News31 July 2020

Facebook revenue surges despite ad boycott

Liam Kay-McClean

Facebook’s revenue grew 11% in the second quarter of 2020 despite an advertising boycott by major brands.

Opinion31 July 2020

Could confident UK consumers lead the nation to recovery?

Jennie Roper

The economic impact of Covid-19 has been immense, but some consumers are building up confidence to return to normal life. Can these consumers lead the economic recovery? 

News31 July 2020

Verto Analytics appoints VP technology

Liam Kay-McClean

Behavioural analytics company Verto Analytics has appointed Surath Chatterji as vice-president of technology.

News31 July 2020

Liveminds hires APAC lead

Liam Kay-McClean

Internet marketing firm Liveminds has appointed Kate Domingo as head of its newly-established Asia Pacific ( APAC) office in Manila, Philippines. 

News30 July 2020

MRS and CORe sign partnership agreement

Liam Kay-McClean

The Market Research Society ( MRS) has signed a memorandum of understanding ( MoU) with diversity awareness group Colour of Research ( CORe) to strengthen collaboration between the two organisations.

Feature30 July 2020

Mischief maker

Katie McQuater

Comic relief is ingrained in Beano’s history, and the brand is using insight to stay on top of what kids care about in 2020.

News30 July 2020

Job retention bonus unlikely to impact furlough decisions, study finds

Liam Kay-McClean

Four-fifths of businesses with furloughed staff do not expect the government’s job retention bonus to have any impact on the number of employees they bring back to the workplace, according to a study from IFF research.

News30 July 2020

Chorus.ai raises $45m in Series C funding

Liam Kay-McClean

Conversation intelligence platform Chorus.ai has raised $45m in its Series C funding round.

News30 July 2020

Kids Insights expands into Australia and Canada

Liam Kay-McClean

Children’s market intelligence business Kids Insights is expanding into Canada and Australia.

News30 July 2020

MightyHive agrees merger with Orca Pacific

Liam Kay-McClean

Data and programmatic media practice MightyHive has announced its intention to merge with Orca Pacific, a boutique consultancy firm and Amazon agency.

Opinion29 July 2020

How will qualitative research change after Covid-19?

How can face-to-face research adapt to a world of video calls and social distancing? Carol McNaughton Nicholls considers the implications for researchers.

News29 July 2020

ICO releases first two regulatory sandbox reports

Liam Kay-McClean

The Information Commissioner’s Office ( ICO) has published the first two reports from participants in its regulatory sandbox on innovating within data protection.

News29 July 2020

Shop price falls slowed in July, Nielsen and BRC find

Liam Kay-McClean

Falls in shop prices slowed down in July, according to research from Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium ( BRC). 

News29 July 2020

Magid hires Hernandez as SVP

Liam Kay-McClean

Business strategy firm Magid has recruited Rob Hernandez as senior vice-president of qualitative research in its consumer and commercial brands group.

News29 July 2020

PRS in Vivo appoints EU MD

Liam Kay-McClean

Shopper and product experience consultancy PRS In Vivo has hired Karen Gombault as its EU managing director.

News28 July 2020

MarketVision promotes three and hires research assistant

Liam Kay-McClean

Market research business MarketVision Research has made several promotions and hired a research assistant.

News28 July 2020

Media consumption falling as lockdown eases, Havas Media finds

Liam Kay-McClean

Consumers used less social media, television, video-on-demand ( VOD), radio, video and music streaming, and podcasts in July than earlier in the Covid-19 lockdown, research from Havas Media Group has found.

News28 July 2020

Seven in 10 people worry about data sharing, study finds

Liam Kay-McClean

Seven in ten people worldwide are concerned about sharing their personal data, according to a study by data and insight trade association Esomar and the Worldwide Independent Network for Market Research.

News28 July 2020

Potentiate launches Australian ad intelligence tool

Liam Kay-McClean

Global market research agency Potentiate has set up an Australia-based digital advertising intelligence firm called AdClarity. 

Opinion27 July 2020

Facts stranger than fiction

Lorna Tilbian looks at Covid-19's impact on the financial markets and the wider economy.

