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Market Research

Marketing News: Research : Online analytics firm Nedstat sold to ComScore in €29m deal

ComScore has acquired Dutch online analytics firm Nedstat in a deal worth €29.2m ($36.7m), boosting its European presence and potentially adding census-level data from thousands of sites to its Unified Digital Measurement (UDM) platform. Nedstat customers, of which there are more than 200 throughout Europe, will immediately be offered the option to incorporate their existing data into the UDM system, which combines server-side analytics with panel-based audience research to produce a hybrid measurement of digital consumer behaviour. But that's only the first step in the post-takeover plan, according to CEO Magid Abraham. In a blog post announcing the deal, Abraham said Nedstat's technology infrastructure will be used alongside ComScore's existing online and mobile research capabilities as a base on which to build a "measurement and analytics platform of the future". "The products we envision building simply do not exist today," he said. "While these products will

Marketing News: HARTE-HANKS ACQUIRES INFORMATION ARTS

Harte-Hanks®, Inc. announced today that it acquired Information Arts (UK) Limited yesterday, August 31, 2010. Information Arts, based in High Wycombe in the United Kingdom, is a provider of data-driven marketing insight to business-to-business marketers across Europe – and increasingly across the globe. The company delivers a compelling road map of how data insight will dramatically improve multichannel marketing effectiveness and retention programs. This insight is derived from profiling, segmentation, modeling and other analytics, and drives engagements that include marketing data management, data hygiene, data acquisition and data planning. Information Arts will operate as a business unit of Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing under its current leadership of Simon Lawrence and Gary Selby. Information Arts and Harte-Hanks' other marketing offerings in Europe will be combined to deliver multichannel Demand Center solutions -- integrated lead generation and lead management progr

Marketing News: E-learning is not focused enough for businesses

The latest UKFast roundtable findings suggest that businesses must take a more focused approach to e-learning.

Marketing News: Investment in targeted content, which includes branded content, will grow at 7.3% over the next four years

The APA has released the findings of a recent survey into the marketing industry's view of the future of advertising, which has shown that an overwhelming number (49%) of respondents believe that the industry is moving into a post-advertising era. Respondents, comprising leading brand marketers, were posed the question "Will branded content ever replace advertising as the main marketing spend?". For this, the responses showed that a high level of people expect the relative investment in content to rise. 24% answered 'Yes it is only a matter of time' and only 1 person (0.7%) 'Not sure, branded content is becoming very important by advertising is still the main marketing solution'. Interestingly, only 26.3% of those surveyed stated that 'No, branded content still has a long way to go', showing that the majority of the industry views the medium as growing in importance. The survey results are a further boost to positive news for the content industry after customer magazines

Marketing News: What do people think of the new Bulmers ad? : Vox Pops International

Using video in research helps your company become customer centric, Vox Pops International are the leaders in video market research and can help you bring your customers to life through many methodologies and deliverables, including bespoke video portals.

Marketing News: Vox Pops International : 3 questions left - now is the time to ensure that your company does not miss out on the 'State of the Nation' tour

Throughout August Vox Pops will be back on the road carrying out interviews with 150 people. Vox Pops International will undertake another national qualitative research study to investigate the 'State of the Nation'. They will film and interviewed 150 people, representing a cross-section of the general public across the United Kingdom and generated a total of 25 hours of footage

Marketing News: Ciardi joins Future Thinking, heads global volumetric forecasting offering

George Ciardi, who has over 20 years experience in marketing research, is the new President of New York based Future Thinking, the international market research firm. Ciardi has held senior positions with several research and consulting firms, including AC Nielsen, MMA, Delta Information Group, FYI, NFO and TNS. He will also lead Future Thinking's expanding volumetric forecasting offering across the globe. Ciardi has contributed to the successful launch of more than 100 new products that have generated in excess of $500 million each in sales during their introductory year of launch. He is an acknowledged expert in new product forecasting, marketing mix analysis and new product research in general. Ciardi's expertise and experience has led to regular invitations to speak at industry events and write for industry journals.

Marketing News: Ipsos MORI has restructured its operations team : ,Rowland Lloyd ,Jane A'Court and Sarah Michell

Ipsos MORI has restructured its operations team. Rowland Lloyd is promoted to the post of Regional Director, Western Europe and South Africa Operations, while Jane A'Court and Sarah Michell become Joint MDs of Operations in the UK. In his new global position, Lloyd will focus on developing and implementing the firm's international operations strategies. He commenced his career in fieldwork with Millward Brown, and then moved to BMRB as Head of Operations, before joining Ipsos as MD of Operations. In 2008, he was appointed Chairman of the Market Research Society (MRS), having previously chaired the MRS Standards Board. A'Court began her market research career in South Africa, working for Research International in various operations and client services roles. On returning to the UK, she served in operations and client services positions at TNS and GfK NOP, before joining Ipsos MORI in 2004.

Marketing News: Primary market research vs secondary market research: a comparative analysis : Eric Brandenburg

Market research is an essential part of any business plan, whether a fledgling business or a multinational organisation. Knowing that there is a sustainable market for your product and understanding what your audience expects from you is vital to a successful business launch. Market research can generally be split into two categories; primary and secondary, and during this article I will explain both and discuss their respective merits and appropriate uses.

