TNS has agreed to acquire China-based automotive specialist Sinotrust Market Research (SMR), from Experian. The deal is subject to regulatory approval. More

Mobile marketing firm Brandtone has signed a one-year partnership with TNS, which will give the research company exclusive access to its database of engaged consumers in developing and emerging markets. The initial partnership will cover South Africa, Turkey, Russia and Brazil. More

TNS has appointed Doug Maclay as Head of its Qualitative practice in the Middle East, based in its Dubai office, from 19th May. More

TNS will run the Eurobarometer Qualitative studies for the EC and European Parliament for another four years. ‘Believed to be the world’s largest qualitative research programme’, the EUR 18m win saw TNS beat competition from Ipsos, GfK and Gallup. More

TNS has officially opened an office in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma), claiming to be the first international consumer insights consultancy to secure a licence to officially conduct business in the country. More

TNS has appointed former Ernst & Young Partner Richard Ingleton as its new Global Chief Executive Officer, replacing Eric Salama who previously combined the role with his leadership of Kantar. More

TNS has appointed former Ipsos MORI CEO Mike Everett as Global Head of Stakeholder Management, based in London. More

In London, TNS has appointed Flamingo’s former US CEO Lyn McGregor for its new global role of Chief Client Service Director in its Qualitative practice. More

WPP has reported revenue up just 1.2% to £1.19bn in its consumer insight division in the first half of the year, while headline operating profit fell slightly to £84m. The group has also confirmed that following tax changes, it plans to move its HQ back to the UK from Ireland. More

TNS has opened its first office in Cambodia, through a partnership with local market and social research firm MSD, which has a network of locations across the country. More

WPP shareholders have voted against a proposed 60% increase in CEO Sir Martin Sorrell's pay package. Separately, WPP says its Consumer Insight arm has been 'stable' in the first four months of 2012, with a 3.3% revenue rise adding to the group's £3.2 billion turnover. More

Kantar has paid around $1.2 million for a minority stake in online automotive customer feedback specialist Enprecis Inc. More

WPP has reported first quarter revenues up 7.4% at constant currencies, to £2.39 bn. Organic revenue growth was 4.0%. However the consumer insight division once again lagged behind with revenues up 3.3% on a constant currency basis, or 1.3% excluding acquisitions. More

In Belgium, the Centre for Information on the Media (CIM) has awarded Kantar Media-owned TNS its new National Internet Measurement contract, with traffic from mobile devices and online TV viewing figures included for the first time. More

In the UK, TNS has promoted Joseph Webb - who joined the company as a graduate trainee as recently as 2007 - to the position of Head of Digital. More

Kantar Media has expanded its Global Target Group Index (TGI) network of syndicated marketing and media studies through the addition of TNS Media Belgium's Brand Media Monitor (BMM) study. More

Tamer El Naggar, the former CEO of Synovate Middle East & North Africa (MENA), has joined TNS as Chief Executive Officer of its North Africa business. More

In Miami, TNS has appointed former Synovate exec Franck Sarrazit as Global Director in the company's Brand & Communication practice, with a remit to support the development of its offer globally and a particular focus on the needs of clients in Latin America and the US. More

After more than seventeen years at ORC International, Martin Grimwood has left to head the financial services team at TNS-RI. More

TNS Global Chairman Jamie Hall is to retire next week, after nearly 30 years in the market research industry. More

In the UK, TNS has appointed Rebecca Wynberg as CEO of its qualitative business. She returns to Kantar to take up her new role in January. More

WPP Chief Exec Sir Martin Sorrrell has told the UK government that its proposed tax reforms do not go far enough to lure his business back from Ireland to its original UK headquarters. More

In Poland, opinion and social research specialist TNS OBOP is to merge with ad hoc research provider TNS Pentor in early 2012. More

TNS has announced that Maureen Duffy, until this month CEO of the Newspaper Marketing Agency, will take over from Andrew Czarnowski as UK CEO from January next year. More

TNS has acquired the remainder of Polish firm OÅ“rodek Badania Opinii Publicznej sp.z.o.o. (OBOP) from Telewizja Polska S.A. (TVP), Poland's public broadcasting corporation. The research giant already owned 60% of the company. More

WPP has reported third quarter revenue of £2.46bn, representing like-for-like growth of 4.7%, but says its insight division grew much slower than any other, revenues rising less than 1%. More

TNS has today announced the appointment of Kristin Sharp as global COO of its qualitative business, starting immediately. She joins from Ipsos' US qual division Understanding UnLtd, of which she was CEO and President. More

WPP's consumer insight group Kantar has acquired the remaining shares in Lanka Market Research Bureau (LMRB), in which it already had a 49% stake. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. More

TNS has appointed Research International veteran Mark Kingsbury as Global Head of Marketing Sciences, based in the UK and responsible for building the firm's existing technical capabilities and developing new solutions. More

WPP's salary body is to consider a fifty percent rise in the basic salary of CEO Sir Martin Sorrell, who in November 2008 rejected a scheduled review as 'inappropriate' for the economic climate. Sorrell's £1m basic, unchanged since January 2007, is a smallish part of his total income from the firm. More

TNS has taken its TRI*M Reputation Manager product into the digital sphere, to help clients analyse online media and take appropriate action. More

In the UK, TNS Omnibus has launched ChatterBus, which offers access in short time segments to general or targeted groups via an online community format. More

WPP has made a non-binding offer to acquire the shares of ad and marketing services company D.A. Consortium Inc. (DAC) from Japan's Asatsu-DK Inc., in which the ad and insights giant already has a 22.9% stake. More

Jan Hofmeyr, formerly Synovate's International Director of Innovation, has joined TNS in a 'global thought leadership role', responsible for building the firm's approach to behaviour change and embedding this across the group. More

WPP's Consumer Insight division has reported a meagre 2.3% rise in like-for-like revenue (1.3% actual) for the first half of the year, following slower growth in the US, the UK and Japan in the second quarter. However, pre-tax profits rose 37% to £334.3m. More

TNS has been awarded the Flash Eurobarometer contract by the European Commission and European Parliament, beating four rival bidders. The four-year contract could be worth up to EUR 60 million. More

TNS has hired Martin Lambie-Nairn as Creative Director, a new position with a remit to improve the look and feel of the company's deliverables and work with local and global management to develop their creative capabilities. More

TNS has announced a European partnership with digital ad measurement specialist Alenty, to deliver a solution assessing the business impact of display ads. Initially available France, Germany, Spain and the UK, the service should roll out to more countries soon. More

Kantar is to roll out MarketTools' TrueSample quality solution across its network, following the breakdown of the Promedius Group, the not-for-profit quality consortium it launched with GfK and Ipsos less than a year ago. More

WPP Chief Exec Sir Martin Sorrell has suggested that the group may double the amount available for acquisitions this year, as it looks to invest in new media and emerging markets and take advantage of better conditions in the ad industry. More

In Germany, Andreas Kösters has been appointed to the management board of TNS Infratest, replacing Bruno Hötzel who steps down to focus on his role as Director of TNS Central Europe. More

Kantar has today announced a partnership with online facilities company ActiveGroup Ventures, giving the research giant worldwide access to facility based research via video streaming. More

Kantar Chairman and CEO Eric Salama has taken on the additional role of CEO of TNS from Pedro Ros, who now becomes TNS non-executive Chairman. Ros replaces Jamie Hall, who will leave the business 'as planned' at some point in 2011. More

TNS-BMRB, the social research arm of Kantar, today announced the appointment of Ben Toombs, previously a Director at independent qual specialists Cragg Ross Dawson, as Qualitative Director. More

Consumer insight revenues at WPP have risen 3.4% on a constant currency basis, to £552.8m in the first quarter of 2011, compared with £542.5m in the prior year period. More

TNS has opened an office in Miami to serve regional clients across Latin America. The operation will be led by industry veteran Gustavo Alvarez, who joins as Regional Accounts Director, Latin America. More

TNS has appointed Ivan Browne as Head of its Retail & Shopper Sector, based in London. He leaves GfK NOP, where he served as Business Development Director for the consumer products and retail division. More

In London, automotive research veteran Andy Turton has returned to TNS as Client Services Director for the Global Automotive Sector. More

Marcoms giant WPP has recorded a 4.4% increase in 2010 revenues to £2.43 billion in its Consumer Insight division. Meanwhile operating margins improved by 1.1 points to 9.7%. More

TNS Chairman Paul Edwards has left to join Omnicom-owned brand and communication research specialist Hall & Partners as European Chief Executive Officer, with a focus on leading the London office. More

In the UK, TNS has appointed former Microsoft marketer Tim Isaac as Global Marketing Director, based in the firm's London headquarters. More

TNS has expanded in Hungary, through the formation of a new joint venture with former RI affiliate Hoffmann Research International, now rebranded as TNS Hoffmann. More

Kantar-owned global trend research consultancy The Futures Company (TFC) has partnered with sister firm TNS to serve multinational and local clients in India. More

TNS Canada has announced that Dr Michael Antecol, Vice President for Western Canada, passed away suddenly on December 29, 2010 at the age of 42. More

TNS has kicked off the new year with a new 'global positioning' known as DISCOVER, which it says reflects its commitment to 'leading the way in research into new frontiers and making discoveries that help clients to develop opportunities'. More

TNS has acquired a majority stake in the Research and Marketing Services (RMS) group of companies in West and Central Africa. More

TNS has acquired Belgian shopper research specialist Retail Insights, and appointed its CEO Kristien Laureys to head up the Retail Insights division within TNS Belgium. More

TNS has restructured its operations in Asia Pacific (APAC) to reflect the differing needs of the region's diverse markets, and named its Singapore office as its new APAC regional headquarters. More

Kantar has increased the size of its Worldpanel in the UK by 20%, to include data from 30,000 households by the end of 2011. The firm has also announced other enhancements to the overall Worldpanel service. More

In the UK, TNS has moved James Fergusson to the post of Global Technology Head, responsible for leading the sector team and strengthening its presence across all markets. More

India's Federal Government has been asked by the Kerala regional government to 'investigate' a door-to-door survey asking Muslims for their views on sensitive questions concerning religion and politics. Interviews were by TNS for Washington-based Princeton Survey Research Associates (PSRAI). More

In the UK, TNS has acquired retail and manufacturer research specialist instorefactor, and merged it into its Retail and Shopper business. Terms were not disclosed. More

TNS has re-organised its operations in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa (APMEA) into two separate regions - TNS Africa and Middle East (AME) led by Kim Macilwaine and TNS Asia Pacific (APAC) headed by Chris Riquier. More

TNS has formed a new central division called Corporate Development, incorporating a number of current areas of marketing and strategy expertise. Matthew Froggatt, until now Technology Sector Head, has been appointed to lead the new unit as Chief Development Officer. More

Kantar Media has introduced DirectHEAT, a new subscription service delivering custommised multimedia ad intelligence to media sellers. More

WPP-owned sister firms TNS Research International and digital agency Wunderman have partnered in Africa, to help clients maximize opportunities in the 'digital sphere', while providing information about the potential of mobile Internet. More

Kantar has linked its Worldpanel scanned FMCG household purchase data with data from Kantar Media's TGI consumer insight survey. The resulting service, TGI Worldpanel, promises clients a detailed understanding of the link between media consumption, consumer attitudes and UK purchasing. More

In the UK, Kantar Media has rolled out a new approach to regional readership data collection, which it says offers a 'considerable cost saving' for publishers conducting regular readership research. More

WPP-owned Kantar Media - which specializes in providing TV, Internet and radio audience measurement services - has hired veteran media analyst Jeffrey Boehme to drive the development of new products and applications for set-top box (STB) data. More

TNS has hired Synovate's former CEO Iberia and Latin America Ignacio Galceran as Regional CEO Latin America, and a member of its Global Executive Committee. He joins the firm in October and takes up his new post next January. More

