News1 June 2012

Two directors join Facts International

UK— Facts International, part of Chime’s Insight and Engagement Division ( CIE), has appointed Sharon Greenslade and Adam Wyles as project directors in the client services team.

News1 June 2012

Nunwood to focus on customer experience management

UK— Nunwood has relaunched its businesses in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand with a new model that focuses primarily on “insight-powered customer experience management”.

News31 May 2012

TNS signs global deal for Dapresy Pro online reporting

SWEDEN— TNS has signed an agreement with software house Dapresy to use its Dapresy Pro online reporting platform on a global basis.

News31 May 2012

Ideas shareholders agree to $20m Gartner buyout

AUSTRALIA— Gartner has received the necessary shareholder backing to complete its AUD 20m takeover of Sydney-based IT market analyst Ideas International.

News31 May 2012

Omnicom's Annalect names Meyer for US research role

US— Omnicom-owned digital data and analytics group Annalect has appointed long-time Nielsen executive Jed Meyer as US research director.

News31 May 2012

Neuhoff Media signs up for Rentrak's StationView Essentials

US— Broadcaster Neuhoff Media has signed up to Rentrak’s StationView essentials tool to receive viewing data for local TV audiences.

News31 May 2012

MMAP's Clare O'Neil appointed Saarf chair

SOUTH AFRICA— The South African Advertising Research Foundation ( Saarf) has appointed MMAP director Clare O’Neil as its first female chairman.

News31 May 2012

Research sentiment improving, finds RSM survey

UK— Researchers are growing more positive about the prospects for the research industry and the economy, according to the latest wave of RSM’s State of the Industry survey.

News31 May 2012

YouTube joins Facebook and Twitter on SocialBakers platform

US— Social media analytics agency Socialbakers has added YouTube to the list of sites tracked by its campaign performance measurement platform.

News31 May 2012

Zooplus taps Emnos for e-commerce customer analysis

GERMANY— Online pet products retailer Zooplus has tasked customer data analysts Emnos with developing insights into shopper purchasing behaviour so as to better tailor its offering to customer needs.

News30 May 2012

Sampson to take top job at TV ratings body Barb

UK— Former ICM Group chairman Justin Sampson has been appointed CEO of TV ratings body Barb, replacing Bjarne Thelin.

News30 May 2012

Ex-Greenfield exec Ellis joins Federated Sample

US— Data collection technology firm Federated Sample has appointed former Greenfield Online man Andy Ellis as senior vice president of corporate development.

Feature30 May 2012

A Google for numbers

DataMarket CEO Hjalmar Gislason wants to make all the world’s data available at the click of a button, he tells Brian Tarran.

News30 May 2012

Qual firm Focus Pointe Global get investment and new CEO

US— Qualitative data collection company Focus Pointe Global has appointed a new CEO to lead its new growth plan after securing an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from MVC Private Equity Fund.

News30 May 2012

Games market survey launches with Activision and EA backing

UK— The Interactive Software Federation of Europe ( ISFE) launched its new quarterly consumer survey today, which aims to measure the size and value of the entire videogames market.

News30 May 2012

Effective Measure to launch MENA mobile research

DUBAI— Effective Measure is launching new research project to measure purchase activity and trends among mobile consumers in the Middle East and North Africa ( MENA).

News30 May 2012

ComScore analytics wins IAB Peru preferred supplier status

PERU— The Interactive Advertising Bureau Peru has chosen ComScore as the country’s preferred analytics provider, beating a number of other measurement firms in a competitive tender.

News29 May 2012

Grooveshark launches Beluga insights tool

US— Online music streaming service Grooveshark has launched a tool to provide insight into the fans of different artists.

Opinion29 May 2012

All hail Google, our new digital overlords

Culture of Insight managing director James Smythe on why the launch of Google Consumer Surveys is good news for the research business.

News29 May 2012

WPP makes another Ace Metrix investment

US— WPP has invested more money into TV ad analytics firm Ace Metrix as part of a new $8m funding round. Its first investment in the company, which measures the effectiveness of TV ads, was in 2010.

News29 May 2012

UM adds Polk automotive data to Rentrak contract

US— Marketing communications agency UM, which is a division of IPG’s Mediabrands, has expanded its contract with Rentrak to include a subscription to Polk automotive viewing segments – which map the viewing habits of different car buyers.

