Partners Open Shopper Insights Center

In the US, Synovate has partnered with Duke University to create the 'Duke/Synovate Shopper Insights Center for Leadership and Innovation', which will focus on advancing research into shopper insights and marketing.

The center will be run by a Board overseen by Duke and Synovate, with representatives from global consumer packaged goods companies and academics from other top tier universities. Additional representatives will also be invited to participate as Board advisors, and Board members will determine the scope of research undertaken by the center.

'Understanding shopper dynamics is critical for companies to gain a competitive advantage at the retail level,' states Scott Miller, CEO for Synovate in North America. 'The center will unite several of today's leading CPG companies with the best academics and funding, against research issues that are critical to advancing our understanding of how consumers make buying decisions.'

Durham, NC-based Duke University's Fuqua School of Business offers a range of Masters, PhD, and Masters programs from study locations in the US, Middle East, Europe, China, India and Russia.

The school's Professor of Marketing and Psychology, Gavan Fitzsimons, R. David Thomas, says the partnership with Synovate will provide a competitive advantage to its members: 'Duke and Synovate have done valuable work in this space and share a common view that the science of how people decide will shape the future of marketing'.

Web sites: www.synovate.com and www.fuqua.duke.edu .