Feature3 June 2024

Is this the real life? The rise of synthetic data

Liam Kay-McClean

With the artificial intelligence revolution gathering pace, synthetic data is the next new kid on the block for the research sector.

News31 May 2024

MRS podcast addresses synthetic data

The Market Research Society has produced a podcast on the implications of synthetic data in market research, to coincide with a report series on the impact of generative AI.

News31 May 2024

Funding for data viz firm StructureFlow

London-based data visualisation company StructureFlow has closed a $6m Series A funding round.

News31 May 2024

Sensu Insight launches PR insight tool

Research and measurement consultancy Sensu Insight has developed an evaluation tool for the public relations sector.

News31 May 2024

Pureprofile makes board changes

Sydney-headquartered data and insights agency Pureprofile has appointed Michael Anderson as non-executive chair and Adrian Gonzalez as non-executive director, effective from 1st June.

Feature30 May 2024

The ordinary life: How research helped Reach understand what community means

Katie McQuater

Brands often seek to align with big cultural moments, but communities form through more mundane, everyday experiences, a study by Reach found.

News30 May 2024

Very creates chief customer officer role

Online retailer The Very Group has promoted its chief marketing officer, Jessica Myers, to the newly created position of chief customer officer.

News30 May 2024

Ian Brace named MRS Gold Medal recipient

The Market Research Society ( MRS) has awarded Ian Brace with its Gold Medal as well as naming eight fellows and three honorary posthumous fellowships.

News30 May 2024

MediaSense to acquire PwC's UK media team

Global media adviser MediaSense has agreed to acquire PwC UK’s marketing and media owner team for an undisclosed amount.

News30 May 2024

UK CEOs optimistic about financial prospects

Chief executives in the UK are more optimistic about their company’s profitability compared with 12 months ago, according to research from EY.

News30 May 2024

Former Google product lead joins Kantar Media

Kantar Media has appointed Nicole Gileadi to a newly-created role as chief strategy officer and North America managing director.

News30 May 2024

Research Strategy Group makes senior appointments

Insight company Research Strategy Group has made three hires in the UK and US, including Judy Taylor and Caroline Noon as research directors based in London.

News30 May 2024

Catalyx hires three in UK and US

Innovation consultancy Catalyx has recruited three senior staff, including Lauren Hawes as senior client strategy director in the company’s US team.

Feature29 May 2024

Zero to 100: Are pollsters ready for the UK general election?

Liam Kay-McClean

A summer general election took the country by surprise earlier this month, with polling stations set to open on 4th July. Are pollsters prepared?

News29 May 2024

Wildstone expands into Australia

Outdoor media infrastructure company Wildstone is expanding into Australia’s out-of-home ( OOH) advertising market.

News29 May 2024

Cavefish launches AI digital marketing platform

Artificial intelligence business Cavefish has launched an AI-led marketing tool to support business’ content marketing work.

News29 May 2024

DMA calls for data protection reforms post-election

The DMA has launched a 10-point manifesto to reform data protection following the demise of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill in the run-up to the UK general election.

News29 May 2024

Delineate appoints insights director in Mexico

Liam Kay-McClean

Strategic insights business Delineate has appointed Ana Gorozpe as insights director, based in Mexico.

News28 May 2024

ThisThat appoints sales VP

Advertising data company ThisThat has appointed Tom Shannon as vice-president of sales and promoted Joe Adsett to vice-president of growth.

Feature28 May 2024

Treading the boards: Insight and the National Theatre

Liam Kay-McClean

Since its formation in the 1960s, the National Theatre has become a national treasure, and now the organisation is acting on insight to shape its future.

News28 May 2024

Social media can 'increase feelings of connection', study finds

Posting on social media improves people’s sense of connection both online and in real-world interactions compared with those that do not use the technology, according to research by research and insights company TRA.

News28 May 2024

New business The Research Heads launches

Three former 2CV researchers have founded insights agency The Research Heads, headquartered in San Francisco.

News28 May 2024

Havas and YouGov extend partnership

Research and analytics group YouGov and media company Havas have expanded their relationship in client insights to several new networks and markets.

News28 May 2024

Ipsos Iris to include YouTube data in Australia

Ipsos has added YouTube audience reach and watch time data across mobile, desktop and tablets into the Ipsos Iris digital audience measurement currency, in collaboration with Google and IAB Australia.

