-year tenure as CEO.

Feature14 December 2012

Memory stick

Studies of the brain suggest that memorable ads are the most effective. Brian Tarran meets Professor Richard Silberstein, the man who wants you to remember that.

Opinion13 December 2012

Making online campaign measurement more productive

Today sees the UK launch of Nielsen’s Online Brand Effect, designed to help advertisers track the impact their online campaigns are having on classic brand lift metrics. Andrew Bradford, VP client consulting for media at The Nielsen Company explains the importance of digital metrics.

News13 December 2012

Nielsen announces UK launch of Online Brand Effect

UK — Nielsen has announced the UK rollout of its Online Brand Effect measurement and optimisation offering, with the Financial Times signed up as one of its first customers.

News13 December 2012

AMR promotes Freedman to MD as Wilkinson departs

AUSTRALIA — STW-owned research agency AMR has promoted Oliver Freedman, the general manager of its Sydney office, to MD, replacing Gary Wilkinson who is leaving to build his own business after 10 years at the helm.

News13 December 2012

Metametrics hires Watts as head of marketing analytics

UK — Metametrics has appointed Starcom MediaVest associate director Samuel Watts to the newly created role of head of marketing analytics.

News13 December 2012

Crimson Hexagon partners with Klout to track influencers

UK — Social media analysis firm Crimson Hexagon has announced the integration of Klout influence scores with its ForSight platform in an effort to better understand the value of key individuals in social media.

News13 December 2012

Kadence plans Boston office for US insights team

US — Kadence International is opening a second office in Massachusetts for its US insights team, this one based in Boston. It will be headed by Kieron Mathews who becomes US chief executive after two years as joint CEO.

News13 December 2012

VC firm to build $25m fund for marketing tech investments

US — A Nielsen-backed venture capital firm is looking to build a fund of at least $25m to invest in marketing technology start-ups.

News12 December 2012

Webtrends unveils Streams to enhance real-time engagement

UK — Digital intelligence specialist Webtrends has unveiled a new tool called Streams that offers marketers real-time visitor data across all online sources to help them target customers as they navigate the web.

News12 December 2012

Incite adds three associates to team

UK — Incite has strengthened its senior account team with the appointment of three new associates to work with key clients across multiple industry sectors.

News12 December 2012

US adspend up by 7% in Q3, says Nielsen

US — Total adspend across the USA was up 7% for Q3 compared to the same period last year, according to the latest Nielsen data, with television networks benefiting most from the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Opinion12 December 2012

Not particularly satisfied

A Net Promoter Score isn’t a measure of customer satisfaction, but businesses can often treat it as though it is. This leads them to overlook the emotional and social aspects that drive consumer recommendations, says Simpson Carpenter’s Paul Griffiths.

News12 December 2012

ReInvention hires Hopper to lead healthcare division

US — Global sampling and data collection services provider ReInvention has appointed Survey Sampling International’s ( SSI) Ryan Hopper to the newly created role of president for healthcare ahead of the division’s official launch in 2013.

News12 December 2012

T-Mobile's Standish brings data platform out of stealth

US — Former T-Mobile chief information architect Matt Standish is heading up a new software company that aggregates and analyses data from social, mobile and CRM sources to create “personas” for targeted marketing.

News12 December 2012

Lack of data insight 'could waste £2.5bn annually'

UK — A lack of data-based decision making in marketing departments could be costing the industry up to £2.5bn annually, according to a study by Cint and marketing software firm marketingQED.

News12 December 2012

Britton to manage YouGov UK business following Rance exit

UK — YouGov chief operating officer Tim Britton will return to his role directly managing the UK business, alongside his responsibilities for the wider EMEA business, in the wake of Phil Rance’s upcoming departure.

News12 December 2012

IAB's Fisher to take up regional MD role at Nielsen

AUSTRALIA — Nielsen has appointed IAB Australia CEO Paul Fisher as managing director of its media business across Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.

News11 December 2012

Gould steps down from Harris board as he moves up at Greycroft

US — Harris Interactive board director Alan Gould has resigned after 20 months helping the company’s product innovation efforts.

News11 December 2012

100%Cotton hires Nelson as insight manager

UK — Brand insight and strategy consultancy 100%Cotton has hired Mike Nelson as insight manager, with a focus on helping the company develop its business in the building trade and home improvement sector.

News11 December 2012

Publicis acquires MarketGate in Mumbai

INDIA — Publicis Groupe has acquired MarketGate, a Mumbai-based strategic business and marketing consulting firm. The deal includes market research subsidiary MarketGate Dimensions.

