News31 August 2017

GfK overhauls structure and invests in digitisation

Bronwen Morgan

GfK has announced a 'comprehensive transformation and investment programme' that will see it sharpen its customer focus and accelerate digitisation. 

News31 August 2017

Conversions fall by 12% for every one second delay in website load time

New analysis of search trends from Google has shown that 53% of people will leave a mobile site if it takes more than three seconds to load.

News31 August 2017

Potentiate expands to US with stake in NetReflector

Data intelligence company Potentiate has acquired a 'significant stake' in full-service marketing insights firm NetReflector, based in Seattle.

News31 August 2017

Simpson Carpenter hires head of automotive from Jaguar Land Rover

Simpson Carpenter has hired Ana Ramirez, former senior manager of customer insights at Jaguar Land Rover, as international head of automotive research. 

News31 August 2017

DJS Research hires Driver from Future Thinking

DJS Research has hired Simon Driver from Future Thinking as a research director. 

News31 August 2017

UK consumer confidence rebounds

UK consumer confidence is recovering from July's post-Brexit equalling low, rising by two points, according to GfK's consumer confidence barometer.

News30 August 2017

Two thirds of shoppers want AI to be a priority for retailers

Two thirds ( 67%) of shoppers believe that putting technologies such as artificial intelligence ( AI) and augmented reality ( AR) in place should be a priority for retailers, according to new research.

News30 August 2017

Visual IQ partners with LiveRamp

Marketing intelligence software provider Visual IQ has partnered with LiveRamp to measure omnichannel marketing impact. 

Feature30 August 2017

BE360: becoming a more giving society

Crawford Hollingworth

Insights from behavioural science, including that we are more generous when we are more aware of what others have given, could be used to boost charitable donations. 

News30 August 2017

Retail set to drive UK digital ad spend in 2018

Retail will drive the country's overall digital ad spending gains throughout 2018, according to a forecast of cross-industry UK ad spend from eMarketer.

News30 August 2017

Cama resigns from GfK management board

Alessandra Cama has resigned from her role as member of the GfK management board responsible for the operations sector with immediate effect.

News30 August 2017

Touchscreens can lead to more impulsive purchases

Using touchscreen technology evokes an experiential thinking style, which can lead to a preference for 'hedonic products', according to new research.

News29 August 2017

iProspect hires new global chief product officer

Digital performance marketing agency iProspect has hired Rohan Philips as global chief product officer, based in Singapore.

News29 August 2017

Data protection fears biggest barrier to use of voice assistants

New research has revealed fears around data protection and questions over purpose and relevance to be the biggest barriers to adoption of voice assistants among UK consumers.

News29 August 2017

Consumers prefer brands that use faces in imagery

Consumers are more likely to favour brands that use faces in their branding because they have a fundamental need to form and sustain relationships, according to a new study.

Opinion29 August 2017

Machines may do the learning, but people do the teaching

Just how at risk are market researchers from seeing artificial intelligence and machines take over their insight duties? 

News29 August 2017

Lastminute.com releases consumer insights tool

Jane Bainbridge

Online travel company lastminute.com group has launched Travel Insights, its first insights tool designted to help brands target customers with surveys within ad formats.

News29 August 2017

WIRe launches diversity award

Women in Research ( WIRe) has created a new market research diversity champion award to recognise leaders in the industry who support and promote a diverse workplace.

News29 August 2017

AKQA buys Dis/play

WPP's digital brand business AKQA has acquired a majority stake in Danish digital agency, Dis/play for an undisclosed amount.

News25 August 2017

Youngjohns joins InMoment board

Robert Youngjohns, who has held executive roles at HP, Callidus Software and Sun Microsystems, has joined the board of customer experience intelligence company InMoment.

News25 August 2017

Chief digital officer appointed by London Mayor

Jane Bainbridge

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has hired Theo Blackwell as the city’s first chief digital officer ( CDO).

News25 August 2017

UK gov't outlines 'ambitious' post-Brexit data arrangements

A new paper has outlined how the UK government is considering an 'ambitious' model for the protection and exchange of personal data within the EU after Brexit.

