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Ipsos, working with Google and UK online audience measurement standards body UKOM, has integrated YouTube viewing data into its iris platform. More
London-based Streetbees, whose platform captures and analyses in-the-moment feedback via mobile from 3.5 million 'bees' around the world, has integrated photo and video capture capabilities into its AI-powered market research tool, SBX. More
Berlin-based experience research software platform Brainstork is entering the UK market, and has hired Ben Leet as UK Partnership Lead on a freelance or 'fractional' basis. More
A little later than scheduled, marcoms network Stagwell, which owns the Harris Poll and Harris X brands as well as Maru Group, has opened its new EMEA headquarters in London's Blue Fin Building on the South Bank. More
Ipsos has reported continued solid growth in the first quarter of the year, with revenue up 4.5% in organic terms, to EUR 557.5m. The EMEA and Asia Pacific regions led the way with revenue up more than 9% in each case (organic) while the Americas saw a 3.2% decline. More
UK insight agency Simpson Carpenter has appointed Alexander Holmes as Senior Research Director with expertise in Automotive, Digital Entertainment and Tech, while Martyn Turze joins as Research Director heading up a new specialist sector, Sports. More
Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of legendary ad agency Ogilvy UK, has joined creative effectiveness platform DAIVID in the capacity of Strategic Advisor. More
DIY online survey pioneer SurveyMonkey has promoted Priya Gill to Global Head of Marketing, leading its marketing strategy and execution across all markets. More
UK marketing budgets grew strongly in Q1, although slightly less rapidly than in the previous, record-breaking quarter, according to the IPA's Bellwether report. Slightly more respondents reported rising market research budgets than falling, reversing the trend of the previous quarter. More
Digital media measurement and analytics firm DoubleVerify (DV) has apologised to X, formerly known as Twitter, for an error which over a recent four-month period gave the microblogging site brand safety ratings as low as 70%, when actual scores were as high as 99.99%, according to reports. More
Former 2CV, GfK and Walnut Unlimited researcher Antonio Margaritelli has joined London agency Disrupt Insight as a Research Director. More
Consumer insight and behavioural data technology company RealityMine has appointed former Google and YouTube advertising leader Phil Miles as a Non-Executive Director, effective immediately. More
B2B intelligence provider Rhetorik has released a solution it says will allow its US customers to benchmark their own organization's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) data against industry standards. More
First party data specialist TestSet has launched in the European market, backed by recently-launched research and data sector investment firm ACKWEST Group. Leading the region from London as MD is Colin Turner-Kerr, joined by Dina Patel as Director of Operations. More
In Leeds, UK, insight agency STRAT7 Researchbods has launched an AI survey chatbot which it says will improve data quality and participant engagement for its clients, bringing deeper insights from open-ended questions. More
Panel company Intra Research has appointed Helle Raun Oddershede as its new CEO, taking over from Marina Moshenska who moves into the role of Chief Operating Officer. More
Insights technology and panel provider Toluna has appointed Lucia Moir as Chief Operations Officer and promoted Priyanka Sarkar to Chief Research Officer. More
AI-based consumer research platform Bounce Insights has brought in Aaron Peck as Regional Commercial Director, North America, as it expands into the US. The company has also added Ian Kiernan to its board as Non-Executive Director. More
British-based insight agency Opinium has promoted Wez Eathorne to the new role of Global Head of Brand, Comms & Product Research. More
British online audience measurement body UKOM has appointed 25-year Nielsen exec Sarah Miller as its Technical Consultant. More
Customer insights firm DMR has announced the appointment of nine new staff, having completed a successful first institutional funding round at the end of 2023. More
Manchester-based startup North AI has secured £280,000 grant funding from the UK's Innovation Agency, and a further £300,000 in a round led by SFC Capital. The firm provides an AI-powered predictive insights platform for the media and entertainment industry. More
Snap Inc, parent of photo sharing app Snapchat, has announced a partnership and integration with app marketplace Snowflake, promising its advertisers encrypted, privacy-safe and effective ad solutions and signal measurement. Snap also has a new measurement partnership with AppsFlyer. More
Marketing tech group Access Intelligence Plc has appointed Tom Ritchie as President of PR & Comms EMEA. More
London-based marketing group Unlimited, parent of insight agency Walnut, is to join Accenture Song, the business services behemoth's 'tech-powered creative group'. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. More
London-based researcher High Tech Dev has rebranded as HTAIR, reflecting a significant change in its mission and vision (focused around AI); and has appointed Nigel Woodliffe as Chief Customer Success Officer. More
