<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Kantar]]></title><link>http://www.kantar.com/</link><description><![CDATA[]]></description><language>en</language><lastBuildDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:55:18 +0000</lastBuildDate><generator><![CDATA[PHP]]></generator><item><title><![CDATA[Acquisition of CIC boosts Kantar Media social offer in growing Chinese market]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar Media has expanded its social media offer in China with the acquisition of CIC, a leader in the Chinese social media listening and analysis industry. CIC will work alongside the other Kantar Media partnerships in China including CSM and CTR. 

The acquisition comes in response to the growing client need for the real-time monitoring of consumer brand conversations in a market with over 70% of the 500 million internet users on social media and with over 50,000 enterprises owning a microblog account. 

Founded in 2004 and with offices in Shanghai and Beijing, CIC coined the now standard Chinese industry term Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) and pioneered the concept of social business in China. CIC has led the industry in developing and applying social media intelligence and insights across its roster of blue-chip clients.

Jean-Michel Portier, global CEO of Kantar Media, said: "It is clear that the monitoring of consumer, brand and market discussions and the resulting insights are vital tools for executives worldwide. CIC will enrich our global digital expertise in capturing millions of online conversations and 'making sense of the buzz'."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/acquisition-of-cic-boosts-kantar-media-social-media-offer-in-china</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/acquisition-of-cic-boosts-kantar-media-social-media-offer-in-china</guid><pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Millward Brown co-authors book analysing success of 50 fastest-growing brands]]></title><description><![CDATA[Millward Brown has collaborated with former P&G marketing chief Jim Stengel to publish a book about the world's 50 fastest growing brands that built the deepest relationships with customers and achieved the greatest financial growth from 2001-2011. 

Entitled GROW: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World's Greatest Companies, the book establishes a cause and effect relationship between a brand's ability to serve a higher purpose and its financial performance.  Notably, investment in these companies - the Stengel 50 - over the past decade would have been 400% more profitable than an investment in the S&P 500. 

The study is based on 10 years of empirical research involving 50,000 brands. To arrive at the Stengel 50, Millward Brown Optimor - which conducts the annual BrandZ survey - valued thousands of brands across 30+ countries.  The list included both B2B and B2C businesses in 28 categories ranging in size from $100m in revenues to well over $100 bn.

"We wanted to uncover which brands grew the most over the past decade, both in terms of customer bonding and shareholder value," said Millward Brown Optimor VP Benoit Garbe, who led the study.  "Once we identified these brands, our burning question was what, if any, were the common principles that sparked and sustained their growth."

Said Stengel: "I chose Millward Brown and the team at Millward Brown Optimor as my partners not only because of their extensive brand database - the largest in the world - but, more importantly, because they have the right strategic thinkers who deeply understand the role of brands in growing businesses."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/millward-brown-co-authors-book-analysing-success-of-50-fastest-growing-brands</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/millward-brown-co-authors-book-analysing-success-of-50-fastest-growing-brands</guid><pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[TNS announces global qualitative leadership]]></title><description><![CDATA[TNS has announced the appointment of Rebecca Wynberg as CEO of the company's qualitative business.  Wynberg takes up this new role in January and will work with Luc Rens and Kristin Sharp, who recently joined TNS as COO of Qualitative in leading the company's qualitative work globally. 

"Rebecca is one of the outstanding qualitative practitioners of our generation. She has worked with a range of clients around the world and is entrepreneurial," said Eric Salama, CEO, TNS. He continued, "Rebecca is passionate about her work and I am confident that she will form an extraordinary team with our existing qualitative specialists."

Wynberg was a founding partner of Sadek Wynberg, which she sold to Kantar in 2003 - taking up the role of CEO of Millward Brown's UK qualitative arm in the process.  More recently she has been partnering with Unilever to raise standards of qualitative work carried out on their behalf, through a far-reaching global training and accreditation programme.

"It's very exciting to be joining TNS," said Wynberg. She continued, "I'm looking forward to working with the many excellent researchers around the world to ensure best practice and build an inspiring qualitative business to deliver growth for clients."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-announces-global-qualitative-leadership</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-announces-global-qualitative-leadership</guid><pubDate>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kantar and Lumi partner to develop new technologies in the mobile arena]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar today announced it has signed and committed £2m to a key strategic commercial agreement with Lumi Mobile, a market leader in mobile-device based consumer insight and real-time audience engagement technologies.

At the same time Kantar has also made a minority equity investment in Lumi Technologies Limited. Lumi has worked successfully with Kantar Operations - Kantar's provider of operational capabilities and development of best practices and standards - for a number of years.   

Founded in 2008 by Rolfe Swinton, Mark Beilby, Marcus Wikars and Magnus Holtlund, Lumi grew from a ground-breaking mobile content management system developed in Finland in early 2004.  This platform pioneered the creation of applications that could run across all mobile device types. Lumi has a number of patents-pending covering its latest generation platform.  

This partnership cements Kantar's commitment to support Lumi's goal of creating industry-standard mobile tools that take full advantage of the evolving mobile device ecosystem.  Lumi and Kantar believe that the mobile device offers a unique opportunity to collect and connect unrivalled consumer insight from the provision of active research through polls and diaries, of passive mobile behavioural analytics, and of mass, live focus groups. 

