Trends

This Week in Research {twir]

Written by:

Michael Hess

October 23, 2025

13 minute listen

Welcome to twir — the weekly show delivering AI-powered summaries of market research news and insights. Each week, we scan and ingest media from top blogs, podcasts, articles, and reports, distilling the key trends shaping the industry. Best of all, twir episodes learn and get smarter over time, building a POV on an archive of past news and trends. Curious how twir gets made? Watch themaking‑of video and grab the twir prompt templateto build your own edition. Please note: twir is an AI-generated industry round up and can sometimes make mistakes.

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Episode Summary: AI, Innovation, and Market Research Trends (October 17 – 23, 2025)

AI and Tech Innovations in Market Research

Toluna expands synthetic personas globally. Toluna extended availability of its synthetic respondent personas to 15 markets (adding Spain, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand) and nine languages, built from first‑party community data on Toluna Start.
Touchstone Research debuts a gen‑AI UX research practice. New offer targets how users interact with AI products using methods like prompt‑flow analysis, longitudinal in‑context studies, and quant validation.
iMotions integrates Neurable’s EEG for ‘in‑the‑wild’ neuroscience. The integration supports brain‑activity measurement in natural settings (e.g., in‑car, training) to study focus, fatigue, and engagement.
Guideline ships an AI agent for ad spend & pricing intelligence. A conversational interface embedded in Guideline’s platform returns answers as text, charts, and diagnostic comparisons.
MFour adds full‑funnel OOH attribution. New add‑on links verified exposure to app installs, web actions, and in‑store visits alongside brand‑lift in one view.
Auxia upgrades its agentic customer‑journey platform. The firm announced an AI‑based redesign aimed at unifying design, optimization, and analytics of customer journeys.

B2B Market Research Developments

Northsea raises pre‑seed to accelerate AI‑native research. Amsterdam‑based Northsea closed €660k to double headcount and scale its AI research assistant for consultants/investors—automating design, sourcing, collection, and analysis.
Reward builds out commerce‑media intelligence. Alongside hiring a new insight sales director, Reward highlighted its DemandInsight real‑time performance dashboard and RewardIQ customer‑intelligence solution (with Affinity Solutions).

Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions

Mod Op acquires Ascend Marketing. Adds ABM, journey mapping, and intent‑data capabilities to an end‑to‑end B2B offer; Ascend leaders move into EVP roles.
Samba TV joins ANA’s Aquila cross‑media measurement. Streaming‑viewership data will feed Aquila’s CMM framework to address cross‑platform reach gaps.
Stagwell invests in RealClear Holdings (35% stake). Expands owned‑media/polling capabilities tied to Harris Poll/HarrisX; part of a broader “Future of News” initiative.

Industry Leadership & Organizational Changes

Melanie Courtright moves to Sago as Chief Strategy Officer. The Insights Association CEO joins Sago on Nov 3; will remain IA Board ex‑officio to support transition.
Kantar appoints Alvin Bowles Jr. (CCO) and Ty Ahmad‑Taylor (CPO). Hires aim to accelerate AI‑native marketing capabilities under CEO Paul Zwillenberg.
Iterable names new CPO & CMO. Ex‑Tableau CTO Nick Beil (CPO) and former SurveyMonkey marketing head Priya Gill (CMO) step in to drive AI‑powered CX growth.
STRAT7 elevates Pranay Jeyachandran to Group MD. Internal promotion consolidates leadership across group brands.
Emporia Research grows client solutions org with Anna Rodgers, Manuel Carlo, Max Mohey and Aiva Chapa.

Expert Insights & Thought Leadership

Quirk’s: Understanding varying perceptions of AI across global markets explores adoption vs. trust dynamics shaping usage patterns.
Research Live (Feature): How is AI impacting the future research workforce? on early‑career implications and skills shifts.
Policy watch: The American Statistical Association warns a congressional directive limiting federal survey contact attempts to two would undermine data quality and representativeness.