News25 August 2017

Providence Equity Partners buys DoubleVerify

Private equity company Providence Equity Partners has acquired a majority stake in digital media measurement software and analytics company DoubleVerify for an undisclosed amount.

News25 August 2017

Isobar launches VR measurement and analytics tool

Jane Bainbridge

Full service digital agency Isobar has developed what it claims is the first virtual reality ( VR) emotional measurement and analytics platform.

News25 August 2017

MarketVision announces new hires and promotions

Full service marketing research firm MarketVision Research has announced four new hires and five promotions. 

News24 August 2017

Allto Consulting launches quick turnaround research

Research consultancy Allto Consulting has launched PDQ ( Pretty Damn Quick), a quick turnaround research solution.

News24 August 2017

Consumers frustrated with brand engagement

More than half of consumers ( 56%) think brands could do a better job of aligning with how they prefer to engage, according to a new report. 

News24 August 2017

Ipsos Healthcare takes NASH therapy monitor into Japan

Ipsos Healthcare has extended its global non-alcoholic steatohepatitis ( NASH) therapy monitor to Japan.

News24 August 2017

Havas buys social media agency Blink

Havas Group has acquired a majority stake in Israeli social media agency Blink which specialises in helping brands understand content and conversation management online.

News24 August 2017

Tru Optik and Neustar partner on OTT targeting

Audience measurement and data management platform Tru Optik has partnered with consumer intelligence provider Neustar for over-the-top ( OTT) ad campaign targeting.

News24 August 2017

Fuel Cycle adds geolocation to mobile app

Market research and community intelligence platform Fuel Cycle has announced the addition of geolocation capabilities to its mobile app. 

News23 August 2017

Dataxu hires Kosmala to drive self-serve platform business

Marketing software provider dataxu has hired 4A's Peter Kosmala as vice-president of platform solutions. 

News23 August 2017

WPP acquires Design Bridge

WPP has acquired Design Bridge, an independent brand design agency headquartered in London. 

News23 August 2017

Taboola partners with Getty Images on creative testing

Content discovery platform Taboola has partnered with Getty Images to enable Taboola customers to pair its images with their campaigns.

News23 August 2017

Former Kantar Media CEO launches advisory firm

Terry Kent, former global CEO for Kantar Media ad intelligence, has launched the Kent Advisory Group to assist early phase and start-up companies. 

News23 August 2017

Op4G and FocusVision form partnership

Philanthropic online market research panel Opinions 4 Good has announced a three-year partnership with market research technology firm FocusVision.

Opinion23 August 2017

Why complex modelling is rubbish

In his second analytics blog, Ryan Howard argues that simpler models may be better than more complicated ones where insight is concerned.

News22 August 2017

Majority of FTSE 350 boards untrained to deal with cyber attack

Sixty eight per cent of FTSE 350 boards have not received any training to deal with a cyber incident, according to a new government report. 

News22 August 2017

Columinate adds non-conscious insights methodology

Johannesburg-based insights agency Columinate has launched its latest methodology measuring research participants’ non-conscious attitudes and behaviours towards brands.

News22 August 2017

New hires for GfK’s leadership team

Jutta Suchanek has been made chief HR officer and Benjamin Jones chief technology officer, in two new appointments to GfK’s executive leadership team.

News22 August 2017

Pepperjam launches data-driven recommendation engine

Performance marketing company Pepperjam has unveiled its publisher recommendation engine, Optimizer, in the UK.

News22 August 2017

Ingleton replaces Rhall as CEO, insights at Kantar

Kantar has announced that Richard Ingleton, current chairman of its insights division, will take over as CEO from Travyn Rhall. 

News22 August 2017

Nielsen Sports promotes Lovett

Glenn Lovett has been promoted to the role of global managing director of Nielsen Sports.

News21 August 2017

Microsoft speech recognition achieves new accuracy levels

Microsoft has announced that its conversational speech recognition tool has reached its best accuracy levels yet with a 5.1% error rate.