News29 May 2012

Kraft and J&J ink online campaign ratings deals with Nielsen

US— Kraft and Johnson & Johnson have joined Unilever in signing up for Nielsen’s online campaign ratings ( OCR) service, which aims to gauge audience size and reach for online ads in a way that is comparable to TV ratings.

News29 May 2012

Bazaarvoice to acquire social measurement platform PowerReviews

US— Social analytics software firm Bazaarvoice has agreed to acquire PowerReviews, a social platform that combines customer reviews and ratings, loyalty and social measurement. The cash-and-share deal is worth $151.9m.

News29 May 2012

ICO says 'implied' consent is valid for EU cookie rules

UK— The Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK data protection watchdog, has updated its guidance on European cookie rules to make clear that “implied” consent is a valid form of consent.

News28 May 2012

Ex-Carlton researchers reunite at RSVP Research

UK— Former ITV Breakfast researcher Steve Elliott has set up a research agency in partnership with Hashim Emadi, who previously worked with Elliott in the late-1990s at Carlton Television.

News28 May 2012

Kantar launches China mobile research panel

CHINA— Kantar Worldpanel Comtech has launched a panel in China to collect data on mobile phone users in the country.

Feature28 May 2012

I was so much older then

…I’m younger than that now. The Big Window’s Lisa Edgar and the BBC’s David Bunker reflect on the gap between actual and perceived age.

Feature28 May 2012

I was so much older then

…I’m younger than that now. The Big Window’s Lisa Edgar and the BBC’s David Bunker reflect on the gap between actual and perceived age.

Feature28 May 2012

I was so much older then

…I’m younger than that now. The Big Window’s Lisa Edgar and the BBC’s David Bunker reflect on the gap between actual and perceived age.

News28 May 2012

Kenyan PM blasts proposed polling regulations

KENYA— Prime minister Raila Odinga has described proposed government oversight of the country’s polling industry as “unconstitutional” in a speech at the Kenyan Marketing and Social Research Association convention.

News28 May 2012

JRA Research acquires Premier's Chefs Panel

UK— JRA Research has acquired the panel of chefs and catering managers that was set up last year by Premier Foods Foodservice.

News28 May 2012

Unilever chasing improved qual quality with accreditation programme

UK— Unilever is asking qualitative researchers to take part in a new accreditation programme, amid “growing concern” within the company about the quality of qual work being delivered.

News25 May 2012

ICG offers help for commissioning qual

UK— The Independent Consultants Group ( ICG) has published a guide to commissioning qualitative research.

News25 May 2012

FB buys BP: user experience research and design team joins social network

US— Facebook has hired a team of user experience research and design experts that previously ran the agency Bolt | Peters, in a deal referred to as an “acqui-hire”.

News25 May 2012

People on the move

A round up of the latest appointments and promotions in the global market research and consumer insights industry.

Feature25 May 2012

Follow the leaders

Check out our new monthly ranking of the 20 most influential market researchers and insight professionals on Twitter, produced in partnership with Dollywagon.

News25 May 2012

Imperium debuts parental verification tool

US— Research fraud prevention firm Imperium has launched software to verify parental consent so websites and apps can comply with new Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act regulations.

News25 May 2012

GfK taps Veccia and Conklin for marketing science roles

US— GfK has appointed Ellen Veccia as chief marketing science officer and Mike Conklin as executive vice president of marketing science.

News25 May 2012

Grass Roots sees green shoots in 2011 results

UK— Mystery shopping and performance measurement firm Grass Roots Group ( GRG) has reported turnover of £300m for 2011.

News24 May 2012

Bigpoint taps Kontagent for mobile games analytics

US— German online videogame developer Bigpoint has signed up to user analytics firm Kontagent’s mobile app platform to help improve the performance of its games.

News24 May 2012

Txt answrs trthfl, say academics

US— Respondents are more likely to be candid when they answer questions by text message, according to a study by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.

News24 May 2012

Polygraph rolls out Facebook Page data service

US— Polygraph Media, launched in November in private beta, has just made its Polygraph Reports service publicly available, following hot on the heels of the Facebook IPO last week.

Feature24 May 2012

'We want to be the leader in making sophisticated research simple'

Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith explains how he plans to spend the $70m invested this month in the online survey software firm.

News24 May 2012

Komli promotes Andrew Reid to managing director

AUSTRALIA— Andrew Reid has been appointed managing director of digital media network and audience measurement firm Komli Media.

