Feature1 September 2021

Positive play: Gaming for a better world

Liam Kay-McClean

Gaming could play an important role for wellbeing, as well as helping people understand the trade-offs needed to make the world a better place.

Opinion31 August 2021

Why making it easy is not the only option

Colin Strong

There is a case for challenging the notion that ‘ease’ should always be at the centre of customer engagement; we may benefit from some friction or even difficulty. 

Opinion31 August 2021

Why making it easy is not the only option

There is a case for challenging the notion that ‘ease’ should always be at the centre of customer engagement; we may benefit from some friction or even difficulty. 

News31 August 2021

Facebook joins ID2020 partnership

Facebook has joined the ID2020 Alliance, a global public-private partnership that develops principles and standards for digital identity technologies. 

News31 August 2021

Alida hires chief architect

Customer experience company Alida has appointed Amit Gupta as chief architect, focusing on its total exerience management ( TXM) platform.

News31 August 2021

FanAI launches sports fan programmatic segments

Sports sponsorship data platform FanAI has introduced fan audience segments for targeted programmatic buying of sports sponsorships.  

News31 August 2021

Blue Yonder hires Brand Lab lead

Research and innovation company Blue Yonder Research has appointed Mat Sloan as head of its marketing insights department Brand:Lab.

News31 August 2021

Funding for AllVoices

Employee feedback management company AllVoices has raised $9.6m in a Series A funding round led by Silverton Partners.

News27 August 2021

Genius Sports acquires Spirable

Sports, betting and media tech and data company Genius Sports Limited has acquired creative performance platform Spirable for an undisclosed amount.

News27 August 2021

US government agencies plan to increase facial recognition

The majority of US federal agencies are using some form of facial recognition technology, according to a study by the Government Accountability Office ( GAO).

News27 August 2021

Disqo raises $85m in Series B funding

Consumer insights platform Disqo has closed an $85m Series B growth funding round led by private investors Sage Capital.

News27 August 2021

Royal Statistical Society names David Firth as next president

Liam Kay-McClean

The Royal Statistical Society ( RSS) has appointed Professor David Firth as president-elect, replacing Professor Sylvia Richardson at the end of 2022.

News27 August 2021

Atheneum raises funding of $150m

Business-to-business research technology platform Atheneum has secured $150m in growth capital led by Guidepost Growth Equity.

Opinion26 August 2021

Removing 'vanity' metrics from marketing

It is time to sacrifice a bit of campaign reach for a lot of campaign certainty.

News26 August 2021

Covera Health raises $25m funding

Healthcare quality analytics company Covera Health has secured investment of $25m in a Series C round led by venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners.

News26 August 2021

NBCUniversal promotes Gonzalez to EVP

Media company NBCUniversal has named Will Gonzalez as executive vice-president and chief data officer, direct-to-consumer.

News26 August 2021

The Research Society names CEO

Australian research industry representative body The Research Society has appointed Angus Hunter as chief executive.

News26 August 2021

UK government proposes changes to post-Brexit data laws

Katie McQuater

The government has said it plans to reform UK data law and has announced John Edwards as its preferred candidate to take over from Elizabeth Denham as UK information commissioner later this year.

News26 August 2021

Zappi hires Gladden to lead shopper pillar

Ad testing company Zappi has appointed Keurig Dr Pepper’s Lindsey Gladden as senior product manager, responsible for shopper insights.

News25 August 2021

Verve hires Beaumont to lead new innovation and strategy offer

Community panel and digital research company Verve has appointed Jon Beaumont as new business development director.

Feature25 August 2021

The history of the data economy: Analytics arrives

Timandra Harkness

The latest in a series on the past, present and future of the data economy charts the arrival of analytics and efforts to understand consumers using new data sources. 

News25 August 2021

Paul Ballew to lead data at NFL

The National Football League ( NFL) has appointed former Ford executive Paul Ballew as chief data and analytics officer, with immediate effect.

News25 August 2021

Delvinia and Fuel Cycle partner on platforms

Research technology and data collection company Delvinia has partnered with market research and community platform Fuel Cycle on chatbot and video research technology.

News25 August 2021

Baffle secures $20m funding

Cloud data protection company Baffle has raised $20m in Series B funding led by new investor Celesta Capital.