Nordic and DACH-focused small and medium-sized business specialist Nalka Invest is to acquire European data collection firm Norstat from its current parent, Triton, for an undisclosed sum. More
London-based Truth Consulting has announced five promotions: Catherine Anstead, Victor Reynoso and Kate Stratton become Directors, while Taiye Akin-Akinyosoye and Tom Sweeney are now Senior Consultants. More
Purchase transaction analytics specialist Behaviorally has announced a number of recent promotions, including Ethel Klein and Mavis Tong to VP Customer Success, Stephen Omogbehin to Vice President, IT, Coraline Petipas to Director, Customer Success and Natasha Gonzalez to Director, Behavioral Qualitative. More
In the UK, MR industry veterans and Firefish execs Jem Fawcus and Richard Owen have launched a new company, QualifyAI, with a mission 'to automate qualitative research without stripping it of its humanity'. The partners say this is possible for the first time thanks to AI. More
Global consumer health company Haleon, the firm behind brands such as Sensodyne and Centrum, has appointed Geoff Painter as Global Head of Consumer Business Insights and Analytics. More
Santa Monica, CA-based research tech firm Fuel Cycle has enhanced its Research Engine platform with the addition of Universal Connections, a feature allowing users to run projects from within insight communities using their preferred insights tools, whether or not they are fully integrated with the platform. More
Marketing intel and programmatic media specialist MiQ has announced the launch of its TV Intelligence platform in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, promising users a complete view of audience, campaign and competitor intelligence across linear TV, CTV and YouTube in one place. More
Social media management software firm Hootsuite is to acquire listening specialist Talkwalker, for an undisclosed sum. More
UK-based strategic research and planning consultancy STRAT7 Incite has continued a recent series of senior hires, bringing in Alex Banks as Senior Principal. Last month John Tearle and Emma Davies rejoined the company in senior roles. More
Manchester, UK-based product intelligence platform Vypr has appointed Glenn Porter as Chief Commercial Officer. More
Data collection and research services firm Bilendi & respondi has extended the functionality of its BARI AI-powered research assistant to include quantitative projects. More
UK video ad currency body Barb has appointed former TNS and RSMB exec Sara Cheeseman as Finance Director. She replaces long-time FD Nigel McLachlan, who is retiring. More
UK-based consumer and B2B researcher 2CV has announced eleven promotions, including Chris Oatey and Jon Smetherham to Regional Directors, responsible for leading the Asia team based in Singapore; and in the UK Kar Hoo Lee to Associate Director of Data Services and Abigail Plank to Associate Director. More
Experience Management (XM) company Qualtrics has appointed Juan Rodriguez as Chief Information Officer and Assaf Keren joins Qualtrics as Chief Security Officer. More
In Birmingham, UK, full service social research agency M.E.L Research has appointed Ayesha Lynn-Birkett as a Senior Research Executive, and promoted Angela Parton to Telephone Unit Manager. More
MCI, a tech-enabled business services conglomerate headquartered in Miami Beach, FL, has agreed to acquire Atlanta, GA-based Market Force Information, whose range of CX solutions includes customer feedback surveys, mystery shopping, operational audits and competitive benchmarking. More
Eponymous online survey firm SurveyMonkey has promoted Jing Huang to VP, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Katie Miserany to SVP and Chief Communications Officer, and Craik Pyke to VP, Infrastructure and Security Engineering. The firm now boasts gender equality at both the C-Suite and VP levels. More
In London, Havas Media Network UK has joined cross-media measurement initiative Origin, completing the representation of the global marcoms networks within the programme. There are now 51 funding stakeholders in total including advertisers, media owners and advertising agencies. More
Media.Monks, the digital-first, data-led advertising and marketing services brand of Sir Martin Sorrell's S4Capital, has launched a service called Persona.Flow, converting owned customer data into dynamic consumer personas for use in rapid insight generation. More
UK-based Relative Insight has announced a major upgrade of its text analytics platform, including summarizing, analysis and segmentation features all powered by AI. More
Insight and analytics group BVA BDRC has launched synthetic data product Pixel.AI, which it says accurately predicts responses from restricted segments by training on existing and representative data. More
Insights and experience tech company PG Forsta has appointed Mike Thompson as Chief Analytics Officer, and says he will drive the development of new AI-driven capabilities and products, following the company's commitment to invest $500 million in the area over five years. More
WPP-owned ad agency VML is to upgrade its proprietary digital commerce tech and retailer intelligence suite via a partnership with retail ecommerce management platform CommerceIQ. The latter's generative and predictive AI will help VML to optimize clients' digital shelf performance. More
British Out-Of-Home (OOH) measurement body Route has promoted General Manager Euan Mackay to the role of Chief Strategy Officer, leading the organisation's strategic direction as it readies for a new research contract starting in April next year. More
