Online Community Specialist GutCheck Hires Renee Smith

Former Kantar CRO Renee Smith has joined on-demand online community specialist GutCheck as Chief Research Officer. She will take up the role on October 19th.

Denver, CO-based GutCheck enables users to access qualified targeted respondents using a patent-pending recruitment engine which sorts through a panel of more than five million online research participants. When a qualified match is found, GutCheck initiates online, anonymous, 30-minute one-on-one interviews with consumers, at a 'nominal' cost per chat.

Smith (pictured) joins after five years at Kantar, where she played a central role in developing research capabilities, statistical models, mobile and other technology, and non-survey data sources. During this time, she served as Kantar's representative to the Google Consumer Surveys Advisory Board, and sat on the Kantar Innovation Board. Before this, she was SVP, Global Operations at Ipsos, and spent a decade at Harris Interactive as VP Panel Quality, developing operational processes and implementing best practices for increasing respondent participation, combining data from mixed mode studies, and improving data quality and panel management.

GutCheck CEO Matt Warta says of the appointment: 'Renee is one of the most innovative individuals in the marketing research industry, and she is incredibly respected by industry peers and clients alike. In her fifteen years as a leader in marketing research, she has brought high-quality and innovative solutions to clients, and we are confident she will continue to do the same at GutCheck'.

Smith's previous position at Kantar has been taken by former Lightspeed GMI CRO Efrain Ribeiro.

Web site: www.gutcheckit.com .