Feature24 May 2024

Hannah Perry in seven: Disinformation, AI and democracy

Hannah Perry discusses researching disinformation and conspiracy theories, the rise of generative AI and how her experience as a teacher has helped her research career.

News24 May 2024

Glassbox acquired for $150m

AI customer intelligence platform Glassbox has entered into an agreement with venture capital firm Alicorn Venture Partners to be acquired for around $150m.

News24 May 2024

Captify launches audience insights tool

Search intelligence platform Captify has created a tool to allow brands to combine first-party audience data with search.

News24 May 2024

Consumer confidence increases in May

UK consumer confidence rose two points in May but remained in negative territory with a score of -17, according to GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index.

News24 May 2024

Survey Healthcare Global hires SVP

First-party healthcare data collection and survey firm Survey Healthcare Global, part of Apollo Intelligence, has appointed January Khoshnood as senior vice-president of global customer success.

Feature23 May 2024

A pinch of salt: Reflections on data, AI and culture in Salt Lake City

Liam Kay-McClean

From the rise of AI to improving organisational culture, what were the key themes at Qualtrics' X4 conference?

News23 May 2024

Most researchers satisfied at work but mental health remains a worry

A majority of market researchers are satisfied in their jobs, but half report that mental health is a concern when it comes to work, according to a survey by the Market Research Institute International ( MRII).

News23 May 2024

Dynata applies for Chapter 11 in US bankruptcy court

Liam Kay-McClean

First-party data firm Dynata has begun a Chapter 11 filing in the US Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware to recapitalise the company and eliminate 40% of its debt.

News23 May 2024

Aura develops client guide to tackle stress in the research industry

Client-side researcher network Aura has launched the Working Well Together Charter, which aims to address behaviours in the client-agency relationship that can trigger tensions, stress or unnecessary workload.

News23 May 2024

Discuss creates chief growth officer role

Insight platform Discuss has promoted Adam Mertz to the newly-created role of chief growth officer.

News22 May 2024

Michael Davis appointed NatCen CEO

Liam Kay-McClean

NatCen has appointed Michael Davis as its new chief executive, effective from late August 2024. He succeeds Guy Goodwin.

News22 May 2024

Irrational Agency launches qual and cultural insight practice

Liam Kay-McClean

Behavioural research business Irrational Agency has formed a new qualitative and cultural insight practice and hired Andie Lowings as head of qualitative research.

News22 May 2024

Lakeside and Qualtrics to work together on EX

Experience management company Qualtrics has partnered with IT data intelligence company Lakeside Software on employee experience technology.

News22 May 2024

Ipsos releases UX comparison tool

Ipsos has launched a platform to allow brands to compare the quality of user experiences across mobile applications and websites against those of their competitors.

News22 May 2024

Barb joins MRC

UK television audience measurement body Barb has become a member of US-based audience measurement service auditor the Media Rating Council ( MRC) as part of a commitment for greater collaboration between the two organisations.

Opinion22 May 2024

Ageism: Under the EDI radar

Liz Norman

The insight industry is missing a trick by not employing more people aged 55 and over, says Liz Norman.

News21 May 2024

Radio audiences hit all-time high

Radio audiences in the UK have hit a new all-time high of 49.9 million people, according to figures from radio industry body Rajar.

News21 May 2024

Coca-Cola launches insight platform

Coca-Cola has released a consumer insights platform featuring thought leadership and consumer insights guidance.

Feature21 May 2024

Where is the research industry still falling short on inclusion?

Katie McQuater

There remain barriers to inclusion in market research in unconscious biases and the accessibility of research studies, the MRS Equality Summit has heard.

News21 May 2024

Beesy hires two

Applied behavioural science insights agency Beesy has appointed Kari Terzino as research principal and Shelby Walia as behavioural associate.

News21 May 2024

Google to add generative AI to search

Google is launching generative artificial intelligence features in its Google Search platform in the US.

News21 May 2024

Ayda launches anti-fraud tool

Research operations software company Ayda has developed a tool that aims to address survey fraud via its incentive payments platform.

News20 May 2024

Telegraph Media Group launches insight agency

Media company Telegraph Media Group has launched a research and insights agency called Compass.

News20 May 2024

Precision Sample hires client development SVP

Quantitative market research data collection company Precision Sample has named Jeremy Strawn-Carreño as senior vice-president of client development.