Kantar Media is planning to add qualitative research to its futurePROOF quantitative study, to provide an understanding of how media behaviour changes among early adopters of the iPad. More

Revenue and profits in WPP's Consumer Insight division rose in the first six months of 2010: the former slowly, up 2.4% on a like-for-like basis from a low comparative, but the latter more rapidly with headline profit before interest and tax (PBIT) up 22% to £83.7m. More

In the UK, Kantar-owned TNS-BMRB, which offers insight for government and not-for-profit clients, has launched a mixed mode research programme to prompt new thinking and best practice for tracking social trends across multiple modes of research. More

Two of the research industry's top four firms, Kantar and GfK, have announced an initiative aimed at promoting and assuring online data quality. The firms will seek 'broad industry participation' in their not-for-profit consortium, the Promedius Group. More

TNS has promoted Margit Huber to the position of Global HR, Talent Manager & Culture Director, with a remit to create an 'inspirational culture' across the group. More

WPP-owned Kantar Media has released 'Connect', a new solution that integrates a publisher's own web site metrics with survey data, to create a single-source database that links online behaviour to the attitudes that drive it. More

Kantar-owner WPP has reported improved results for the first five months of the year. Both Group revenues and those for the Insight division rose around 2% worldwide on a like-for-like basis while growth in May was well over 5%. More

In the UK, WPP-owned Kantar Media has developed a predictive tool to provide insights into how consumers will react to newspapers introducing paywalls on their web sites. More

TNS has promoted Michael Ennamorato to the post of Managing Director for Canada, with overall responsibility for direction of the firm in the Canadian market. More

WPP Group is gearing up to restart its acquisition strategy across the Asia-Pacific region, according to CEO Sir Martin Sorrell, speaking at The Financial Times and Marketing magazine event in Singapore on Tuesday. More

TNS has appointed Ian Stewart as Regional Director for Youth for the Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa region (AP MEA), charged with building a specialist youth practice and driving the firm's TRU teens syndicated service across the region. More

TNS has appointed Fabrizio Giordano as Managing Director of its Portuguese office, supported by Teresa Veloso as Client Services Director. More

WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell says the figure reported in the press for Nielsen's possible valuation is 'out of the ballpark' and 'doesn't work in any way, shape or form'. Both companies reported encouraging results today, WPP forecasting growth for the year and Nielsen seeing 4% real revenue growth over Q1 2009. More

In the UK, marcoms giant WPP has developed a dashboard which combines media spend and performance data from its GroupM media arm with research from insight division Kantar, together with information on social media content, web analytics and client CRM data. More

Kantar Media has merged its media measurement and evaluation agency Millward Brown Precis Europe/UK into its Intelligence Sector. The merger will be effective 1 May 2010. More

In the US, WPP-owned Kantar Media North America - which provides insights, analyses and audience measurement services - has hired former Starcom MediaVest research chief Richard Fielding for the newly created post of Chief Client Officer. More

WPP's CEO Sir Martin Sorrell says the firm may return its tax domicile status back to the UK if a new government guarantees it will not subject overseas profits to UK tax. Since relocating 18 months ago, the firm has saved around £50m by avoiding tax on its 'foreign profits'. More

In the US, TNS and its sister company Cymfony have partnered with FMCG client Emory University to demonstrate the effectiveness of a new tracking model, designed to prove how including social media in the marketing mix can yield better results. More

TNS and Research and Marketing Services (RMS) have formed an agreement to provide customized research in West Africa. More

Marcoms giant WPP saw revenues in its insights division fall 9.5% on a like-for-like basis during 2009, whilst on the same basis gross margin fell by 7.7%. More

TNS has formalised its partnership with qual and quant agency Aftab Associates, to offer services in Pakistan and Afghanistan under the brand name of TNS-Aftab. More

Kantar owned TNS and Compete have launched a web evaluation service, which identifies areas of a brand’s web site that are underperforming, and goes on to recommend how the client can enhance the site for optimal performance. More

ACNielsen HCI - a firm researching pharmaceutical promotions which was transferred to WPP in a 2008 regulatory asset swap - has been added to Kantar Health's Marketing Insight practice. More

In its second rebrand of the week, Kantar has re-named the TNS Worldpanel network as Kantar Worldpanel. Earlier in the week the group rebranded its media assets. More

WPP-owned insight consultancy Kantar has re-branded the media assets of TNS, KMR Group and BMRB Media as Kantar Media. More

The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) has announced that its stations will no longer be included in audience measurement provided by AGB Nielsen Media Research, which has been carrying out TV audience research in the region since 1989. More

In the UK, TNS-BMRB has launched another new division, the Social & Political Attitudes Unit (SPA), which will focus on tracking social and political trends. More

TNS-BMRB has announced the launch of its first new division, 'The Communications Research Centre', a UK-based specialist team dedicated to communications research for the public sector. More

WPP Chief Martin Sorrell has told a Reuters summit that with 'vicious' price activity in the market, he expects the group's 2010 revenues to be flat. Sorrell says new business activity in his media businesses is strong, but in MR and creative functions there is less cheer. More

In Israel, the IARB has awarded syndicated research specialist TNS Telegal a new five-year contract to continue operating the national Israeli Television Audience Measurement (TAM) service. More

The recently launched Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) is to make digital set-top-box data (STB) its first priority, following a recent meeting held with audience measurement leaders. More

Kantar Media has expanded its Global Target Group Index (TGI) Network of syndicated single-source marketing and media studies, following parent WPP's acquisition of TNS. More

The recently formed Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) will be hosting a meeting with Nielsen, Rentrak, TiVo, TRA and TNS to discuss how the firms can work with the coalition to foster set-top box data research innovation. More

WPP has reported a like-for-like revenue decline of 8.7% for the third quarter - a smaller drop than was seen in the second quarter. Consumer insight revenues stayed depressed although margin was better. The firm also pointed to strong regional differences and predicted a 'LUV' shaped recession. More

In Turkey, TNS has been awarded a four-year contract to provide TV audience measurement, by local industry committee TIAK. The current deal, which expires in 2011, is held by AGB Nielsen Media Research. More

Today sees the official merger of TNS' UK Custom Division and Research International UK to become TNS Research International UK; and the merger of TNS Custom's UK Social sector with BMRB's social research team to become TNS-BMRB. More

In the UK, TNS has launched a tool that claims to provide clients with an 'early warning' of rival ad campaigns, and which it says 'bridges the gap' between ad pre-testing and tracking. More

TV technology firm NDS and TNS Media Research have enhanced their joint TV audience measurement offering by adding the ability to identify individual viewers in homes signed up to participate in a measurement panel. More

In Canada, ratings giant Arbitron and TNS Media Research have launched what they describe as the 'world's largest combined panel for TV and radio audience measurement', designed to support industry organisation BBM Canada's own multi-media measurement initiative. More

In Australia, TV technology firm NDS and TNS Media Research have partnered to track and analyze audience behaviour across pay-TV operator Foxtel's network, to enable it to introduce advanced advertising products. More

UK marcoms giant and Kantar-owner WPP has reported a 47.9% drop in first-half net profit to £108.4m from £208.2m a year earlier, but predicts a brighter performance for the rest of 2009. Like-for-like consumer insight revenue was down 10%. More

Shopper behaviour consultancy TNS Magasin has combined EEG (electroencephalography) and eye tracking technologies to capture shoppers' emotional and cognitive responses at what it describes as 'an unprecedented level of detail'. More

TNS Healthcare and consumer comms agency McCann Healthcare have linked to launch the first in a series of studies providing insights into the Singapore health sector. More

Australian readership research is in flux as incumbent currency provider Roy Morgan declines to take part in a new-look tender. As of yesterday, magazine publishing giant ACP has quit its national association in support of the Roy Morgan survey. More

Analysts expect ad giant and Kantar owner WPP to cut its sales forecast again this week. However the firm's debt position and strategic focus are considered solid, while buoyant reports in the UK press suggest business confidence in general has turned the corner. More

WPP's insight arm Kantar has appointed Marita Carballo as President for Latam (Latin America) and Fiona Keyte as Global Account Director for client, Procter & Gamble (P&G), in a move designed to strengthen the firm's client relationships and regional capability in Latin and South America. More

In the US, TNS Media Research has partnered with digital entertainment technology firm Rovi Corporation to develop advanced TV and set-top-box (STB) measurement solutions. More

TNS has launched a series of reports measuring the sporting and entertainment passions of consumers in Asia. More

TNS Media Research has been awarded a ground-breaking three year audience measurement contract to gain new insights into the viewing and behaviour of audiences in subscription TV homes across Australia. More

WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell has extolled the virtues of organic growth; of helping ad budgets to follow consumers online; and of a balance between local and multinational clients, as he looks five years into the future of WPP. More

In Germany, TNS Infratest has promoted Jens Krnger to the post of Head of Consumer & Retail, as part of its integration with Research International (RI). More

Kantar Health has hired Scott Davies as General Manager of China, to direct the group's growth strategy in the region. Kelly Wong has also been appointed as Business Leader and Head of Research, China. More

In Germany, the TNS Infratest Group - which includes TNS Emnid - has announced that it is to shed 35 staff positions at its Bielefeld site. While 20 employees have been made redundant, 15 others have been offered jobs in the firm's Hamburg office. More

In the UK, TNS has told 'a small number of employees' in its Custom division that their jobs are at risk, and has made a more general request to employees to take a fortnight's unpaid leave during the second half of 2009, as it tries to avoid further cuts. More

WPP's insight division Kantar is to merge Lightspeed Research's online panel business with the TNS 6th Dimension network of online managed access panels. More

Following the merger of TNS and RI earlier in the year, the company has announced that TNS Infratest will now be known in Germany as TNS Infratest RI. More

In the UK, a group of organisations led by TNS has won a contract from the Department for Transport (DfT) to deliver the first in-depth study into how public attitudes to climate change impact travel preferences. More

At today's AGM, WPP shareholders gave the thumbs up to a scheme which could see CEO Sir Martin Sorrell receive a £60m bonus over the next five years. Meanwhile Sorrell announced a 6.7% dip in like-for-like revenues for the first four months of the year, which sent shares tumbling 4.8% to 456.25p. More

Marcoms giant WPP has sold Mediafax - its Puerto Rico-based media research agency - to Brazilian media, market and opinion research specialist IBOPE. In return, WPP has increased its shareholding in three IBOPE businesses. More

Shareholders at marcoms giant WPP are opposing a scheme which could result in CEO Sir Martin Sorrell receiving up to £59.7m ($95m) worth of free shares during the next five years. More

US web analytics firm Omniture and WPP's insight and consultancy division Kantar have created a new platform, which enables clients to see how their online and offline activities impact on one another. More

WPP-owned healthcare data collection agency All Global has integrated the TNS JStreet panel into its online physician panel across the US and Europe, thus boosting its number of active physician participants by 50% across key specialities. More

In Slovakia, PMT Ltd - which was founded in 2002 to implement electronic measurement of the country's TV viewing - has awarded TNS SK a five year contract to measure both analogue and digital viewing. More

Procter & Gamble veteran Kim Dedeker is joining WPP's insight and consultancy division Kantar in a new role as Chair, Americas, where she will focus on the group's global research quality initiatives. More

Marcoms giant WPP, which eliminated 3,600 positions in Q1, is planning to make 6% of its global workforce redundant resulting in the loss of 7,200 posts in all this year. More

TNS Travel & Tourism is planning a May launch for 'the world's first activities-based research panel', which promises to help clients reach groups based on their participation in niche sports and leisure activities. More

UK marcoms giant WPP has reported a 5.8% fall in Q1 revenues, excluding the impact of acquisitions and currency fluctuations. The firm says this reflects a cut in client spending in reaction to the global financial and economic crisis. More

TNS has beaten IPSOS, Gallup and Synovate in a pitch to win what it describes as 'one of the largest market research contracts ever commissioned' - a four year €65m EU project to provide a measure of public opinion in Europe. More