Marketing News: UK search marketing sector shows signs of growth in Q2 2010, but cost-per-click rates still down on last year, finds Efficient Frontier's Q2 Quarterly Search Report

The UK's search marketing sector grew by 10 per cent over the last 12 months, however, cost-per-click (CPC) rates are still significantly reduced from the same period last year. These are the findings of the leading global performance marketing company, Efficient Frontier, which releases its Q2 Quarterly Search Report today, 13 July 2010.

Marketing News: Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they'd be more likely to buy a product after receiving a marketing e-mail about it.

Despite all the complaints one hears about e-mail spam, a survey in the U.S. and 12 countries in Europe and Asia/Pacific finds plenty of consumers willing to act on marketing e-mails that catch their fancy. Released this week, the study shows 58 percent of respondents saying an e-mail marketing message has prompted them to make a purchase at an offline store or via a call-center order desk. The survey was commissioned by e-Dialog, a company that provides services to e-mail marketers. Polling was conducted in April among respondents who'd opted in to join consumer online panels in the 13 countries.

Marketing News: England will progress to the semi finals to be knocked out by eventual winning finalists Brazil.

With the FIFA World Cup 2010 now well underway, Experian has used its economists to predict who is most likely to win the World Cup and explore how marketers and brands in the UK may have to adapt to the potential prospect of an all-South American final. Experian's economists have simulated the World Cup tournament match by match, by creating a statistical model incorporating a number of factors including FIFA rankings, home country and home continent effects, and controlling for football confederation effects in the FIFA rankings, to calculate the probability of a win in each match in the draw. The company simulated the tournament 10,000 times to produce the most likely outcomes. Based on this model, England will progress to the semi finals to be knocked out by eventual winning finalists Brazil. Brazil will wind up World Cup winners beating Argentina to lift the trophy for the sixth time. The prospect of an all South American final does have some implications for those

Marketing News: TORA : 60% Of Fans Think England Can Win The World Cup

Passions run high as World Cup 2010 approaches Brazil most feared opponents. Crisps and lager top the armchair menu The English football team heads off to South Africa in fine form and with expectations set to soar, but fans are keeping their optimism in check. 60% of us in England agree with the statement 'my country has a good chance of winning the World Cup', but that's some way behind Brazil, where 94% of their supporters are confident of winning a sixth World Cup crown. 76% of German fans are confident too. French fans may believe their team needs a helping hand, as just 32% of them are confident of winning the Cup. The findings are part of a survey of 1224 football fans from England, France, Germany, the USA, South Africa and Brazil, conducted by The Oxford Research Agency (TORA). The report entitled World Cup 2010: from Brasilia to Blackburn, Berlin to Baltimore, examined the way in which fans will watch the forthcoming tournament, along with their superstitions, ri

Marketing News: Poor customer experiences trigger switching epidemic

A new study from Satmetrix, released today, shows that companies are wasting billions on attracting new customers through advertising whilst delivering a poor customer experience that has forced over 10 million* consumers to switch suppliers in the last six months alone.

Marketing News: Research : Omniture Debuts Social Media Measure

Online analytics firm Omniture has launched its social media display advertising solution, SearchCenter Plus, which allows marketers to measure, manage and optimize targeted display advertising buys on Facebook. It also released EMEA results from a survey of marketers' new media usage and ROI capability. The new release aims to improve clients' understanding of how social media users are engaging with their content, and allow them to capture rich, demographic segment data and target high-value users.

Marketing News: Research : The Healthcare NarrativeTracker Index™ (NTI) is launched

Process efficiency specialist OpenConnect and media analytics firm the Global Language Monitor (GLM) have teamed up to launch the Healthcare NarrativeTracker Index™ (NTI), which will use social media-based monitoring to better understand the issues driving healthcare reform. The firms say the Healthcare NTI 'provides a real-time, accurate picture of what the public is saying about any topic related to healthcare, at any point in time'. An additional service, the Narrative Tracker Arc, will follow sub-stories within the main narrative to round out an overview of opinions. The Healthcare NTI will be released on a monthly basis beginning Thursday, May 13. The tool uses the GLM's Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI), which tracks the frequency of words and phrases in global print and electronic media on the Internet, weighting them and factoring in long- and short-term trends and momentum.

Marketing News: Inspiration In Action 2010 : tangible suggestions for re-working and re-purposing qualitative practice for this connected, social world

Strategist Mark Earls, globally recognized for his book HERD: How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing Our True Nature and keynote speaker for Inspiration In Action 2010 the AQR/QRCA bi-annual conference to be held in Prague from 19th to 21st May this year has given us a peek into his all-new conference keynote that's sure to inspire all who provide or use qualitative research. Widely regarded as one of the leading thinkers about brands, marketing and mass behavior, Mark has held senior positions in some of the largest and most influential communications companies in the world – his last job was as chair of Ogilvy's Global Planning Council, prior to which he was Planning Director at the revolutionary St. Luke's Communications in London.

Marketing News: P&G are predicting 30% more innovation through core categories in 2010 and 2011

2010 is already promising to be a bumper year for high quality NPD. P&G are predicting 30% more innovation through core categories in 2010 and 2011. Consumer Product manufacturers need to innovate more and get to market quicker than ever before. Are you ready for the next revolution in NPD? In The Grocer (6th March), Liz Hamson highlighted a number of brands who are leading NPD in 2010 with a host of innovative launches, including brands such as Warburton's who have launched new innovate snack products ChippidyDooDaa and SnackaDoodle, and Kellogg's who launched Krave in January.

