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Episode Summary: AI, Innovation, and Market Research Trends (March 21-27, 2025)
This Week in Research (TWIR): March 21–27, 2025
AI and Tech Innovations in Market Research
- Pulsar (London) launched Narratives AI, described as “the world’s first search engine for public opinion.” It analyzes billions of social and news posts in real time, using AI to identify and quantify emerging narratives.
- Kinetiq (Philadelphia) partnered with DAIVID (London) to integrate AI-driven creative testing (facial coding, eye tracking) into its TV ad intelligence platform.
- Carbon Arc secured $56M funding to launch a real-time insights exchange, converting raw data into structured, AI-ready insights.
- Buynomics raised $30M (Series B) to expand its AI-driven pricing platform globally, advancing its Virtual Shoppers AI technology.
- Lumi AI (Toronto) closed a $3.7M seed round for its conversational analytics platform, enabling instant insights from enterprise data via chat.
- Toluna unified Harris Interactive, GutCheck, and MetrixLab under the Toluna brand, reflecting deep AI integration including synthetic data capabilities.
- Dataminr (New York) raised $85M to develop next-generation generative AI products and expand its real-time event detection platform globally.
B2B Market Research Developments
- Relo Metrics launched Relo Census for Formula One, enabling sponsors to benchmark and optimize sponsorship exposure and ROI during races.
- Sweden’s MMS selected Kantar Media for a cross-platform "Total Video" audience currency, rolling out to a new panel of 2,700 households by 2027.
- parcelLab (Boston) introduced the Post-Purchase Experience (PPX) Institute, a hub for research, best practices, and certification for customer experience professionals.
Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions
- DJS Research joined CoLab, a collaborative initiative by Verve and Basis focusing on improving respondent data quality through shared guidelines and innovative tools.
- ACKWEST Group (Florida) acquired healthcare and sensory research firm J. Reckner Associates, enhancing its "human-verified" data solutions portfolio.
- ResultsCX (Fort Lauderdale) acquired customer experience firm Aucera (DialAmerica), expanding its healthcare, financial, and utilities customer management services.
Industry Leadership & Organizational Changes
- Finn Raben (former Director General, ESOMAR) appointed head of KCC Certification Foundation, succeeding Ed van Eunen.
- Zoë Carter promoted to Managing Director, EMEA at C Space, focusing on regional growth.
- Twentify named Can Kablan Chief Business Officer and Bilge Terzioglu VP of Special Projects, supporting global growth of Quals.ai.
- Zac Pinkham promoted to Senior VP of International at Samba TV, overseeing EMEA and APAC regions.
- Material appointed Oscar Yuan as Chief Strategy & Growth Officer and Laila Worrell as CEO.
- Carrie Parker appointed Chief Marketing Officer at Medallia.
- Meghan Oliver joined IFF Research to lead four divisions including Health and Welfare.
- Philip Brittan named CEO of Bloomfire.
- Dr. Eric Solomon appointed Head of Brand Consulting at Quester.
Expert Insights & Thought Leadership
- GreenBook's Leonard Murphy interviewed Quilt CEO Anurag Banerjee on AI and digital anthropology in market research.
- GreenBook published "Cracking the Code: AI’s Rise and Leadership’s Role in Insights’ Future," urging strategic AI integration.
- Nina Pascual (FrieslandCampina) provided insights into effective Paid, Earned, and Owned media strategies for brand growth.