Marcoms giant WPP is preparing to make thousands of staff redundant this year, in response to declining revenues and its £1.1bn debt-financed acquisition of TNS. Credit agencies S&P and Moody have downgraded the firm's rating from stable to negative. More

TNS has announced further changes to its senior management team, following its recent merger with Research International. The latest appointments cover global roles, North America and Europe. More

TNS has appointed a new Regional Operating Board for the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa (ALM) region, led by former TNS Regional MD Jamie Hall, who assumes overall responsibility for the region as ALM CEO. More

Eleven universities are to receive funds from the initial round of WPP and Google three-year Marketing Research Awards Program. The money will enable them to conduct studies into how online media influences consumer behavior, attitudes and decision making. More

Martin Sorrell has talked of 'big, big opportunities' and 'a tsunami of funds... waiting for the recovery' in an interview with the BBC. The WPP chief also discussed his views on headcount reduction in a recession, on Google, and the future market share of different advertising media. More

WPP has reported healthy results for the full year 2008. Like-for-like revenue growth of 2.7% came from a combination of a strong first half and slower second half. Insight division Kantar provided 17.1% of all WPP revenue and 12.8% of operating profit. More

The Kantar Group is streamlining its businesses after buying TNS. The TNS Custom business will merge with Research International and will be generally known as TNS. A new social research force for the UK is established in TNS-BMRB, while Kantar has four new vertical sector operating units: Media, Health, Retail and Worldpanel. More

TNS is to close a call center in Indiana, USA at the end of March, with the loss of 128 jobs. More

Marcoms giant WPP has announced a partnership with US web analytics firm Omniture to provide clients with ‘more effective insights’ across both digital and traditional media channels. The deal involves WPP investing $25m in Omniture stock. More

The UK’s Royal Mail has named former TNS Chairman Donald Brydon as first choice to lead it through a forthcoming part-privatisation. If appointed, he would replace current Chairman Allan Leighton when he steps down in March. More

Global communications group WPP is planning to move away from its role as a traditional media and advertising supplier, to concentrate on becoming a more insight-led organisation, says CEO Sir Martin Sorrell. More

In the US, TNS Healthcare has appointed Susanne Michel as MD in charge of its Global Market Access, Pricing and Reimbursement Practice; and Mark Sales as leader of its Global Stakeholder Management Practice. More

Kantar-owned TNS has acquired the remaining 37% of TNS InterScience, one of Brazil’s leading custom market research businesses. More

TNS has beaten Ipsos, GfK and others in a major qual competitive tender from the European Commission and the European Parliament. TNS says the deal covers all the body’s qualitative studies and is ‘believed to be the world’s largest qual research programme’, valued at some 15m Euros over four years. More

In the US, web analytics unit TNS Compete has launched a service to deliver behavioural and survey-based insights on iPhone and other smartphone users. More

TNS has launched Digital Suite, described as a ‘new generation’ of online ad monitoring tools. The suite combines cookie tracking technology with the company’s 6th Dimension Panel to give in-depth analysis of online ad consumption. More

Nielsen and WPP have signed an asset swapping agreement. Nielsen will acquire WPP’s half of AGBNielsen Media Research (AGBNMR), and in return, WPP will take over three of Nielsen’s media services assets. More

In the US, web analytics unit TNS Compete, now part of Kantar, has launched a Retail and Consumer Products practice to provide retailers with insights into shoppers’ online activities across rival sites, portals, search engines and aggregators. More

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced that it will not intervene in WPP’s acquisition of TNS, after receiving court-enforceable undertakings from WPP regarding its TAM (Television Audience Measurement) services. More

TNS CEO David Lowden has left after nine years with the firm, following the completion of WPP’s takeover of the business. WPP’s insight arm Kantar Group made no comment about Lowden’s departure, but instead confirmed a series of senior management positions at TNS. More

In the UK, WPP has announced that all the conditions of its offer to buy TNS have been fulfilled and that the offer is now unconditional. As of this afternoon, valid acceptances had been received by shareholders representing 95.54% of TNS stock. More

In the US, TNS Healthcare has introduced a multi-country oncology market tracker that provides an in-depth look at any indication or patient segment. More

Marketing communications group WPP and Internet giant Google have partnered to jointly fund a grant program to support research into how online media influences consumer behaviour, attitudes and decision making. More

Marketing communications group WPP has now received acceptance from shareholders representing 91.72% of TNS, for its offer to buy the UK market research agency. More

GfK has received a break fee of around €13m (£10.6m) from TNS as compensation for the abandoned ‘merger of equals’ deal planned earlier in the year. The German firm has also reported a bulging order book. More

WPP has declared its offer for TNS ‘unconditional as to acceptances’ after securing the approval of shareholders representing 81.78% of TNS stock by its latest deadline of 3pm today, UK time – well over its new 75% target. More

Global online panel company Authentic Response is opening an office in Toledo, Ohio and has appointed former TNS Director Paul Hudson as Vice President of Technology to run it, while steering the firm’s overall technology strategy. More

Following WPP's announcement on Friday that around 61% of TNS shareholders had accepted its bid, the TNS Board has recommended that shareholders accept, to avoid the risk of being left with a minority interest in an unlisted company. More

WPP has announced that its bid for TNS had been accepted by around 43% of the latter’s shareholders as of 2.30pm Monday – up from just 34% on Friday. The acquisitive ad group also says it will move its ‘domicile’ to Ireland due to the current ‘complexity’ of the UK tax system. More

WPP has again extended its deadline for TNS shareholders to decide on its £1.2bn bid - to this Friday, October 3rd - but has now received acceptances from 33.8% of them - up from just 11% two weeks previously. More

TNS has today issued its shareholders with a new statement urging them to reject WPP’s offer for the firm, underlining its strength as a standalone group. More

TNS is to adopt research software provider Vovici’s Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) Platform and Community Builder Model as its standard platform for building custom online panels and communities for its customers. More

WPP has received a qualified approval from the European Commission for its offer to buy TNS. The deal will comply with EU merger rules, provided two divestments are made. More

Hajo Riesenbeck is to resign from the Supervisory Board Chairmanship and Presidency of GfK Nürnberg e.V. Riesenbeck was closely associated with the TNS bid, while CEO Klaus Wübbenhorst is said to have been more convinced of the firm's ability to grow on its own. More

After less than a year as President of TNS Media Intelligence North America, Bev Andal is stepping down to be replaced by Mark Nesbitt, who is currently President of TNS MARX. More

UK supermarket giant ASDA has launched a new quarterly consumer confidence survey, with a panel of 10,000 of its shoppers who will provide feedback on topics such as personal finance, job security, the economy, and safety from crime. More

The European Commission has extended by ten working days its investigation into the potential effect on competition of communication group WPP’s takeover bid for global agency TNS. More

In the US, the number of ‘affluent’ households has dropped for the first time in six years, according to the first wave of results from TNS’s annual Affluent Market Research Program (AMRP) of ‘wealthy’ US households. More

WPP has extended its offer to buy shares in TNS to 3pm London time on September 12th. The company's original deadline passed on Friday with only 8.61% of TNS shareholders accepting its offer. TNS continues to recommend rejection. More

In the UK, employee-owned investment firm Cedar Rock Capital – the largest shareholder in TNS - is understood to have rejected ad giant WPP’s latest £1.1bn offer. More

GfK has cancelled plans to acquire UK rival TNS after failing to secure funding for the deal. TNS, whose shareholders must vote this week on the bid of its remaining suitor WPP, also announced 6-monthly results today with revenue and profit rises both in double figures. More

WPP has announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30th June 2008, showing good revenue and profit figures in all regions and for all divisions including insight. While his own firm may be healthy however, CEO Sir Martin Sorrell says the current merger process is ‘not doing [TNS] much good’. More

GfK will use the time available to it before making any offer for TNS, according to CEO Klaus Wuebbenhorst. This is likely to mean September, while WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell will see TNS shareholders vote on his proposals on 29th August. More

WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell says GfK is misleading the market about being able to pull together the resources to buy British rival TNS, and about having access to an ‘unidentified but substantial source of capital’. More

GfK has acquired US brand innovation consultancy Arbor Strategy Group (ASG) to complement new product development services for its Custom Research North America subsidiary. More

WPP has posted TNS shareholders a formal offer for the company, valuing it at $2.28bn. It includes news of an option to sell TNS’ television monitoring arm TAM to Ipsos, if required to meet EU competition law. More

TNS Healthcare has appointed Christine Corner as Head of Client Service for its UK International (UKI) division. Corner re-joins TNS with more than 15 years healthcare research consulting experience. More

TNS has promoted Andrew Czarnowski to the post of MD of its UK and Ireland Custom business; tasked with driving growth in one the firm’s largest units and exploiting capabilities in shopper, brand and communications research. More

GfK’s discussions regarding a possible offer for TNS are ‘progressing positively’ the company said today, as it announced a strong order book from the first half of 2008 and a two-week delay in financial reporting. However, TNS has reportedly been talking to Sir Martin Sorrell and scouting for other possible buyers. More

TNS' Technology division is rolling out its ComTech study across Europe, giving customers access to 1.2 million interviews a year across the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. The research measures the converging markets of mobile telecoms, fixed line, broadband and Pay TV. More

In the UK, TNS has promoted two execs to lead its new contracts for broadcasting research body BARB: Chris Balch becomes MD of the new BARB Service Team within TNS Media Research, while Graeme Griffiths takes on the role of Services Director for TNS Custom Media. More

GfK is understood to have had talks with European private equity firm Cinven about finance for its bid for TNS. Such a partnership is likely to be treated with caution by major shareholder the GfK-Verein. More

GfK will not take ‘unreasonable’ financial risks in bidding for TNS, according to Klaus Wuebbenhorst. The CEO has played down the pressure on his firm, which is said to be in talks with ‘other wealthy German families’ in addition to the Herz family. More

GfK is said to be discussing financial backing for its counter offer for TNS with Mayfair, the Hamburg investment vehicle owned by billionaire siblings Günter and Daniela Herz, who inherited their wealth from their coffee magnate father. More

German market research agency GfK has stressed today that there is no certainty it will make an all-cash offer for UK rival TNS, after the pair scrapped their plans to merge yesterday. More

GfK, backed by an as-yet unnamed investor, is preparing to make a counter-offer for TNS in response to WPP’s £1.08bn ($2.1bn) hostile bid announced this morning. More

Despite approval from the Board of the GfK Verein, the ‘merger of equals’ with TNS continues to face pressure from two sides: Sir Martin Sorrell, who has one more day to decide for or against a ‘hostile’ bid; and workers and a former Chairman at the German firm he describes as ‘very traditional’. More

The Administrative Board of GfK-Nürnberg e.V. has approved the firm’s merger with TNS, leaving the vote of Verein members on 21st July technically unnecessary, ‘though ‘important’. Meanwhile, the bosses of TNS and WPP have been exchanging increasingly hostile comments. More

TNS has fended off a third approach from communications giant WPP, stating that the bid still substantially undervalues the company. More

In the UK, the Panel Executive, an independent body which administers the City Code on takeovers and mergers, has ruled that marketing firm WPP must clarify whether it intends to make a firm offer for TNS by 9 July. More

The proposed 'merger of equals' of GfK and TNS faces political opposition in Germany, reports suggest, with some German local authorities represented in the company's majority shareholding 'Verein' saying they will oppose the deal at next Friday's key meeting. More

Both TNS and WPP have reported healthy revenue growth in the first five months of 2008 - the former doing particularly well in the UK, balancing a slight decline in the US. Meanwhile Martin Sorrell has again asked TNS for more financial information. More

In the US, Information Resources Inc. (IRI) will be integrating TNS’ Shades of Green methodology into its Consumer Network Household panel, to delve deeper into consumer attitudes and behavior towards environmental issues and motivation to purchase green products. More