News25 August 2021

Team One hires first chief data officer

Media, digital and communications agency Team One, part of Publicis Groupe, has appointed Prachi Priya to the newly created role of chief data officer.

News24 August 2021

Harnham expands in US and Germany

Data and analytics recruitment business Harnham has set up three international offices in the US and Germany.

News24 August 2021

Dun & Bradstreet launches data platform in the UK

Business data and analytics company Dun & Bradstreet has expanded its first and third-party data platform D&B Rev.Up to the UK.

News24 August 2021

NBCUniversal calls for new approach to media measurement

US – Broadcaster NBCUniversal has called for 'measurement independence' in the media industry, saying that current approaches to measuring media are 'outdated'.

News24 August 2021

BMi Research names CEO

South African insights BMi Research has appointed Jenni-Ruth Coggin as chief executive and Cindi Collett as chief operating officer.

News24 August 2021

Stanley to lead data science at Dunnhumby

Katie McQuater

Customer data science business Dunnhumby has promoted Sandra Stanley to chief data science officer, succeeding Rex Davis.

News23 August 2021

China adopts new data privacy law

China has passed a law on protecting personal data online, effective from 1st November.

News23 August 2021

Twitter pilots misinformation reporting tool

Twitter has begun testing a feature that allows users to report tweets that appear misleading.

Opinion23 August 2021

Six rebel ideas to make sampling an innovation priority

Sampling needs a dose of innovation, otherwise it’ll become an automated commodity.

News23 August 2021

Iterable names diversity lead

Customer experience company Iterable has appointed Markita Jack as head of diversity, equity and inclusion.

News23 August 2021

GSK launches health innovation studio

Consumer healthcare company GSK’s innovation arm GSK Next has partnered with R/GA Ventures on an initiative to work with startups in the health and technology space.

News23 August 2021

WPP acquires AI company

Advertising and communications business WPP has acquired Satalia, a London-based technology company focused on artificial intelligence ( AI), for an undisclosed sum.

News23 August 2021

New leadership at Bastion Insights

Insights consultancy Bastion Insights, part of communications group Bastion, has appointed Ali Dexter as co-chief executive, leading the company’s team in Melbourne.

News20 August 2021

FTC refiles Facebook antitrust case

Liam Kay-McClean

The Federal Trade Commission ( FTC) has refiled its antitrust case against Facebook, claiming the social media company has “unlawfully acquired innovative competitors” to build a monopoly in the industry.

News20 August 2021

David Droga named Accenture Interactive CEO

Accenture has appointed David Droga, founder and chairman of advertising agency Droga5, as chief executive and creative chairman of its digital agency Accenture Interactive, effective from 1st September.

News20 August 2021

Kantar Public reshapes Asia-Pacific business

Liam Kay-McClean

Public policy agency Kantar Public has reorganised its leadership and business in Asia-Pacific to encourage closer working between teams based in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

News20 August 2021

UK consumer confidence stays stable

Consumer confidence in the UK has remained stable in August, with a one-point decrease in the past month, according to GfK’s monthly Consumer Confidence Index.

News20 August 2021

Maru adds Novoa to global account team

Market research and customer insights company Maru Group has appointed Silvia Novoa as senior vice-president, global account director.

Feature19 August 2021

Belinda Beeftink on how consumer behaviour is changing

Belinda Beeftink is research director at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, and is responsible for TouchPoints, the multimedia database for UK advertising.

News19 August 2021

Lucid partners with Samba TV on ad measurement

Programmatic research technology firm Lucid will work with advertising and analytics company Samba TV on linear television advertising measurement and insight.

News19 August 2021

Merkle opens technology practice

Customer experience business Merkle, part of Dentsu International, has created a dedicated technology consulting practice and appointed Andy Ankrah to lead it as head of technology consulting.

News19 August 2021

GWI expands to Singapore

Target audience company GWI will open its first office in Asia-Pacific in Singapore in October.

News19 August 2021

Panelbase hires client account director

Panel and research services company Panelbase has appointed Priya Nepoleon as client account director.

News19 August 2021

YPulse expands surveys to UK and Europe

Youth insight and research agency YPulse is adding the UK and several Western European countries to its youth insights panel.

News19 August 2021

Hamburg data regulator says Zoom incompatible with GDPR

Hamburg’s data protection commissioner has formally warned the city’s government not to use the on-demand version of videoconferencing platform Zoom, saying it ‘violates’ General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR).