Marketing News: Research : 48% of shoppers believe they get better service online compared to when they shop in-store

88% of UK consumers have shopped online in the past year - just 8% less than those that shopped in-store, according to new research released by communications agency Likemind. The study, which surveyed over 2000 UK consumers and was conducted by independent market research company Vision Critical, demonstrates that the popularity of online retailers is fast catching up to their high street counterparts. 48% of shoppers also believe they get better service online compared to when they shop in-store, a clear indication that e-tailers have made stronger efforts to deliver against shoppers' expectations of service than traditional retailers do. Surprisingly, those aged 55+ most strongly believed the online experience to be better than an in-store.

Marketing News: Clicking With Your Customer — Making Online Banking Work

The core objectives of effective online banking and the way banks are looking to build a more stable and consistent customer relationship are examined in a new Business Paper by SDL Web Content Management Solutions, entitled "Clicking with your customer – Making Online Banking Work". The Paper explores the reasons customers remain loyal to their choice of banking institution, and how an online banking experience can increase a customer's trust and loyalty by providing integration, personalisation and relevance – the three pillars of successful online banking.

Marketing News: Three quarters of marketers say domain names are growing in importance

New research from Sedo, the leading global domain marketplace and monetization provider, released today, reveals the industry's views on the key trends defining the digital marketing sector. The results paint a positive picture for the digital marketing sector with over half (52 per cent) of respondents predicting that budgets will increase and almost three quarters (73 per cent) stating that owning the right domain name is a determining factor in the success of a marketing campaign.

Marketing News: CEBRA WILL HELP MARKETERS AND MEDIA AGENCIES FIND BRAND AND CELEBRITY MATCHES WITH GREATEST POTENTIAL

Pop star Kylie Minogue and X-Factor judge Cheryl Cole were named as the UK's most powerful celebrities today in Millward Brown's latest UK research study that analyses celebrity and brand equity to identify appropriate brand partnerships. The study leverages the leading market research agency's new Cebra (celebrity + brand) research tool which is the first to go beyond existing ratings of how well a celebrity is known by consumers (Familiarity) to include measures of Affinity (how well they are liked) and Buzz (how much they are talked about online and offline). The FAB ratings produce an overall Cebra score, which, combined with additional analysis of brand and celebrity personality, identifies brand and celebrity partnerships with the greatest marketplace potential. "Choosing which celebrity to work with is a tricky business for brands," said Mark Husak, head Millward Brown's UK media practice. "And since millions of pounds are often invested in the association, getting it

Marketing News: Miles Couchman, Survey Solutions on the many advantages of customer surveys

The success of any business depends on customer satisfaction - if the customers are satisfied with the products and services that are offered, then the existing clients will stay and new ones are more likely to sign up! And if the customers remain satisfied, the company is more likely to sustain its position and, importantly, survive (in spite of competition from others). It all makes total sense! Customer surveys play a major role in measuring and understanding client satisfaction - and also what could be done to improve service delivery, including the quality and range of what's on offer. They enable you to get an insight into what customers really think, also their preferences and behaviours. Another benefit, that's often overlooked, is that surveys demonstrate to customers that they are really important to the company, and their opinions are valued - and the more that they feel this, the more loyal they will be.

Marketing News: Nearly one in ten young people has access to three or more current accounts with overdraft facilities, says CIG research

Independent research commissioned by Callcredit Information Group has today revealed that young people aged 18 – 24 appear to be maximising available credit by taking out multiple current accounts with available overdraft facilities across multiple providers. Almost one in ten (9%) adults aged 18 – 24 years admits running three or more current accounts with overdraft facilities and 27% of 18 – 24 year olds who have more than one account admit to using more than three different current account providers. The research also revealed that a significant number of GB adults – nearly one in ten (9%) – admitted to over–inflating their income when applying for credit in a bid to secure a higher credit limit, with 6% of people acknowledging that they have applied for credit knowing they might not be able to meet the repayments. "While the end of the recession may be in sight, it seems that many consumers continue to struggle in managing their finances," said Graham Lund, (pictured) Mana

Marketing News: 43% of small firms in the UK have been left with an average of £7,500 owed to them.

Small and medium-sized businesses have been left £5bn out of pocket due to trading partners or customers going bust, according to data released by CreditPal. Over the last two years 43% of small firms in the UK have been left with an average of £7,500 owed to them.

Marketing News: AMR Research Recognizes CAS in Market Execution and Compliance With Highest Possible Rating

CAS AG, the leading global provider of Customer Management and Mobility solutions for the Consumer Products industry, has been recognized by AMR Research in the "Picking the Best Horses to Win the Race for Trade Promotion Effectiveness" report. CAS was one of 9 vendors evaluated in the report and received the highest possible rating in "Market Execution and Compliance" capabilities.