"Every media company, brand, manufacturer and retailer wants to find better ways to engage consumers through mobile devices and gain a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour in ways that only mobile makes possible.  Lumi is focused on creating the tools that companies and research companies need to gain this understanding," said Rolfe Swinton of Lumi Mobile.

Commenting on the significance of the deal for future growth opportunities, Eric Salama, Kantar CEO said: "This announcement reflects the culmination of a successful three-year working relationship and the continued commitment by both parties to open up new opportunities through the use of mobile technology. We are very excited about what the future holds for market researchers in what is becoming an increasingly mobile world."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-and-lumi-partner-to-develop-new-technologies-in-the-mobile-arena</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-and-lumi-partner-to-develop-new-technologies-in-the-mobile-arena</guid><pubDate>Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Former NMA head Duffy takes the helm at TNS UK]]></title><description><![CDATA[Maureen Duffy is to join TNS UK as CEO from January 2012, replacing Andrew Czarnowski. Duffy will be a key member of the TNS Northern European leadership team reporting to Judith Passingham, Northern Europe CEO.

Duffy is the latest in a series of senior strategic hires at TNS this year, strengthening its capabilities in lead markets like the UK and broadening and deepening its senior talent across innovation, thought leadership, marketing sciences, creativity and digital. 

Czarnowski will be leaving TNS at the end of 2011. He has been CEO of the UK business for almost four years, during which time he successfully merged the TNS and RI businesses, creating a powerful market leading organisation. 

Passingham comments: "Maureen has a great leadership track record and experience of working with many UK clients within JWT, ITV, the BBC, and more recently as CEO of the Newspaper Marketing Agency. She brings with her a great level of energy and enthusiasm, together with a real passion for diagnosing and solving client business problems through the effective application of research based information."

"I am delighted to be joining TNS," says Duffy. "A core part of my work in recent years has been delivering better insights for clients to drive their business results. I'm therefore delighted to join TNS and its talented teams with the opportunity to deliver this thinking on a much broader scale."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/former-nma-head-duffy-takes-the-helm-at-tns-uk</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/former-nma-head-duffy-takes-the-helm-at-tns-uk</guid><pubDate>Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Brand intrusion in social networks alienates consumers, says TNS Digital Life global study]]></title><description><![CDATA[Businesses are wasting time and money trying to reach people online without realising many resent big brands invading their social networks - according to findings from a global study launched today by TNS.

The race online has seen businesses across the world develop profiles on social networks, such as Facebook or YouTube, to speak to customers quickly and cheaply - but TNS's research reveals that if  these efforts are not carefully targeted, they are wasted on half of them.  

The findings were revealed by TNS's Digital Life study, the most comprehensive view of how more than 72,000 consumers in 60 countries behave online and why they do what they do.

It found that 57 per cent of people in developed markets do not want to engage with brands via social media - rising to 60 per cent in the US and 61 per cent in the UK. Instead, misguided digital strategies are generating mountains of digital waste, from friendless Facebook accounts to blogs no-one reads.  This is being combined with ever-increasing content produced by consumers - the study shows 47 per cent of digital consumers now comment about brands online.

The result is huge volumes of noise, which is polluting the digital world and making it harder for brands to be heard - presenting a major challenge for businesses trying to enter into dialogue with consumers online. 

"Winning and keeping customers is harder than ever," said Matthew Froggatt, TNS chief development officer. He continued, "The online world undoubtedly presents massive opportunities for brands, however it is only through deploying precisely tailored marketing strategies that they will be able to realise this potential. Choosing the wrong channel, or simply adding to the cacophony of online noise, risks alienating potential customers and impacting business growth." 

An interactive data visualisation of the key findings can be found at <a href="http://www.tnsdigitallife.com " target="_blank">www.tnsdigitallife.com </a>]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/brand-intrusion-in-social-networks-alienates-consumers-says-tns-digital-life-global-study</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/brand-intrusion-in-social-networks-alienates-consumers-says-tns-digital-life-global-study</guid><pubDate>Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[TNS boosts qualitative business with the appointment of COO]]></title><description><![CDATA[TNS has announced the appointment of Kristin Sharp as COO of the company's qualitative business. Sharp takes up this new role from mid-October and will work with global head of qualitative Luc Rens and the company's existing qualitative leadership to further develop the offer and capability.

Sharp was most recently CEO and President of Understanding UnLtd., Ipsos' qualitative business, in the US. Prior to that, she spent 13 years at Procter & Gamble where she served in a number of marketing and research roles, including global and North American director of consumer and market knowledge for the company's home care division.

"Kristin has demonstrated a hunger for innovation, client-centricity and an ability to drive success, which will make her a fantastic addition to the team," said Eric Salama, CEO, TNS. He continued, "TNS already has more conversations with the world's consumers than anyone else and our clients are keen to benefit from our collective knowledge into how people think and feel. Qualitative is at the heart of many of our best client relationships and key to our future.  We have great ambitions to grow our qualitative business and this appointment is a key part of realising our goal." 

This is the latest in a series of senior strategic hires that TNS has made this year, to strengthen capabilities in innovation, thought leadership, marketing sciences, creativity and digital. Salama commented, "I am delighted that some of the brightest thinkers and practioners from across our industry have joined - or returned - to TNS this year."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-boosts-qualitative-business-with-the-appointment-of-coo</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-boosts-qualitative-business-with-the-appointment-of-coo</guid><pubDate>Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[TNS study reveals detailed picture of global affluence]]></title><description><![CDATA[TNS has today unveiled the results of the biggest global study into the attitudes and investment priorities of the affluent - painting a timely picture of wealth, post global recession. 