B2B research firm NewtonX has appointed former American Express employee Kavita Anand as Vice President of Product, leading strategy, design and development for products including the firm's Knowledge Graph and its expert intelligence platform NewtonX Prime. More
London-based audience researcher RSMB has appointed Alison Finch as Client Account Lead with responsibility for radio audience currency RAJAR, replacing Anne Robshaw who is leaving the company after seventeen years. RSMB is an independent company jointly owned by Kantar and Havas. More
London-based global media measurement and optimisation platform Integral Ad Science (IAS) has won MRC accreditation for its integrated third-party calculation and reporting of YouTube video viewability, which is based on audited data from Google's ADH-MP. More
Ipsos has launched an Out of Home (OOH) advertising solution promising to help users assess and optimise OOH creative in as little as 24 hours. More
Mishcon de Reya (MDR Group), a business services group with a focus on legal advice, has launched a market insights and analytics business called MDRi, providing strategic advisory services to businesses worldwide. Simon Tye will lead the new division as Chief Executive Officer. More
Comscore has launch its Social Incremental audiences service, part of its MMX Platform suite, in the UK. The solution measures incremental traffic across social media platforms, with deduplicated, person-level reach and a unified view across desktop, mobile and social. More
British-based ad impact measurement and forecasting specialist System1 Group Plc has appointed Mike Perlman as Chief Commercial Officer and Alex Banks as SVP of business development for The Americas. More
US-based mobile app market intelligence and insights provider Sensor Tower has announced the acquisition of mobile marketing firm data.ai, formerly known as App Annie. Terms were not disclosed. More
This month sees the launch in London of a new agency, Wren Insight, focused on customer closeness and led by qual researchers Jude Terry and Hannah Beech. More
Market Research charity the MRBA has three days to run on its 2024 auction. Bidding for two tickets to Taylor Swift's sold-out Eras tour (Wembley Stadium concert, August) currently stands at £1,500, but those with more modest budgets can bid for bottles, days / meals out and other items. More
California-based CX solutions firm Five9 has appointed former Gartner exec Steve Blood as Vice President of Market Intelligence and Evangelism, based in Europe. More
Birmingham, UK-based qual insights platform Voxpopme has a new CEO. Andy Barraclough is a co-founder of the firm and until now served as its CTO. He succeeds Lonnie Mayne, who moves to the role of Chairman of the Board. More
Former ORC and Join the Dots / InSites Consulting exec Edward Wheeler has joined BVA BDRC as Head of Business Development. More
Consumer and B2B research agency 2CV has promoted Sabine Cronick to the role of CEO of UK/EU, and James Redden to CEO of US and APAC. More
In the UK, Samsung's advertising division has become the first CTV backer of Origin, the ISBA's cross-media measurement programme. More
Multichannel eCommerce enablement and analytics platform MikMak has enhanced its insights offering with the launch of a Custom Report Builder function, as well as a CX optimization tool, 'Headless Commerce API'. More
San Francisco-based predictive intelligence firm 6sense has appointed Jerome Levadoux as its first Chief Product Officer. More
SurveyMind, a UK-based AI transcription and analysis start-up, has announced upgrades including single-click analysis of transcripts to reveal key themes, differences and connections between a predefined set of interviews. More
In West Palm Beach, Florida, MR industry veterans Hugh Davis and Keith Price have launched ACKWEST Group, a holding company which will focus on buying and developing emerging tech-driven enterprises in the consumer insights and marketing services sector. More
Former Dynata Chief Gary Laben has joined retail and consumer goods analytics and inventory optimisation firm Trax, as CEO. More
UK television and video ad currency provider Barb has announced a major upgrade to its CFlight cross-media campaign reporting service. The tool now promises advertisers and agencies comprehensive campaign performance data against fourteen key traded audience groups. More
In London, Verve has announced the promotion of its former Joint Head of Insight Richard Preedy to the newly created role of Executive Director and Head of Artificial Intelligence. The firm is 'relaunching' itself to emphasize its focus on 'three intelligences': Artificial, Human and Cultural. More
MR reporting software and services company Indico Labs has appointed Warren Smith as Technical Operations Lead, Edward Lidbetter as Product Owner, and Lucy Robbins as Product Marketing Manager - as it looks to scale up its SlideGen product this year. More
Technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) has reported revenue for the full year 2023 of $291m, up 1.7% despite a very slow fourth quarter in which revenue dropped 11% to $66.2m. More
Cambridge, UK-based analyst research delivery platform Content Catalyst has launched an AI-powered discovery tool to help researchers get rapid answers to natural language market intelligence questions. More