News11 December 2012

Quadrangle hires YouGov's Rance as director

UK — Quadrangle has appointed YouGov’s UK managing director Phil Rance to the newly created role of corporate development director.

News11 December 2012

Diageo, Sainsbury's and GfK win at Research Awards

UK — Diageo was named Client of the Year and GfK and ABA Market Research were crowned Best Agencies at last night’s Research Awards.

News10 December 2012

Facts International promotes Kettle to MD

UK — Facts International has promoted Emily Kettle from her role as group client services director to managing director.

News10 December 2012

Knoa raises $7.5m for global expansion

US — User experience and performance software specialist Knoa Software has raised $7.5m funding from a group of investors including Gefinor Ventures, Advantage Capital Partners and Rand Capital.

Feature10 December 2012

'MR doesn't stand still'

A former Unilever researcher and two directors from brand consultancy Clear have founded Antedote – an innovation hub offering research based on psychological principles such as behaviour change. We found out more.

News10 December 2012

IBM hints at insight at the speed of light

US — IBM claims to have made a major technological breakthrough that will tackle some of the challenges associated with big data – specifically the ability to quickly transfer large amounts of data.

News10 December 2012

Scottish FA to poll fans on league reconstruction issues

UK — The Scottish Footbal Association is to conduct its first National Football Survey of fans covering issues such as league reconstruction, national team performance and match day experience.

News10 December 2012

Pernod Ricard creates Chatter as employee innovation catalyst

FRANCE — Drinks firm Pernod Ricard has launched a corporate social network, called Chatter, which encourages employees to generate ideas and share insights for improving its family of brands.

News10 December 2012

Verve hires Winning from EasyInsites for business development

UK — Online communities specialist Verve has appointed EasyInsites co-founder Jo Winning as a business development consultant.

Opinion7 December 2012

The opportunity of change

Most people remember the 1970s as a time of austerity, but it was also a period of great innovation. Pete Comley says the same is true today – and smart brands will be able to gain market share by bringing new ideas to market.

News7 December 2012

Beta launch for HunchBuzz crowdsourcing platform

NEW ZEALAND — HunchBuzz, an open innovation crowdsourcing platform with over 600,000 members, has launched in New Zealand.

News7 December 2012

Cint secures two healthcare panel deals in US

US — Cint has signed a new access panel partnership with Delta Marketing Dynamics ( DMD) and secured an extension to its existing collaboration with ImpactRx to boost its presence in the healthcare sector in the US.

News7 December 2012

Big data firm Cloudera gets $65m to fund expansion

US — Big sums of money continue to be channelled into big data companies, with software firm Cloudera the latest beneficiary.

News7 December 2012

Priest named as next IPA president

UK — Ian Priest, the international MD of marketing services group Chime, has been nominated to become the next president of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising ( IPA).

News7 December 2012

UM launches Decision Sciences division in Europe

UK — UM is launching Decision Sciences, its specialist digital media data management and insights division, in Europe. The hub will be in London and manage international clients.

News6 December 2012

Pharma veteran Denysyk takes helm at HRA

US — Healthcare Research & Analytics ( HRA) has appointed Oleh Denysyk as its new president, replacing John Maglione who is taking an as yet unspecified new role within the company, according to a statement.

News6 December 2012

ResponseTap opens US HQ in New York

US — Call tracking and analytics specialist ResponseTap ( formerly AdInsight) has opened its US headquarters in New York.

News6 December 2012

Peanut Labs unveils Samplify self-serve platform

US — Social media measurement specialist Peanut Labs has launched a global self-serve sampling platform, called Samplify.

News6 December 2012

Tableau in data vis partnership with Deloitte Consulting

US — Software developer Tableau is to provide 10,000 licences of its flagship data visualisation product to Deloitte Consulting as part of a strategic relationship between the two companies.

News6 December 2012

Magna Global ad growth forecast slows for 2013

GLOBAL — Advertising revenues will grow by 3.1% in 2013, down from the 4.5% estimate of six months ago, according to the latest forecast from Interpublic Group’s Magna Global.

News6 December 2012

Capital One buys Bundle to deliver data-powered products

UK — Capital One has confirmed the acquisition of local directory analytics firm Bundle Corporation. Bundle’s CEO, Jaidev Shergill, and its 11 associates will now support Capital One’s Digital Labs.

News5 December 2012

Bonobos taps Qualtrics for consumer insight

US— Online clothing brand Bonobos has signed up to use Qualtrics’ data collection platform to gather customer data around its menswear range.