While the United States still ranks as the world's most prosperous country, with 31m affluent households, the study reveals that the emerging economies of India and China have overtaken many European countries in this measure of consumer wealth.

Based on interviews with 12,000 people across 24 markets including China, Brazil and India, TNS's Global Affluent Investor study shows that the growth of developing economic powerhouses is already starting to impact personal fortunes, among households with more than $100,000 investable assets .

It also shows that emerging markets now rival their developed counterparts in terms of the amount that people have to invest. UAE and India appear in the top five countries where the affluent have more than $1m investable assets on average, alongside Singapore and Hong Kong. The only Europeans to feature in this top five are the Swedish, whilst the UK and France are the least likely in Europe to have these levels of investable assets. 

While incidence of affluence would naturally be higher in small, wealthy countries like Luxemburg (29%) and Singapore (20%), there are huge contrasts in markets with large populations; while 27% of the US are affluent this falls to around 1% in India and China. 

Reg van Steen, director, business and finance, TNS, comments: "When examining global incidence of affluence, it's not only size that matters. We wanted to identify the growth potential of each market - and our research confirms that emerging markets will become new centres of affluence in coming years. India and China have already surpassed major European markets like Germany and France. It's interesting to see that the entrepreneurial spirit of people in these markets is already paying off in terms of personal wealth."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-study-reveals-detailed-picture-of-global-affluence</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-study-reveals-detailed-picture-of-global-affluence</guid><pubDate>Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kantar Media Cymfony launches in Europe]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar Media is launching Cymfony, a leader in social and traditional media listening, in Europe. Cymfony, which will be based in London, will provide clients in the U.K. and Europe with insights gleaned from online consumer conversations. 

To head the effort, Kantar Media Cymfony has named Simon Rogers as director of business development. Rogers has held various positions with companies in the technology, consulting and social media industries, including roles with Cap Gemini, Xansa, Infor and Market Sentinel. 

Kantar Media Cymfony provides comprehensive technologies and services to enable effective monitoring of social media and traditional media platforms.  These include:

Maestro: an enterprise class, software-as-a-service platform combining social and traditional media into an easy-to-use web dashboard;

Market Intelligence Studies: analytical services, leveraging best practices and market expertise, that deliver deep consumer insights and actionable recommendations; and

Cymfony Insights: "ready to use" syndicated offers combining Maestro access and analytical services for select industries including automotive and finance.

Richard Pasewark, president of Cymfony, commented: "Kantar Media Cymfony offers ideal solutions for companies that are ready to advance beyond basic monitoring of social media discussion and use of simple metrics. Through Maestro, clients are able to assess and understand the cross relationships between brands, topics, sites/publications, and sentiment while identifying the influence of the millions of conversations. With this expansion, Kantar Media Cymfony will extend its reach to multiple countries, providing our growing base of clients with accessible, intelligent and meaningful analysis of social media discussions for unrivalled insights and perspective."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-media-cymfony-launches-in-europe</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-media-cymfony-launches-in-europe</guid><pubDate>Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[TNS appoints Mark Kingsbury as global head of marketing sciences]]></title><description><![CDATA[TNS has announced the appointment of Mark Kingsbury as global head of marketing sciences. Kingsbury leaves his current role at Ipsos to take up this new position from January 2012. 

Kingsbury will be responsible for building on TNS's existing technical analytics capabilities, developing solutions that address clients' critical business challenges. 

He started his career with Research International, joining the company as a graduate trainee in 1989. As well as leading a number of large client relationships and managing the development of a range of brand and marketing strategy tools, he was responsible for Research International's Marketing Science Centre and then the UK business and technology division. Kingsbury is currently managing director of UK marketing specialism at Ipsos. 

"I am delighted that Mark is joining us in this key role," said Matthew Froggatt, chief development officer, TNS. "He will be responsible for ensuring we define, develop and deliver best practice approaches to identify the precise answers to our clients' questions - applying sophisticated thinking to build simple solutions."

"I love marketing science's ability to pull out and structure the key elements of marketing questions and to provide very concrete solutions that clearly drive decisions and growth," said Kingsbury. "I am hugely excited to be joining the TNS team and to have the opportunity to work with the outstanding experts that the business has around the world."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-appoints-mark-kingsbury-as-global-head-of-marketing-sciences</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-appoints-mark-kingsbury-as-global-head-of-marketing-sciences</guid><pubDate>Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[GroupM agencies, Xaxis and Kantar create revolutionary media planning tool]]></title><description><![CDATA[GroupM, Xaxis and Kantar have created MMatch, a media planning approach that allows advertisers to buy online advertising more closely against their own customer segmentation.

MMatch, available now, combines the research assets of Kantar, WPP's insight and information group, with the data-rich targeting and optimization capability of Xaxis, WPP's audience buying company, enabling marketers to buy large scale online media against niche audiences - previously an impossibility.

Modern marketers use sophisticated target audiences in their strategies, defined using consumer attitudes and behaviours. Although they are vital audiences for unlocking brand growth, there is currently a gap between these audiences and the apparatus for buying media against them, as most channels are sold in the form of broad audiences e.g. ABC1s. The advertiser's segmentation has to be converted to a coarser currency for the actual media buy, resulting in considerable wastage. 