News20 May 2024

BARC India names chief of measurement science

Broadcast Audience Research Council India has appointed Dr Bikramjit Chaudhuri as chief of measurement science and analytics.

News20 May 2024

Nexxt Intelligence partners with Microsoft Azure on AI

Conversational artificial intelligence ( AI) company Nexxt Intelligence has partnered with Microsoft Azure for OpenAI access.

Opinion20 May 2024

Sustainability is becoming an essential part of procurement

More clients are starting to assess the sustainability of research proposals, but it’s about more than just offsetting carbon.

News20 May 2024

Ipsos buys Indian research business Crownit

Ipsos has acquired mobile and online panel company Crownit to bolster its digital data collection in India.

News17 May 2024

HubSpot hires UK country manager

AI customer platform business HubSpot has made three senior hires as part of its expansion in Europe, Middle East and Africa ( Emea), including Lalitha Stables as general manager and country manager for the UK.

News17 May 2024

Luth Research appoints SVP of research

San Diego-based market research and insights firm Luth Research has named Stephen Montgomery as senior vice-president of research.

News17 May 2024

Samba TV and StackAdapt agree first-party data partnership

Programmatic advertising platform StackAdapt and audience measurement company Samba TV have partnered together to integrate Samba TV’s first-party dataset into the StackAdapt platform.

News17 May 2024

Stats NZ offers voluntary redundancy to all staff

Liam Kay-McClean

Cuts to New Zealand’s government statistics body Stats NZ could mean the organisation struggles to meet its core functions, a trade union has warned, after the department offered voluntary redundancy to all of its staff.

News16 May 2024

MRS Delphi Group releases synthetic data report

Synthetic data could be a valuable addition to the market research industry, according to a new report from the MRS Delphi Group.

News16 May 2024

Directions appoints president and CEO

Beth Finn has been named as the new chief executive officer and president at insights company Directions Inc, replacing Jim Lane, who will retire at the end of the year.

News16 May 2024

Factworks names senior director

Market research agency Factworks has appointed James Crease as senior director.

News16 May 2024

Barb issues 'big data' invitation to tender

Television audience measurement body Barb has issued the final part of its invitation to tender for the next version of its audience measurement service, with plans to expand its work with big data and panel data.

News16 May 2024

Luke Perry replaces Peter Totman as Jigsaw's head of qual

Liam Kay-McClean

Global strategic insight agency Strat7 Jigsaw has promoted Luke Perry to replace Peter Totman as head of qualitative research.

News16 May 2024

Savanta-owned Explorer Research expands to UK

Katie McQuater

North American shopper insights agency Explorer Research is expanding to London following its acquisition by Savanta. 

Feature15 May 2024

Thinking for yourself: How insight fuels The Economist

Katie McQuater

Research is the backbone of The Economist’s subscription strategy. From launching a paywalled podcast to integrating user experience research, Seema Hope tells Katie McQuater how insight is fuelling the free-thinking media brand 

Opinion15 May 2024

Who really cares? The politics surrounding social causes

The research industry must help brands understand attitudes to social purpose if they are to engage with consumers

News15 May 2024

System1 releases consumer emotion tool for new product ideas

Creative effectiveness platform System1 has launched a platform to measure consumers’ emotional responses to new products and branding.

News15 May 2024

Stravito appoints three

Enterprise insights platform Stravito has made three appointments, including former Burberry employee Ross Dempsey as director of insights engagement and Monica Öberg as vice president of people.

News15 May 2024

Daivid hires data science head

UK & US – Global effectiveness platform Daivid has appointed Eli Drake as head of data science

News15 May 2024

Forsta launches experience tool for retailers

Human experience technology platform Forsta has created a set of insights tools to help unify retailers’ customer, employee and brand data.

News15 May 2024

StackAdapt names chief marketing officer

Multi-channel advertising platform StackAdapt has appointed Ryan Nelsen as chief marketing officer.

News14 May 2024

Partnership arranged between Netquest and SightX

Panel provider Netquest and artificial intelligence consumer insights platform SightX have agreed a strategic partnership.

News14 May 2024

Dentsu creates chief experience officer role

Media company Dentsu UK and Ireland has appointed Indy Saha to the newly-created role of chief experience officer and join its senior leadership team.

News14 May 2024

Oxford study finds correlation between internet use and higher wellbeing

Katie McQuater

Internet use is statistically associated with higher levels of psychological wellbeing, according to research from the Oxford Internet Institute.