Miami-based PR platform Muck Rack has enhanced its measurement and reporting capabilities with new features for areas including media impact analysis, brand reputation insights and competitive analysis. More
London-based analytics / business intelligence start-up Fluent has secured $7.5m in seed funding for its mission to democratize insights using conversational AI. More
UK audience measurement authority Barb has promoted Caroline Baxter to Chief Operating Officer, with a remit to work alongside CEO Justin Sampson on driving the organisation's move towards cross-device measurement and total campaign performance reporting. More
North of England-based, employee-owned research consultancy DJS Research has announced eleven promotions across its Research and Operations teams, including Kieran Hart to Senior Research Manager, and Claire Williams, Olivia Holt and Lucy Holland to RM. More
Comscore has reported full year 2023 revenue of $371.3m, down 1.4%, but with FX-neutral adjusted EBITDA up 29% to $46.9m. CEO Jon Carpenter pointed to growth in local TV measurement and in the CCR and Proximic offerings as strong indicators for the future. More
In the UK, business-to-business insights forum The Business Intelligence Group (BIG) is to be reintegrated as a network of the Market Research Society (MRS), a status it held in the 1990s before moving to independent operation. More
Insights group Savanta has launched a new AI-based application called TrendVue, allowing users to automate the research process and deliver personalised trend analysis across sectors. More
In London, brand lift measurement company ThisThat has secured an unspecified amount of funding from four founders of unicorn companies, in addition to other funds and angel investors. More
Manchester, UK-based fieldwork firm Omnisis has teamed up with business and politics publication The Economist to launch an interactive tool predicting how people may vote in the next general election. More
Global MR and data group YouGov has announced the rebranding of its Swiss subsidiary LINK, acquired in December 2021, as YouGov Switzerland. More
UK-based MR operations company Cobalt Sky has appointed Mina Odavic as Head of Business Development, overseeing relationships with key clients and generating new business opportunities. More
Madrid-based digital marketing group Samy Alliance, the parent of British-based research firm Capture Intelligence, has acquired Helsinki-based social media agency Kurio, giving it a presence in the Nordic countries. More
EMEA communications firm Instinctif Partners Group has appointed Julian Walker as CEO; having recently added Jim Donaldson as Non-Executive Chair, and Dr Matilda Andersson as MD of its subsidiary, British-based insight firm Truth. More
In London, Potentia Insight has appointed Clare McHatton as Business Development Director, focused on building relationships and partnerships to expand the firm's client base and offer. More
US-based data firm J.D. Power has completed the acquisition of Autovista Group, which provides automotive data, analytics and industry insights in Europe and Australia, from asset management firm Hayfin Capital Management. Autovista CEO Lindsey Roberts becomes President of J.D. Power Europe. More
Insight and customer analytics group STRAT7 has announced twenty-one appointments / promotions, including four senior promotions at Crowd DNA, and the creation of eight new roles. More
Streaming data insights provider PlumResearch has appointed Jonathan Broughton as Research Director, tasked with advancing its analytics and insights capabilities in the entertainment industry. More
NIQ, the consumer intelligence company previously part of Nielsen and now combined with GfK, has launched a Global Media Division, which it says is 'designed to enhance the value advertisers derive from their marketing efforts' - and has appointed Lana Busignani to lead it. More
PAMCo, the company which oversees audience figures for British newspapers and magazines, has appointed Emma Holden as Acting MD after the departure of CEO of ten years Simon Redican. More
London-based APL Media is integrating the technology of US-based feedback software firm Social Asking, aiming to 'bring cutting-edge AI to audience engagement' and allow brands to understand their audience in real time. A new division of APL will serve as Social Asking's lead (UK) sales agent. More
Digital ads trade body IAB Europe has published a first set of European recommendation for metrics and measurement standards covering Retail Media digital advertising. More
Ipsos has launched InnoExplorer, which uses generative and analytical AI to help clients accelerate innovation cycles 'from months to days' and improve success rates. More
Brand tracking specialist Tracksuit has raised $13.5m in Series A funding, which it will use for its official launch in the US and UK markets, and to expand its research and platform capabilities. More
Mike Trotman, We Work With Data co-founder and long-time ASC committee member who worked on some of the standards which have guided the technical side of the profession over the past twenty years, passed away at the end of January. More
Marcoms group Stagwell has reported full year 2023 revenue of $2.53bn, down 6% year on year, and adjusted EBITDA of $360m, down 20%. However the company reports strong new business, good growth in EMEA and for its Marketing Cloud suite, and is forecasting a return to growth in 2024. More
Marcoms group Stagwell, the owner of the Harris Poll and Harris X brands as well as Maru Group, has launched a new global research community called Unlock Surveys, with plans to add more than 200,000 high-quality, active survey members in 2024. More