Opinion21 August 2017

Research for passion, not profit

Jack Miles

A lack of budget doesn't mean an interesting project should pass you by; being smart with resources and client involvement could make it viable. 

News21 August 2017

Amanda Richman new MEC CEO US

Media agency MEC has named Amanda Richman as its US CEO, taking charge when its merger with Maxus is complete.

Feature21 August 2017

The calm before the storm

Derek McInnes

Despite branches closing, customer transactions with their banks are increasing, led by mobile apps. With open banking on the horizon, banks need to act fast to face the ‘fintech’ disruption coming their way. By Derek McInnes. 

News21 August 2017

Job satisfaction declines after 34

Job satisfaction peaks for UK workers between 25-34 years old, according to the first findings from Qualtrics' employee satisfaction survey. 

News21 August 2017

2017 Research Live awards judges revealed

The final line-up of judges for this year’s Research Live awards has been announced.

News21 August 2017

Global consumer confidence on the rise

Consumer confidence has risen in 41 of the 63 markets measured in Nielsen's consumer confidence index since the close of last year. 

News18 August 2017

ICM Unlimited welcomes Bland

Chris Bland has joined ICM Unlimited from The Source Insight as a research director. 

News18 August 2017

M3 Global Research promotes two

M3 Global Research has promoted Paul Morgan and Antonio Tropea into business development director roles. 

News18 August 2017

Behavioural Insights Team launches executive education programme

The Behavioural Insights Team ( BIT) and Warwick Business School ( WBS) have launched a five-day education programme aimed at government, charity and business leaders. 

News18 August 2017

Lightspeed unveils network of data partnerships

Lightspeed has unveiled the Gravity Network, a partnership arrangement between a group of data providers and platform companies. 

News18 August 2017

GroupM rolls out global viewability standards

WPP's media investment management group, GroupM, has announced the global rollout of viewability standards. 

News17 August 2017

Synthesio strengthens social data offer

Social intelligence and listening platform Synthesio has announced that it is strengthening its social data capabilities through integrations and additions into its platform.

News17 August 2017

SSI and Alaska Airlines launch rewards scheme

SSI and Alaska Airlines have created a new loyalty rewards programme called The Opinion Terminal.

News17 August 2017

ABC Network subscribes to Nielsen OOH measurement

ABC Network has subscribed to Nielsen's national out-of-home ( OOH) reporting service, giving it access to OOH viewing data including live plus seven days of time-shifted viewing.

News17 August 2017

Obituary: Ed Ross

Pat Molloy

Ed Ross, the founder of survey software firm Quantime, died suddenly on Wednesday 9th August. He was 73 years old.

News17 August 2017

QRS and Tragon merge

Q Research Solutions ( QRS) and Tragon have merged to create a new sensory and consumer research business which will currently operate as QRS-Tragon.

News17 August 2017

Glimpzit and BuzzBack announce partnership

Online research provider BuzzBack and data analysis company GlimpzIt have formed a partnership to expand their respective offers.

Opinion17 August 2017

Data – the new little black dress in fashion

Betty Adamou

How gamification can help identify future-focused insights and waste reduction in clothing design and development. 

News16 August 2017

CallMiner expands multi-language speech analytics support

Speech and customer engagement analytics provider CallMiner has expanded its language capabilities to include nearly 30 different languages and dialects.

News16 August 2017

OnePoint Global unveils new mobile survey platform interface

Mobile survey solutions provider OnePoint Global has unveiled a new user interface for its mobile survey platform. 

News16 August 2017

Australians suffering from social media fatigue

Though social media use remains high, one in five Australians reportedly don't enjoy their time spent on it, according to a new survey by Deloitte. 

News16 August 2017

US B2B marketing automation more advanced than Europe

North American B2B organisations are 14% more likely to use marketing automation than their European counterparts, according to new research.

Feature16 August 2017

A safe bet

Bronwen Morgan

At Paddy Power Betfair, 5,000 people counts as a qualitative sample. Katherine Feres, the company’s head of market data and insight, talks about how she’s working to persuade executives of the power of small samples.