News24 May 2012

IPC names YouGov as new partner for Origin research panel

UK— Magazine publisher IPC has appointed YouGov to manage its Origin Panel of 7,500 UK women.

News24 May 2012

Euro fears weighing on marketers' minds – and budgets

GLOBAL— Marketing budgets have been revised down in May across all regions measured by Warc’s Global Marketing Index ( GMI) in what is thought to be a response to the economic uncertainty in the eurozone.

News23 May 2012

SAMRA names Leonie Vorster as CEO

SOUTH AFRICA— Leonie Vorster has been appointed chief executive officer at the South African Marketing Research Association ( SAMRA).

News23 May 2012

New GfK practice to address 'relationship economy'

GERMANY— GfK is merging its global brand, communication, satisfaction and loyalty research teams into one practice.

News23 May 2012

Rentrak and MasterCard team up for spending trends insights

US— Media measurement firm Rentrak has partnered with MasterCard to provide TV advertising buyers with information on consumer spending habits.

Opinion23 May 2012

What I think... about women in research

As the Women in Research networking group heads to London, we ask founder Kristin Luck for her view on the status of women in research.

News23 May 2012

Hall & Partners Health promotes Gazey to managing partner

UK— Lee Gazey has been promoted to managing partner at Hall & Partners Health, one of several promotions at the firm.

News23 May 2012

Populus loses ICM founder as special advisor

UK— Nick Sparrow has stepped down from his role as a special adviser to research and polling firm Populus, managing director Michael Simmonds said today.

News22 May 2012

Facebook biggest climber in Brandz study

US— Facebook was valued at $104bn last week in one of the most talked about IPOs in history, but according to Millward Brown’s annual Brandz study of the most valuable global brands, the social media giant’s name is worth only $33.2bn.

News22 May 2012

Epocrates joins The Trust Alliance

US— Physician network and research panel provider Epocrates has joined The Trust Alliance, an industry body that aims to promote quality in online research with healthcare professionals.

Feature22 May 2012

Open to all?

Peter Dann and Adam Staton of The Nursery probe consumer attitudes to privacy in social media – and ask whether researchers are welcome.

Feature22 May 2012

Open to all?

Peter Dann and Adam Staton of The Nursery probe consumer attitudes to privacy in social media – and ask whether researchers are welcome.

News22 May 2012

Wayin heads for the enterprise with Great Place to Work deal

US— Employee research and training firm Great Place to Work ( GPW) is partnering with Wayin, the Q&A service, to give human resources teams access to “pulse survey” capabilities.

News22 May 2012

Bovitz acquires Resolve Market Research

US— Research and strategy firm Bovitz has acquired Resolve Market Research, a consultancy specialising in studying the impact of digital media and technology on consumers and audiences.

News22 May 2012

Mobile analytics firm Bango to raise £3m through stock offering

UK— Bango, a mobile billing and web and app analytics firm, is looking to raise £3.25m through a placing of new shares with institutional investors.

News21 May 2012

B2B International names Asia biz dev manager

CHINA— B2B International has hired Daniel Sun as Asia business development manager, working out of the firm’s Beijing office.

News21 May 2012

Samsung taps Ace Metrix to score ad creative

US— Samsung has signed up as a client of Ace Metrix’s Live platform, which scores ads for creative effectiveness within days of a campaign launch.

News21 May 2012

Repucom expands to Brazil after Argentina launch

BRAZIL— Sports marketing analysis and research agency Repucom has opened an office in Brazil, with plans to launch a complete sports research service by the beginning of next month.

News21 May 2012

Efamro adds Polish and Lithuanian associations as members

BELGIUM— Efamro, the European federation of research associations, has added trade bodies in Poland and Lithuania as members.

News21 May 2012

BDRC Group buys ESA Market Research

UK— BDRC Group has bought ESA Market Research, a retail sector specialist, in a deal that pushes the annual turnover of the group past £20m.

News21 May 2012

TNS hires qual client leader for Asia Pacific

SINGAPORE— TNS has appointed Radhecka Roy as regional qualitative client leader for the Asia Pacific region.

News21 May 2012

Sport England and DCMS propose changes to sports surveys

UK— The Department for Culture, Media and Sport ( DCMS) and government agency Sport England have kicked off a consultation about changing the way sport participation is measured.