TNS Chief David Lowden has today met with WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell to present him with the data his firm has already disclosed to GfK as part of the nil premium merger announced in April. More

In New York, the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) Board of Directors has elected nine new members, includuing comScore boss Gian Fulgoni and senior execs from TNS and GfK. More

TNS is expanding its operation in Russia by rolling out its FasTrack 360° financial services tracking tool, which the firm says is the first of its kind in the country. More

WPP has refuted TNS’s claim to have provided it with the same information given to GfK as part of the recent merger agreement. Sir Martin Sorrell’s firm says it has only been given access to a subset of the information provided to GfK Verein, GfK's controlling shareholder. More

TNS has agreed to open its books and give WPP the same information it gave to GfK as part of their recent merger agreement. Meanwhile, reports suggest that the GfK-TNS merger may face an EU competition probe; and may be ‘sweetened’ by a cash bonus for TNS shareholders. More

Sir Martin Sorrell is said still to be considering this week’s GfK-TNS merger announcement and whether or not to come back with a fresh offer for TNS. Quoted in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, the acquisitive WPP boss described the GfK-TNS proposal as ‘a defensive merger’. More

GfK’s proposed ‘merger of equals’ with TNS could take place this year or early next, according to comments from CEO Klaus Wuebbenhorst at the German-based firm’s AGM yesterday. Meanwhile shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of converting GfK to a European ‘SE’ style company. More

TNS Lanka has launched two new research tools – the first to help marketers measure consumer commitment and loyalty towards their brand, and the second to help HR professionals measure and monitor employee satisfaction. More

WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell has increased his offer for TNS from £948m to £996m (($1.9bn), but has been rejected for a second time by the market research group’s Board. More

GfK CEO Klaus Wübbenhorst has told employees of the German-based global agency that the proposed merger with TNS would mean more jobs, not fewer. Prof. Wübbenhorst said comments suggesting the contrary from WPP’s Martin Sorrell were ‘morally reprehensible’. More

WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell has said that he is surprised and disappointed by TNS’ ‘cavalier’ rejection of his £1bn part-cash / part-share offer to purchase the firm. More

Top five global MR firms TNS and GfK are in discussions about a possible ‘merger of equals’, which would create the world’s second-largest market and information group. More

UK radio audience body RAJAR will cut short its investment in its experimental electronic measurement panel, run by TNS using Arbitron’s PPM, and will launch an industry-wide review of audience research options. It will also field test a new online diary system, to be designed by Nunwood, in July. More

BBM Canada, supplier of radio and television audience ratings services to the Canadian broadcast advertising industry, has selected a joint bid by TNS Media Research and Arbitron Inc to deploy Portable People Meter (PPM) technology to measure TV and radio in Canada. More

In the US, former TNS MD Amaury de Condé has joined Ipsos as SVP and MD of its Global Product Center; an international role with responsibility for the worldwide Ipsos Marketing Consumer Goods business. More

Compete, TNS media’s newly-acquired online behaviour measurement company, has promoted Scott Ernst to the position of President – he was previously Chief Client Officer. More

In the US, TNS Healthcare has introduced a new service to help pharmaceutical and biotech companies measure the effectiveness of their own and competitive sales calls. More

TNS and consumer privacy organization TRUSTe have released the results of a study into US Internet users' knowledge, attitudes and concerns about behavioral targeting and online privacy. More

In the Middle East, TNS has launched a study to uncover trends among 16 to 25 year olds in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait. More

TNS has grouped several of its North American operating units into a new division, TNS media, with Dean DeBiase as CEO. TNS media intelligence and TNS media research join newly-acquired companies Compete and Cymfony to form the new entity. More

TNS has promoted Richard Marks to the position of Global Sector Head of TNS Media Research – the Internet, TV and radio audience measurement arm of TNS Media. More

TNS has announced an agreement to acquire online behaviour measurement company Compete, Inc. for US$75m in cash, doubling if targets are met over two years. The company also reported full year results for 2007, with revenue of UK£1,067.7m, representing underlying growth of 5.4%. More

In an article published on 4 January we reported that Israeli MR company MarketWatch and its partner agency Gemius had been commissioned to conduct Internet rating surveys on behalf of a consortium including the Association of Advertisers in Israel; and that the work had previously been conducted by TNS's research company in Israel, TNS Teleseker using its bi-annual TIM (Teleseker Internet Monitor) survey (www.mrweb.com/drno/news7760.htm ). More

TNS has bought Stockholm-based financial services specialist Prospera Research, and says the buy will help it to further develop syndicated services for extension across the Nordic region and then elsewhere in Europe. More

TNS has promoted Robert Tomei to President, Areas of Expertise and Marketing for its US Custom Research business, and Kimberly Bastoni to SVP US Custom Marketing and Development. More

In London, TNS is ready to launch what it claims is the UK’s first one-day turnaround Omnibus, aiming to provide clients with an ‘instant snapshot of consumer opinion and behaviour’. More

TNS has formed a partnership with Buenos Aires-based Livra Panels to offer additional online access panel research services across Latin America. More

TNS has merged its Hong Kong and Singapore operations and appointed Wade Garland as MD of the combined group, while existing Singapore MD Grant Bertoli will now manage TNS in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. More

TNS Healthcare has appointed Ceri Thomas to the new position of Executive Vice President of Global Accounts. More

TNS is launching its 6thdimension Interactive Research services in Latin America and has appointed Trixie Cartwright as Regional Director for Interactive Research, based in Buenos Aires. More

TNS has merged its own continuous research service in China with that of its joint venture CTR Market Research, under the Worldpanel brand. Jason Yu is appointed to lead the newly merged unit as General Manager, TNS Worldpanel China. More

TNS is to offer its researchers across the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region the opportunity to study for the MRS Advanced Certificate in Market & Social Research Practice – the first time the UK-based Society’s qualification has been taught across the region. More

TNS’s joint venture CSM Media Research has been given the go-ahead to undertake TV and radio audience measurement in China for a further 10 years. More

Global marketing communications group Havas has signed an agreement with TNS Media Intelligence (TNSMI), ending its contract with Nielsen Monitor-Plus and making TNSMI its primary provider for competitive advertising intelligence. More

TNS says it expects revenue growth of more than 5% for 2007, based on strong performance in Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions. Also this week, TNS Media Intelligence has acquired Irish media analysis firm MediaMarket for an undisclosed sum. More

TNS Healthcare has appointed former GfK exec Larry Olson as VP Practice Leader, Payer Markets and Dennis Callahan, ex-IMS Health, as VP Sales Force Effectiveness. More

TNS has appointed Rosie Hawkins as Global Head of Brand & Communications Research. Relocating to London, she will report to Global Head of Strategy & Innovation John Abraham. More

BARB has awarded the contract to provide UK TV audience measurement currency to TNS. Beginning in 2010 after a year’s trial running in parallel with the current service, TNS will operate a 5,100 home meter panel. More

In Mumbai, TNS India has appointed Dipika Sharma as SVP-People and Culture. Her sixteen years of experience in senior leadership roles include spells as VP-HR for Dow Chemical and Head of HR with Transworld Group. More

TNS has appointed Neerja Wable as CEO India and Sri Lanka, to oversee the implementation of a number of growth initiatives and take responsibility for strategic planning and business development. Wable was previously Chief Client Officer at Millward Brown. More

TNS has announced a 'consolidation' of its Technology research sector in Australia, with the appointments of Jon Foged as National Director of Technology, and Justin Connally and Kim Albert as Directors. More

TNS has acquired specialist US-based consultancy Landis Strategy & Innovation for an undisclosed sum. More

TNS is to buy the remainder of LatinPanel Holdings from joint venture partners The NPD Group and the IBOPE Group. Its current 33.3% stake will be upped to 100% in January. More

Data giant Experian and TNS have joined forces to classify all 44 million UK adults according to their attitudes and behaviour towards fashion and clothes shopping. More

Reports in the UK suggest that the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) could be about to award its next £10m TV audience measurement contract to TNS/Arbitron. The current contract runs out in 2010. More

TNS has promoted Tania Kulman, General Manager of TNS Sydney, to the role of Australian MD; Jacqui von Hirschberg to ANZ Director of Consumer; and Evette Cordy to Regional Director for the Technology sector in its ALM super-region. More

TNS has announced a strategic alliance with Intellidyn, a US-based database marketing and analytic services company focused on the financial sector. The research giant says the merging of the firms’ expertise will help it create a new global practice, TNS Customer Intelligence Consulting. More

TNS has announced a global quality programme for its panels, Six Degrees of Online Quality - to begin next year. More

TNS Healthcare has appointed former Grey Healthcare leader Mark Duckham as MD of its UK International (UKI) division, supported by Head of Research David Hanlon. More

CSM Media Research – a TNS joint venture with Chinese MR firm CTR Market Research – is about to commence field tests of Arbitron’s Portable People Meter (PPM) to measure radio audiences in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. More

TNS has announced two global leadership appointments. Leendert de Voogd is promoted to Global Sector Head, Political and Social, replacing Marita Carballo who leaves to pursue ‘academic and other interests’; while former Dell man Renaud Collery is appointed as Head of Global Operations. More

The Sri Lankan arm of brand evaluation and strategy firm Brand Finance has launched its ‘Brand Ratings’ scheme, which enables brands to benchmark themselves against top performing competitors. Partner TNS Lanka will provide the research component. More

In the UK, TNS has acquired retail and shopper insight consultancy ID Magasin, which specialises in video-based research and eye-tracking for international in-store research. More

TNS will be merging its Media Intelligence and Media Research (iTRAM) units into one, in an effort to further develop its TV and online audience measurement services. More

TNS India’s Managing Director Mr R Suresh is to leave to pursue other interests outside the industry, after almost two decades with the company. More

Steven Fredericks is stepping down with immediate effect from his role as President and CEO of TNS Media Intelligence (TNS MI), and will be replaced as President by Bev Andal, who also takes overall charge of US Operations. More

TNS has unveiled BriefScape, a research product for the early stages of brand communications development. The global agency says its range of offerings in the area now constitute ‘a research solution for the complete brand communications lifecycle’. More

TNS has bought a 15% stake in Berlin-based usability research firm Eye Square, reflecting increased client demand for usability advice and consultancy. More

Former TNS China General Manager Paul Zhou has left to set up a new agency called Illuminera in Shanghai. More

TNS has today released unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2007. The firm says underlying revenue growth of 5.9% and operating profit up 8.9% to £45.4m show the successful implementation of a strategy commenced last year. More

TNS Media Intelligence has acquired media monitoring and evaluation firm PressWatch GmbH, based in Hamburg, Germany. More

TNS Research Surveys is to design, recruit and manage a new viewing panel of 3,500 South African households equipped with digital satellite TV. More

TNS has promoted Stuart Ridsdale to Head of Global PR, just nine months after he joined the company in an international PR role. More

TNS has appointed Shari Morwood as Executive VP of Technology, Telecom and Media in North America. She has spent the last eleven years at IBM, in roles including Vice President of Worldwide Market Research. More

TNS has appointed two VPs in India - Parijat Chakraborthy for Technology Research and Anuradha Agadi to manage Human Resources for its domestic business. More

In the UK, TNS has appointed Kerry Brown and Jonathan Brown to develop existing and new client relationships as Directors of the firm’s UK Media division. More

TNS Media Intelligence has named Carolyn Kidd-Harper as Vice President, Central Region Sales, based in Chicago. She was previously VP, North American Sales for AdEx International at Nielsen Media Research. More

According to the latest TNS Worldpanel data, UK grocery sales have grown at their slowest rate for more than a year, impacted by wet weather and a squeeze on consumer spending. More

Swiss digital MR firm ArgYou AG has partnered with German-based TNS Infratest to promote its ArgYou tool, which allows clients to align the content of their web sites with the search terms most frequently used by potential clients. More