News27 July 2020

Junk food ad ban could see advertising jobs lost, warns IPA

Liam Kay-McClean

A proposed pre-9pm ban on the advertising of foods with high fat, salt and sugar ( HFSS) content would have little impact on childhood obesity and cost jobs in the advertising sector, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising ( IPA) has warned the government.

News27 July 2020

TVSquared partners with Sky Media

Liam Kay-McClean

Television attribution service TVSquared has partnered with Sky’s advertising sales arm, Sky Media, on a direct web attribution tool for advertising campaigns.

News27 July 2020

Quantilope raises $28m Series B funding

Liam Kay-McClean

Insights platform Quantilope has raised $28m in a Series B fundraising round.

News27 July 2020

CCS to replace Research Marketplace

Liam Kay-McClean

The UK government is to replace its Research Marketplace tool with a £300m dynamic purchasing system ( DPS) for research procurement by central government and the wider public sector.

Feature24 July 2020

How do different cultures handle crisis uncertainty?

Oliver Sweet

While Covid-19 is a global crisis, how we respond to uncertainty and anxiety has cultural differences.

News24 July 2020

MRS MD joins Impress board

Debrah Harding, managing director of the Market Research Society, has been appointed to the board of independent press regulator Impress.

News24 July 2020

Vision Critical receives $20m investment

Customer insight software company Vision Critical has secured US$20m in growth funding from Vistara Capital Partners.

News24 July 2020

Barb extends research contract tender process

TV audience measurement currency organisation Barb has announced a year-long extension of the tender process for two of its main research contracts due to practical questions over data collection raised by Covid-19.

News24 July 2020

UK confidence unchanged in July

Consumer confidence has remained at the same level of -27 this month, with an improvement in outlook on personal finances, according to GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index.

News23 July 2020

InCrowd parent company acquires SurveyHealthcare Globus

Apollo Intelligence Corporation, a portfolio company of Saroras Private Capital, has acquired healthcare data collection and survey firm SurveyHealthcare Globus.

News23 July 2020

RSS to set data science standards

The Royal Statistical Society has announced a plan to establish industry-wide professional standards for data science.

News23 July 2020

Ipsos H1 revenue hit by Covid-19

Ipsos has posted revenue of €786m in the first half of the year, down 13% year-on-year, with performance in the second quarter ‘heavily affected’ by Covid-19.

News23 July 2020

E Source acquires StrategyWise

Liam Kay-McClean

Customer-focused research and data science firm E Source has bought StrategyWise, an artificial intelligence and machine-learning company.

News23 July 2020

Kantar launches cross-industry ad effectiveness platform

Katie McQuater

Kantar has established an industry-wide advertising impact measurement initiative, Project Moonshot, as advertisers move away from cookie-based metrics to assess effectiveness.

Opinion22 July 2020

When relevant stops meaning majority

It is time for the market research industry to commit to making marginalised voices heard, writes Robert Agnew.

News22 July 2020

Phebi adds data visualisation

Voice technology company Phebi has developed three data visualisation tools for market research.

News22 July 2020

Beattie and Destination 5.0 partner

Liam Kay-McClean

Integrated communications agency Beattie has partnered with data and customer insights firm Destination 5.0.

News22 July 2020

Nielsen updates digital measurement

Nielsen is overhauling its digital measurement methodology across its various ratings services.

News22 July 2020

RavenPack launches news-driven polling for US election

Liam Kay-McClean

Big data analytics provider RavenPack has launched a news-driven forecasting model for the upcoming US presidential election.

News22 July 2020

Perceptyx buys Kantar's employee insights division

Liam Kay-McClean

Kantar has sold its employee insights business to employee survey and people analytics firm Perceptyx.

News21 July 2020

Directions makes raft of promotions

Liam Kay-McClean

Business insights firm Directions has made several promotions, including Jason Ebbing as chief operating officer.

News21 July 2020

MightyHive creates data practice

Liam Kay-McClean

Data and digital media consultancy MightyHive has launched a global data practice.

News21 July 2020

DMA calls for greater council data safeguards

Liam Kay-McClean

The Data and Marketing Association has warned that government plans to allow local councils full access to people’s personal data risk data and privacy breaches without proper safeguards.