News18 May 2012

Brands warned to be careful over attempts at customer closeness

US— Brands who try to get too friendly with existing customers run the risk of overstepping boundaries and causing a negative reaction, according to a study by academic researchers.

Feature18 May 2012

A tidy solution

Sally Lewis explains how research helped local authorities improve environmental satisfaction scores – without throwing money away.

News18 May 2012

Cox inks deal, Raycom expands with Rentrak

US— Cox Television has signed up to receive Rentrak’s television audience measurement figures, while Raycom has expanded its existing deal with the company.

News18 May 2012

Ex-Yorkshire Bank analyst launches new firm Trig Point

UK— Former clientside researcher Andrew Longward has launched his own company, Trig Point Research & Consultancy.

News18 May 2012

Law firm investigates alleged phone sugging by 'polling firm'

US— A law firm is kicking off an investigation into Political Opinions of America ( POA), which bills itself as a research firm but is accused of selling under the guise of research – a practice known as ‘sugging’.

News17 May 2012

DVL Smith makes five appointments

UK— DVL Smith has taken on five new members of staff, including former British Gas and Pfizer executives.

Feature17 May 2012

New Game plan

Research experts offer their advice for getting Game, the beleaguered videogames retailer, back on track.

News17 May 2012

Piramal Healthcare to acquire Decision Resources for $635m

INDIA— Pharmaceutical firm Piramal Healthcare has agreed to acquire US-based research and analytics agency Decision Resources Group ( DRG) from Providence Equity Partners for $635m.

News16 May 2012

Walmart and RMG team up with AskingCanadians

CANADA— Walmart and Research Management Group have chosen AskingCanadians to host the retailer’s online research community.

News16 May 2012

SSI names Fanning CEO, De Jong becomes vice chairman

US— Data collection firm Survey Sampling International ( SSI) has appointed Chris Fanning as CEO, with current chief executive Kees de Jong moving to the new role of vice-chairman of the board of directors.

News16 May 2012

ABC hires Webtrends for site analytics

UK— Media measurement body the Audit Bureau of Circulation ( ABC) has hired Webtrends to run the analytics programme on its website in order to understand how visitors interact with online content.

Opinion16 May 2012

Let me tell you what I think

Pay-for-performance will only gain ground in MR when researchers are given the chance to work with companies on the implementation of research and business strategy, says Jessica Bath.

News16 May 2012

Facebook board member leads $50m investment in Quora

US— Quora, the question and answer service, has raised $50m in a funding round led by Facebook board member Peter Thiel, reports the Wall Street Journal.

News16 May 2012

Ad Council taps Ace Metrix to measure PSA effectiveness

US— The Ad Council has tasked Ace Metrix with measuring the effectiveness of public service advertisements ( PSAs).

News16 May 2012

Telephone response rates fall to 9%, says Pew report

US— Telephone survey response rates have slumped to 9%, down from 25% a decade ago, according to analysis by the Pew Research Center.

News16 May 2012

GfK kicks off 2012 with sales and income rise

GERMANY— GfK has reported increases in sales and operating income for the first three months of the year, with organic growth of 4.9%.

News15 May 2012

Qualtrics gets $70m to move beyond MR

US— Online survey software firm Qualtrics has scooped $70m in private equity funding from Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital to help expand its SaaS products beyond market research.

News15 May 2012

EyeTrackShop gets $3m for global expansion

US— EyeTrackShop, a start up company that develops eye-tracking software to test ad effectiveness, has raised $3m in Series A funding round from Northzone.

News15 May 2012

Nielsen moves to hybrid measurement on UKOM contract

UK— The first batch of UKOM online audience data based on Nielsen’s hybrid measurement methodology will be published on Friday.

News15 May 2012

Rakuten brings Passenger to Japan

JAPAN— Online community builder Passenger has entered the Japanese market through a partnership with local firm Rakuten Research.

News15 May 2012

Neodata buys editorial analytics agency Newscurve

ITALY— Audience analysis firm Neodata Group has bought Newscurve, a company that provides web analytics to editorial teams allowing them to match readers with relevant content.

News15 May 2012

GfK MRI wants publishers to get comfortable with ad guarantees

US— Marketers are looking to performance guarantees to make sure their advertising delivers more than empty promises. For print media, GfK MRI has launched a tool to help advertisers and publishers build realistic agreements.