News16 August 2017

Nielsen adds new online content ratings for media publishers

Video content distributed by media publishers on Facebook, Hulu and YouTube has been added to Nielsen’s Digital Content Ratings.

News16 August 2017

ARF appoints Donato as CRO

Jane Bainbridge

The Advertising Research Foundation ( ARF) has hired Paul Donato as its chief research officer.

Opinion15 August 2017

Disruptors defined

Disruptors are always innovators, but innovators are not always disruptors, explains Virginia Monk of Network Research, who highlights how research can aid the disruption process.

News15 August 2017

Critical Research buys Saville Rossiter-Base

Full service research agency Critical Research has acquired Saville Rossiter-Base, another full service agency.

News15 August 2017

Grey acquires Dubai digital agency

Global marketing communications agency Grey has acquired hug, a full-service digital agency in Dubai. 

News15 August 2017

Vucetic made president of FocusVision

Market research technology firm FocusVision has promoted former chief operating officer Zlatko Vucetic to president. 

News15 August 2017

Consumer confidence in government in decline

Consumer confidence in the government has declined significantly following the 2017 General Election, according to new research from the7stars.

News15 August 2017

Maru/Matchbox promotes Matisz

Maru/Matchbox has promoted Derek Matisz from vice-president of operations to senior vice-president of platform operations. 

News14 August 2017

Alteryx partners with Plotly on 'visualytics'

Self-service data analytics provider Alteryx has partnered with data visualisation platform Plotly to offer visual representations of data as it moves through the analytics pipeline. 

News14 August 2017

Maritz launches employee engagement benchmarks

Maritz Motivation Solutions has launched the Engagement Potential Index, a tool to measure company culture and engagement potential against industry benchmarks.

News14 August 2017

IPA urges YouTube and Facebook to address video measurement

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising ( IPA) has formally called on YouTube and Facebook to work with it and ISBA to bring safety, measurement and viewability of online video up to acceptable industry standards. 

Feature14 August 2017

Reflecting the gender spectrum

Introducing broader gender questions to surveys reflects growing awareness of the gender spectrum beyond binary definitions, but can present some issues.

Feature14 August 2017

Paradise Lost

Simon Atkinson

Can France’s new president help French society become more at ease with itself? Simon Atkinson shares findings from Ipsos’s Global Trends survey on the problems facing the country

News14 August 2017

75% of data will be 'unusable' following GDPR

Up to three quarters of customer data held within UK organisations' marketing databases will become 'useless' when the GDPR is introduced, according to a new study.

News11 August 2017

MFour makes engineering and operations hires

MFour Mobile Research has added two new team members to its engineering and operations departments: Gennadiy Kofman and Alice Lu. 

Opinion11 August 2017

Learning from Dr Smelser

People are increasingly uncomfortable with the 'interregatory environment' of viewing facilities, says Jim Longo, who believes new technology can help recapture the art of conversation. 

News11 August 2017

Two thirds of Americans equate wealth with good physical health

Just 35% of Americans equate wealth with having lots of money, with the majority ( 65%) equating it with being in good physical health, says a new study. 

News11 August 2017

Brands failing to connect outside London

National brands face a 'significant challenge' when trying to connect to people living outside the capital, according to new research. 

News11 August 2017

Marketers struggle with responsiveness

Just 16% of marketers rate their organisations as extremely good at responding to consumer input on products, packaging and programmes, according to a new report.

News10 August 2017

Facebook introduces video viewing platform

Facebook has launched Watch, a new platform for watching programmes on Facebook. 

Feature10 August 2017

Ambition anxiety

Millennial parents are conflicted; they're ambitious for their children but anxious about the impact of their encouragement of them to use digital technology, says Mark Bagnall of Basis Research.

News10 August 2017

European viewability certification framework unveiled

The European Viewability Steering Group has announced the launch of a comprehensive European viewability certification framework. 

News10 August 2017

Join the Dots hires two

The consumer insight company has made two hires to its client services team; Tracey Hunter has joined as senior client director and Martin Bryant as client director. 