The MMatch planning approach was developed to address this gap while observing industry standards for privacy. Unlike most audience-targeted online advertising in use today, buyers of media through MMatch will be able to have a more direct connection between marketing strategy and media execution by using the same segmentation across both. Therefore, GroupM agencies have the ability to tap into the most highly targeted and integrated media-buying tool to reach audiences - netting high performance and reduced cost. 

"The collective data of both Xaxis and Kantar empowers the holistic approach to integrated marketing and advertising online and offline," said Mark Grether, COO of Xaxis. "Digital communications are now targeted to highly specific audiences based on the same segmentation used across offline channels, producing both enhanced performance and cost savings."

"Most audience-targeted, online advertising lacks a direct connection between marketing strategy and brand segmentation," said Sameer Modha, business planning partner at Mindshare. "The MMatch planning approach addresses this challenge while observing industry standards for privacy."

MMatch works in three stages: 1. The relevant GroupM agency leads a step to FIND people in the Kantar realm who belong to the advertiser's existing target audience segments, through a survey of what they say, a record of what they do online or what they have actually purchased.

2. Kantar leads a stage to MATCH AND MODEL those in-segment respondents to the audience buying platform. This involves Kantar agencies linking their databases to the Xaxis targeting database, enabling MMatch to identify when the same people, who have opted in, appear on both systems, and cross-match the records. The Xaxis database then finds similar people, and as this platform has rich data of its own, it is able to find lookalikes with a high degree of precision.

3. To BUY media from Xaxis using the advertiser audience definition with minimal wastage, forging a uniquely close link between advertiser strategy and media execution.]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/groupm-and-kantar-create-revolutionary-media-planning-tool</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/groupm-and-kantar-create-revolutionary-media-planning-tool</guid><pubDate>Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kantar Media appoints chief research officer for audiences business]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar Media has announced the promotion of Antonio Carvalho to chief research officer, heading up a new audiences central research unit in London and reporting to global head of products and services, John Gill.

Carvalho, who joined Kantar Media in 2008 as research manager,  will be responsible for overseeing Kantar Media Audiences' central research activities for PeopleMeters, Portable People Meters (PPMs), return path data, online and future audience measurement methods. The development of algorithm and modelling methods used to evaluate the vast amount of multimedia data analysed by Kantar Media's business sectors will be a key focus of the new research unit.

Richard Marks, global CEO, Kantar Media Audiences, said: "In the era of 'big data' the ability to validate, combine and interpret data sets is proving critical.  Our new Audiences Central Research Unit consolidates and emphasises the central role of our research experts and will provide clients with even greater media insight and improved audience measurement services."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-media-appoints-chief-research-officer-for-audiences-business</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-media-appoints-chief-research-officer-for-audiences-business</guid><pubDate>Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[TNS tool offers insights into reputation drivers in the digital environment]]></title><description><![CDATA[TNS today announced the introduction of its TRI*M Digital Reputation Manager, designed to help companies understand the drivers of reputation in a digital environment and tailor their communications approach to protect and strengthen their corporate brand. 

The new suite identifies the exact drivers of digital reputation for an organisation and makes precise recommendations of actions that will support long-term growth. It incorporates advanced social media screening to understand what is being discussed about a company online, as well as identifying the topics - both positive and negative -  that will impact on a company's corporate reputation among key audiences.

TRI*M<sup>TM</sup> Digital Reputation Manager draws on TNS's corporate reputation benchmarking database with over 1.7m interviews across 16 individual stakeholder groups, such as potential customers and employees, journalists, investors and the general public. It is completely integrated with TNS Digital Life, the most comprehensive and holistic study of on-line behaviour and attitudes.

Peter Pirner, global director, stakeholder management at TNS, said: 
"Consumer engagement with social media has led to a massive change in the way companies need to manage their corporate reputation to maximise the opportunity to drive advocacy and supportive stakeholder behaviour. We developed TRI*M Digital Reputation Manager to help companies cut through the noise of online conversations to understand the exact topics and engagement strategies that really will support  business objectives."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-tool-offers-insights-into-reputation-drivers-in-the-digital-environment</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-tool-offers-insights-into-reputation-drivers-in-the-digital-environment</guid><pubDate>Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kantar Health launches National Health & Wellness Study in Brazil]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar Health has announced the expansion of its National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS) into Brazil. NHWS is the largest international self-reported patient database in the healthcare industry.

The survey was completed by 12,000 Brazilian consumers. Topics covered include health status, attitudes, behaviors and outcomes among adults aged 18 or older. The survey also captures unique information specific to Brazil's healthcare market.

"Brazil has the largest economy and population in Latin America, making it an attractive growth opportunity for pharmaceutical companies," says Dave Pomerantz, senior vice-president of business development with Kantar Health. "However, this is not a market to enter into without deep knowledge of the market and its patients. NHWS's data helps global pharma companies gain an understanding of the Brazilian patient as well as the Brazilian healthcare market, which is different from the typical US or EU market."