News15 May 2012

Symphony builds health research group with Source deal

US— Private equity firm Symphony Technology Group ( STG) has acquired Source Healthcare Analytics from information services group Wolters Kluwer.

News14 May 2012

Repucom and Ibope partner for Latin American sports research

US— Repucom is partnering with Ibope Media to launch a sports marketing research service in Latin America, excluding Brazil.

News14 May 2012

Insight Strategy Group promotes Grimes

US— Betsy Grimes has been promoted to associate director at Insight Strategy Group from her current role as senior manager, which she has held for two years..

News14 May 2012

Cobalt Sky and John McConnell launch analytics suite

UK— Cobalt Sky has partnered with Analytical People founder John McConnell ( pictured) to launch a new statistical-based analytics service.

Opinion14 May 2012

The focus group fightback

Politicians and the media debased the term ‘focus group’ and made it synonymous with spin. Now is the time to reclaim and restore it, say Deborah Mattinson and Merry Baskin.

Opinion14 May 2012

The focus group fightback

Politicians and the media debased the term ‘focus group’ and made it synonymous with spin. Now is the time to reclaim and restore it, say Deborah Mattinson and Merry Baskin.

News14 May 2012

Tech developer delivers kit to track audience for digital signage

NETHERLANDS— ThirdSight, a developer of facial recognition technology, has launched a software development kit to help outdoor media owners measure their audience.

News14 May 2012

Nielsen developing new range of meter technology

US— Nielsen is planning to roll out a new wave of meters that will measure all forms of video content – including mobile and internet video – as well as traditional television viewing.

News14 May 2012

Moviepilot gets $7m investment for fan feedback platform

GERMANY— A web platform that aims to help movie studios identify prospective customers and gather feedback from them has raised $7m in a Series B round of financing.

News11 May 2012

Pay-for-performance slow to gain ground in MR

US— Pay-for-performance might have taken hold in the advertising industry, if a survey by the Association of National Advertisers ( ANA) is to be believed. But the concept doesn’t seem to be gaining ground in research just yet.

Opinion11 May 2012

Come on you... Red Dragons?

Three researchers consider the failed bid by the owners of Cardiff City to rebrand the football club.

News11 May 2012

Local TV and SnagFilms sign up for Rentrak ratings

US— Broadcaster Local TV and independent film distributor SnagFilms have signed up to receive Rentrak’s TV audience figures.

News11 May 2012

Endsleigh to run IBM Coremetrics on website

UK— Insurance firm Endsleigh has signed up to use IBM’s Coremetrics web analytics tool in a bid to improve usability and conversion rates on its website.

News11 May 2012

Nunwood buys Californian customer experience training firm

US— Nunwood is continuing to build up its customer experience research and consulting assets with the acquisition of California-based training and change management firm Retention Specialists.

News11 May 2012

ORC International's Grimwood joins GfK

UK— GfK has appointed Martin Grimwood as divisional director responsible for the firm’s life, pensions and asset management clients.

News10 May 2012

Mixpanel gets $10m for mobile and web analytics platform

US— Mobile and web analytics platform Mixpanel has closed a $10m Series A financing round.

News10 May 2012

Umbel hires Starcom's Bickers for agency solutions role

US— Digital audience measurement firm Umbel has hired ad industry veteran Amy Bickers as director of agency solutions.

News10 May 2012

Myspace to settle charges it misled users on privacy

US— Myspace, like Facebook before it, has agreed to settle charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission ( FTC) that its privacy policies misled users of the social networking site.

News10 May 2012

Libero portal taps ComScore for Analytix

ITALY— Web portal Libero has picked ComScore’s Digital Analytix to be its web analytics platform.

Feature10 May 2012

Mobile's an addition, not a replacement in our iPinion

E-Rewards’ Miles Worne discusses the acquisition of mobile research specialist iPinion and its bid for a share of a market set to be worth hundreds of millions in years to come.

News10 May 2012

Hindustan Unilever opens Indian consumer insight centre

INDIA— Hindustan Unilever has set up an insights centre in Mumbai to study how Indian consumers shop for FMCG products.

News10 May 2012

TV company Zodiak Kids opens research lab

UK— Children’s TV company Zodiak Kids, which produces shows including Totally Spies, Waybuloo ( pictured) and Redakai, has set up a new research lab headed by François Vallerian.

