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The world's 25 largest research firms had revenues of $18.8 billion in 2010, up 4.9% on the previous 'dismal' year - a 'very healthy turnaround' according to industry authority Jack Honomichl. However, 'real' revenues were not quite back to their 2008 levels, and some companies continued to shrink.
Last September, Honomichl reported that the Top 25 had experienced a 'dismal' year', with total revenues down by 3.1% to $17.4bn. This year's rebound in revenue terms was matched by a 4.4% rise in headcount to 107,803 employees.
Taking into account inflation rates across the US, Japan and the 15 EU countries in Western Europe, overall revenues increased by 3.2%, having fallen by 4.5% in 2009. 'Real' revenue therefore remained below pre-recession levels, but should pass them this year.
Out of the total 25 firms included in the report, 15 are US-based, while the other 10 are headquartered in Japan (3), the UK (3), France (2), Brazil and Germany (1 apiece).
Honomichl sums up the overall figures: '...while the global research industry's 2010 revenue growth was healthy - and most welcome - it was not enough to recover the downside of 2009. And, relatively, firms owned or managed in the US were laggards.'
As usual, the overall figures are only half the tale. Within the top 25 there are success stories and strugglers, and degrees of success from rapid or robust growth to mere recovery. Perennial top ten out-performers Ipsos and GfK maintained their good record, joined this year by a resurgent Nielsen; and there was rapid growth for some companies in the next rank including Abt SRBI Inc. (17.9% growth), Japan's Macromill (16.4%) and Lieberman Research Worldwide (14.5%). Brazil's IBOPE and online measurement pioneer comScore have also seen double digit growth.
Seven firms in this year's Global Top 25 saw a decrease in revenue, or did not grow enough to cover inflation. Of these seven, six are based in the US. Those whose absolute revenues shrank were Westat, J.D. Power, Video Research Ltd., Harris Interactive and ORC International. Growth at IMS Health and Market Strategies International was less than the inflation rate. Arbitron's figures for 2010, showing little growth in a very difficult year and conceding a ranking place to Japan's Intage, already seem somewhat dated.
By these figures, a merged Ipsos-Synovate would have taken third place, overtaking GfK and edging out IMS Health.
| TOP 25 GlOBAL MARKET RESEARCH ORGANIZATIIONS | ||||||
| U.S. Rank | Organization | Parent Country | Research only Full-time Employees | Global Research Revenues (US$ Millions) | Percent Change from 2009 | |
| 2010 | 2009 | |||||
| 1 | 1 | The Nielsen Co. | U.S. | 32,900 | $4,958.0 | 6.5% |
| 2 | 2 | Kantar | U..K | 21,800 | 3,183.6 | 3.9% |
| 3 | 3 | IMS Health Inc. | U.S. | 7,000 | 2,211.6 | 0.3% |
| 4 | 4 | GfK SE | Germany | 10,546 | 1,716.2 | 7.3% |
| 5 | 5 | Ipsos SA | France | 9,498 | 1,512.8 | 8.3% |
| 6 | 6 | Synovate | U.K | 5,902 | 884.8 | 5.9% |
| 7 | 7 | Symphony IRI Group | U.S. | 3,600 | 727.0 | 4.6% |
| 8 | 8 | Westat Inc. | U.S. | 1,964 | 455.3 | -9.4% |
| 9 | 10 | INTAGE Inc. | Japan | 1,997 | 416.2 | 4.7% |
| 10 | 9 | Arbitron Inc. | U.S. | 1,113 | 395.4 | 2.6% |
| 11 | 12 | The NPD Group Inc. | U.S. | 1,135 | 240.1 | 5.5% |
| 12 | 11 | J.D. Power & Associates | U.S. | 730 | 231.4 | -5.4% |
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.
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