Kantar Health conducts NHWS annually in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America. The database provides disease-specific measures that help healthcare clients size market opportunities, measure direct and indirect costs, gain insight into disease-specific segments and develop marketing and publication strategies directed at specific consumer or patient segments.]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-health-launches-national-health-wellness-study-in-brazil</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-health-launches-national-health-wellness-study-in-brazil</guid><pubDate>Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kantar and McCandless launch first ever data visualisation awards]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar and its data visualisation partner David McCandless have announced the launch of the first ever global awards scheme to celebrate excellence in the growing fields of data visualisation and information design. 

The "Information is Beautiful - inspired by Kantar" awards, named after McCandless' best-selling book and website, is now open to entrants from both inside and outside the consumer insight industry at <a href="http://www.informationisbeautifulawards.com" target="_blank">www.informationisbeautifulawards.com</a>. The awards feature monthly on-line creative contests culminating in an annual overall awards presentation. 

McCandless - who conceived the awards working closely with Kantar creative director Aziz Cami - acts as a consultant to Kantar's 13 operating companies to promote the use of data visualisation in their outputs.  

Data visualisation is a technique that brings information to life through the creative application of graphics and offers a tremendous potential to the worlds of research, information and journalism through its ability to unlock trends and insights in a way that can be instantly seen, not just understood. 

McCandless said: "I'm excited to team up with a world-leader like Kantar. Both Kantar and I share a passion for data visualization as a new way to tell stories. We want to support, celebrate and reward those practising this new creative form all around the world. That's really the soul of the Information Is Beautiful Awards."

Cami said: "At Kantar we aim to turn data into insights that inspire our clients to better and more creative outcomes that really make a positive difference to their business. Data visualisation is an important addition to our armoury in pursuing this goal. We're thrilled that David has chosen Kantar as his partner to launch these awards."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-and-mccandless-launch-first-ever-data-visualisation-awards</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-and-mccandless-launch-first-ever-data-visualisation-awards</guid><pubDate>Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hofmeyr joins TNS in global thought leadership role]]></title><description><![CDATA[TNS today announced that Jan (Jannie) Hofmeyr will join the company in a senior global thought leadership role. Jannie leaves his current role at Synovate to take up his new position on the 1st December 2011. He will continue to be based in Cape Town and will report to TNS CEO, Eric Salama. 

Hofmeyr will be responsible for building TNS's approach to behaviour change and embedding this in every part of the TNS offer, enabling clients to change the behaviour of their consumers and customers. A key element of his role will be to innovate around TNS's Conversion Model thinking; Hofmeyr will also be involved in developing and creating behaviour change expertise around the world and advising key client accounts.   

"I'm thrilled that Jannie is joining TNS. We recognise the importance of applying behaviour change thinking across our brand, stakeholder and social and political offers and there is no one better than Jannie to accelerate our thinking and help our clients to achieve their goals," said Salama. He continued, "Jannie is an extremely rare talent, combining outstanding thought leadership with a commercial and entrepreneurial approach.  He has rejoined TNS in this new role to make Conversion Model thinking a much more significant part of our offer."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/hofmeyr-joins-tns-in-global-thought-leadership-role</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/hofmeyr-joins-tns-in-global-thought-leadership-role</guid><pubDate>Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lightspeed Research launches new panels in Poland and Greece]]></title><description><![CDATA[Lightspeed Research today announced the launch of its latest online panels in Poland and Greece. 

The panels have been established to meet clients' needs for high quality online research sample in these important markets and provides clients with a cost effective online research solution.

At launch the Polish panel has over 12,000 panellists, while the Greek panel currently has 5,000 panellists.  

The new panels will employ double opt-in panellists interested in undertaking research studies. It will be recruited and managed to the same exacting standards of quality and privacy established across Lightspeed Research's 26 proprietary global panels.  Panellists will also be profiled on a wide range of products and services categories, allowing the selection of the most relevant sample for each survey.

Andrew Cayton, CEO EMEA for Lightspeed Research said: "We are excited to be extending our panel footprint into Poland and Greece. Client demand for quality sample in these countries has continued to grow, and we felt that it was of strategic importance for our European business to have a presence here. The new panels allow us to offer our clients a seamless sample service to the stringent quality standards currently enjoyed by our clients at Lightspeed Research."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/lightspeed-research-launches-new-panels-in-poland-and-greece</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/lightspeed-research-launches-new-panels-in-poland-and-greece</guid><pubDate>Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kantar Media Compete names Centurino as chief operating officer]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar Media <a href="http://www.compete.com/" target="_blank">Compete</a> has announced that Scott Centurino has joined the company as chief operating officer. Centurino, who will report to Compete's president, Scott Ernst, will play an important role in managing the company's growth as it expands its global footprint and digital measurement offerings. 

"Scott has a track record of success in our industry and has worked closely with advertisers, agencies and publishers to develop tools that harness the power of data," said Ernst. "We're in a period of tremendous growth at Kantar Media Compete, and Scott's ability to get teams aligned around common goals and channel their energy makes him the ideal fit for this time in our company's history."

Prior to joining Kantar Media Compete, Centurino served as CEO of social media analytics provider Crimson Hexagon, Inc., where he oversaw its transition to a SaaS-deployed enterprise software model while simultaneously doubling its revenue and streamlining sales operations. Previously, he held leadership positions at Mobile Messaging Solutions, Inc., Matchmine LLC and Burntsand Inc.