News18 August 2021

Kantar chair to lead BT board

BT has appointed Kantar chair Adam Crozier as chair, succeeding Jan du Plessis, effective from 1st December.

Opinion18 August 2021

Using participatory methods to boost homelessness research

In the second instalment on Walnut Unlimited’s homelessness research, Bessie Pike discusses involving individuals with lived experiences of homelessness.

News18 August 2021

CivicScience launches digital advertising company

Market intelligence company CivicScience has established a media and advertising platform based on data from survey respondents.

News18 August 2021

Tinder to expand ID verification globally

Dating app Tinder is making ID verification available to all app users worldwide as part of a drive to prevent fake accounts.

News18 August 2021

Essence launches data tool

Global data and media agency Essence, part of media investment firm GroupM, has launched a data health check service to support companies’ data strategies.

News18 August 2021

InfoSum raises $65m investment

Data identity infrastructure company InfoSum has secured $65m in Series B funding financed by Chrysalis Investments.

News17 August 2021

Co-op hires former Tesco head of customer insight

Liam Kay-McClean

The Co-op Group has appointed Nick Meagher to the newly created role of head of insight and research.

News17 August 2021

Uncommon launches CX practice

Advertising agency Uncommon has formed a customer experience ( CX) division focused on delivery across the customer journey.

News17 August 2021

Savanta acquires MSI International

Liam Kay-McClean

Global intelligence business Savanta has acquired market research agency MSI International for an undisclosed sum.

News17 August 2021

The Ozone Project launches campaign management tool

Digital advertising platform The Ozone Project has created an audience insights dashboard and campaign planning tool.

News17 August 2021

Bloomfire announces private equity funding

Private equity firm Primus Capital has made a ‘significant’ investment in knowledge management software company Bloomfire.

News16 August 2021

Toppan Digital Language acquires GlobaLexicon

Market research translation and language service company GlobaLexicon has been acquired by language services business Toppan Digital Language.

News16 August 2021

Op4G hires senior client director

Market research company Op4G has appointed John Sadler as senior director of client development.

News16 August 2021

Ad campaign begins for Black British Voices survey

Britain’s only black newspaper The Voice has launched a campaign to increase completion of the Black British Voices survey to understand the experience of black people in the UK.

Opinion16 August 2021

Crawford Hollingworth: The first chunk is the hardest

Crawford Hollingworth

Why is it so hard to take that first step?

News16 August 2021

Calls for Facebook to make ad targeting data available to researchers

Over 250 researchers, technologists and citizens have called on Facebook to reinstate the accounts of two New York University ( NYU) academics researching political advertising and misinformation.

News16 August 2021

ICO opens employment data consultation

The Information Commissioner’s Office ( ICO) has launched a consultation as part of a planned update to the regulator’s employment practices guidance.

News16 August 2021

Ipsos Mori’s Kaur-Ballagan to lead research at The Royal Foundation

The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has appointed Kully Kaur-Ballagan as director of research, effective from September.

News16 August 2021

Savanta launches research tools

Data analytics and market research firm Savanta has expanded its Savanta Essential range of research tools to include creative testing, employee experience and stakeholder perception.

News13 August 2021

Consumer confidence stabilised in July

Consumer confidence has remained level in July although households felt less confident about their finances compared with June, according to analysis from YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research ( Cebr).

News13 August 2021

Comscore Q2 revenues down on 2020

Comscore’s revenues fell year-on-year in the second quarter of 2021 with net losses also rising, albeit with growth in television and marketing income, according to its latest financial results.

News13 August 2021

People.ai completes $100m funding round

Artificial intelligence ( AI) company People.ai has raised $100m in Series D funding to invest in its SmartData Foundation revenue operations and intelligence platform.

News13 August 2021

Nielsen looks to suspend industry-backed TV measurement accreditation

Nielsen is seeking a hiatus from the accreditation process led by the Media Rating Council ( MRC) for its national TV ratings service.

News13 August 2021

Private equity backing for MediaSense

Private equity firm Apiary Capital has acquired a ‘significant stake’ in global media advisory business MediaSense.

News12 August 2021

Laura Livers joins SeeLevel HX

Mystery shopping and customer experience company SeeLevel HX has appointed Schlesinger Group’s Laura Livers as executive vice-president.