TNS has issued a trading update, ahead of reporting interim results on 3 September. The group says its previously troubled US custom business has returned to growth and expects underlying organic revenue growth of over 5% for the first six months of 2007. More

TNS has acquired Auckland-based Conversa Global, creating what it says is New Zealand’s largest research consultancy. The global group’s NZ business will be merged with Conversa Global to form a new company, TNS Conversa. More

TNS has announced that the Arbitron Portable People Meter system (PPM), for which it is the licensee, has been adopted as the electronic audience measurement currency system by the radio industry in Denmark. More

TNS has launched a new survey tool, Revenue Growth Manager (RGM), to help clients evaluate which marketing investments are likely to reap brand revenue growth. More

Crawford del Prete has joined TNS as President of Client Services in North America. He worked previously at technology specialist IDC, as Senior VP for Communications, Hardware, Software and Professional Services Research. More

In the UK, TNS has continuted the expansion and development of its sports sponsorship intelligence arm, TNS Sport, with the appointment of Ben Cronin as Account Controller. More

TNS has launched Complete, a bureau based service offering an outsourced fieldwork solution for other market research agencies. More

Australian-based consumer and branding specialist The Leading Edge (TLE) has named Darren Kemp as Director of its Branding and Innovation team, while Syada Jahan and Todd Eldridge have joined the firm’s Advanced Quantitative Research team. More

Newly acquired TNS Research Surveys came home with three of the four available awards at last week’s annual conference of SAMRA, the South African Market Research Association. More

TNS Media Intelligence has named Dwight Green Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, headquartered in New York City. His role includes identifying new ventures and opportunities for the firm in value-added competitive intelligence. More

TNS has acquired the Financial Services Research division of US business research and consulting group, Abt Associates. Senior Abt staff Scott Rosa and Sarita Bhagwat will join TNS to manage the integration of the two organisations. More

Marc Drake has retired from TNS after more than three decades at the firm, including spells as Joint MD of the UK Superpanel business and Head of TNS Business Solutions. He joined the original Taylor Nelson Research business in 1976. More

TNS has expanded its focus in the travel sector with its acquisition of the Sydney-based Travel Research Centre (TRC), and consolidated MD Carolyn Childs’ role as Director, Travel and Leisure Research. More

After a 13 year career with ACNielsen, Robert Tomei has joined TNS as Global Head of Access Panels to establish, lead and deliver a growth strategy for the firm’s global access panel business, 6thdimension™. More

TNS has formed a partnership with marcoms measurement consultancy Integration, to market the latter’s brand experience tool, Market ContactAudit™ (MCA). The firms will also work together to develop new business solutions for brand and advertising management. More

Iceland has adopted the Arbitron PPM system, under licence from TNS, as its audience measurement currency for both radio and television – the first instance worldwide of a meter system being used for electronic collection of data on both audiences. More

Retail and consumer information firm, NPD Group, has bought TNS’s foodservice tracking businesses in the UK and Spain, and integrated them into its CREST® food purchase information service. More

TNS has announced the launch of its ‘6thdimension’ online services in the Middle East, including access panels and other solutions. The first phase will cover Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with other markets likely to follow soon. More

TNSSport has launched an Asian version of its syndicated football-tracking product, currently available in Europe. Asia Soccercope will measure league popularity and sponsorship impact in both domestic and international football competitions in China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and Korea. More

TNS has announced an alliance with marketing effectiveness measurement firm, Integration, to sell its core product MCA™, a tool which audits the effectiveness and cost efficiency of brand marketing communications activities. More

TNS has announced the purchase of US MR consultancy Retail Forward, boosting the research giant’s newly established Retail and Shopper Insights division. More

British shoppers have voted Tesco their favourite retailer, while Kwik Save teeters on the brink of insolvency. Analysis from TNS Worldpanel continues to show most other supermarkets gaining share at the beleaguered store’s expense. More

TNS has released full year results for 2006, showing revenue almost flat at £1,004.2m (up 0.5% from £999m in 2005). However the firm, whose US custom business has been restructuring since reporting problems a year ago, said results in other divisions were good. More

TNS has announced three senior appointments. Dawn Airey and Drummond Hall join the board as independent non-executive directors, with effect from 12 April, while David Reim joins TNS Healthcare in the new position of Group President, US. More

TNS has launched TNSInsightTvLive™, an interactive online platform which allows respondents to see a survey moderator via a real-time video link, and enables him or her to demonstrate visual material while at the same time, analysing survey responses. More

SKY Television has partnered with TNS and pay TV solutions provider NDS to launch a new audience measurement service, based initially on a panel of 6,500 viewing households. More

TNS has appointed Lincoln Merrihew as Senior VP to lead the Automotive Segment for North American Custom Research. He has more than twenty years’ experience in the industry, including senior forecasting and busdev positions with J.D. Power, Standard & Poors and DRI/McGraw Hill. More

TNS has acquired US shopping behaviour specialist Sorensen Associates for an undisclosed sum, and created a global practice, TNS Retail and Shopper Insights. More

Supermarket giant Tesco grew its UK sales by 8% and its share to 31.5% in the 12 weeks to 28th January, but is seeing ‘solid’ competition from Asda, Sainsbury and Morrisons, according to TNS Worldpanel data. Meanwhile Tesco says it will open small ‘neighbourhood markets’ in the fall in twenty locations around Phoenix, AZ. More

TNS has promoted Worldpanel head Judith Passingham to MD of TNS Europe, with immediate effect. Current Europe MD Bruno Hoetzel will concentrate on TNS Infratest in Germany, whose development he has led for the past six years. More

TNS has announced its acquisition of a controlling interest in South African company, Research Surveys. More

TNS Media Intelligence, the media monitoring arm of TNS, has acquired rival agency PressWatch Media, to boost its UK market position. More

TNS has further boosted its North America Custom management team under Kimberly Till with the appointment of Enzo Micali as Chief Information Officer. Micali previously held the same role at 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. More

With the final shopping week before Christmas fast approaching, surveys from TNS and ACNielsen show that grocery sales are climbing, with record supermarket sales of £3 billion being forecast for next week. More

A substantial majority of people in Asia (59%) believe that expenditure on space exploration is justified, according to a CNN/TIME poll conducted by TNS. Still more (68%) believe that Asians countries should take a more active role in space exploration. More

TNS has appointed two Executive Vice Presidents for its North America Custom Research leadership under Kimberly Till. Michael O'Keeffe joins to lead Operations and MCP, and Larry Levin to head up U.S. Consumer Goods & Services. More

TNS has agreed to merge its Japanese business with Infoplan Inc., a subsidiary of Interpublic agency McCann Erickson. TNS-Infoplan Inc., in which the research giant will have a majority stake, will be headed up by TNS Japan’s current MD, Osamu Miyake. More

UK demand for video downloading lags far behind both the recent hype and the development of technology, according to data from TNS Worldpanel Entertainment. Of the 10,000 people interviewed every two weeks for the service, not one has yet legally downloaded a video. More

TNS has promoted Jeni Lee Chapman to the role of Executive VP of North American Custom Research business in its Advertising and Brand Performance Division (ABP). More

TNS Media Research has signed up a first agency client for its new digital audience measurement service based on anonymous set top box data. Media and communications agency Starcom USA will receive information from 300,000 digital subscribers in LA. More

TNS has bolstered its presence in Latin America with the acquisition of a controlling interest in Time Research SA, the largest independent custom research business in Chile, for an undisclosed sum. More

TNS' Media and Internet, Television and Radio Audience Measurement (iTRAM) divisions have helped the Guardian Newspapers Ltd and Sky Media scoop the gold and silver awards for 'Best Research Initiative' at this year's Media Week Awards. More

TNS has announced the launch of a dedicated technology team in Vietnam, expanding its Asia Pacific network of technology sector researchers. The team will be led by country MD Ralf Matthaes and supported by Technology Sector Head Hong Nguyen and Sector Champion, Lester Sualog. More

Despite mobile phone providers’ endeavours to recruit 3G customers, third generation technology remains a low priority for mobile users across the globe, with cost the biggest deterrent, according to Global Technology Insight (GTI), the massive annual mobile study by TNS. More

TNS has appointed Francis Eames, a veteran of Diageo and Unilever, as its Group Marketing Director. He will be actively involved in the marketing of several new solutions, as well as the ongoing development of TNS’ four core Areas of Expertise. More

TNS has appointed Matthew Froggatt, a thirteen-year veteran of the company, as Global Sector Head of its Technology division, replacing Tacis Gavoyannis who has left to pursue other interests. Froggatt will be based in London. More

UK supermarket sales figures from TNS show another buoyant period – sales are up 6% year-on-year. The stats show good news for most of the major groups, in particular Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and – as usual – Tesco. More

TNS Media Research has entered an agreement with US digital television service provider DIRECTV, Inc. to launch audience measurement services that will focus on the latter’s interactive subscriber households. More

TNS has appointed Michelle Griffin as Regional HR Director for its Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa (ALM) region. She replaces Wyn Black who will leave TNS to return to his native New Zealand. More

TNS has appointed two key North American managers to support new President Kimberly Till in revitalising the business. Rob Wengel joins as Executive VP, Client Services and Nancy Narraway as Corporate VP, Marketing. More

TNS has announced its unaudited interim results for the six months to 30 June. Unspectacular overall revenue growth of 4.5% (underlying growth 3.0%) reflects a decline in US custom business, while the rest of the group achieved organic revenue growth of almost 6%. More

Pfizer has chosen TNS Healthcare to provide it with monthly sales data. The agency’s Transact SRi practice-level information and advanced modelling techniques will support and reward Pfizer’s sales function, and track brand performance. More

TNS has today announced the launch of a Global Interactive business unit, led by Arno Hummerston as MD, and bringing together three co-ordinated areas – commercial, development and Computer Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) support. More

Tesco has again increased its lead in UK supermarket share, although most of its major competitors have also fared well in a growing market, according to TNS WorldPanel data for the 12 weeks ending 13 August. More

TNSSPORT China has announced a partnership with independent marketing consultancy R3, for a benchmarking study tracking brand and star performance every quarter leading up to 2008 Beijing Olympics. More

TNS has appointed Andrea Mezzasalma as global head of its Internet, Television and Radio Audience Measurement sector (iTRAM) - he will relocate from Milan to London. He takes over from Mike Gorton who will retire from TNS this year but function as a consultant. More

Healthy eating brands are on the rise in the UK... but so are those associated with indulgence, according to TNS Worldpanel's annual Biggest Brands survey for Marketing magazine. More

TNS has announced that Wander Meijer, until now its Regional Director for East Asia, will move to the equivalent position for Latin America, with immediate effect. He will transition over the coming months and be fully relocated in Buenos Aires by January 2007. More

TNS has renewed its partnership with CNN and TIME magazine, supplying an up to the minute public opinion barometer on the issues of the day, from twelve Asia Pacific countries, via methods including its 6thdimension access panels. More

TNS has promoted Gary Lembit to Managing Director of its Auckland office, further aligning its New Zealand and Australian operations. Lembit moved to the office earlier this year from TNS Australia where he was National Director of Finance and Business Services. More

TNS has today launched a Travellers’ Panel, the fifth sub-panel of its 6thdimension service. The new panel provides access to 500,000 international respondents across 6thdimension’s half dozen European countries. More

TNS has announced agreements with the two leading broadcasters in the Philippines, ABS-CBN and GMA, to set up a new PeopleMeter service in the country. A representative panel of 1200 households reporting their viewing daily from the beginning of next year. More

David Moxley has joined TNS to head up a new Customer Insight Consulting Team. The move is described by the global agency as the third senior hire supporting its drive to deliver more strategic business insights, following those of John Abraham and Gaurav Bhalla. More

TNS has announced the acquisition of FutureView, a segmentation and positioning tool. The tool measures and classifies consumers according to how ‘future influential’ they are. Its developer, Malcolm Law, joins TNS as part of the deal. More