"As more dollars move online, Compete sits in an enviable position with proven technology, great people and a marquee list of clients," said Centurino. "I'm excited to work closely with Scott and Kantar Media management teams to solidify our strong position and ensure that our people, products and technology continue to lead the digital measurement industry through the exciting changes ahead."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-media-compete-names-centurino-as-chief-operating-officer</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-media-compete-names-centurino-as-chief-operating-officer</guid><pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Millward Brown book explores America's diverse consumer landscape]]></title><description><![CDATA[An important new book analyzing America's increasingly diverse consumer population and written by two senior Millward Brown executives has been released to critical acclaim today.

"Minorities" are already the majority in some of the biggest cities in the United States, and demographers predict that the same will be true of the country as a whole before 2045.  MARKETING TO THE NEW MAJORITY: Strategies for a Diverse World offers strategies for marketers hoping to connect with this new mainstream and the different segments that comprise it.

The book was written by David Burgos, head of MB's multi-cultural practice and Ola Mobolade, head of its qualitative research practice Firefly.

Global business figures including former P&G head marketer Jim Stengel and WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell have already hailed the book as essential reading for today's marketers.

More information including excerpts is available at <a href="http://www.marketingtothenewmajority.com" target="_blank">www.marketingtothenewmajority.com</a>]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/millward-brown-book-explores-americas-diverse-consumer-landscape</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/millward-brown-book-explores-americas-diverse-consumer-landscape</guid><pubDate>Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kantar Media and Nielsen sign deal for provision of set top box data]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar Media has announced a multi-year agreement to provide Nielsen with set top box data from Kantar Media's DIRECTView service for use in local TV audience measurement.  

Nielsen has developed a proprietary, hybrid methodology for the US market that combines Nielsen's National People Meter panel data with set top box and other sources of data, and is continuing to explore the use of this methodology in local markets that currently rely on diary-based measurement.

"DIRECTView is one of many sources of data Nielsen is incorporating in our efforts to provide higher quality local TV audience measurement," said Steve Hasker, President, Nielsen Media Products & Advertiser Solutions.  "Our innovative approach to enhance local TV measurement addresses the technological limitations of using set top box data alone, and we expect it will provide valuable benefits to local TV markets."

"The integration of our DIRECTView data with Nielsen's local market data marks an important milestone for return path data," says George Shababb, President, Kantar Media Audiences North America. "The sample size and granularity made possible through return path data advances what audience measurement has traditionally been able to deliver and will help offer advertisers in local markets an improved service."

Nielsen selected Kantar Media's DIRECTView service because it is one of the largest set top box services in the United States that anonymously covers live and time-shifted viewing. Nielsen's use of the DIRECTView data to enhance its industry-leading audience measurement approach follows a successful proof-of-concept test that provided greater stability in local TV audiences.]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-media-and-nielsen-sign-deal-for-provision-of-set-top-box-data</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-media-and-nielsen-sign-deal-for-provision-of-set-top-box-data</guid><pubDate>Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[TNS awarded contract for EU Flash Barometers]]></title><description><![CDATA[TNS today announced that it has been awarded the Flash Eurobarometer contract by the European Commission and European Parliament. This is a four year contract, with a potential budget of 60 million. 

The Flash Eurobarometers are ad hoc research studies conducted on behalf of any service of the European Commission and the European Parliament to understand the attitudes of people across the member States about key areas of interest. TNS has also held the Standard and Qualitative Eurobarometer contracts for the past years and provides actionable recommendations, based on qualitative, face-to-face and now telephone (both mobile and landline) research methods. 

"We are delighted to extend our relationship with the European Institutions," said Leendert de Voogd, Global Head of Political & Social, TNS. He continued, "The European Institutions understand the importance of undertaking research to develop deep insights, not only to support its decision making, but also to evaluate the progress of policies and inform communications strategy."

This new contract begins immediately and will see TNS delivering insights sourced from working with a broad range of audiences, including specific targeted groups such as B2B or elite audiences as well as nationally representative.  

The Eurobarometer Flash contract was awarded to TNS following an extensive tender process, where the European Commission and the European Parliament evaluated five companies' ability to deliver.]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-awarded-contract-for-eu-flash-barometers</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/tns-awarded-contract-for-eu-flash-barometers</guid><pubDate>Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kantar/WPP invests in emotion measurement company Affectiva]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar and Myrian Capital have made a $5.7m investment in Affectiva, a leading emotion measurement and communication technology startup.

Founded in 2009 by MIT scientists Rosalind W. Picard and Rana el Kaliouby, Affectiva grew out of collaborative research at the MIT Media Lab. It applies innovations in computing to help understand how people feel in order to improve products and experiences.

Affectiva will use the financing to accelerate the development and marketing of Affdex, a software solution for emotion recognition. Recently launched, the Affdex system reads emotional states such as liking and attention from facial expressions using a webcam. Affdex employs advanced computer vision and machine learning techniques to recognize and automate the analysis of non-verbal responses, and it applies scientifically validated and patented methods to interpret viewers' emotional responses quickly and at scale. 

"Affectiva is at the forefront of emotion measurement science and of developing technologies that are fast, scalable and easy to use outside of the lab in the real world. This round of funding strengthens Affectiva's leading position and will accelerate the company's already impressive pace of development. We plan to incorporate Affectiva technology into key areas of our offer, including communications research and innovation work," said Eric Salama, CEO of Kantar.