Marketing News: Research : Nappy brand Pampers is the UK's most trusted brand

Nappy brand Pampers is the UK's most trusted brand, according to new research from WPP's Millward Brown and The Futures Company. The research company has formulated a new metric called TrustR, a score which is calculated by looking at consumer responses to the questions "how trustworthy is this brand?" and "would you recommend this brand"? Pampers was the top scorer in the UK, while Amazon took the crown in the US. Eileen Campbell, Global CEO of Millward Brown, said, "The 'TrustR' metric is very relevant in a global economy that is struggling to emerge from a gloomy recessionary period. Consumers are less likely to spend hard-earned money on brands that they don't trust. "In fact, we found that the number one 'TrustR' brand in each of the 22 countries we researched was nearly seven times more likely to be purchased and consumers were 10 times more likely to have formed a strong bond with these brands." Other brands which ranked in the top spot included Nokia – which w

Marketing News: Research : ICM chairman and head of Creston Insight resigns

Nick Sparrow has resigned as chairman of the ICM Research Group, the company he co-founded 21 years ago. His departure comes four years after ICM's sale to marketing services group Creston in a deal worth up to £37m. In a prepared statement sent to Research today, Sparrow said: "In July last year we completed the sale of ICM and it became a fully-owned subsidiary of Creston. I came to the view that a new chapter should open for me as well and hence tendered my resignation." Sparrow is currently signed-off sick. He is set to leave the company officially by early August. Widely known for his political polling work, it is not clear at this stage whether Sparrow will return to work in time to lead ICM's voter research in the run-up to the UK general election, which is due to be held on or before 3 June.

Marketing News: Quaestor, Buckingham Research and Andrew Irving Associates – under a common brand.

Optimisa is looking to put its recent woes behind it and is ready to go to market with a re-engineered research offer, uniting its three previously separate MR agencies – Quaestor, Buckingham Research and Andrew Irving Associates – under a common brand. The integration and rebranding of the agencies as Optimisa Research has been led by Michelle Norman, the former CEO of Synovate UK, whose arrival at the firm in October followed – in the words of chairman Ron Littleboy – "a difficult 12 months". The decision was taken at the height of the group's troubles to delist Optimisa from the AIM stock exchange, so recent results are not publicly available, but in 2008 the group made a £4.5m loss. As a result it had to cut jobs and sell off its overseas businesses. Norman had been out of the research game for almost a year when the Optimisa Research job came into view. Speaking to Research today, she said she was enticed by the prospect of leading a turnaround – something she says she h

Marketing News: Cinema Is Top Youth Valentine's Choice

• 56% of 16-to 24- year-olds say they are likely to go to a movie on Valentine's Day • 51% of those plan to take their girlfriend or boyfriend

Marketing News: New Research : Sales of gift card and voucher products... UKGCVA

Following a turbulent year for the UK economy, the latest sales data from the trade body representing the lucrative gift card and voucher market in the UK, The UKGCVA, offers a more positive outlook as sales of gift cards and vouchers showed growth in Q4 2009 during the sector's busiest period. Compiled as part of The British Retail Consortium's full sales data report on the retail sector, members of The UKGCVA, which include leading high street retailers, department stores, supermarkets, online retailers, B2B agencies and industry service providers, submitted their data for sales of gift card and voucher products to form what is the most authoritative financial overview of the industry today. Overall for Q4 2009, sales of gift cards and vouchers grew by 3.7 per cent with pronounced Christmas sales when compared to the same period in 2008. This growth was largely underpinned by sales to the consumer market, which, alone, grew by 4.1 per cent, comparing favourably with growth of t

Marketing News: Research: New IAB study by Opinion Matters

Almost 90% of brands understand the importance of social media yet struggle to understand its effect on ROI and where it fits into their business. An IAB study, in partnership with Opinion Matters, surveyed 80 senior marketers and found that 88% of brands rate social media as important to their business. A third of advertisers planned to allocate between 6% and 20% of their digital marketing budgets to it this year, compared with just 14% last year.

Marketing News: Research : one in three (30.1%) are considering switching their gas or electricity supplier in the first six months of 2010

As the big freeze spells big bills for Britain's utilities customers, a survey from marketing specialists reveals that almost one in three (30.1%) are considering switching their gas or electricity supplier in the first six months of 2010. The study revealed that almost 40 per cent of consumers (38.6%) do not understand their provider's terms of service and more than a third (34.9%) claim to throw away terms and conditions. Additionally almost one in three (29.6%) consumers say they have not engaged in any communication with their service providers over the past six months. For Kyp, the findings suggest that a lack of understanding and engagement is impacting customer loyalty in the utilities sector. Nicholas Miller, CEO of Kyp said, "Our research distinctly suggests that brands failing to differentiate themselves from rival providers are gambling with customer loyalty.

Marketing News: E Mail Marketing : Return Path's Email Deliverability Benchmark Report

More than one in seven legitimate marketing emails sent in Europe are not being delivered to consumer inboxes, a new study reveals. In the second half of 2009, 15 per cent of European permission-based commercial email either went straight to recipients' spam folders, or weren't delivered at all. The findings come from Return Path's Email Deliverability Benchmark Report, which measured inbox placement rates across North America and Europe . Return Path collected data on the success of more than half a million email campaigns between July and December 2009 to gain the most comprehensive picture of true "delivered" rates. The report also found that inbox placement rates varied significantly between Internet Service Providers (ISPs). For ISPs in the UK , the proportion of messages successfully delivered to the inbox ranged from a high of 98.25 per cent, to barely 75 per cent for the most marketer-unfriendly ISP.