London-based Humankind Research, which specialises in research for positive social impact, is adding a team offering standalone quantitative projects, and has hired Laura Moore and Amy Watson to lead it as Head of Quant and Quant Research Director, respectively. More
Marcoms group Stagwell has agreed to acquire What's Next Partners (WNP), a French digital brand and marketing consultancy whose offer includes consumer intelligence, CRM and data analytics as well as strategic planning, ad creative and digital content production. More
In the US, Allison Wilt and Steve Ingledew have launched ContextualY, a specialist B2B research agency whose four founding Principals between them boast more than a hundred years of experience supporting technology clients and stakeholders. More
Marcoms group Stagwell has acquired London-based Sidekick, an agency collective with skills in experiential marketing, digital storytelling and branded content - and will combine it with its San Francisco-based global marketing and comms consultancy Allison. More
WPP has reported preliminary results for the full year 2023, with revenue (less pass-through costs) of £11.86bn, up 0.9% on a like-for-like basis, and operating profit down more than 60% to £531m. More
Ipsos has reported organic, constant currency revenue growth of 8.8% for the fourth quarter of 2023, and 3% for the full year, with operating profit stable at an all-time high of 13.1%. More
In Glasgow, Scotland, former RBS and YouGov Sport exec Bruce Cook has launched SponsorLab, a new sponsorship measurement tool for sponsors, agencies and rights holders. More
CX and research tech group Forsta has appointed Jason Saylor, formerly of MAXimum Research, as Business Development Director. More
Business services behemoth Accenture has agreed to acquire CX analytics provider GemSeek, for an undisclosed sum. More
Longtime Ipsos exec and current Global Head of Audience Measurement Liz Landy is to leave the company at the end of this month. Daniel Wong-Chi-Man will step up to Lead the Audience Measurement Service Line globally, while Ipsos iris leader James Oates will add responsibility for the business in the UK. More
Reputation and risk intelligence provider Signal AI has acquired Social 360, which monitors and analyses online comment influencing the reputation of clients around the globe. More
Ipsos has appointed former Ofcom and Aviva exec Kerri-Ann O'Neill as Chief People Officer for UK and Ireland. More
Packaging, NPD and shopper specialist PRS IN VIVO has appointed Richard Bordenave as global Chief Behavioral Officer. More
Kantar has announced a partnership with computer vision and attention measurement specialist Realeyes, integrating the latter's Verify identity recognition software into the former's anti-fraud software QubedAI. More
FIXR, which provides audience insights and actionable data for event organisers worldwide, has appointed former Eventbrite VP Joel Crouch as Chief Revenue Officer. More
UK-based agency Firefish Group has announced five promotions and seven new hires across the business. Fenella Twohig, Ciara Larkin, Rebekah Smith, Karen Chong, Chloe Lee, Jamie Robertson and Jonathan Dance all join the company. More
Harrogate, Yorkshire-based firm Harlow Consulting has appointed Kathryn Purdy as Research and Operations Director, and Joel Galilee in an entry-level Researcher role. More
Northern European mystery shopping and customer service improvement specialist Dive has acquired Danish mystery shopping firm Shoptimizer. More
European consulting and digital services firm Sopra Steria has announced a partnership with media insights firm TRP Research to help broadcasters, advertisers and others understand the way television and VOD services are consumed across different devices and platforms by UK audiences. More
UK-based agency davies+mckerr has appointed former Crowd DNA Director David Power as Head of Quant. More
London-based insights consultancy Savanta has launched a new customer experience framework which it says will help companies more accurately drive revenue growth. More
Publisher Gannett / USA TODAY Network has appointed a dedicated Chief Data Privacy Officer, Marci Moss, with a remit to safeguard the information entrusted to its publications by clients, partners, users and employees. More
Canada-based B2B data services company Rhetorik has announced the acquisition of 1 Stop Data Ltd, another B2B data business based in Wokingham, UK. More
In the UK, audience measurement body Barb has awarded the contract for a new piece of research, the CFlight Landscape Study, to insights consultancy BVA BDRC. The work will help barb to estimate TV audience size and profile for various platforms and to understand the dynamics of household VOD consumption. More
Online sample marketplace and research tech company PureSpectrum has appointed former Ipsos, Nebu and Bilendi exec Ian Roberts as Business Development Director for EMEA, based in London. More
AI-based ad optimisation and measurement firm LoopMe has announced the recruitment of more than fifty new employees, growing its workforce by some 20%. This includes the appointments of Slava Taraskin as VP Business Development, and Adam Parker as VP of Corporate Development & Strategy More