For more information on Affectiva, visit <a href="http://www.affectiva.com" target="_blank">www.affectiva.com</a>]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantarwpp-invests-in-emotion-measurement-company-affectiva</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantarwpp-invests-in-emotion-measurement-company-affectiva</guid><pubDate>Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kantar Health appoints new CEO for oncology division]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar Health has appointed Richard W. Martin to the position of CEO, Kantar Health Oncology. He was most recently CEO, Global Practices, at Kantar Health. In his new role, Martin will lead the continued development of Kantar Health's global oncology business.

"Kantar Health has the largest portfolio of oncology data and insight offers in the industry resulting from early recognition by teams that Richard led of the need for comprehensive information in this area," says Lynnette Cooke, CEO of Kantar Health. "His experience and understanding of client needs and Kantar Health's global competencies will ensure that we continue to advance our service of providing relevant and actionable advice in new product planning, market access and marketing effectiveness in oncology."

Martin has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. He has directly served clients in a wide variety of strategic consulting engagements in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, including serving as President and COO of MattsonJack, a Kantar Health legacy company.

"Kantar Health's oncology team members are recognized as second to none in their knowledge of this complex disease area, markets and the myriad issues that impact our clients' efforts to improve treatment," Martin says. "It's our collective mission to marshal the power of our talent, offers and insights globally to help our clients accelerate progress against this terrible disease."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-health-appoints-new-ceo-for-oncology-division</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-health-appoints-new-ceo-for-oncology-division</guid><pubDate>Tue, 19 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kantar Health appoints Guminski to top commercial strategy role]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar Health has appointed Werner Guminski to the position of CEO, Kantar Health Commercial Strategy. He was most recently CEO, Global Practices at the company.

In his new role, Guminski will be responsible for developing Kantar Health's commercial strategy, which will focus on client strategy, portfolio strategy and innovation. He will continue his focus on Global Practices.

"Werner's business management experience and more than 20 years with our company make him well-qualified to take on this new role of ensuring our research and consulting services address both current and future marketplace needs," says Lynnette Cooke, CEO of Kantar Health. "He has long been intimately involved with clients and in developing Kantar Health's portfolio."

Guminski has experience in prescription brand and stakeholder management and global pricing and reimbursement strategies. He had been managing director of TNS Healthcare Germany, a Kantar Health legacy company, since 1989 and has been responsible for global portfolio development since 2007. Guminski joined the Board of Kantar Health as CEO for Global Practices and Region Europe in 2009.]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-health-appoints-guminski-to-top-commercial-strategy-role</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-health-appoints-guminski-to-top-commercial-strategy-role</guid><pubDate>Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lambie-Nairn joins TNS as first creative director]]></title><description><![CDATA[TNS today announced the appointment of Martin Lambie-Nairn as creative director.

Lambie-Nairn joins TNS in July and will focus on improving the look and feel of TNS deliverables and will be directly involved in client work and pitches.  He will also work with local managements to develop creative capabilities throughout the network and with global marketing director, Tim Isaac, on the TNS brand identity. 

"I'm thrilled that Martin is joining us.  I have long admired his work and his ability to drive creative standards higher and we share a common passion to see creativity at the heart of strategic work," said Eric Salama, TNS CEO. He continued: "Whenever we really demonstrate our creativity with our clients, they respond extremely positively and we want to embed a creative approach into all of our client work. Martin will be a major catalyst in accelerating this process."

Lambie-Nairn said: "My approach has always been to make the complex simple, and fulfil commercial imperatives through outstanding creativity. I am very excited to be joining TNS and believe that there is fantastic opportunity to boost success by placing creativity at the heart of the business."

TNS is focused on delivering insights in a highly creative way. Key programmes recently launched include Digital Life (<a href="www.discoverdigitallife.com" target="_blank">www.discoverdigitallife.com</a>) and Mobile Life (<a href="www.discovermobilelife.com" target="_blank">www.discovermobilelife.com</a>) which feature visually compelling infographics that encourage clients to spend more time interrogating the findings and understanding the behaviour and attitudes of their target consumers.]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/lambie-nairn-joins-tns-as-first-creative-director</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/lambie-nairn-joins-tns-as-first-creative-director</guid><pubDate>Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Digital insights specialist Compete launches in Europe]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar Media today announced the European launch of Compete, expanding its digital intelligence offering with the introduction of the industry's most comprehensive online behavioural data and insights. Established in the US in 2000, Compete delivers digital intelligence that helps the world's top brands improve their marketing based on a deep understanding of consumers' behaviour online. 

Compete's European team will be based in London and will initially focus on serving UK clients in the retail & FMCG, technology, entertainment, telecom and travel sectors, as well as leading media companies and advertising agencies. Clients in France will be able to access Compete's services later in 2011. Other markets will follow.

Compete's products cover the entire digital marketing spectrum, including solutions for audience insight, media planning, competitive intelligence, path-to-purchase tracking, marketing and online channel effectiveness. 

"It is critical that we provide an evolving mix of digital insights and services in all the markets in which our clients operate," said Jean-Michel Portier, CEO, Kantar Media. "We're committed to establishing the same recognition for excellence among brands, agencies and media properties in Europe that Compete already has in the US."