News5 December 2012

ClearStory Data announces $9m series A investment

US — Big data analytics provider ClearStory Data has announced the closing of a $9m series A financing round with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.

News5 December 2012

E-Tabs appoints Liu as dashboard consultant for APAC team

UK — Data visualisation and automated reporting provider E-Tabs has appointed William Liu to the role of dashboard consultant for E-Tabs Asia Pacific.

Opinion5 December 2012

How BE turns debt repayment on its head

Crawford Hollingworth tackles the issue of debt in the run-up to Christmas, and how behavioural economics can be used by financial services firms to help ease the burden on our bank accounts.

News5 December 2012

Adelphic Mobile raises $10m from Google Ventures & Matrix Partners

US — Mobile measurement specialists Adelphic Mobile have raised $10m in funding from Google Ventures and existing investor Matrix Partners.

News5 December 2012

Barocci to retire from ARF

US— The Advertising Research Foundation ( ARF) is on the hunt for a new president and CEO after Bob Barocci announced his intention to retire from the position at the end of the year.

News5 December 2012

Crowd DNA appoints new associate directors

UK — Crowd DNA has hired Kantar’s Mat Riches and GfK’s Laura Fry as associate directors to help it maintain its strong growth in the media, technology and FMCG categories.

News5 December 2012

China Mobile tops Chinese brand list

CHINA — China Mobile has retained its number one spot in the third annual BrandZ Top 50 most valuable Chinese brands study, commissioned by WPP and undertaken by Millward Brown.

News5 December 2012

IPA study highlights need for research in ad planning process

UK — Highly creative advertising will fail if it does not have sufficient scale and is not evaluated over the longer term, the IPA has warned in its effectiveness research study.

News4 December 2012

Decipher adds features to Beacon MR tool

US — Decipher has added several new features to its Beacon market research platform, including an alternative question toolkit and a library of alternative questions.

Feature4 December 2012

A French connection

Stéphane Marder, former managing director of French pollsters LH2, talks about Future Thinking France – SPA Future Thinking’s new venture with Groupe Acticall.

News4 December 2012

Passenger Focus tenders for preferred supplier list

UK — Rail and bus passenger lobby group Passenger Focus is inviting agencies to tender for its new preferred supplier list.

News4 December 2012

Adintop signs up with Effective Measure

DUBAI — Effective Measure has struck a deal with digital media network Adintop that will see the Dubai-based firm use its data insights and consumer and campaign profile tools.

News4 December 2012

Taggstar unveils image analytics dashboard for publishers

UK — Taggstar, an image monetisation platform, has launched an analytics dashboard to provides publishers with data and insights into how the images on their site are performing.

News4 December 2012

Strategies Unlimited partners with former analyst

US — Strategies Unlimited, a specialist market research company covering the LED and lighting, lasers, photonics, and photovoltaic industries, has signed a partnership with new startup SPV Market Research.

News4 December 2012

Finnemore leaves Royal Mail after 12 years

UK — Giles Finnemore, senior media and customer insight manager at Royal Mail, has left the company after 12 years.

News4 December 2012

Simon-Kucher adds six international partners

UK — Simon-Kucher & Partners has appointed six new international partners to be based in offices outside the company’s headquarters in Germany. They will report to co-CEOs Georg Tacke and Klaus Hilleke from 1 January.

News3 December 2012

Mesh Planning names EMEA MD and senior experience director

UK — Mesh Planning, the London based real-time experience research and strategy agency, has appointed Jo Rigby and Nicki Boswell as managing director, EMEA and senior experience director respectively.

News3 December 2012

Double Helix enlarges team to cope with high demand

UK — Double Helix has announced a series of appointments and promtions in a bid to keep up with “ongoing demand for high quality strategic market insight”.

News3 December 2012

Google Ventures leads $1.2m funding into TrueLens

US— Marketing startup TrueLens has secured a $1.2m round of funding that coincides with the launch of its new customer intelligence product, Socialgraphics.

News3 December 2012

MRC to audit Rentrak TV audience tools

US— Rentrak has agreed to let the Media Rating Council audit its TV Essentials and StationView Essentials television audience measurement services.

News3 December 2012

QuestionPro generates infographics

US — QuestionPro has launched an automated infographic tool to help its customers showcase infrormation taken from big data before spending time analysing its potential.

News3 December 2012

Global ad expenditure tipped to grow 5.6% by 2015

GLOBAL — Media agency ZenithOptimedia is forecasting global advertising expenditure will strengthen over the next three years, rising from 3.3% in 2012 to 5.6% in 2015.