In the UK, digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta has changed horses in its ongoing sale process, recommending that shareholders approve a new bid controlled by investment firm BC Partners, instead of earlier favoured offers from Apax Partners. More
Nielsen is expanding its Connected TV (CTV) measurement of YouTube ads into eleven additional global markets, including Germany, India, Japan and the UK. More
In London, year-old digital MR agency Potentia Insight has announced six new hires across its project management, information security and analytics divisions: Abubaker Omer, Steve Burton, Bill McDivitt, Vanessa Jackson, James Edwards and Shaun May. More
In the US, technology researcher Forrester has reported full year 2023 revenue of $480.8m, down 11% on 2022. Adjusted net income was $36.6m, down from $47.2m a year earlier. More
Customer and employee experience firm Medallia has announced four AI-based innovations - Ask Athena, Intelligent Summaries, Smart Response and Themes - geared to personalising customer and employee experience; and has launched a fully self-service MR tool, Medallia Agile Research. More
Consumer behavioral data firm Circana has launched Liquid Data Engage, which allows retailers to manage market performance, category management, loyalty, supply chain, and retail media data assets in one solution, and identify opportunities for growth. More
London-based brand measurement company On Device Research has appointed Gulshan Mahay in the new role of Account Director, in its commercial team in the UK. More
Technology consulting firm Gartner has reported full year revenue of $5.9bn, up 8%, and adjusted EBITDA of $1.5bn, up 2% after allowing for currency changes. Revenue growth slowed again and EBITDA fell slightly in the fourth quarter. More
Ipsos has appointed former Kantar and Mintel exec Dale Beaton as head of its Brand Health Tracking (BHT) Service Line in the UK. More
Consumer data giant Circana has announced changes to its commercial organisation including the appointment of former CPG sector President Jeremy Allen as Chief Commercial Officer. Tim Bush, currently President, General Merchandise, will retire by the end of the year after two decades at Circana and NPD. More
First-party data provider Dynata has recently appointed long-time Toluna marketing leader Janice Caston as EVP of Marketing, and Rebecca Bello as VP Product. More
Food, facilities and hospitality services provider Sodexo has announced the global launch of an Accelerator Programme with categories for entrepreneurs in data analytics and customer experience. More
In the US, innovation and experience consultancy Bounteous is to merge with digital engineering, data and AI services provider Accolite Digital, creating a new end-to-end digital transformation services consultancy with a focus on 'co-innovation'. More
Comscore has promoted Alejandro Fosk, previously SVP for Latin America, to EVP International, overseeing its EMEA, APAC and LATAM regions. More
Within the BVA-BDRC group, data collection and analysis firm Perspective Research Services has promoted Jade On to Commercial Director, and Henri Dubier to Client Services Director; while mystery shopping and auditing company ESA Retail has added Ops Director Chris Kennedy to its Board. More
Agile and automated market research platform Zappi has appointed Nataly Kelly as Chief Marketing Officer and promoted Babita Earle from EVP of Global Enterprise Partnerships to International MD. The firm also recently hired Melissa Clucas as CFO. More
Brand measurement company On Device Research has appointed Allan Breiland in the new role of Research Director ANZ, tasked with expanding and tailoring its brand measurement solutions across the region. More
Human8 has promoted Amy Perifanos, previously VP of Commercial Solutions North America, to global Chief Portfolio Officer, with a seat on the Global Leadership Team. More
Automated in-home product testing platform Highlight has announced changes to its leadership team, with the appointments of Priyanka Carr as COO and President, and Deirdre Norris as VP of Product. More
French audience metrics company Médiamétrie has announced that its UK subsidiary TAPE Consultancy will be rebranded to operate as part of Glance, its international division. More
Australia-based insights and data business Pureprofile has announced revenue up 8% to $AUD 24m for the half year ended 31st December, and EBITDA of $AUD 2.4m, up 6% or 21% on a like-for-like basis. More
UK-based 'human understanding' agency Walnut Unlimited has announced eleven recent promotions, including that of Becky McGee to Research Director and Yaasir Aslam, Alex Baines, Rachel Ellis and Adam Gilbert to AD roles. More
Origin, a cross-media measurement initiative led by the UK's advertising trade group ISBA has added six more advertiser stakeholders, and says its platform is now 'up and running'. More
Toluna has appointed Lucie Claire Vincent Ortiz to its Board of Directors. As a senior operating executive in multinational consumer product companies, including Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Philip Morris International, she will advise the Board with a particular focus on the needs of this sector. More
In an apparent volte face after refreshing and reinforcing the brand of its communications agency Hill & Knowlton as recently as November, WPP has announced the company will be merged with the group's other major PR firm BCW, with the combined entity renamed Burson. More