News21 July 2020

ITWP rebrands as Toluna

Liam Kay-McClean

Consumer intelligence platform provider Toluna has become the branding for its parent company, formerly called ITWP.

Feature21 July 2020

Out of touch: Will Covid-19 impact tech interaction?

Liam Kay-McClean

The effects of the pandemic could mean many people turn to touchless technology to shop, pay and travel.

News21 July 2020

Government criticised for delays to online harms regulator

Liam Kay-McClean

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport parliamentary select committee has called for an end to delays in appointing an online harms regulator following the publication of a report on online misinformation during Covid-19.

News20 July 2020

Numerator expands insights platform to Canada

Liam Kay-McClean

Chicago-based data and technology firm Numerator has launched a Canadian insights platform.

Opinion20 July 2020

Tracking the new masculinities

Emily Porter-Salmon

Emily Porter-Salmon reflects on the findings of a cultural analysis to explore dominant and emergent views of masculinity.

News20 July 2020

Bellrock and Panintelligence integrate data tools

Liam Kay-McClean

Leeds-based data analytics and business intelligence company Panintelligence has partnered on a joint initiative with Glasgow data science firm Bellrock Technology.

News20 July 2020

Glow hires global marketing director

Liam Kay-McClean

Melbourne research technology firm Glow has appointed Paul Wells as its new global marketing director. 

News20 July 2020

UK government in DPIA oversight

Liam Kay-McClean

The UK government is working with the Information Commissioner’s Office ( ICO) after it failed to carry out the necessary privacy assessment before the launch of its Covid-19 test and trace programme.

News20 July 2020

Channel 4 partners with The Trade Desk

Liam Kay-McClean

Demand-side platform ( DSP) The Trade Desk has partnered with Channel 4 across the television programmer’s live and on-demand services.

News17 July 2020

Scotland's census delayed for a year due to Covid-19

Katie McQuater

Scotland’s next census, due to take place in March next year, is being postponed until March 2022 as a result of Covid-19, while the England and Wales survey is set to go ahead as planned.

News17 July 2020

S4 Capital issues trading update

Digital advertising group, S4 Capital, has issued a trading update and announced a proposed fundraising as it looks to make further acquisitions.

News17 July 2020

Bellrock Technology hires two senior staff

Liam Kay-McClean

Glasgow data analytics company Bellrock Technology has appointed a chief commercial officer and chief financial officer. 

News17 July 2020

Open Data Institute awards funding for data projects

The Open Data Institute ( ODI) has announced funding for several UK data sharing projects focused on the energy and health sectors through its research and development programme.

News17 July 2020

IPA Bellwether: Market research industry analysis

Liam Kay-McClean

After the IPA Bellwether Report showed a sharp fall in market research budgets during Covid-19, we asked agencies how they have been impacted by lockdown.

News17 July 2020

LRW Group rebrands as Material

Katie McQuater

Data and insights marketing services business LRW Group is now operating as Material, bringing its 10 companies together under one brand name.

Feature16 July 2020

Deliveroo: Delivering data

Liam Kay-McClean

Online food delivery increased during lockdown, and Deliveroo is banking on data-sharing within the organisation to help keep its brand in the public eye.

News16 July 2020

Rival Technologies and Reach3 Insights launch mobile insight tool

Liam Kay-McClean

Research companies Rival Technologies and Reach3 Insights, both part of the Reid Campbell Group, have launched a mobile messaging-based community platform. 

News16 July 2020

Salama joins Morning Consult board of directors

Liam Kay-McClean

Former Kantar chief executive Eric Salama and Karen van Bergen, former chief executive of Omnicom Public Relations Group, have been appointed to the board of data intelligence firm Morning Consult.

News16 July 2020

Study to trial randomised control testing for ad measurement

The Advertising Research Foundation has launched research to establish methods of applying randomised control testing ( RCT) to cross-platform advertising measurement.

News16 July 2020

Research America and Natural Marketing Institute merge

Health research specialist Natural Marketing Institute has been merged into market research company Research America Inc ( RAI).