Marketing News: A distinct difference in smoking and drinking habits between managers and professionals

A survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals a distinct difference in smoking and drinking habits between managers and professionals and those in manual jobs. The results are published today in the annual report, Smoking and drinking among adults, 2008 (theGeneral Lifestyle Survey). Adults in households classified as 'managerial and professional' drank more alcohol than 'routine and manual' households – 13.8 units comparedwith 10.6 units as a weekly average. Furthermore, around a fifth (19 per cent) of people in managerial and professional households had analcoholic drink on five or more days in the week before interview. In routine and manual households this was much lower at 11 per cent. In contrast to the drinking figures, smoking was twice as common in households classified as routine and manual (29 per cent of adults smoked cigarettes) as it is in managerial and professional households (14 per cent of adults). The report also reveals that in 20

Marketing News: 58 per cent of people worked through their lunch break at least once a week

Britons spend more than 900million hours every year doing unpaid work, according to a new survey. A poll of 3,000 people found 12 per cent said they worked a minimum of five hours unpaid per week. Almost half (45 per cent) said they took work from the office home at weekends. The OnePoll survey, carried out on behalf of furniture specialist Sharps, also found that 58 per cent of people worked through their lunch break at least once a week and the same percentage said they regularly worked overtime without additional pay. More than a third said they felt their boss did not notice the extra time they put in and one in three found it hard to switch off outside work and to resist checking emails and taking phone calls.

Marketing News: National Readership Survey : two new appointments

The National Readership Survey (NRS), Britain's largest single source of readership information, today announces two new appointments. Craig Houston arrives as head of client services, while Julie Gannon takes on the role of account manager. Houston joins NRS from digital specialist TalentNation, where he was business development director. He has a wealth of experience in the newspaper market having worked at Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd, News International Newspapers and Scotsman Publications. This is Houston's second spell at NRS, having worked for the business during the 1990s. His new role will involve working alongside chief executive Mike Ironside to continue building stronger relationships with the NRS client base and stakeholders. Houston will be responsible for establishing a structured education system designed to reinforce the data's significance and value for media planners and buyers. Gannon was recruited by NRS from her previous role as research proj

Marketing News: Qualitative Fusion using Online and Traditional Tools

SKOPOS launches Kwal™ Unit fusing traditional qualitative offerings and innovative digital/mobile tools SKOPOS continue to remain at the forefront of new research innovations and, to this end, have just launched the Kwal™ Unit with its fusion of traditional methods and innovative online methods… Traditional qualitative approaches offered include focus groups, depths, ethnography, video interviewing, vox pops, m-pops and more. These techniques help us to delve deeper and augment the final reporting stage to bring the research to life. Example: Vox Pops To help augment our traditional methods, SKOPOS also employs some exciting new digital tools, such as…

Marketing News: For the best thinking the world has to offer about qualitative research...

The Worldwide Conference on Qualitative Research showcases the best thinking and practice of qualitative market researches from around the world. This prestigious biennial event is co-sponsored by the worlds leading professional associations for qualitative research – the Association for Qualitative Research (aqr.org.uk) and the Qualitative Research Consultants Association (qrca.org). The 2010 conference is all about Inspiration In Action how and why qualitative research can go beyond information and insights to inspire decisions and actions that make a difference.

Marketing News: G2 United Kingdom : Cillit Bang has been voted the most disliked brand name

Cillit Bang has been voted the most disliked brand name according to a poll of UK consumers by G2 United Kingdom, one of the UK's leading integrated marketing agencies. Interestingly, since its launch in 2005, Cillit Bang has proved to be a successful product for household goods giant Reckitt Benckiser which now considers it a 'power brand'. Analysing the survey results, G2 UK says that while a brand name is important to build brand equity, a full communications strategy is needed to convey the product's benefits to consumers. Meanwhile, the 25- to 34-year-old age group emerged as the most cynical towards an entire shopping list of brand names. This demographic had the most above-average responses towards the household names in a survey of more than 2,000 people carried out by YouGov on behalf of G2 UK.

Marketing News: Research Magazine Awards 2009 – the winners

Flamingo took home the best agency award this year, beating off competition from The Big Picture Market Research, Comres, Conquest Research, Munro Global and Sense Worldwide. The agency last won the award, jointly with FreshMinds, in 2006. The best new agency award went to Razor Research, while Hall & Partners Europe was named best place to work. The business transformation award went to eDigitalResearch and New Look, and the research breakthrough award went to Starcom MediaVest Group for its SpaceID segmentation tool.

Marketing News: Traditional direct marketing more likely to drive new customer web traffic than online

Pitney Bowes consumer survey reveals that UK marketers need to combine offline marketing with e-commerce for best results More than twice as many UK consumers say traditional direct marketing is more likely than digital marketing to encourage them to go to a website and seriously consider a purchase from a company for the first time, a new poll from messaging specialist Pitney Bowes reveals. The survey reveals that 60% of the respondents believe offline marketing, in the form of addressed mail or direct response advertising, is most likely to get them to visit the website of a company they have not bought from before with the intention of buying a product or service. Only 24% of the consumers surveyed said that a marketing message delivered through digital media such as email, a sponsored web link, or an ad on a social networking website would drive them to a company site with a first-time purchase in mind.

Marketing News: MIDDLE ENGLAND SHUNS 'BIG FOUR' FOLLOWING FINANCIAL CRISIS

England's middle classes are turning their backs on large retail banks in favour of regional banks and building societies, new research reveals today. The consumer survey conducted by G2 United Kingdom (formerly Joshua G2) is part of the brand response agency's wider report "Searching for Middle England", which investigates the validity of current stereotypes surrounding this powerful socio-economic group ahead of next year's General Election.

