As a result of this relationship, the companies will reap the benefits of a new standard, Web-based research platform for automating and systematizing key elements of the market research business process. Additionally, according to MarketTools, this alliance will enable CPGs to operate up to 75% faster, save up to 50% on costs and provide significantly better results than traditional research methodologies. The company’s technology platform, zTelligence, will be a key element in conducting Internet-based research and will be used in conjunction with existing enterprise systems such as SAS, and market research systems such as SPSS.

According to Bill Schegel, MarketTools’ president and CEO, "By helping our client companies gain more efficiency with their existing research data collection efforts, we are streamlining and improving worldwide market research efforts. With the support of the leading consumer packaged goods and research companies, we are able to set the standard for a higher quality of market research in various industries, while saving significant time and money across the board. In the current economic environment, this is crucial to our clients top and bottom lines."

This is the first time that industry leaders in the consumer packaged goods and marketing services industries have joined together to support such an initiative. CPG companies spend millions of dollars each year with a number of market research firms and in-house research staff. Each research supplier uses different technologies and resources, making it difficult to move data between systems and complicating the sharing and distribution of information between companies utilising market research.

The time and expense associated with traditional market research prohibits many companies from conducting a sufficient level of global research and prevents some companies from utilising market research at all. Additionally, it is becoming increasingly difficult to reach consumers through traditional methods of research, such as telephone, postal and shopping mall intercept surveys, which consumers often perceive as invasive and burdensome. MarketTools adds an online component and enhances the systems technology currently available for conducting global market research and consolidating the results through SPSS market research components into a singular data format.

zTelligence will purportedly save millions of dollars versus traditional research methods for companies such as General Mills and Procter & Gamble. Additionally, marketing services providers to the CPG industry such as WPP's Kantar Group and InsightTools have adopted zTelligence to provide more efficient information access on a universal platform.

Some of the companies that are using the zTelligence platform include marketing firms such as C&R Research and Scarborough Research; consultancies such as MonitorGroup and Deloitte and Touche; and scientific decision technology companies such as Clariom.