News14 May 2024

Trust in official stats remains high, report finds

Liam Kay-McClean

There are high levels of trust in official statistics among the public, with 87% trusting the Office for National Statistics ( ONS), according to the latest Public Confidence in Official Statistics report.

News14 May 2024

Sensu Insight establishes universities tracker

Research and measurement consultancy Sensu Insight has partnered with Universities UK to develop a universities sector tracker for the higher education sector.

News13 May 2024

Alexander Wheatley joins The Doyle Collection

Hotel company The Doyle Collection has appointed Alexander Wheatley as head of customer insights and data.

Opinion13 May 2024

What can the qual researcher learn from 'progressive politics'?

Peter Totman

What is the role of a social justice lens within qualitative research?

News13 May 2024

Sprinklr creates AI customer feedback management tool

US – Customer experience management platform Sprinklr has launched an artificial intelligence ( AI) survey tool for customer feedback management.

News13 May 2024

InnovateMR expands APAC MD role to include India

Market research provider InnovateMR has added oversight of the company’s India operations to Sandeep Singh, managing director, Asia-Pacific.

News13 May 2024

Informa hires group CMO

Information services group Informa has appointed Jill Dougan to the newly created role of group chief marketing officer.

News13 May 2024

Measure Protocol launches consumer insight tool

Consumer intelligence company Measure Protocol has released a tool to provide consumer insights and behavioural data for clients.

News10 May 2024

UK companies see increase in profit warnings

The number of UK-listed companies issuing a profit warning over the past year grew to 18.7%, a percentage point higher than at the height of the 2008 global financial crisis, according to data from EY-Parthenon.

News10 May 2024

Ideally names marketing lead

Customer insights platform Ideally has appointed Maura Halpin to the newly-created role of marketing lead, effective immediately.

News10 May 2024

Beesy creates AI model for behavioural science analysis

Applied behavioural science insights agency Beesy has launched a custom-built artificial intelligence ( AI) analysis model for healthcare research.

News10 May 2024

On Device hires finance director

Global brand measurement company On Device has appointed Matt Earle as finance director.

News9 May 2024

Livepanel launches synthetic data-based platform

Mobile panel and synthetic data firm Livepanel has launched a synthetic survey data generation tool.

Opinion9 May 2024

Lorna Tilbian: Wake up, London!

The Impact columnist looks at examples of value creation via partial sales that highlight the discrepancy between the sum of the parts and the whole.

News9 May 2024

TV panels 'critical' element of audience measurement, says report

Consumer research panels will remain a vital part of the television audience measurement industry for the foreseeable future despite significant changes to the media landscape in the past few years, according to a report by CIMM.

News9 May 2024

Ipsos appoints partner for Strategy3 in India

Ipsos has named Rajashree Ivaturi as partner in its Ipsos Strategy3 management consulting arm in India.

News9 May 2024

Rakuten Insight Global names head of Americas

Rakuten Insight Global, the online market research subsidiary of Rakuten Group, has appointed Steve Lonergan as regional head for the Americas.

News9 May 2024

Kantar Media hires Lucy Bristowe as UK and western Europe CEO

Liam Kay-McClean

Audience measurement and data company Kantar Media has appointed Lucy Bristowe as chief executive officer for UK and western Europe.

News8 May 2024

The Trade Desk and Roku agree partnership

Global advertising technology company The Trade Desk has partnered with streaming platform Roku to help advertisers plan, buy and measure television streaming media.

News8 May 2024

Comscore revenue drops in Q1

Revenue at media evaluation firm Comscore fell in the first quarter of 2024 with a net loss of $1.1m for the first three months of the year, according to the company’s financial results.

News8 May 2024

GM joins CRNRSTONE

CRNRSTONE, the research and data arm of marketing agency Bastion, has appointed Nathan Saville as general manager based in its Sydney office.

News8 May 2024

Veridata Insights hires chief panel officer

Global market research and insights provider Veridata Insights has named Heather White as chief panel officer.

News8 May 2024

Wood Mackenzie names CEO

Data and insight agency for the energy and renewables industry Wood Mackenzie has appointed Jason Liu as chief executive officer.

News7 May 2024

Ayda launches new research operations tools

Research operations platform Ayda has created a new set of tools to help improve the user experience for research clients.