Feature12 August 2021

Over it? Overtourism and post-pandemic travel

Katie McQuater

Overtourism is an increasingly pressing problem in the world’s most popular destinations. As the global travel industry recovers, a fine balance is needed to ensure tourism stays sustainable.

News12 August 2021

Macromill launches digital advertising business

Tokyo-based marketing research firm Macromill has established Macromill Ads, a company focused on distributing and operating digital advertising.

News12 August 2021

Boote joins Motif to lead new business

Loyalty insights agency Motif has appointed Amanda Boote as new business director and made two appointments within its insights team.

News12 August 2021

Nielsen and Meredith renew TV measurement

Nielsen and US local media group Meredith Corporation have renewed a multi-year agreement for Nielsen to provide local television ratings.

News12 August 2021

Momentive expands B2B panel

Survey technology firm Momentive, formerly SurveyMonkey, has partnered with market research firms Dynata and Schlesinger Group to develop its panel for business-to-business ( B2B) research.

News12 August 2021

QualRecruit launches in North America

Former Ipsos researcher Sebastian Murdoch-Gibson has launched QualRecruit, an online marketplace for qualitative study recruitment.

News11 August 2021

NatCen launches deliberative research projects

The National Centre for Social Research ( NatCen) has been commissioned to conduct new research projects with the University of Sheffield, the European Climate Foundation and the Institute for Public Policy Research ( IPPR).

News11 August 2021

Dynata buys InBrain.AI

Data and insights business Dynata has acquired insights and survey platform InBrain.ai for an undisclosed sum.

News11 August 2021

AMC Global hires VP

Custom market research firm AMC Global has named Lea Ben-Akiva as executive vice-president of growth and innovation.

News11 August 2021

Panintelligence partners with Firebolt on data warehousing

Business intelligence and analytics software company Panintelligence has partnered with cloud data warehouse Firebolt.

News11 August 2021

TRA launches in Australia

Auckland-based research and insights agency The Research Agency ( TRA) has opened an office in Melbourne, Australia and appointed Mark Hobart as partner.

Opinion11 August 2021

Lorna Tilbian: Different this time?

Lorna Tilbian, chairman of Dowgate Capital and Impact columnist, questions whether things are really different this year.

News10 August 2021

Apple counters privacy concerns over child safety features

Liam Kay-McClean

Apple has defended its development of two tools used to identify child sexual abuse material on customers’ phones following criticism of the tools’ privacy implications.

News10 August 2021

Data Axle buys direct marketing business

Business intelligence company Data Axle, formerly Infogroup, has acquired direct marketing company Exact Data, adding it to its US division.

News10 August 2021

Toluna updates consumer insights platform

Consumer insights firm Toluna has added new automated tools to its Toluna Start platform.

News10 August 2021

Bland appointed MD at Walnut Unlimited

Katie McQuater

Market research agency Walnut Unlimited has promoted Chris Bland to managing director, as Jane Rudling steps down as MD to focus on her role as head of Unlimited’s insights & analytics division.

News10 August 2021

Comscore and YouTube partner on measurement

Media evaluation company Comscore has agreed to provide audience ratings and measurement for YouTube and YouTube TV.

News10 August 2021

New UK MD for MetrixLab

Digital research agency MetrixLab has appointed Claudia Strauss as managing director, MetrixLab UK.

Opinion9 August 2021

Focus on psychological safety

Seeing colleagues in the office will not simply unwind the impact of 18 months apart, and a strategy for staff psychological safety is necessary.

News9 August 2021

ONS publishes digitised historical census data

The Office for National Statistics has published the small area statistics tables from the 1961 England and Wales census in digital form.

News9 August 2021

HIT Strategies appoints five staff

Public opinion research firm HIT Strategies has had five staff members join the company, including David Kornahrens as senior director of research.

News9 August 2021

WPP grows revenue in first half of year

WPP has reported revenue of £6.1bn in the first six months of 2021, up 9.8% from the first half of 2020.

News9 August 2021

Glow hires former Havas Media head as CMO

Research technology platform Glow has appointed Matt Houltham as its first chief marketing officer.

News9 August 2021

Lack of moderators affecting anti-misinformation efforts

A reduction in the number of moderators at the onset of Covid-19 and increased reliance on algorithms caused problems in moderating social media effectively, according to a Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation ( CDEI) report.