The summer is hot, and British audiences have sport and entertainment very much on their minds, it seems. Surveys and analyses out this week reveal the popularity of the Sport Relief web site; the growing numbers watching World Cup matches on the ‘Net or on mobiles; the importance of the grey market to the success of music festivals; and the success of Wilson racquets at Wimbledon. More

Former TNS CEO Mike Kirkham has joined the Board of recruitment services group OPD as a Non-Executive Director. OPD, whose Directors include former Tory cabinet minister and now Baroness Virginia Bottomley, is the parent of recruiter PSD, which has a specialist market research team. More

TNS’ UK share price looks more stable today after a dramatic fall on Thursday and Friday last week. The drop followed a warning on full year operating margin and comments by Chief Executive David Lowden, who blamed problems on the ‘unacceptable’ performance of the American custom business. More

TNS has formally recognised the success of its Conversion Model™ business tool by giving it its own Global Centre of Excellence, with an operational hub in Cape Town. The Model played a part in projects bringing TNS over US$120 million in revenue in 2005. More

TNS has today announced the appointment of Murray Campbell, former TNS New Zealand MD, to head up the company’s Polling and Social-Government research sector across its ALM region. Campbell is the third man from TNS NZ to win recent promotion to a regional role. More

The latest findings from the Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index conducted in the UK by TNS show that confidence in the current economic and employment situation fell further in June. More

TNS has appointed a Global Innovation Director, Gaurav Bhalla. Based in Washington, Bhalla’s role is to ‘drive and effectively implement innovative solutions across the commercial businesses’; and to take overall responsibility for identifying new products and services. More

TNS has announced a major expansion of its FMCG consumer tracking Worldpanel service in the Republic of Ireland, from 1,350 households to 3,000 by August 2008, along with the launch of a new data delivery platform. More

Outdoor advertising group JCDecaux has launched what it describes as the first ever coverage and frequency system for retail media, developed in conjunction with TNS Worldpanel. More

TNS Australia has promoted Darren Kemp to National Director – Consumer. He has been the agency’s Regional Business Development Director for a year, following eight years working on the client side for Diageo. More

Britain’s terrestrial TV broadcasters have selected TNS to recruit and monitor a panel of 450 households to trial the latest High Definition (HD) technology on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) services. More

TNS Healthcare has appointed Paula Paradise as Vice President, Business Development. She worked at IMS Health in many senior positions in addition to spells at Elan, Wood MacKenzie and recently IMPACTRx. More

A new corporate reputation study by TNS released this week in the UK has named Nokia top out of 21 household companies. Almost 50% of consumers rated it highly for each of three key factors: business success, trustworthiness and product/service quality. More

TNS is to launch its 6thdimension online access panels in Malaysia and Thailand. The panels, which will be introduced in August and September this year, will cover the major cities in each country. More

RAJAR has awarded contracts to Ipsos MORI, RSMB and TNS covering radio audience measurement for two years starting January 2007. Ipsos MORI will continue to operate the core survey with a redesigned diary, while TNS will trial a PPM-based electronic measurement panel in London, providing both radio data for RAJAR and TV for co-sponsor BARB. More

TNS has announced its withdrawal from the LAA-JIC tender for TV audience measurement in Latvia, criticising the process which it says is not ‘transparent, open and fair’. Terms included in the tender could compromise the business interests of its existing clients, the firm says. The tender covers 2007-12. More

TNS has released market size figures for British consumption of sandwiches, based on innovative methodology. Panellists text the bar codes of their purchases to the company, allowing it to track their snacking in real-time. More

TNS has appointed R Ravi Shankar, its Senior VP in India, as Co-Regional Champion to lead its Stakeholder Management practice - TRI*M across TNS Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle-East & Africa (ALM). More

TNS Healthcare and CACI have today announced a new generation approach for sales force optimisation. It combines TNS’ expertise in sales tracking data with CACI’s territory optimisation technology to help pharmaceutical companies plan territories. More

The IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) in the UK has just revealed the results of its groundbreaking TouchPoints Survey: a week in the life of a representative sample of the GB adult population during the latter part of 2005. More

TNS has agreed a five year contract with the Kazakhstan television Joint Industry Committee (JIC) to provide trading currency TV audience measurement using Arbitron’s PPM system. More

TNS has this week announced the expansion of its Asia Pacific network to include New Caledonia and French Polynesia. The addition of the two new offices in Noumea and Papeete are the result of the extension of an existing relationship between TNS and SARL MBA Consultants. More

TNS has today launched a new NPD research offering called InnoSuite - Launch Maximiser, which provides companies with accurate, predicated, sales and volume forecasts on new product concepts before they are launched. More

Global agency TNS has announced a realignment of its regional operations, which it says recognises the growth potential of emerging markets. The group’s business across Middle East and Africa and Latin America will be linked with the high growth markets of Asia Pacific. More

UK consumer confidence has fallen back after its November recovery, as Britons take an ‘increasingly pessimistic view of the economy and labour market’, according to Nationwide and TNS whose monthly survey provides the index. The figures compare poorly with a very upbeat start to 2005. More

TNS has announced results for the year ended 31 December 2005. Revenue is up 5.7% (adjusted 4.1%) to £999.0m and adjusted operating profit up 9.5% to £112.6m. Strong growth across syndicated services and in custom business in continental Europe and emerging markets contrasted with ‘challenging conditions’ in the US and UK. More

TNS has appointed John Abraham as Head of Strategic Development and Marketing, with immediate effect. Reporting directly to Chief Executive, David Lowden, Abraham will lead the TNS corporate marketing team and will have overall responsibility for the company’s Internet solutions division, TNS Interactive. More

The latest UK supermarket share figures from the TNS Worldpanel show that, while Tesco remains dominant, there is increased competition as both Sainsbury’s and Morrisons fight back. Year-on-year sales growth across all stores is 4.4% - the highest since September 2004. More

The Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) has renewed its partnership with TNS Media Intelligence (TNS MI). The multi-year agreement gives 14 IPG agencies access to competitive advertising information covering 2.2m brands. More

Incoming TNS Chief Executive David Lowden has announced a new focus for the company’s future strategy, based on ‘knowledge of the client’s business and where the client wants to go’, rather than mere response to research requests. There are new roles for Stephen Factor and Mike Penford and a new three-region global structure. More

The UK’s Product of the Year awards ceremony took place last night. The 26 winners - who include Häagen-Dazs Cream Crisp, Gillette M3Power Razor, Flash Car Wash and Elastoplast’s silver healing plasters - were chosen following a TNS survey of 12,500 consumers throughout the UK. More

Former Chairman of TNS, Tony Cowling, has been made TNS President and Special Advisor. In this role, he will provide the company with advice and consultancy on strategic issues. Cowling has also been awarded the MRS Gold Medal to celebrate his ‘outstanding lifetime achievement and contribution to market research’. More

US consumers’ confidence in the economy has risen for the fourth consecutive month, according to the latest survey from BIGresearch. However, a recent Ipsos survey records a drop in confidence. To help you make sense of such differences - and to bring you the confidence picture worldwide - we’ve introduced a new Consumer Confidence section. More

Following last week’s appointment of Donald Brydon as Chair and David Lowden as CEO, TNS has added Pedro Ros to its board of directors. Ros will take on the newly created role of MD for Global Clients and Sectors, which includes responsibilities for the company's custom business. More

TNSSport is planning to measure the impact of World Cup sponsorship on the sales of sponsors' brands. The new service will use TNS Superpanels across Europe, Asia and the Americas to conduct continuous measurement during the World Cup. More

TNS has appointed Donald Brydon CBE, Chair of Smiths Group, AXA Investment Managers and The London Metal Exchange, as Chairman. He succeeds Tony Cowling, who retires from the board today. This follows last week’s news that CEO Mike Kirkham was withdrawing from the race for the Chairman’s role. More

TNS is renaming its various continuous consumer panels in Asia Pacific and the Middle East ‘Worldpanel’, in line with the panels used in 50 countries worldwide. The rebranding is designed to provide clearer and more co-ordinated services to international clients. More

Mike Kirkham has decided to withdraw his candidature for the role of Chairman of TNS, after further consideration of UK Corporate Governance guidelines. The company’s Board says it expects to be in a position to announce its choice ‘within the next few weeks’. More

German-based online survey software firm Globalpark has agreed to license its Online Panel Site Tool (OPST) software to TNS Worldpanel. TNS will use a specially tailored version of OPST, which is used by 30 panel providers worldwide, for its continuous consumer panels. More

German-based online survey software firm Globalpark has agreed to license its Online Panel Site Tool (OPST) software to TNS Worldpanel. TNS will use a specially tailored version of OPST, which is used by 30 panel providers worldwide, for its continuous consumer panels. More

The UK’s two main consumer confidence indexes present conflicting pictures for November. The TNS/Nationwide index, released yesterday, shows a strong rise of 9 points after three consecutive monthly falls. Meanwhile, Gfk/NOP’s index, released last week, showed no movement, and remained at the lowest level since March 2003. More

The annual conference of the British Market Research Association (BMRA) is four weeks away. Delegates will get the chance to debate the future of MR with the leaders of TNS, Synovate and YouGov, and to hear from clients ranging from Microsoft to the Islamic Bank of Britain. More

TNS has announced that David Lowden, currently Chief Operating Officer (COO), will succeed Mike Kirkham as CEO on 1 March 2006. Kirkham was appointed in 2001 and had previously indicated to the board that, after five years in the role he considered it appropriate to hand on to a successor. More

TNS has worked with academics to develop a panel of ‘intuitive and analytic’ thinkers, to provide creative input into new product development research. Creative Minds is the second sub-panel of the company’s ‘6thdimension’ access panel, following the Sports sub-panel launched last month. More

Competition in the UK grocery market remains as fierce as ever, according to figures from TNS Superpanel. Tesco’s leading market share is still creeping up, but Sainsbury’s and Asda are also continuing to grow. Meanwhile, analysis from Scarborough Research in the US defines distinct markets for discount stores Target and Wal-Mart. More

TNS Healthcare has announced the creation of a Specialty Healthcare Group in North America, backed up by four senior appointments. In line with other recent group restructures, TNS says the move should help ‘meet the unique needs of emerging submarkets as the healthcare industry evolves’. More

TNS has announced a commitment to raise US$387,000 by the end of 2007 to fund a pre-school educational project in Cambodia, supported by UNICEF, the United Nation’s Children’s Fund. The ‘Imagine...’ initiative kicked off today with a ‘Walk to Work’ day. More

Synovate has achieved 17.9% revenue growth for first half of this year, compared with 14.8% for its parent Aegis Group as a whole. Similarly at VNU, the research division outperforms the rest of the company. Other company results vary, but all point to growth in the MR sector. More

Time-pressed households in South East Asia are relying on ready meals and snacks more than ever before, according to findings from the TNS Asiapanel. However, Asia is not turning into a continent of couch potatoes: the findings also indicate high levels of interest in health, diet and exercise. More

TNS Healthcare has made a series of appointments and promotions in its North American Major Pharma Group, strengthening client service. Amongst the eleven senior moves, Paul Barnes, formerly the group’s Executive VP, has been promoted to President. More

According to the annual survey conducted by TNS for Marketing magazine, Britain’s most purchased brands are all convenience foods. The highest value categories overall are soft drinks, alcohol, and chocolate, but there are also significant sales increases for healthier brands including Flora, Muller and Danone. More

TNS Gallup in Sweden has launched a new TNSSPORT sports research and sponsorship evaluation service. The division aims to provide an understanding of the value and impact of sport to Swedish rights owners and sponsors, as well as to the international sports community. More

100,000 New Zealanders – representing almost 8% of the country’s households – have signed up as members of SmileCity’s online panel, run by TNS. The company says that even traditionally hard-to-reach consumers, such as young Asian males, are willingly participating in research. More