News16 July 2020

InSites Consulting moves London MD to Singapore

Insights agency InSites Consulting has appointed Daniel Teixeira as managing director Singapore at ABN Impact/InSites Consulting, following its acquisition in late 2019.

News15 July 2020

Customers and Covid-19: Key takeaways from MRS FMCG Virtual Summit

Liam Kay-McClean

At the Market Research Society’s first online-only conference, speakers examined the role of research in the fast-moving consumer goods ( FMCG) sector and how the industry is evolving. Liam Kay looks at some of the key themes.

News15 July 2020

Tess Alps retires from Thinkbox

Liam Kay-McClean

Tess Alps, founding chief executive and current non-executive chair of marketing body Thinkbox, will retire at the end of this year.

News15 July 2020

MetrixLab opens Swiss office

Digital research agency MetrixLab has opened an office in Zug, Switzerland, and appointed Hassan Mouheb as managing director.

Feature15 July 2020

Handling uncertainty

Catherine Turner

In a world of uncertainty, continuous insights can help businesses anticipate and respond to change – building resilience for the future.

Advertisement feature15 July 2020

The Role of Technology in Transforming Hearts and Minds

Katharine Johnson

In these uncertain and unprecedented times, technology has been a welcome relief. Being able to operate, communicate and socialise from remote locations has helped both the heart and minds of individuals to continue to function with as much normality as possible.

News15 July 2020

Lib Dems appoint strategy director

The Liberal Democrats have appointed marketer Mimi Turner as director of strategy, messaging and research.

News15 July 2020

Steep decline in UK marketing budgets

Katie McQuater

Budgets for market research have fallen sharply in the second quarter amid a record decline in marketing spend, according to the IPA Bellwether Report.

News14 July 2020

Hong Kong pollster’s office searched

Police in Hong Kong searched the office of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute on Friday ( 10th July), according to reports.

News14 July 2020

Promotions at MarketVision

Full-service market research company MarketVision has made three promotions within its team.

News14 July 2020

Just Eat CEO named ISBA president

Advertiser trade organisation ISBA has appointed Peter Duffy, chief executive of Just Eat, as president. 

News14 July 2020

Three companies sign MRS CEO pledge

Liam Kay-McClean

Research firms The Nursery, Clearview and Mesh have signed the Market Research Society’s CEO Pledge.

News14 July 2020

Nielsen Sports closes Singapore office

Nielsen has shuttered the Singapore office of its sports data business, Nielsen Sports.

News13 July 2020

Government awards research contract without tender

Katie McQuater

The government has awarded a research contract worth £840,000 without going through an open tender process, according to a joint report from the Guardian and OpenDemocracy.

Opinion13 July 2020

What does Covid-19 teach us about the climate crisis?

Lukas Hermann

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of urgency and immediate accountability in addressing climate change.

News13 July 2020

Maru/Matchbox releases idea testing tool

Liam Kay-McClean

Advisory insights provider Maru/Matchbox has launched a tool to help companies test product and campaign ideas.

News13 July 2020

IRB hires UK sales head

B2B market research panel company Internet Research Bureau ( IRB) has appointed David Winter to lead its UK sales.

News13 July 2020

Hublsoft receives £2m investment

Liam Kay-McClean

Data analytics firm Hublsoft Group has secured a £2m investment from private equity firm Maven VCTs. 

News13 July 2020

WiseWorks secures venture capital investment

Liam Kay-McClean

Canadian digital research solutions and technology business WiseWorks has secured investment from venture capital firm Hygiia.

News10 July 2020

Fieldwork agency GuineaPig launches

Former Central Fieldwork executive Theo Francis has launched GuineaPig Fieldwork in the UK.

News10 July 2020

UK and Australian data authorities to investigate facial recognition firm

The Information Commissioner’s Office ( ICO) has partnered with the Australian data protection body to investigate facial recognition tech company Clearview AI.

News10 July 2020

Medallia and Adobe partner on customer experience tool

Liam Kay-McClean

Experience management company Medallia has partnered on customer insights with Adobe Experience Platform.

News10 July 2020

Borderless Access hires UK sales director

Liam Kay-McClean

Digital market research company Borderless Access has appointed Kasia Churchill as its UK director of sales.