To learn more about Kantar Media Compete's services in Europe, please contact Jeremy Radcliffe at <a href="mailto:jradcliffe@compete.com">jradcliffe@compete.com </a>or visit <a href="http://www.kantarmedia.compete.com" target="_blank">www.kantarmedia.compete.com</a>
.]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/digital-insights-specialist-compete-launches-in-europe</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/digital-insights-specialist-compete-launches-in-europe</guid><pubDate>Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kantar partners with Market Tools for on-line data quality solutions]]></title><description><![CDATA[Kantar, one of the world's largest providers of on-line research, and MarketTools, the leader in software and services for market research, today announced that they have formed a partnership, effective July 1, 2011, in which Kantar will roll out MarketTools® TrueSample® as its quality solution for all US online consumer survey-based research.  

Kantar will apply the full TrueSample quality solution of panel- and survey-level validation across the Kantar group of companies, including its two largest units, Millward Brown and TNS, as well as its online access panel business, Lightspeed Research. The arrangement will also involve testing the approach in key European and other markets. 

In other news, Kantar also confirmed its departure from the Promedius Group.

"We have been at the forefront of the industry in implementing ways of increasing online data quality by cutting out fraudulent respondents, improving the quality of questionnaires and a host of other actions," said Eric Salama, CEO of Kantar. "Our experience and learning to date have convinced us that a deep partnership with MarketTools will be good for our clients and will move us faster towards creating our ideal with respect to panel validation - a robust, industry-wide solution."

"As one of the world's largest providers of online consumer research, Kantar has built a reputation for providing accurate, reliable research insights to the world's largest businesses," said Scott Arnold, president and chief executive officer of MarketTools, Inc. "With its decision to use TrueSample for all of its consumer research in the U.S., Kantar is again demonstrating its commitment to quality by adopting the industry's most widely used quality solution."

Kantar will work collaboratively with MarketTools by leveraging its deep experience with online consumer research data to help improve the TrueSample technology and processes. Kantar will be using the TrueSample solution for validating survey respondents as Real, Unique, and Engaged<sup>TM</sup>, as well as TrueSample SurveyScore<sup>TM</sup> and TrueSample.net, the TrueSample customer portal for data analysis and reporting.

In addition, Efrain Ribeiro, COO of Lightspeed, Kantar's online panel business, and Renee Smith, chief research officer of Kantar, will join the TrueSample Quality Council, with Smith serving as co-chair of the TrueSample Quality Council's "research-on-research" sub-committee along with John Ouren, executive vice-president of MarketTools, Inc.  

The TrueSample Quality Council was established in 2008 with the goal of achieving objective and quantifiable gains in sample and research quality. The Council brings together leaders in the market research industry to share best practices in data quality and to help drive data quality initiatives across the industry. The Council includes representatives from Energizer, E. & J. Gallo Winery, General Mills, MarketTools, Microsoft, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Samsung Electronics, Southwest Airlines, and Unilever, among others.]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-partners-with-market-tools-for-on-line-data-quality-solutions</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/kantar-partners-with-market-tools-for-on-line-data-quality-solutions</guid><pubDate>Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Millward Brown appoints Currie as global brand director for tracking]]></title><description><![CDATA[Millward Brown has announced the appointment of Patty Currie as global brand director for tracking. 

Earlier this year, Millward Brown announced the creation of five global brand director roles to drive growth and meet clients' evolving needs from the company's most important business solutions.  Patty will be assuming her new role in early July and her appointment completes the staffing of this team. 

She joined Millward Brown five years ago to drive the re-launch of its tracking offer, and has served as a senior vice-president in the North American Market Development, Client Service and Solutions teams.  

The complete global brand director team includes Rob Hernandez as global brand director for Firefly, Millward Brown's qualitative practice, John Svendsen as global brand director for media, Duncan Southgate as global brand director for digital and Daren Poole as global brand director for Link.  

Sue Elms, EVP head of global brands, said: "Patty's experience designing and implementing large-scale global programs for top clients makes her ideally suited for this role.

"She will be joining the global brand directors in their joint quest to advance our company's growth into the future, by ensuring our services are relevant, inspiring and make a genuine impact on our client business decisions."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/millward-brown-appoints-currie-as-global-brand-director-for-tracking</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/millward-brown-appoints-currie-as-global-brand-director-for-tracking</guid><pubDate>Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Millward Brown appoints global chief human resources officer]]></title><description><![CDATA[Millward Brown has today announced the appointment of Susan Steele as global chief human resources officer. In her new role, Steele will be responsible for leading Millward Brown's human resources and talent agenda worldwide. 

Steele takes over leadership of Millward Brown's human resources from Elaine Holland, who has served as chief talent officer for the past six years and is moving to a new role leading the executive coaching initiatives at the company.  

Steele joins Millward Brown from Deloitte, where she was chief learning officer for U.S. and India. Prior to this role, she was the chief human resources officer for the UK and Switzerland at Deloitte Consulting. 

Eileen Campbell, CEO, Millward Brown, said: "We are incredibly fortunate to have an individual with Susan's experience and talent joining us to lead our HR and talent agenda.

"It is rare to find a leader with a background as complete and well-rounded as Susan's. She has walked in our shoes as a service provider and consultant, experienced life in a highly competitive sector of professional services and has led massive change management and professional development initiatives."]]></description><link>http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/millward-brown-appoints-global-chief-human-resources-officer</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.kantar.com/#/whats-new/latest/millward-brown-appoints-global-chief-human-resources-officer</guid><pubDate>Tue, 31 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