The latest TNS Promocar study shows that European car manufacturers spent 1,100 Euros on sales promotion for each vehicle sold last year – a 10% rise since 2003. TNS says it is now ‘practically unheard of’ for a car to be sold without some sort of incentive or discount. More

The new TNS Sports Panel, conducted online, will provide access to 70,000 viewers and participants of 15 different sports in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. More

Despite July’s terrorist activities, the newly launched Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index shows an upturn in confidence in the UK, following sharp falls in May and June. The Index, developed by TNS, uses the same methodology as the renowned US Conference Board’s Index. More

The latest UK grocery market share figures from TNS Superpanel show that Tesco’s growth continues apace. The supermarket has increased sales by 11% over the last year, taking its market share from 28.1% to 30.4%. More

The British Market Research Association (BMRA) has announced the shortlist for its Research Business Effectiveness Awards to be presented in October. Eleven research firms are in the running, including thrice-shortlisted BMRB, plus TNS and Nunwood who were both recent winners at the Marketing Research Awards. More

TNS today announced ‘weaker than anticipated’ growth in UK and US custom research. It expects overall revenue growth for this year to be line with the market at about 4% - a more cautious prediction than earlier in the year, when the company said it hoped to outpace rivals. More

TNS Healthcare and partners the University of Portsmouth last week took advantage of local celebrations to announce a new profiling service, in some style. GeoMedics PPi was launched during the city’s Festival of the Sea, with a lunch served aboard a tall ship moored amidst the festival attractions. More

TNS has secured a five-year contract, worth more than £750,000 a year, to run the UK Tourism Survey for VisitBritain, VisitScotland, the Wales Tourist Board and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. More

With Britons going to the polls today, research from TNS suggests that the campaign has failed to address the key healthcare issues as perceived by the country’s doctors. Healthcare manifestos of all three major parties led on hospital cleanliness and the importance of reducing levels of MRSA. More

More than half of the UK’s 16-24 year-olds (56%) would be interested in using their phones to make what it terms ‘micropayments’, buying small items such as public transport tickets or vending machine goods, according to new research from TNS. Around a third (32%) are ‘very interested’. More

TNS Media has been appointed by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) to undertake the main survey work for its ‘TouchPoints’ UK media study. TNS says the research will be the first to ‘connect single media channels such as TV, radio, print media and online through an industry-wide measurement system’. More

TNS has announced an agreement of intent with the Norwegian National Radio’s Steering Committee to launch a panel of 200 individuals using Arbitron’s Portable People Meter (PPM). The Committee represents NRK, P4, Kanal 24, Radio 1, Nordic Web Radio and the Association of Local Radio Companies. More

Just over half Britain’s back-bench MPs (51%) believe that the level of participation of young people voting in elections is ‘a big problem’, and almost all the remainder think it ‘quite a problem’, according to the latest from TNS. The UK is likely to see a general election within the next two months. More

TNS last night declared Marks and Spencer Britain’s ‘Retail Brand of the Year’, at the Retail Week Awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London. M&S received 50% more votes than second-placed Asda, in a poll of the agency’s 15,000 FashionTrak consumer panellists. More

TNS has today announced extensive development plans for its global consumer panel service Worldpanel, including the expansion of its UK FMCG consumer tracker, Superpanel, from 15,000 to 25,000 households. More

TNS today launches the ‘6th Dimension’, an online access panel covering the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. The service, to be co-ordinated from Amsterdam, is seen as a major plank of the MR giant’s future offering. More

Trevor Richards’ new UK role for TNS will be as Joint Global Leader of Brand and Advertising Research. Richards, who has over twenty years of MR experience, returns from Sydney where he was Regional Director for Australia and New Zealand. More

Only a fifth of UK citizens are in favour of the draft European Constitution, and only half are even aware of it, according to the findings of a special Eurobarometer, conducted by TNS for the European Commission. Across the EU as a whole, the proportion in favour is 49%. More

The World Economic Forum at Davos this week will discuss economic aid, with the Tsunami disaster still in the headlines. More than half of adults in Britain, France and Germany believe that either Africa or the global spread of AIDS should still be the number one priority for international aid, according to a new CNN/TIME poll by TNS. More

TNS has this week released the results of its Global Corporate Reputation Study 2005. The study, which was conducted in the last quarter of 2004, used TRI*M, TNS’ business solution for Stakeholder Management, to measure perceptions across 40 countries, surveying more than 36,000 members of the general public. More

TNS has moved to reassure clients in the face of rumours that it may be disbanding its UK automotive division, with key personnel relocated within a new structure. The company says that ‘the only change is an internal reorganisation’. More

The rise of the ‘phishing’ scam notwithstanding, three in ten British adults (30%) are 'more confident' about the security of online banking now than they were three years ago, according to TNS. This rises to 41% among people aged 16-24 years old. More

British adults may be more supportive than French or German of American involvement in Iraq, but they are just as pessimistic about the likely outcome / long-term situation, according to the latest TNS poll for CNN and TIME magazine. The poll also notes that pessimism does not always translate into support for the rapid withdrawal of troops. More

UK manufacturer Premier Foods, the home of brands such as Typhoo tea, Branston pickle and Cadbury’s Drinking Chocolate, has awarded a multi-million pound, three-year contract jointly to IRI and TNS, commencing January 2005. More

TNS has launched NeedScope System™, a new motivational research system which combines features of its global solution with the former NFO's Impsys. TNS now owns 75% of the new NeedScope system, whilst the founders, NeedScope International, will retain a 25% share. More

TNS is launching a ‘Consumer Privacy Index’, a quarterly study of consumer attitudes and behaviours on privacy topics, in partnership with online privacy certification provider TRUSTe. More

Most adults in Britain, France and Germany support the idea of government action to stop companies outsourcing jobs overseas, according to the latest poll by TNS for CNN and TIME magazine. Almost half of German adults (48%) also think that people in their country should consider wage cuts to prevent this. More

Pfizer and GSK each picked up three wins at TNS’ recent annual over the counter (OTC) healthcare awards to celebrate the best in creative advertising and marketing campaigns and recognise the brands and agencies involved. More

TNS has released interim results for the first half of 2004, showing the effect of the acquisition of NFO. Turnover (including joint ventures) is up 46.1% on the first half of 2003, to £446.0m, while operating profit rises 58.7% to £40.9m. More

The European Commission has chosen TNS to run its Standard Eurobarometer, the largest study of its kind in the world. TNS subsidiary EOS Gallup Europe will manage the project, measuring public opinion on social, economic and political issues across 33 countries in a contract lasting up to four years. More

In the first senior appointment to its newly restructured team, TNS Media has recruited Neil Sharman, formerly Advertising Planning Manager at News International. As a Director, Sharman will head up one of three ad hoc teams working across a range of media sectors. More

Half the adults in Britain, France and Germany feel that racial prejudice is increasing in their country according to the findings of a new CNN/TIME poll conducted by TNS. The poll also asked about work-life balance and smoking bans. More

Adults living on the Sussex, Devon and Norfolk coasts are those most at risk in the UK of suffering a heart attack or stroke over the next 10 years, according to GeoMedics, a new research service developed by TNS and the University of Portsmouth. More

Nearly half the UK's sixty-five biggest agencies showed double-digit growth last year, according to league tables published by Marketing magazine in association with the BMRA. More

TNS enjoyed a record-breaking night at last week's Marketing Research Effectiveness Awards, winning six awards and four commendations in the UK-based competition. The agency also issued a confident trading update last week. More

UK sales of beer and lager during the Euro 2004 tournament are 25% higher than those seen at any point during the 2002 World Cup, with kick-off times a big factor, according to TNS Superpanel. TNS are running weekly reports on supermarket beer and lager sales throughout the Euro 2004 competition. More

Tony Cowling, Chairman of Taylor Nelson Sofres plc, has been formally elected as President of Gallup International Association (GIA) for a four-year term. The elections took place at the recent 57th Conference and Annual General Meeting of Gallup International Association held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. More

Fewer than one in six IT professionals (15%) believe that ‘most IT companies can be trusted completely’, according to a new TNS survey evaluating the drivers of IT brand trust. Findings from the UK, US, France and Germany all suggest that IT professionals are wary of their suppliers. More

Around two thirds of kids in the US and key western European markets think they are ‘healthy’, and only one in fourteen think they are not healthy according to recent research by TNS OK (Online Kids). More

African-American television network BET is to launch a new research initiative among black consumers, in partnership with multicultural research specialists NSightsWorldwide, LLC and global research giant TNS/NFO WorldGroup. More

TNS Healthcare has announced results from its ‘Power of Image’ study, entitled Oncologists: An Assessment of Pharmaceutical Company Image in the United States and Europe. More

Almost half the world’s adults believe it will be ‘less safe’ in a generation’s time, while just a quarter think it will be safer, according to results presented to a session of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland this week by TNS / the Gallup International Association (GIA). More

Following the integration of TNS and NFO WorldGroup, Stephen Factor, formerly CEO of NFO WorldGroup UK, has been appointed MD of TNS in the UK. The new organisation combines the ad hoc divisions of TNS with NFO WorldGroup. More

Good news from GiftTrak, TNS’s continuous gift purchasing survey, for those opposed to the commercialisation of Christmas: Britons’ spending on Christmas gifts did not keep pace with inflation this year, rising by less than 1% to £15.1bn. The number of gifts increased by 4.3% but the average cost per gift was less. More

Nearly half of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK have trouble finding suitable business accommodation, according to research conducted by TNS for the Spacia Small Business Property Monitor 2004. This represents a major increase from a year ago. More

John Aitchison, formerly with TNS, has set up a specialist online market research company, First Line Research, offering full service research, consultancy and training services. More

The use of e-government in Britain has increased by five percentage points from 13 per cent of adults in 2002 to 18 per cent in 2003. This compares with worldwide use of online government services of 31 per cent, according to new research conducted by TNS. More

With President George W Bush making a State Visit to Britain this week, a CNN/TIME poll conducted in Britain, Germany and France by TNS suggests low levels of public support for the Bush administration. The poll, conducted on the eve of the visit, also reveals skepticism about the ‘special relationship’ between the US and the UK. More

Older consumers (aged 55 plus) will account for more than half of all UK spend on food, drink and household products by 2006 - £53bn of a predicted £104.4bn market - according to a new report from Reuters Business Insight and TNS. More

Almost half of all adults (49%) in Britain, France and Germany believe that many top athletes and sporting personalities are using non-approved performance-enhancing drugs, according to a new CNN/TIME poll conducted by TNS. More

A majority of Europeans (57%) feel that the policies of President George W. Bush have 'made the world a more dangerous place to live' according to a new poll conducted by TNS for CNN/TIME. More than a third say their feelings about the US are more negative than a year ago, although a slight majority say they have not changed. More

China’s car buyers are no longer looking for basic transportation - ‘status, belonging, and attraction‘ are becoming key considerations according to a new study conducted jointly by TNS and NFO WorldGroup. ‘Status’ buyers now outnumber ‘utility’ buyers four to one in the cities surveyed, whereas in 2001 there were similar numbers in each category. More

The United Nations is considered to have lost its relevance to solving world problems by a majority of British adults and more than 40 percent in France and Germany, according to a new CNN / TIME poll conducted by TNS. More

Taylor Nelson Sofres plc (TNS) have announced positive interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2003, with steady growth in the market for syndicated and continuous tracking services, but continued pressure in media intelligence and ad hoc customised research. More

Almost six out of ten (57 per cent) adults in Britain, France and Germany trust neither their own government nor national TV companies most to give them truthful facts about Iraq, according to a recent CNN/TIME poll conducted by TNS. More

They may already be disappearing into memory for most of us, but August’s record temperatures have contributed to growing concern among British mothers about the effects of strong sunlight on their children’s skin, according to the latest data from TNS Omnimas. More