News9 May 2012

Trial date set in case of iPhone data sharing

US— A trial date has been set in the case of a group of iPhone users who are suing Apple and a number of tracking companies over the collection and sharing of personal information taken from their devices.

Feature9 May 2012

Best of the web – April 2012

Introducing our new monthly roundup of the web’s 10 hottest research-related links, as shared by the MR community on Twitter.

News9 May 2012

WorldOne appoints Eva Laparra as southern Europe MD

SPAIN— Online healthcare data collection firm WorldOne has appointed Eva Laparra as managing director for southern Europe, working out of the company’s Barcelona offices.

News9 May 2012

Millward Brown's Leiva joins Aegis Media as insights director

SINGAPORE— Former Millward Brown executive Silvia Leiva has joined Aegis Media Singapore as director of insights.

News9 May 2012

New CRE study hopes to improve diary samples

US— The Nielsen-funded Council for Research Excellence is to embark on a three-market study to look at ways of improving diary samples for local TV measurement.

News9 May 2012

NZ pollsters discuss best practice as MP calls for poll ban

NEW ZEALAND— Researchers have met to discuss formulating a new code of best practice to help improve media reporting of voting intention polls amid calls for a ban on the surveys in the run-up to elections.

News9 May 2012

Print advertisers call for better digital magazine reader metrics

US— Print advertisers are pushing magazine publishers for more in-depth metrics about readers of digital editions, stressing the need for an accredited third-party system for measuring readership across devices.

News8 May 2012

Nuevora nabs investment for analytics platform

US— Analytics firm Nuevora has secured an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from Fortisure Ventures, which it will use to build a suite of cloud-based “business processes-as-a-service” analytics applications.

News8 May 2012

E-Rewards mobilises with iPinion acquisition

US— E-Rewards, the owner of online data collection and panel provider Research Now, has struck a deal to acquire mobile survey software developer iPinion.

Opinion8 May 2012

A new role for market researchers?

Our first Linkedin Debate Hub co-creation challenge seeks to fashion a new role for researchers to act as the bridge between marketers and technologists.

News8 May 2012

ReInvention taps Imperium for anti-fraud research tech

US— Sampling and data collection firm reInvention has signed up to use Imperium’s digital fingerprinting and respondent validation technologies, RelevantID and Verity.

News8 May 2012

EasyInsites and Mom365 launch panel of mothers

US— Panel builder EasyInsites has teamed up with Mom365, the relationship marketing division of baby photography firm Our365, to launch a panel of expectant and new mothers.

News8 May 2012

ComScore adds hybrid measurement to Mobile Metrix

US— ComScore has applied its hybrid web measurement approach, Unified Digital Measurement ( UDM), to version 2.0 of its Mobile Metrix service.

News8 May 2012

Discovery Research promotes Hathaway to MD

UK— Alan Hathaway has been promoted to managing director at Discovery Research, part of the Discovery Group.

News4 May 2012

People on the move

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

News4 May 2012

Editor's note – Bank Holiday Monday

It’s a Bank Holiday in the UK on Monday 7 May, so the Research offices will be closed. Updates will resume on Tuesday 8 May.

News4 May 2012

DataTree chooses Decipher's Beacon as survey platform

UK— Market research data processing firm DataTree ConneXions has selected Decipher’s Beacon tool as its online survey platform.

Opinion4 May 2012

What happened in Vegas

Jeffrey Henning picks out the key themes from The Market Research Technology Event in Las Vegas. Plus: details of Google’s evolving Consumer Surveys offer.

News4 May 2012

Gartner posts double-digit Q1 revenue rise

US— IT researcher Gartner has posted a 12% increase in revenue and a 17% rise in net income for the first quarter.

News4 May 2012

Ex-Sky man Russell sets up as strategy consultant

UK— Former BSkyB marketing strategy director Danny Russell has gone into business as a consultant, to work with companies on developing strategies based on their research and data assets.

News4 May 2012

Best Buy CMO resigns, replacement named

US— Best Buy’s president of digital Stephen Gillett has taken over responsibility for marketing and customer research in the wake of the resignation of chief marketing officer Barry Judge.

News4 May 2012

Cisco in deal to acquire analytics firm Truviso

US— Network technology firm Cisco is on the cusp of purchasing Truviso whose analytics software is used to measure website visitors, online video viewers and mobile app usage behaviour.