Marketing News: The Chartered Institute of Marketing's Marketing Trends Survey Autumn 2009, conducted by Ipsos MORI

The Chartered Institute of Marketing's latest Marketing Trends Survey (Autumn 2009) reveals that marketers, UK-wide, continue to be quietly confident about the prospects for the UK economy over the next 12 months. The picture emerging from this ninth wave of Marketing Trends Survey, conducted for the Institute by Ipsos MORI, is that optimism has recovered strongly since the low point of last year's survey, and the first signs of optimism already seen in the previous wave six months ago appear to have been consolidated. The more positive outlook is backed up by the financial conditions of the companies surveyed, which have improved compared to the previous wave: sales performances are up, marketing spend is up, redundancies are going down. However, those figures are far from where they were before the economic crisis. It seems that the recession has left many companies weaker and any recovery is proving slow and difficult, with many still struggling. Commenting on the findings,

Marketing News: The British public are planning a thrifty Christmas and start to 2010 even though they think the worst is behind them

Despite an upswing in confidence British consumers are planning a cautious and thrifty Christmas, as an improved outlook for the economy has failed to translate into an increase in spending. These are key findings from the latest Crunchonomics study, by media consultants Arena BLM, which this quarter measures retail and shopping habits in the recession. Crunchonomics segments consumers into five groups, based on their lifestage and financial security. Groups that have seen the most significant changes in the past three months are "Insecure Families," who are struggling the most, while "Young Independents" feel more financially secure and are attempting to spend Britain out of the recession.

Marketing News: Universities must embrace digital age urges Sapient

Universities must do more to keep up with developments online, particularly given the rise in popularity of social networking, according to a new report from Sapient. The report, published today, suggests today's students are 'digital natives', used to a world of online social networking but argues many universities are yet to adapt to these changes and embrace new technologies to enhance the student experience.

Marketing News: TORA : Research shows how important packaging is in driving sales

It's your on-shelf brand awareness tool and sales generator and as such, it has to compete with 40,000 other products for space in the consumers' basket. This Christmas Cadbury's have even broken with 70 years of tradition by swapping the traditional tin of Christmas chocolates and replacing it with a new greener square cardboard box. Changing your pack design has also been shown to significantly increase sales by up to 30%, worth the same as spending £1.8m in advertising every year. With Government targets continually striving to minimise packaging and reduce packaging waste, now is the time to review the green credentials of your brand's packaging. According to the government agency WRAP (www.wrap.org.uk) six million tonnes of household packaging waste are dumped every year with 70% from grocery and if you want to make consumers feel green at Christmas its worth thinking about the following statistics:

Marketing News: Cyberbullying: Providing parents greater messaging control of their children's mobile phone

• 93% of parents would like to have more 'parental control' over the mobile messaging behaviour of their children. • Over half of parents (58%) would be more willing to allow their child to have a mobile phone if the operator were to enable 'parental control' features. • 83% of people that experience mobile cyberbullying would like to be able to prevent the receipt of unwanted text and multimedia messages.

Marketing News: Sample Answers The Benefits of Cost Efficient Sampling and the Dangers of Non Representative Samples

There is widespread concern within the Market Research industry of an erosion of standards leading to a reduction in quality and in some cases, misleading results. Thus the objective of the Seminar is to re-enforce the fact that cost efficient sampling is at the heart of delivering outstanding market research at a reasonable price. Six eminent speakers will cover the complete territory of face to face, telephone, postal and online research whilst reviewing the issues of sampling various groups of consumers, businessmen and professionals.

Marketing News: "Wales has done a great job in nurturing its growing contact centre industry

Wales has come top in the UK regional rankings in this year's UK Contact Centre Decision-Makers' Guide which studies the performance, operations, technology and HR aspects of all UK contact centre operations. The guide is written by analyst firm ContactBabel, and is said to be the largest and most comprehensive study available of all aspects of the UK contact centre industry. The report covers all elements of customer contact such as quality, customer satisfaction, salaries, staff attrition and absence, technology, multimedia, cost savings and strategy. The contact centre industry in Wales is worth around £29million a year and employs around 24,000 people across 29 towns and cities.

Marketing News: The Oxford Research Agency : Unique Multi-Country Concept and Packaging Insight, Concept Potential Measure

The Oxford Research Agency has developed unique methodologies for single and multi-country online Packaging and Concept research. As part of our holistic Packaging research methodology, we have recently launched a uniquely interactive online 3D rotating pack module which provides true-to-life detailed evaluation of new Packaging designs. Add to this our high specification shelf display evaluation, brand equity and communications sections plus the utilisation of our Volumetric capability, then we believe we have the best approach to Packaging research to ensure your market success.

Marketing News: "Brands know they need to connect with consumers across new media channels, but the brutal fact is few are doing it well,"

-- iCrossing, a global digital marketing agency, today published the results of its first Connected Brands Index, a first-of-its-kind research report which gauges the quality and performance of a brand's presence in networks. Using the Connected Brands Scorecard, a diagnostic tool developed by iCrossing for clients, the Connected Brands Index ranks the Interbrand Best Global Brands against five categories – visible, useful, usable, desirable and engaged – to determine an overall "connectedness" score on a scale of one to 10. The Scorecard consists of more than 65 data points across the five criteria, including presence and consumer engagement across social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube; unique visitors, inbound URLs, and consumer actions on corporate blogs, as well as an extensive review of each brand's website using a standardised review methodology.