In the UK, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has given permanent status to its Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS), which was introduced in 2020 as a rapid feedback tool for how companies were coping with Covid-19. More
Manchester-based kids, parents and family specialist The Insights Family has secured a £5.6m investment, with which to continue and accelerate its rapid global growth. More
Insight agency Opinum has hired Matthew Barton as Senior Consultant, based in Amsterdam, supporting continued 'rapid growth' in Europe. More
B2B data services company Rhetorik Ltd has appointed former Equifax and Dun & Bradstreet exec Jim Longo as its new Head of Product. More
Healthcare specialist Research Partnership has launched a new Alzheimer's Disease tracker in Germany, Japan and the US, as part of of its syndicated Therapy Watch series. The firm plans to expand the service to other key European markets this year. More
Consumer data giant Circana, which was formed following the merger of IRI and The NPD Group, has agreed to acquire independent MR firm Golf Datatech, which tracks golf retail activity across the US, the UK, Sweden, France and Germany. More
London-based ad measurement and impact optimisation firm DAIVID has promoted its EMEA MD Barney Worfolk-Smith to the role of Chief Growth Officer. More
In London, data-driven CXM company Merkle has launched a dedicated UK and Ireland Salesforce practice, promising clients the tools to optimise their use of data to enhance the customer experience. More
Audience intelligence platform Pulsar has launched a product called SEARCH, promising instant, search engine-style discovery of news coverage on any topic, across media types and languages. More
Sir Martin Sorrell's digital marketing group S4 Capital has issued a trading update following a 'difficult year' in which revenue declined around 4%, and says it does not expect any improvement in macro-economic conditions this year. More
Stoke on Trent, UK-based employee experience tech firm Huler has raised £1.5m in funding, to support further development of its 'HulerHub' employee experience platform and add ten new staff. David Kelly joins the firm as part of the deal, as Chief Revenue Officer. More
Mainz, Germany-based consumer insights and research tech firm Horizon has partnered with London's Bolt Insight, promising to provide clients with 'dynamic, conversational and behavior-driven consumer data in the pre-market phase'. More
MR and analytics group YouGov has promoted Tom Fisher to Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), aiming to deepen its relationships with blue-chip clients. More
Media measurement and ad currency giant Nielsen has appointed former Buzzfeed exec Carole Robinson as Chief Communications Officer. More
Data sharing and activation platform LiveRamp has agreed to acquire clean room software provider Habu, for cash and stock totalling around $200m. LiveRamp says the deal will 'unlock powerful measurement and analytics use cases' as well as more generally enhancing its collaboration offer. More
Marketing budgets in UK companies are moving upwards more strongly than at any time in the last nine years, according to the latest 'Bellwether' report by advertising body the IPA. Breaking down results however reveals that market research is the one sector still in negative territory. More
London-based Firefish Group has rebranded its quant and data analytics business the numbers lab as 'Firefish Data', reflecting its evolution into an agency delivering 'fully connected, integrated and agile human insights consulting, driven by AI, connected data and new technologies'. More
New York-based Radius Global Market Research has acquired London's Strive Insight Limited, for an undisclosed sum. More
New York-based customer engagement and CXM platform Emplifi, which grew out of the merger of Astute and Socialbakers, has appointed Ohad Hecht as its new CEO. More
UK-based food and beverage insights specialist FIS Group has announced the acquisition of Cambridge Market Research, including its Foodfax grocery product assessment database. More
Insights tech and panel provider Toluna has promoted Scott Axcell, formerly Head of Marketing for North America, to Chief Marketing Officer. He also joins the executive leadership team. More
Insight and communities firm Verve has announced eighteen promotions across its locations in London, Manchester, Sydney, Iasi (Romania) and Johannesburg, including the appointment of Kim Howard as Semiotics Research Director. More
In California, real-time data streaming and messaging solutions firm DiffusionData has appointed Andy Peet as CFO. More
Leeds-based full-service agency Boxclever has promoted Andy Haylett to Director, IT and Alice Langthorne to Activation Manager. More
UK-based FlexMR has launched an integrated generative AI-based text analysis tool called TextMR, within its InsightHub research platform. More
Ipsos has acquired analytics and data visualization company Jarmany, which is based in Kingston-upon-Thames, UK. More
Australia-based data and insights company Pureprofile is opening new offices in Germany and Portugal, its twelfth and thirteenth worldwide; and has appointed Thorsten Hardtke as Business Development Manager for DACH and Ricardo Cordova for Portugal and Spain. More
Marcoms group Interpublic has announced that Chad Engelgau, CEO of its data and marketing services company Acxiom, will leave at the end of this month, after a total of seventeen years with the company, to pursue an opportunity in the non-profit sector. A search for his successor is underway. More