Opinion10 July 2020

Sustainable analysis

James Oates

How can market research promote sustainability and help businesses navigate the subject effectively?

News10 July 2020

Euromonitor launches product claims tool

Market research company Euromonitor International has developed a system for consumer goods companies to monitor product claims around health and sustainability.

News9 July 2020

Government launches job retention scheme

Liam Kay-McClean

Businesses will receive a £1,000 bonus for each furloughed employee who returns to work, Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has told the House of Commons.

News9 July 2020

Tegna and Alphonso renew partnership

Liam Kay-McClean

Television data and measurement firm Alphonso has renewed and expanded its partnership with media company Tegna.

News9 July 2020

Facebook civil rights review published

An independent audit has found that some of Facebook’s decisions have led to ‘serious setbacks for civil rights’.

Opinion9 July 2020

Five data pitfalls to avoid in the Covid-19 era

Addressing data blindspots is even more important for businesses during an uncertain time. 

News9 July 2020

Commercial radio news output rises in lockdown

Liam Kay-McClean

Commercial radio stations in the UK have increased their news coverage by a quarter since the beginning of lockdown, according to research from commercial radio industry body Radiocentre.

News9 July 2020

InMoment launches workplace feedback tool

Customer experience business InMoment has added a tool to gather employee feedback on returning to the workplace as Covid-19 restrictions begin to lift.

News8 July 2020

Ofcom updates BBC tracker

Media regulator Ofcom has made changes to its BBC performance tracker to ensure the survey remains ‘fit for purpose’.

News8 July 2020

MightyHive hires head of enterprise data solutions

Liam Kay-McClean

Media consultancy MightyHive has appointed Toby McAra as head of enterprise data solutions for Europe, Middle East and Africa ( EMEA). 

Feature8 July 2020

Decoding cravings

Katie McQuater

South African retailer Woolworths wanted to know what South Africans are eating – and why – and turned to a chatbot for answers. 

News8 July 2020

Schlesinger launches clinical research brand

Liam Kay-McClean

Data collection and research services business Schlesinger Group has branded its clinical division as Schlesinger Clinical Research.

News8 July 2020

Nielsen to cut 3,500 jobs

Katie McQuater

Nielsen plans to make around 3,500 jobs redundant globally and exit from non-core businesses as part of cost-saving restructuring measures.

News8 July 2020

Measure Protocol appoints vice-president

Liam Kay-McClean

Blockchain data marketplace Measure Protocol has hired John McLaren as vice-president of sales.

News7 July 2020

ONS begins census field staff recruitment

The Office for National Statistics ( ONS) has begun recruiting field staff for the 2021 census in England and Wales.

News7 July 2020

Government launches under-25s Instagram polling tool

Liam Kay-McClean

The UK government has launched a digital tool on Instagram to poll 13-25 year-olds about policy and decision-making.

News7 July 2020

GBH Insights hires senior research manager

Liam Kay-McClean

Marketing strategy and analytics consultancy GBH Insights has appointed Nick Costanza as senior research manager for research and insights. 

News7 July 2020

MRS accredits new Company Partners

Nine businesses have become accredited as Market Research Society Company Partners since Covid-19 restrictions came into place in March.

News7 July 2020

Former Coke exec joins Delineate board

Insights and marketing analytics firm Delineate has appointed Martyn J Crook as an advisor to the board.

News7 July 2020

Dive acquires Servicemind

Liam Kay-McClean

Customer service improvement company Dive has bought mystery shopping firm Servicemind.

Feature6 July 2020

The age effect on making decisions

Crawford Hollingworth

Crawford Hollingworth looks at how people's biases are affected by their age. 

News6 July 2020

Latest issue of Impact published online

With many in the industry currently working from home, the Market Research Society has made the latest issue of Impact available to read digitally, in addition to the usual print edition. 

Opinion6 July 2020

Coming face to face with the 'new normal'

The Covid-19 lockdown meant an immediate pause to face-to-face research. But when can, and should, interviewers return into the field?

News6 July 2020

Qualtrics and Voxpopme expand partnership

Customer experience firm Qualtrics has updated its partnership with video feedback platform Voxpopme, allowing video to be integrated within the XM platform.