Marketing News: FSA Research: 65% of Supermarket Chicken Causes Food Poisoning

Unsettling new research carried out by scientists at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has revealed that two thirds of supermarket chicken is responsible for 400,000 people per year contracting the vicious food poisoning bug campylobacter. The bug was found in 65% of chilled and frozen chickens during research conducted over 2007 and 2008. Affected retailers include Morrisons, Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's and other smaller businesses. Campylobacter is the most prolific strain of food poisoning, and can cause abdominal pains, cramps and diarrhoea. In rare cases it can even be fatal, as eighty cases proved in 2007.

Marketing News: Now is the time to review your brand's packaging

Research shows how important packaging is in driving sales. It's is your on-shelf brand awareness tool and sales generator and as such, it has to compete with 40,000 other products for space in the consumers' basket. Changing your pack design has also been shown to significantly increase sales by up to 30%, worth the same as spending £1.8m in advertising every year. With Government targets continually striving to minimise packaging and reduce packaging waste, now is the time to review your brand's packaging as well as your green credentials. This week's issue of The Grocer focuses on key green issues addressing the industry from reducing packaging waste to reducing carbon emissions. According to the government agency WRAP ( www.wrap.org.uk ) six million tonnes of household packaging waste are dumped every year with 70% from grocery. Figures like these have therefore been one reason as to why manufacturers and retailers are trying to ensure that packaging is now increasingly s

Marketing News: Pitney Bowes Business Insight unveils Quocirca White Paper on the Business Benefits of a Customer Communication Management (CCM) Strategy

Pitney Bowes Business Insight (PBBI), a global provider of location and communication intelligence software, data and services, today releases a new report from primary research and analysis company Quocirca, presenting an authoritative understanding on how a Customer Communication Management (CCM) strategy can help businesses to establish more profitable customer relationships. Sponsored by PBBI, the independent report provides digestible insight into the value of a CCM strategy as a means to enable effective, unified, multi-channel, inbound and outbound customer communications. The report is now available for free download at: http://go.pbinsight.com/quocirca. "Through streamlining the communication process at each customer touch point, a CCM strategy can uncover significant opportunities for realising lower costs, greater operational efficiencies and improved customer experience," said Laurence O'Hagan, Global Portfolio Director for CCM, Pitney Bowes Business Insight.

Marketing News: Verve Launches Down Under

High profile UK-based start-up Verve is already opening its first overseas offices, in Sydney, Australia – and will launch customer advisory panels and online brand communities in Australia and New Zealand. Launched just nine months ago, Verve builds, manages and maintains customer advisory panels and online brand communities. Partner and CEO Andrew Cooper will head up the new business, splitting his time between Sydney and London. In Australia he will be joined by new Verve partner Lamia Lee, who will lead client development for the business; and Charlotte Brady, currently at Verve in London, who takes a community management role.

Marketing News: Building your brand - Is Now The Time For Brands To Put Their Trust Back In The Consumer?

Via FMCGenews...Supermarkets are still finding opportunities to increase promotional space in store but is it now time for brands to focus on their core values rather than leading with endless promotional offers? Is now the time for brands to put their trust back in the consumer? Focussing on the promotional band wagon As highlighted in The Grocer on the 22nd August the total number of promotions was up 5.1% month on month and 14.7% year on year (Assosia 4w /e21 August 2009). Whilst the overall average discount fell from 34.3% in July to 31.8% there still appears to be a trend of pushing brands and sales through promotions. It would seem from these figures that brands are still focussing on following the promotional band wagon and one can assume that this is often via price promotions; but (dependent on the brand) are they selling their brands short and should they not be highlighting to consumers the overall value of their brand? Whilst promotional awareness based around pr

Marketing News: Thinking globally, acting locally : MSW/ insight engineers Communications Research Solutions

New York headquartered, international research group, MSW, previously McCollum Spielman Worldwide, has selected insight engineers, headquartered in the UK, as their new brand and communications partner for the UK. Peter Klein, President/ CEO, MSW commented: "I am delighted to have established this new relationship with insight engineers, having enjoyed successful working relationships with key senior personnel back in the early 1990's. Jeff Deighton, Managing Partner, insight engineers,(pictured) added: "Most clients are asking for grounded insights on how to engage consumers and how to make communications pay in changing times. It is very exciting for us and our clients that insight engineers now has a proven set of approaches, & benchmark metrics, available for experienced & sensitive use in Europe.

Marketing News: Supermarkets which do offer regional and local products often fail to identify them clearly enough

A new report by food and beverage research company Adsearch details how manufacturers and retailers are missing out on a real opportunity to sell more regional and local food and drink to consumers. The Regional & Local Food & Drink Report underlines the massive consumer interest in local and regional products (65% want to buy local and regional products to support the local economy, 53% to support small scale production and 51% to get fresh quality flavours) and examines a number of factors, including merchandising, availability and price points for the products, as well as consumer definitions of local and regional. Consumers expressed strong desires to buy local and regional produce, with red meat, vegetables and poultry featuring prominently, as well as preserves, ales, ciders and fish.

Marketing News: BRITONS SWAP COSTA DEL SOL FOR CARAVANS

With the summer bank holiday fast approaching, Britain's leisure industry looks set for a welcome financial boost. With the summer bank holiday fast approaching, Britain's leisure industry looks set for a welcome financial boost as new research suggets that the public will spend the extended weekend hitting campsites and caravan parks across the country. A study by local business search company Thomson Local has looked at search trends relating to the holiday and leisure industry over the past 12 months and found a huge 448% increase in searches for Caravan Parks along with a 447% increase in searches for Motorhomes.

