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Polimetrix Adds to YouGov Cauldron
Rapidly growing UK agency YouGov plc has made its first steps into the US with a 32% shareholding in Polimetrix Inc., an online political and social research agency founded in 2004 by Stanford Professor Douglas Rivers.
YouGov will pay c.£3.8 million ($US 7.47m) for 5,360,000 new shares in Palo Alto-based Polimetrix, and at closing will also have an option to purchase the remainder of the company within 30 months. YouGov says the initial amount will be met from cash reserves. Two of YouGov's senior Directors, Nadhim Zahawi and Stephan Shakespeare, will sit on the 5-person Polimetrix board.
Polimetrix will bring YouGov products including BrandIndex to the US and Canadian markets, and will expand its capabilities through the cross-licensing of technology and intellectual property. YouGov will be licensed to sell Polimetrix's products internationally, excluding the USA and Canada.
Polimetrix has a staff of twenty experts in survey research, political science, statistics, and information technology, eight of whom have PhDs in survey methodology and political science, spread across offices in Palo Alto, California and Washington , D.C. It maintains the PollingPoint panel of 1.08m U.S. residents.
Polimetrix has achieved a high degree of accuracy in covering a variety of US elections, beating all but one of the traditional pollsters in forecasting of the outcome of seven propositions in the California Special Election.
Nadhim Zahawi, Co-founder and Chief Executive of YouGov, says the firm has 'already had considerable interest in both BrandIndex and YGX from international companies', adding: 'Acquiring this stake in Polimetrix is consistent with our prudent approach to entering new markets, such as the US, where we are looking to build our business.'
Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Stephan Shakespeare is ambitious for the new partnership: 'The two companies are ideally suited to become the pre-eminent pioneers of innovative market and opinion research in America. While online methodology has been widely embraced by the industry in America, the use of internet for public and media work lags behind the UK. The Polimetrix approach of producing large scale, accurate data for highly respected public clients, exactly mirrors that of YouGov.'
Rivers expresses particular enthusiasm for the prospect of introducing BrandIndex to America: 'It would have been impossible before the existence of the Internet to provide brand owners with instant feedback about the performance and perceptions of their companies and products. This promises to bring a new era to brand stewardship at a time when corporates are increasingly focused on the value and perception of their brands.'
At today's AGM, Peter Kellner, Chairman of the Board of YouGov, said the current year had started well with trading in both the UK and Middle East in line with the Board's expectations.
YouGov is online at www.yougov.com and Polimetrix at www.polimetrix.com .
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