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GMI Gains Asian Panellists, Loses Schack
Panel and software provider, GMI (Global Market Insite), has increased the size of its panels in China by 65% and in India more than fivefold. Meanwhile senior Board member Larry Schack has left the company and the west coast, reportedly to work for his previous employer, PSB.
Schack was listed as chairing a session yesterday at the 50th MRS Conference in Brighton, UK, and his place was taken by Chairman Enrique Godreau – the first many people knew about his departure. However, senior GMI executives told DRNO this evening that the company had known about the move for some time. Lowell Ricklefs, who assumes Schack's briefly-held role of Interim Chief Revenue Officer, said Schack had rejoined PSB to work on Hilary Clinton's campaign.
Commenting on the 'surprise' at Conference, GMI's Chief Marketing Officer Mark Houston said the firm had been 'winding down his travel for a while'. 'Larry decided to relocate to the east coast... we didn't know about it when the interim team was announced but we knew not long afterwards. He has been very active in the transition and it's a thoroughly amicable parting. He'll be getting his panel research from GMI...'
Schack was President for the Americas before the departure of Rob Monster [www.mrweb.com/drno/news6436.htm ] and retained the title alongside the interim revenue officer role. PSB (Penn, Schoen and Berland) is part of WPP and is known as long-term strategic advisor to Bill Gates as well as both Bill and Hillary Clinton. In his previous tenure at the company, Schack established the Seattle office.
Since July 2006, GMI's Chinese panel has grown to 1.9 million consumers, while the Indian panel now has more than 400,000 panelists on board.
Dietmar Walter, Vice President, EMEA for GMI in London explains: 'Through global panels in new emerging geographies, GMI offers companies a clear and accurate view of consumer opinions before committing valuable time and resources to new projects. A high-quality panel in these countries not only allows companies to minimise risk by offering an accurate view of customers' opinions, but also allows quick project turnaround when timing is of the essence.'
GMI is online at www.gmi-mr.com .
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