News4 May 2012

Twitter data sifter gets $7.2m investment

US— Datasift hit the headlines in February when it became the first company to licence two years’ worth of Twitter data for market research analysis. Now it has raised $7.2m in funding.

News3 May 2012

Use actual behaviour to understand shoppers, conference told

UK— To better understand consumers as shoppers, researchers need to stop relying so much on claimed behaviour and focus instead on actual behaviour, said Relish Research’s senior partner Monique Drummond at today’s MRS Shopper Research Conference.

Feature3 May 2012

'The role researchers play today might not be there tomorrow'

Coke’s Stan Sthanunathan urged the MR industry to embrace technology or get left behind in his keynote speech at The Market Research Technology Event.

News3 May 2012

Tree branches out into Asia with IMImobile partnership

INDIA— Research and data analysis firm Tree Worldwide has teamed up with mobile data company IMImobile to offer a suite of customer insight and engagement services to mobile operators, brands and enterprises across Asia.

News3 May 2012

IBM picks Tealeaf for latest analytics acquisition

US— IBM is to acquire customer experience analytics software firm Tealeaf Technology.

News3 May 2012

ComScore revenue up 18% in first quarter

US— ComScore revenue climbed 18% to $62.3m in the first quarter, the digital media measurement firm announced late yesterday.

News3 May 2012

Harris Interactive cuts third-quarter losses

US— Harris Interactive’s revenue was down 8% to $34.1m in the three months ending 31 March, but the company has cut both its operating loss and net loss for the period as CEO Al Angrisani continues with his turnaround plan.

News2 May 2012

Statistics Canada staff face lay-offs

CANADA— Almost half of the 5,000 staff working for Statistics Canada are expected to lose their jobs over the next two years, according to reports.

News2 May 2012

Big launch for Google's big data analysis tool

US— Google has rolled out its big data analytics tool, BigQuery, following several months on a limited release.

News2 May 2012

Ridgeway Group hires for employee engagement research

UK— New and used car sales group Ridgeway has appointed SPA Future Thinking to run its employee engagement research programme for a three-year period.

News2 May 2012

American Airlines becomes Research Now reward partner

US— Sample and data collection firm Research Now has struck a deal with American Airlines that will see flyers who join the agency’s By Invitation Only panel earn AAdvantage air miles as a reward for taking surveys.

Feature2 May 2012

No fate but what we make

The future is unpredictable, says The Economist’s Daniel Franklin – but that doesn’t mean marketers should just give in to events. They need to plot their own course to a future of their own design.

News2 May 2012

Agility Research hires MediaCom's Tiongson

SINGAPORE— Philip Tiongson has been appointed director of research and solutions at Agility Research & Strategy, the agency formed by former Harris Interactive executives Asha Choksi and Amrita Banta in 2011.

News2 May 2012

Tablets added to Arbitron's UK mobile trends service

UK— Arbitron is to add tablet measurement to its Mobile Trends Panels service in the UK. Information covers app usage, web usage, media consumption, device and network metrics.

News1 May 2012

Simulmedia nearing new $6m funding deal

US— TV ad targeting and measurement firm Simulmedia is close to securing a new $6m round of funding from existing investors Avalon Ventures, Union Square Ventures and Time Warner Investments.

News1 May 2012

SocialGuide offers Hispanic TV buzz monitoring for Univision

US— Social TV and data company SocialGuide has launched a Spanish-language version of its Intelligence TV data platform, with Univision as its first partner.

News1 May 2012

UK ad spend forecasts revised down, US moved up

GLOBAL— The stagnating European economy is starting to weigh on marketers’ confidence, leading to a minor downward revision in annual ad spend forecasts.

News1 May 2012

Crocker upped to MD at 42 Market Research

UAE— 42 Market Research has promoted Stuart Crocker to managing director, replacing Wolfgang Sabathil who becomes MD of parent company 42 International.

News1 May 2012

MarketShare promotes Beyer to executive vice president

US— MarketShare’s chief science and innovation officer Dirk Beyer has been promoted to executive vice president.

News1 May 2012

Time Warner Cable hires for 10,000-customer panel

US— Time Warner Cable has hired online research agency EasyInsites and branding and communications research specialist DB5 to work on the development of its new customer panel.

News1 May 2012

Incite names former 2CV man as principal

UK— Research consultancy Incite has appointed former 2CV senior strategic director Tom Marriage as principal.