News9 August 2021

Phoenix MI expands brand consultancy

Advertising and brand research company Phoenix Marketing International has appointed Kevin Wood as senior vice-president, business consulting.

News6 August 2021

Zinklar appoints former Kantar marketing head

Software-as-a-system ( SaaS) market research firm Zinklar has named Ignasi Fernández as its chief marketing officer.

News6 August 2021

Facebook criticised after blocking political advertising research

Liam Kay-McClean

Facebook has faced criticism from senior politicians in the US and UK after it blocked access to university researchers examining political advertising on the social media platform.

News6 August 2021

Kantar hires two

Kantar has made two senior appointments, including Christoph Haschka as group director of mergers and acquisitions.

News6 August 2021

Nielsen to give panellists wearable devices

Nielsen is providing almost 3,000 wearable devices to panel members as the company seeks to modernise and improve the panel experience.

News5 August 2021

Quantilope hires former GfK director

Consumer research business Quantilope has appointed Carl West as its new client development director for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

News5 August 2021

Streaming subscriptions increased in 2020

UK streaming subscriptions rose 50% to more than 30 million in 2020 as Netflix overtook pay TV for the first time, according to Ofcom research.

News5 August 2021

Phoenix MI acquires Communicus

Global advertising and brand research firm Phoenix Marketing International has acquired research-based advertising consultancy Communicus.

News5 August 2021

Forsta and Rybbon partner on survey rewards

Customer experience and research technology company Forsta has agreed a partnership with digital gifting platform Rybbon.

Feature5 August 2021

Public interest: Data and the BBC

Katie McQuater

The BBC is facing perhaps the biggest transformation of its 98-year history, and data is helping it connect – and reconnect – with audiences. 

News5 August 2021

Beehive hires two

Global insight agency Beehive Research has recruited two senior professionals to its market research and customer experience insight team, including Tim Kerr as senior researcher.

Opinion4 August 2021

To mask or not to mask

Should companies keep mask rules in place after legal restrictions end? Research can help find the answer.

News4 August 2021

Rep Data and Latitude partner

Video media intelligence company Latitude and full-service data collection and sample sourcing business Rep Data have agreed to work together on video content insights.

News4 August 2021

Kantar agrees Reputation Intelligence sale

Kantar has announced the proposed sale of its tracking and monitoring business Reputation Intelligence to software investor Symphony Technology Group ( STG) for an undisclosed sum.

News4 August 2021

Toluna promotes Lelièvre to COO

Consumer insights firm Toluna has named Mathilde Lelièvre as its chief operations officer ( COO).

News4 August 2021

MIS Group expands to Italy

Market research fieldwork business MIS Group has opened its first Italian office and appointed Gabriele Morsillo as country manager.

News3 August 2021

UK draft digital identity framework published

The government has published a second version of its digital identity trust framework as the UK pushes forward with plans to make it easier to share data between organisations and individuals.

News3 August 2021

Morning Consult hires former Maru/Matchbox co-CEO

Data and technology firm Morning Consult has appointed Brian James as associate vice-president of client services.

News3 August 2021

Fiftyfive5 hires head of performance measurement

Market research consultancy Fiftyfive5 has named Rob Highett-Smith as its first head of performance measurement.

News3 August 2021

Verve names research director

Community panel and digital research business Verve has promoted seven and appointed Simon Taylor as research director to lead its grocery division.

News3 August 2021

TEG creates marketing and tech agency

Live entertainment, ticketing and technology company TEG has merged its analytics, digital and insights departments into a single data-led marketing and technology agency.

News2 August 2021

The Insights Family expands

Children and parents market intelligence firm The Insights Family has expanded to Poland, opened two new offices and appointed three new staff members.

News2 August 2021

HRW Shift hires two

Behavioural science firm Health Research Worldwide ( HRW) Shift has appointed two behavioural science analysts, including Jeremy Koloski.

News2 August 2021

Glow pilots sustainability survey

Research company Glow has launched a monthly survey to gather insights into changing consumer habits and sentiments towards environmental and social challenges.

News2 August 2021

Five Turing AI fellowships named

Five new fellows have been announced for the UK government’s fellowship programme for artificial intelligence ( AI) research.