GroupM, WPP's media investment group, has announced it will integrate behavioral data into its Choreograph insights platform via Google's Audience Insights API. More
European data collection and research tech firm Bilendi & respondi has enhanced its Discuss multi-channel research platform, adding moderation skills for its AI research assistant 'BARI'. More
Brand and market research agency Savanta has appointed Richard Brooks as External Communications Director, strengthening its PR team with a UK General Election to be called this year. More
UK-based b2b services group Informa Plc is combining part of its business with US-based b2b purchase intent specialist TechTarget to create a new company in which Informa will hold a majority stake. The British firm will also pay $350m in cash. More
British-based behavioural intelligence platform NumberEight, which provides privacy-focused solutions for advertising, has secured $2.7m in Pre-Series A funding. The money will be used to drive commercial growth, enhance product development and expand in the US. More
Life sciences data, insight and intelligence specialist Evaluate has acquired London-based J+D Forecasting, which helps pharmaceutical clients accurately forecast market size, growth in key indications and demand for new technologies. More
WPP is examining a possible sale of its remaining stake in Kantar, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg. More
Data collaboration platform InfoSum has launched a new solution called Private Path, aiming to help client organizations securely maximize the value of first-party data outside the clean room environment. More
Insight agency Vital Findings has appointed Iwan Thomis, formerly a Partner at Material+, as Chief Strategy Officer. More
British-based consumer and sensory researcher MMR has appointed Evelyn Huang to head up its qual research in China. More
GfK has completed the sale of its European Consumer Panel Services business (CPS GfK) to YouGov, a divestment required under competition law as part of the German-based global group's merger with retail data giant NIQ. The deal has been valued at around EUR 315m. More
Community-centered CX and insights firm Alida has a new CEO: Efrem Ainsley is promoted from COO to succeed Ross Wainwright, who recently stepped down from the role. More
YouGov has paid an undisclosed sum for US-based survey data management solution KnowledgeHound. More
Vortexa, a London-based real-time analytics platform for global energy and freight markets, has completed a $34m Series C funding round, more than doubling investment to date. Funds will help accelerate international expansion and tech development, and enhance services for clients and partners. More
Audience data and omniscreen measurement tech firm SambaTV has announced a partnership with independent cross-media dataset HyphaMetrics, combining data from the former's opted-in devices and the latter's panel. More
Real-time brand tracking and campaign evaluation firm Delineate has appointed former Publicis Sapient exec James Betteley ('JB') as its new Chief Technology Officer. Former CTO James Stewart transitions to a newly created Chief Operating Officer role. More
European data collection firm Norstat has completed its integration of UK company Panelbase, which assumes the Norstat name as of today. More
Kantar Media may be up for sale in 2024 for 'as much as £1bn', according to reports on Sky News. More
Founder Ross McCray is stepping down as CEO of VideoAmp, with former Discovery and Fox exec Peter Liguori joining as Executive Chairman and ex-Nielsen man Peter Bradbury as Chief Commercial and Growth Officer. The company will also cut almost 20% of its staff, according to reports. More
US-based research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) has launched a suite of advisory services to help clients with the adoption of AI at scale; and has appointed company President Steve Hall as its first Chief AI Officer. More
Consumer data giant Experian has announced new partnerships with media marketplace Sonobi and first party commerce data firm Attain. More
In London, media measurement and optimisation platform Integral Ad Science (IAS) has rolled out Quality Attention, a new product combining media quality, eye tracking and machine learning. The firm says the resulting transparent metrics will help advertisers increase ROI and boost conversions. More
The Insights Family, which provides intelligence focused on kids, parents and families, has relocated its Manchester headquarters to a larger space in the city centre, and has launched in the Republic of Ireland - described as its first 'Tier 2' market. More
In the UK, Leeds-based full service agency Boxclever has appointed Lisa Lawrence as Operations Manager and Lucy Hampson as Quantitative Director. More
In the UK, social and MR agency Blue Marble has promoted Sonali Patel to Research Director and hired Daniel Brownie as a Research Manager, following a 'brilliant' year in 2023. More
Manchester, UK-based RealityMine, which monitors consumer use of digital devices for behavioural insights, has promoted Graham Dean to serve as its first Chief AI Officer and Ewan Leith to replace him as Chief Technology Officer. More
Business Services colossus Accenture has acquired Redkite, a UK-based consultancy helping clients exploit data-driven intelligence and AI to improve business performance. Terms were not disclosed. More
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