Supermarket chain Asda have continued their advance into the UK clothing market with the 'George' range, and could pose an even greater threat to other major discount retailers when they open up new stand-alone George stores in the high street from September onwards, according to new data from TNS. More

TNS is strengthening its advertising experience in Europe by bringing Kym Penhall, Director for the TNS branded solutions MarketWhys™ (Brand / Ad Tracking programme) and Miriad™ (Dedicated Tracking Analysis Platform), to the UK from America in August. He will be responsible for extending TNS' MarketWhys™ practice throughout Europe. More

Taylor Nelson Sofres plc has announced the completion of its acquisition of NFO WorldGroup, Inc. (NFO), from The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (Interpublic). The acquisition, which was announced on 14 May 2003, consolidates TNS’ position as one of the top three global companies in its industry. More

TNS has started its European polls for TIME and CNN (as reported on DRNO on 10th June) with a survey on views of air travel, and found more than one-third of people in Britain, France and Germany ‘less likely to travel by air’ than they were 12 months ago. Britons and Germans were most likely to cite terrorism, whereas the French cite 'economic factors' as the main reason. More

TNS today announced details of a new partnership with CNN and TIME magazine to provide consumer opinion based research across eleven European countries. The research will cover current affairs and world issues and findings will feature in CNN programmes as well as regular news items in the European edition of TIME magazine. More

Asian telecoms consumers, among the world’s most sophisticated, are showing interest in the next generation of wireless services - even if it means paying 20-30% more on their monthly phone bill. TNS’ 2003 Asia Telecoms Index (ATI) study found 25 per cent of mobile phone owners either using 2.5 and 3G services, or at least ‘quite likely’ to start using them within the next six months. More

Britons bought nearly 24 million Mother’s Day gifts and only 10 million for Father’s Day last year, according to research by TNS GiftTrak. There is a similar ratio between the amounts spent, with the average Father’s Day gift costing just fractionally more. More

Some 54 per cent of people in Britain feel that recent US military action against Iraq was justified, according to new research from TNS. This is a significant increase from the 10 per cent of Britons who said they would support the war in a similar study in January, reflecting a major shift in opinion since the war took place. More

Global agency TNS has renamed its consumer panels division ‘TNS Worldpanel’, with immediate effect. More

TNS has announced the acquisition of the National Drinks Survey (NDS) one of the UK's foremost studies into consumer drinking habits. NDS is purchased by major blue chip drinks manufacturers who use it to gain insight into the hot and cold drink markets, to identify marketing and product development opportunities. More

One of the world’s largest market research companies, Taylor Nelson Sofres, has this week announced that it is bringing together all of its operations in 53 countries under a single brand, with immediate effect. As part of a major repositioning and rebranding exercise, Taylor Nelson Sofres will be renamed ‘TNS’, uniting a business which had previously supported many different corporate brands around the world. More

According to reports in the marketing press, Taylor Nelson Sofres has once more confirmed its interest in acquiring NFO Worldgroup (part of the Interpublic empire). Earlier this month, TNS had ruled itself out of the acquisition race. More

Full year results from Taylor Nelson Sofres shows the agency moving ahead to rank number three on a global basis with turnover (including joint ventures) for 2002 rising by 6.2% to £582.7 million. More

More than four out of ten (41 per cent) bank customers in Great Britain are ‘uncommitted’ to their current account provider, according to the findings of research by Taylor Nelson Sofres published in the March edition of ‘Financial Marketing’ magazine. More

Asians are consuming more milk and other dairy products than ever before, according to findings from Taylor Nelson Sofres’ (TNS) Asiapanel - Asia's first pan regional continuous consumer panel, which reveals growth in the dairy sector is strongest in China and Taiwan. More

Even with the wide variety of foods available in supermarkets and on restaurant menus, many British meals still include chips. According to latest research by Taylor Nelson Sofres, fish and chips is still one of the nation’s most popular meal choices, with 541 million meals consumed in the home, in restaurants or as a takeaway, in 2002. More

Forty two per cent of European mobile phone users are interested in 3G services, according to the TNS Telecoms 3G 2003 report, carried out in 10 countries. But the good news for telecoms operators and manufacturers is that the majority of those users interested in 3G were prepared to pay extra for 3G handsets and services. More

More than 700 million gifts, valued at £19.3 billion, were purchased in Britain in the run up to Christmas 2002, according to new research published by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). More

Four out of ten people in Britain (40 per cent) are not in favour of military action against Iraq 'under any circumstances' according to findings published by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) and Gallup International Association (GIA). A further 39 per cent of Britons would only support a war with Iraq if it were sanctioned by the United Nations, with just one in ten (10 per cent) fully supporting military action. More

Global computer and technology company IBM has announced that it is to work with Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) as its primary corporate research provider. IBM will outsource its corporate headquarters market information needs to TNS, including customer commitment and global brand research. More

Taylor Nelson Sofres has this week issued a trading update ahead of its preliminary results announcement in mid March. Overall reported turnover is expected to be broadly in line with market expectations. More

Nearly a third of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK have reported problems in finding suitable accommodation for their business - a significant increase over the past 12 months. The findings come in the Spacia Small Business Property Monitor 2003. More

Consumers in Hong Kong are becoming less loyal to individual brands and will increasingly take advantage of special offers and promotions in their grocery buying according to the combined results of a telephone survey and consumer panel data recently released by TNS. More

More small and medium-sized enterprises plan to invest in VPN (Virtual Private Network) solutions in the next 12 months than in the past year. These findings are the latest results from the TNS ICT Panel that interviewed 185 senior business and IT decision makers in Hong Kong in November 2002. More

Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) has this week launched BUY©Test Online, an online version of its advertising pre-testing solution. BUY©Test Online addresses traditional advertising pre-testing issues such as cost and turnaround times, while building on the BUY©Test system used by advertisers worldwide for over 20 years. More

Some 34 per cent of employees in Britain admit to having low levels of commitment to the both the job they do and the company they work for, according to the results of the Global Employee Commitment Report 2002, released by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). This is in keeping with the global average figure of 35 per cent and suggests that a significant proportion of the companies in Britain may be failing to get the most out of their employees. More

Just 13 per cent of adults in Britain have used the Internet to access government services or products during the past 12 months according to the findings of the second Government Online Study published this week by Taylor Nelson Sofres. Compared with a global average of 30 per cent, Britain is ranked as one of the lowest users of e-government among the 31 countries surveyed. More

Senior executives in Europe are downbeat about the outlook of the global economy over the next 12 months, according to research published this week by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) in consultation with Deloitte Consulting. More

More than nine out of ten people in Britain (93 per cent) ‘completely support’ or ‘tend to support’ Government proposals to make the use of mobile telephones illegal whilst driving, according to research findings published recently by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). More

Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) has just announced the launch of ‘EmployeeScore’, a new approach for measuring employee satisfaction and commitment in Britain. More

Research published by Taylor Nelson Sofres to coincide with British Cheese Week shows that more than eight out of ten people in Britain eat cheese at least once a fortnight. More

Just 44 per cent of adults in Britain feel that the use of military force is the most effective way to reduce international terrorism, according to research findings released this week by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) and Gallup International Association (GIA). This compares to a global average (across 45 countries) of 55 per cent. More

Four times as many women in France have used anti-ageing skin care products in the last 12 months compared with women in Britain, according to new research from Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). Just four per cent of women in Britain use an anti-ageing skincare product in an average week compared to 17 per cent of women in France. More

Almost six out of ten British people wear prescription glasses on a regular basis, according to new research by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). The results are published to coincide with National Eye Week, which began in Britain on 23rd September. More

According to the Marriage 2002 Study recently published by Taylor Nelson Sofres, mutual respect, trust and fidelity are the key ingredients to a happy marriage within Central Europe. Consumers in this region are also confident that getting married does not mean giving up on romance or losing your freedom. The majority also believe that it is acceptable for a wife to be older than her husband and for couples to live together without being married. More

More than half of Britain’s small businesses (56 per cent) are against the Government’s plans to improve public services by raising National Insurance contributions, according to the findings of a survey by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). Businesses with between 10 and 49 employees were the least supportive of an increase. More

The average Briton eats 155 sandwiches a year, according to new findings from Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). More

Taylor Nelson Sofres last week acquired Svenska Gallup AB, a high profile market information business in Sweden. More

Approximately five per cent of adults in Britain claim to be vegetarian, but research by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) Family Food Panel has revealed that half of these people actually eat fish, one third eat chicken and one quarter eat red meat. This leaves an average of less than three per cent of the population who are true vegetarians, the significant minority of which are women aged 17-34 years old. More

Almost half of all adults in Britain think that mobile phones should be banned in public places, such as cinemas, concert halls, restaurants and hospitals, according to new research by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). More

The average British mobile phone owner has had the same phone for 20 months, compared to just 16 months a year ago, according to new findings from Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). This is bad news for handset manufacturers and retailers who have been relying on regular mobile handset upgrades as mobile phone penetration levels reach saturation point in Great Britain. More

More than half (52 per cent) of SMEs (small-to-medium-sized enterprises) with under 50 employees in Great Britain have not informed their employees of the opportunity to invest in a stakeholder pension, according to the findings of a recent study from Taylor Nelson Sofres’ (TNS’) Business Line. More

The battle for the coveted position of Asia’s favourite World Cup football player is apparently being fought between GB’s Beckham (21 percent) and Brazil’s Ronaldo (19 percent). This is according to findings from a new pre-World Cup study of Asia by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). More

Central Europeans attach less importance to the brands of the products they purchase, compared with consumers in Britain, according to the Brand Loyalty Study from Taylor Nelson Sofres published this week. The results coincide with the launch of Omnimas, a TNS omnibus service, in Central Europe. More

Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) has won the Investor Relations Best Practice Website Award for a FTSE 250 company. The awards recognise achievement in investor relations on the Internet, in particular, honouring those companies with a proactive attitude to investor communication. More

Some 50% of women in Britain aged 16 years and above will not go out of their homes without wearing some form of cosmetics, according to recent findings from Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). More

Around nine out of ten companies in the US (93%) and UK (86%) are now using the Internet for activities such as CRM, marketing, order fulfilment and selling to deal with customers according to research by Taylor Nelson Sofres Information Technology. In stark contrast, six out of ten (60%) companies in Japan and fewer than four out of ten (36%) companies in France are using the Internet as a marketing channel or customer service mechanism. More

Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) - the fourth largest marketing information group in the world - has received Marketing magazine’s Agency 2001 award for Market Research Agency of the Year. More

Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) has announced the appointment of two new managing directors this week. Sam van der Feltz has been nominated as the company’s MD of Northern and Central Europe operations. At the same time, Nigel Foote has been confirmed as MD for TNS Tellex, the broadcast monitoring section of TNS. More

More than a third (38%) of SMEs (small to medium enterprises) in Britain believe that the UK economy is currently experiencing a "slow down" rather than a recession, according to the findings of a recent survey from Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). More

Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) has announced the appointment of Mica Quinn to a newly created post of International PR Manager with immediate effect. Her brief has been described as assessing the company's global PR potential and developing a communications programme across the 80 markets in which TNS operates. More

Leading agency Taylor Nelson Sofres is to acquire the entire share capital of Sponsorship Information Services Limited (SiS) and its interests in Sponsorship Information Services Asia Pte Limited and NetResult Limited. More

Almost three quarters (74%) of SMEs in England and Wales feel that their economic contribution is undervalued by the government, according to the findings of a new survey from Taylor Nelson Sofres. More

Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) has launched a range of new and extended research services focusing on the UK baby market. The aim of the new package is to comprehensively measure attitudes, behaviour and consumption within the marketplace. More

Despite recent praise from tourism minister Kim Howells, Berlin is still at the bottom of the popularity stakes for British tourists. A survey of over 7,000 people by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), via its national Postal Panel, shows that only 1.6% had visited Berlin in the last five years. More

More

More

More

More

More

More

More

More

More

More

More

More

More

More

More

More

514 articles found.