News10 August 2017

Harris Interactive launches communities solution

Harris Interactive UK has launched PopUP Communities, intended to allow clients to run flexible qualitative and quantitative research quickly and cost-effectively.

News10 August 2017

GfK hires Sollecito to lead US media and entertainment business

GfK has hired John Sollecito as executive vice-president and team leader of media and entertainment for GfK in North America. 

News9 August 2017

Skim expands Singapore office

Customer insights agency Skim has hired Lester Sualog as client solutions director and announced that Paul Janssen has transferred from its New York office to be vice-president, Skim Singapore. 

News9 August 2017

Consumers hesitant to spend despite optimistic financial outlook

Just over half ( 55%) of US consumers say their household financial health is good, but despite this, 49% say they are making sacrifices and looking for deals to make ends meet, according to a new survey. 

Feature9 August 2017

Young researcher Q&A: Lewis Reeves

This month's &More young researcher of the month is Lewis Reeves. At 25 and with just five years of research experience, he's managing director of data collection company Viga. 

News9 August 2017

Salesforce brings AI to social media marketing

Salesforce is to deploy Einstein Vision, an automated image recognition tool, within its Marketing Cloud Social Studio.

News9 August 2017

Circle Research announces first scholarship winner

B2B market research company Circle Research has announced Ben Gallagher as the winner of its inaugural research scholarship. 

News9 August 2017

Google and Facebook properties account for over a quarter of UK internet time

One in every six minutes ( 17%) of UK internet time is spent on Google properties, and 11% is spent on Facebook-owned properties, according to Verto Analytics.

Feature8 August 2017

BE360: Living healthier lifestyles

Crawford Hollingworth

The second article in a new series exploring how behavioural science transforms lives looks at how it can help us to lead healthier lifestyles. 

News8 August 2017

Toluna launches DIY communities

Toluna has launched QuickCommunities, a DIY community product, to its insight platform. 

News8 August 2017

BritainThinks hires Hill

Hettie Hill has joined insight and strategy consultancy BritainThinks as a research executive. 

News8 August 2017

Breaking Blue grows Glasgow office

Market and social research agency Breaking Blue has hired Alex Belcher and Linda Hutcheson as senior research consultants in its Glasgow office. 

News8 August 2017

Confirmit appoints Australia/ New Zealand country manager

Customer experience, voice of the employee and market research provider Confirmit has appointed Jason Mallia as country manager to oversee operations in Australia and New Zealand. 

News8 August 2017

GfK partners with Money Dashboard

GfK has joined forces with personal financial management app Money Dashboard to provide retailers and brands with UK consumer spending insights. 

News7 August 2017

Kantar Media integrates Facebook data into social TV ratings

Kantar Media has integrated Facebook data into its Kantar Twitter TV Ratings tool, renaming it as Social TV Ratings. 

News7 August 2017

Lesser departs GroupM for AT&T

Brian Lesser, North American CEO at GroupM, is leaving to take up a new role as CEO of new business at AT&T.

News7 August 2017

Advertisers returning to YouTube

Following a mass boycott by brands concerned about their ads appearing next to inappropriate content, advertisers are now reportedly returning to YouTube.

Feature7 August 2017

In the Mix

Tim Phillips

Knowing where best to invest marketing spend requires context, precedent and common sense. Marketing mix modelling can be a vital tool for determining return on investment, but the models are not without their limitations. 

News7 August 2017

Research Now creates role to serve consultancies and investment firms

Research Now has created a new business development director role to deliver data and survey solutions to management consultancies, private equity firms, hedge funds and banks.

News7 August 2017

Simpson Carpenter boosts pharma division

Research and insights consultancy Simpson Carpenter has hired Rachel Skevington Britton as an associate director for its pharmaceutical and biotech division. 

News4 August 2017

Nielsen acquires AI-powered sports marketing startup

Nielsen has acquired vBrand, an Israel-based technology startup that has developed a machine-learning-enabled platform to measure brand exposure in sports programming. 

