Kantar and IMRB Link for Indian Consumer Panel

WPP firms Kantar Worldpanel and IMRB have formed a partnership to run a joint consumer panel service across India, providing insight on purchasing habits across a broad range of products.

The new alliance combines local market knowledge from IMRB with international expertise and global perspective from Kantar Worldpanel, to deliver insight on what the firms say is a fast-changing market.

As a result of this partnership, next year, Kantar Worldpanel and IMRB will re-launch their consumer panel service MarketPulse by adding 10,000 households to the existing 70,000-strong panel, and covering new states such as Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. In addition, the firms claim that the panel will be the first in India to use insight drawn from the 2011 Census and the socio-economic category consumer classification released by the Market Research Society of India the same year.

Josep Montserrat, Global CEO of Kantar Worldpanel, says the new partnership will meet the needs of multinational companies and Indian businesses looking to expand across the globe by gaining a greater understanding of both the Indian and global markets in which they operate.

IMRB SVP Hemant Mehta adds: 'More and more, Indian companies are moving into emerging countries and the on-the-ground presence of Kantar Worldpanel in many key markets throughout the world will be invaluable to these businesses. As companies continue to expand into a greater number of markets, the ability to benchmark Indian businesses with brands across the globe is vital to understand how companies can fulfil their growth potential.'

Web sites: www.kantarworldpanel.com and www.imrbint.com .