News7 May 2024

QualifyAI and Firefish partner on automated qual

Artificial intelligence and qualitative research company QualifyAI has agreed an exclusive partnership with research firm Firefish.

News7 May 2024

Social media becomes the world's largest advertising channel

Social media has become the largest advertising channel worldwide, with forecasted investment in platforms expected to rise 14.3% to $247.3bn year-on-year by the end of 2024, according to Warc Media.

News7 May 2024

FlexMR creates stakeholder engagement service

Insight agency FlexMR has launched a service to help client insight teams alter how market research is communicated to stakeholders and encourage more regular interaction with insight.

Feature7 May 2024

At the ballot box: Polling and democracy in 2024

Liam Kay-McClean

Almost half the world’s population have the opportunity to vote in 2024. How is the polling industry keeping an eye on voting trends?

News7 May 2024

Work needed on AI copyright, writes Lords committee chair

The government’s AI policies regarding copyright are “inadequate and deteriorating”, according to a letter from Baroness Stowell, chair of the House of Lords Communications Committee.

News3 May 2024

Focus on providing information not data, say Delta Airlines and American Express CEOs

Liam Kay-McClean

Researchers need to focus on the “so what” when providing data to business leaders, the CEOs of Delta Airlines and American Express told the Qualtrics X4 conference.

News3 May 2024

IFF Research makes raft of promotions

Independent social and market research agency IFF Research ( IFF) has promoted 16 employees.

News2 May 2024

Echo Research acquires Reputation Dividend

Global research agency Echo Research has acquired corporate reputation and brand research consultancy Reputation Dividend.

News2 May 2024

Promotions at InnovateMR and Ivy Exec

Market research solutions provider InnovateMR has promoted Chris Young to senior vice-president, global head of sales, and made two promotions within the Ivy Exec business.

News2 May 2024

TRA makes raft of new hires in Australia

Insights and research agency TRA has appointed six new hires in its Sydney and Melbourne offices.

Opinion2 May 2024

How stand-up has helped my research career

From being more courageous to going with the flow, Amanda Hammond talks about what she has learned from stand-up comedy and applied to her life in research.

News2 May 2024

Trust in research companies stable, but AI poses reputational risks to sector

Katie McQuater

Public trust in market research organisations remains positive, but concerns over AI could negatively impact the trust people place in research companies, according to the GRBN Global Trust Survey 2024.

News2 May 2024

Two senior hires at Basis

Insights consultancy Basis Research has appointed Ian Bramley as head of quant and Karsten Shaw as head of data science and analytics.

News2 May 2024

Opinium names staff equity partners

Strategic insight agency Opinium has made 10 more of its employees equity partners in the business.

News2 May 2024

Qualtrics expands AI and market research tools

Liam Kay-McClean

Experience management firm Qualtrics has launched various artificial intelligence features across a range of platforms, including tools to provide insights in market trends and consumer needs.

News2 May 2024

OpenAI seeking to mitigate risks of more powerful AI models

Liam Kay-McClean

The next version of ChatGPT will be a “step change” in capabilities from previous models, and the company is actively seeking to mitigate any potential risks from more powerful artificial intelligence ( AI), according to Mira Murati, chief technology officer at OpenAI.

News1 May 2024

Senior hires at Freemavens

Strategy and insights agency Freemavens has made two appointments within its client services team, tapping individuals from Kantar and Dunnhumby.

News1 May 2024

Nominations for 2024 Research Heroes set to close

Nominations are under way for this year’s MRS Research Heroes programme, with just under a week left to nominate individuals for inclusion.

News1 May 2024

UK consumer confidence edges up in April

Consumer confidence in the UK showed an improvement in April, with an increase of two points, according to GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index.

News1 May 2024

Amazon and Pinterest execs join Tesco media and insight platform

Tesco’s media and insight platform, a partnership between the supermarket and data science company Dunnhumby, has appointed Steve Edwards as head of agency and Russell Franklin as head of client business development.

News1 May 2024

Blue Yonder expands team with five new hires

Leeds-based market research agency Blue Yonder Research has appointed five trainees to its R&D insight, qual, fieldwork and data science teams.

News1 May 2024

Charity funds PhD research on accessible transport

National disability charity the Motability Foundation has awarded PhD scholarship grants to three doctoral candidates, with lived experience of disability, to undertake research into accessible transport.