Feature4 August 2017

Virtually reality

Virtual reality ( VR) and eye-tracking technology are helping to put research where it belongs: at the heart of product development, says Tim Holmes of Acuity Intelligence. 

News4 August 2017

C Space hires HR director

Zoe Cotter-Morton has joined C Space from BBC Worldwide as HR director to support agency growth. 

News4 August 2017

Eight in ten UK adults are binge-watchers

Nearly eight in ten ( 79%) of UK adults use catch-up technology and streaming services to watch multiple episodes in one setting, according to Ofcom's latest annual report. 

News4 August 2017

UK online campaigns struggling to target women

Just half of UK online ad campaigns targeted at women actually reach them, according to a new study by Nielsen.

News3 August 2017

EPIC calls for investigation of Google's in-store tracking

The Electronic Privacy Information Center ( EPIC) has filed a complaint with the FTC asking for investigation of Google's tracking of in-store purchases. 

News3 August 2017

Ipsos Healthcare adds to global therapy monitor portfolio

Ipsos Healthcare has launched the Hidradenitis Suppurativa therapy monitor in the EU5.

News3 August 2017

DBS Data unveils CATI optimisation offer

DBS Data has launched Total Sampling, a service enabling organisations running CATI projects to access DBS Data's data sources in order to improve the response rates and quality of telephone surveys.

Feature3 August 2017

Richard Thaler In Seven

Richard Thaler is co-director of the Behavioral Economics Project at the National Bureau of Economic Research. In 2008, with Cass Sunstein, he Co-wrote Nudge, which laid out concepts of behavioural economics to tackle many of society’s major problems 

News3 August 2017

Fiftyfive5 launches social and government research offer

Research business Fiftyfive5 has unveiled a social and government research offer led by Mathew Densten.

News3 August 2017

ABN Impact hires Cheung as director in Singapore

Asia-focused insights and ideas consultancy ABN Impact has appointed Miranda Cheung as director in Singapore. 

News2 August 2017

Lack of trust in social media recommendations

Trust in recommendations made on social media lags significantly behind those from family and friends, TripAdvisor and traditional media in influencing holiday and leisure choices, according to new research. 

News2 August 2017

Happiness 'more important to teens than wealth'

Nearly three quarters ( 73%) of teens believe that happiness is a bigger priority than earning lots of money, according to a new MediaCom study.

News2 August 2017

Lightspeed names Clark as SVP, Americas sales

Digital data collection company Lightspeed has named Christine Clark as senior vice-president, Americas sales, a newly-created position. 

News2 August 2017

Grey Group promotes Houston to worldwide CEO

Global WPP agency Grey Group has promoted Michael Houston, who has served as global president since 2016, to worldwide CEO. 

News2 August 2017

PwC acquires Optimisa Research

PwC has acquired full service UK research agency, Optimisa Research, with the merged teams to be renamed PwC Research. 

News1 August 2017

Large scale UK student mental health study launches

Twelve university student unions, representing more than 185,000 students, are taking part in a study into mental health, run by higher education research specialists Alterline. 

News1 August 2017

Morar HPI launches creative services division

Morar HPI has launched Argo, a new brand and creative services division, headed up by creative director Paddy Sutton.

Opinion1 August 2017

Mission critical

Danielle Pinnington

Understanding shopper missions will only get you so far, says Shoppercentric's Danielle Pinnington, who explains why shopping is now all about 'horizons'.

News1 August 2017

Female stereotypes in advertising: 'nothing has changed in 10 years'

A new study has analysed the shortlisted and prize-winning English language entries in the Film and Film Craft categories at Cannes Lions between 2006 and 2016. 

News1 August 2017

'Dark ads' on Facebook sway political opinion

A new study from the Online Privacy Foundation has revealed that 'dark ads' based on publicly available interests on Facebook can be used to sway political opinion.

News1 August 2017

BritainThinks hires Gibson as COO

Insight and strategy consultancy BritainThinks has hired Jessica Gibson from SevenC3 as chief operating officer.