News6 July 2020

New chief executive at DoubleVerify

Liam Kay-McClean

Digital media measurement and analytics platform DoubleVerify has appointed Mark Zagorski as its chief executive.

News6 July 2020

Unlimited launches behavioural science group

Katie McQuater

Marketing services group Unlimited has formed a behavioural science hub, Human Understanding Lab.

News6 July 2020

Ipsos Mori restarts face-to-face research

Liam Kay-McClean

Ipsos Mori has resumed face-to-face research following a trial and the implementation of Covid-19 safety features.

News3 July 2020

Facebook boycott could hit brands' ad effectiveness

Brands pulling advertising spend from Facebook as part of a boycott could see their advertising effectiveness impacted across other media channels, according to research from University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School.

News3 July 2020

MediaSense secures funding for digital auditing

Liam Kay-McClean

Independent media adviser MediaSense has received £500,000 funding from the UK government’s innovation agency Innovate UK to develop its integrated digital auditing platform for advertisers.

News3 July 2020

Consumer confidence ‘still fragile’

Consumer confidence has increased by three points but remains volatile, according to the latest Covid-19 flash report from GfK.

News3 July 2020

BritainThinks promotes four

Liam Kay-McClean

Insight consultancy BritainThinks has made several promotions, including two new research directors.

News3 July 2020

Arsenal Capital Partners to acquire Cello Health

Health advisory business Cello Health has agreed to be acquired by Pharma Value Demonstration Bidco, a portfolio company of private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners.

News2 July 2020

MRS launches face-to-face research guidance

Liam Kay-McClean

The Market Research Society ( MRS) has launched new guidance for face-to-face research during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

News2 July 2020

Treat Covid-19 as a war not a recession, says Les Binet

Liam Kay-McClean

Companies should treat the current Covid-19 crisis as they would a war rather than a recession, and not rely on lessons from the 2008 global financial crisis, according to Les Binet, group head of effectiveness at Adam&EveDDB.

Opinion2 July 2020

Navigating the food chain

Increased confidence in supermarkets could present opportunities to positively influence consumer behaviour, writes Laura Weston.

News2 July 2020

CMA calls for new tech giant regulator

A new regulatory regime is needed to govern online platforms including Google and Facebook, the Competition and Markets Authority ( CMA) has said, citing concerns over their dominance in the digital ad market.

News2 July 2020

Dun & Bradstreet launches IPO

Commercial data and analytics firm Dun & Bradstreet has raised $1.7bn in its initial public offering ( IPO).

News2 July 2020

CI Group partners with Bridgei2i

Liam Kay-McClean

Integrated marketing services company CI Group has agreed a strategic partnership with artificial intelligence ( AI) solutions firm Bridgei2i.

News2 July 2020

Mitchell rejoins IRI leadership team

Data and analytics company IRI has appointed Andrew Mitchell as executive vice-president of regional client growth delivery.

News1 July 2020

Meetrics and InMobi agree partnership

Liam Kay-McClean

Marketing measurement and analytics company Meetrics has launched a partnership with mobile intelligence firm InMobi on mobile marketing measurement and transparency.

News1 July 2020

Oxford University launches Covid-19 hotspot dashboard

Liam Kay-McClean

The University of Oxford has created an online tool to help identify potential Covid-19 hotspots.

Opinion1 July 2020

Protecting the vulnerable

Julie Corney

Julie Corney, standards and compliance manager at MRS, writes about protections for interviewing vulnerable people. 

News1 July 2020

Lucid appoints chief privacy officer

Liam Kay-McClean

Research technology company Lucid has hired Pauline Wen as its general counsel, chief privacy officer and corporate secretary.

News1 July 2020

Ipsos Mori launches report on diversity of institutions

Ipsos Mori has partnered with leadership platform DIAL Global, UN Global Compact, social mobility charity UpReach and professional services firm EY to launch a report on diversity in the UK’s institutions. 

News1 July 2020

Half of marketers report no Covid-19 wellbeing support

The Chartered Institute of Marketing ( CIM) has called on the marketing industry to provide more support to employees’ wellbeing while working from home.