Marketing News: Marketest : Starting a business? Launching a new product? Test the market first

With these uncertain times, it is now clear that researching a business' market has never been more important. If you're starting a new business or launching a new product you should always test the market to see if there are customers willing to pay for whatever you're planning to offer and to refine your views of the characteristics of your target market. Market research will help you to determine: · whether you are providing something that is wanted · how much your customers would be prepared to pay · where and how would they prefer to buy · who is most likely to buy from you.

Marketing News: Ciao Research : One in three Brits has decided to save money by cutting back on their smoking habits

International research released today by Ciao, Europe's leading comparison shopping community, has revealed new insight into the impact of the recession on people across Europe – highlighting key differences in the responses from each country.

Marketing News: UK active panelist population in Cint Panel Exchange rises from 30,000 to 200,000 panelists

The last four months has seen the UK active panelist population in Cint Panel Exchange rise from 30,000 to 200,000 panelists. New panels joining Cint's global platform include the Habbo UK teens panel, plus Panelbase.net, Zussi, Crowdology, OTX and Sample Answers, all consumer panels from online research agencies. Richard Thornton, Managing Director of Cint UK, commented "Cint's growing presence in the UK market and attractive platform for managing panels in a controlled environment is providing panel owners with a new opportunity to operate efficiently in a highly competitive marketplace. Cint's platform not only eliminates panel management fees, it also creates a new source of revenue for panel owners in addition to their existing operations".

Marketing News: Gartner expects operators to subsidise forthcoming e-book readers and netbooks more heavily in the second half

Smart phone makers sold 27 percent more units in the second quarter as overall global mobile-phone sales fell 6.1 percent, researcher Gartner Inc. reported. Both Apple and Nokia gained smart phone market share over the first quarter as they introduced new devices, market-research company said. Apple quadrupled its share in smart phones to 13.3 percent from 2.8 percent a year earlier. Prices fell on cheaper devices as users continued to either trade up or down when replacing their phones. "From a value perspective, we're not out of the woods," Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner, said in an interview. "Although the consumer might be buying a little bit more, they're still very, very careful about how much they spend when they do buy a device, so the pressure on selling prices and margins is still there."

Marketing News: NEW RESEARCH FROM VALASSIS FINDS THAT WEALTHY AB SHOPPERS ARE SEEKING OUT PROMOTIONS TO CUT COSTS

-Promotional responsiveness of shoppers highlights how the recession is tightening its grip across all social classes Key findings: One in three consumers are looking for promotional offers more than they were a year ago 77% say they have used a coupon for supermarket shopping 34% of AB shoppers are stocking up on products on promotion 29% of AB shoppers buy more store branded goods rather than mainstream brands 15% of AB consumers are shopping at discount supermarkets The research found that 31% of consumers across all social classes are looking for promotional offers more than they were a year ago.

Marketing News: Gartner, Sitecore, Web Content Management, Magic Quadrant Report

Sitecore, the leading provider of .NET Web Content Management System (CMS) software, today announced that the company was evaluated and positioned in the Visionaries quadrant of the recent Gartner report, "Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management."1 The report evaluated numerous Web content management (WCM) vendors based on a rigorous set of criteria that includes completeness of vision and ability to execute. Among the other criteria used for evaluation were innovation, market understanding, marketing and sales strategy, product strategy, and business model.

Marketing News: Footwearetc.com now personalizes almost every e-mail it sends.

E-mails using images from site search drive 300% rise in sales at retailer A new program from site search vendor SLI Systems Inc. and e-mail services vendor ExactTarget has shown Footwearetc.com a whole new way to drive value out of site search—by using it to personalize customer e-mails. In a split A/B test, the personalized e-mails produced a 250% increase in open rates, a 400% increase in click-throughs, a 300% increase in sales and a 200% increase in revenue per visit compared with non-personalized e-mail, the retailer says.

Marketing News: Tealeaf CX Solutions will help increase conversions on www.moneysupermarket.com and www.travelsupermarket.com

moneysupermarket.com, the UK's leading price comparison website, has deployed Tealeaf's customer experience management software on its two websites www.moneysupermarket.com and www.travelsupermarket.com. Tealeaf's CX Solutions will give the two price comparison brands unparalleled visibility into what each and every online visitor is seeing and doing in real-time. moneysupermarket.com will then use this comprehensive dataset to increase site conversions by identifying and fixing friction points, quantifying business impact and improving usability.

Marketing News: comScore :the workplace accounted for 35 per cent of total e-commerce spending and 36 per cent of online retail transactions

More than one-third of internet shopping in the UK is done by people at work, new research has suggested. According to comScore, which provides information and analysis for internet marketing services, in the five months up to the end of May the workplace accounted for 35 per cent of total e-commerce spending and 36 per cent of online retail transactions. In addition, 26 per cent of visits to and time spent on internet shopping websites were generated by this segment, as well as 25 per cent of page views.

Marketing News: Cint : There seems to be a real debate starting about the validity of DIY research

Do it Yourself research is nothing new, at least it isn't the new kid on the block that some may be led to believe. What is different is that finally there seems to be a real debate starting about the validity of DIY research and whether there is a place for such tools that enable it. Only this month, the Research Magazine's cover story addressed this topic in an interesting article by Tim Phillips and we have seen at industry conferences this year the topic raise its head as the industry tries to understand what implications DIY tools have on the more traditional methods of conducting research.