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briefd: Market Research & Insights (3-27-26)

Market research weekly update for March 20-26, 2026: Qualtrics synthetic panels, quantilope Category Twins, Nielsen leadership changes, and M&A deals.Welcome to briefd: Market Research & Insights – your weekly intelligence briefing on the market research industry. Each week, we scan leading MR publications, blogs, and news sources to surface the developments that matter. Please note, briefd is AI-generated and may occasionally make mistakes. Edition Summary: Market Research & Insights Trends (March 20 – March 26, 2026) AI and Tech Innovations in Market Research Qualtrics Launches Synthetic Consumer Panels for Market Research At X4 2026 in Seattle, Qualtrics announced synthetic consumer panels for U.S. audiences that simulate how consumers respond to research questions. The capability enables companies to test product ideas and marketing messages more quickly than traditional methods, with expansion to UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand planned for the first half of 2026. quantilope Debuts Category Twins Synthetic Research Product The insights firm launched Category Twins on March 17, building AI replicas of specific audiences for early-stage research from clients' own brand health data. The synthetic data solution uses metrics from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute and automatically updates with each new tracking wave, allowing brands to instantly create twins for different segments. Kantar Partners with Quilt.AI to Co-Develop Innovation Tool Kantar announced a strategic partnership with Quilt.AI on March 18, including a non-equity financial commitment to co-develop joint offers. The first product from the alliance is EvaluateExplorer, a new innovation tool combining both companies' capabilities. Zeta Global Launches Superintelligent Agent Athena Marketing platform Zeta Global made its superintelligent agent for enterprise teams generally available on March 25. Athena converts enterprise data into predictive answers for CMO-level users, powered by advanced OpenAI models and backed by Zeta's proprietary database. B2B Market Research Developments Basis Global Partners with AnswerRocket on AI-Driven Research London-based brand intelligence and market research firm Basis Global announced a partnership with solutions consultancy AnswerRocket. The collaboration promises to use AI to improve how market research is done rather than replace traditional methods. Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions Smartly Acquires INCRMNTAL for Real-Time Marketing Measurement New York-based ad tech company Smartly agreed to acquire INCRMNTAL on March 17, an AI-powered platform providing real-time insights into incremental impact of cross-channel marketing investments. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the deal brings together campaign optimization and always-on measurement capabilities. Accord Marketing Acquires London Insights Consultancy Acacia Avenue London-based insights consultancy Acacia Avenue was acquired by Accord Marketing on March 11. Acacia Avenue, founded in 2002, provides full service qualitative and quantitative research for clients across Europe and North America, and will continue operating with its existing team while gaining access to Accord's infrastructure and resources. Ipsos Acquires Seventh Decimal for Out-of-Home Measurement Ipsos announced the acquisition of Seventh Decimal on January 27, a research technology company specializing in Out-Of-Home audience measurement. Established in 2019 and headquartered in the UAE, Seventh Decimal will benefit from Ipsos resources to scale its operations. Barcelona Startup Uxia Raises EUR 1 Million in Pre-Seed Funding Barcelona-based Uxia, which automates user testing with AI-generated synthetic users, announced a pre-seed funding round of around EUR 1 million. The funds will fuel product development, talent acquisition and international expansion for the B2B research technology platform. Industry Leadership & Organizational Changes Nielsen Names Three Senior Leaders Supporting Key Client Segments Nielsen announced three strategic senior appointments on March 24. Seth Ladetsky was named Head of Global Sports, Trevor Fellows will lead advertiser and agency relationships, and Matt Devitt will oversee national publisher accounts. All three report to Amilcar Perez, Chief Revenue Officer. Ipsos Appoints Alexandre Boissy as Deputy CEO Ipsos announced on March 24 the appointment of Alexandre Boissy as Deputy Chief Executive Officer, effective April 7. Based in Paris and reporting to CEO Jean Laurent Poitou, Boissy will oversee Operations, General Secretariat, Legal, and Corporate Communications globally. He brings over twenty years of executive experience from the Air France-KLM Group. Kantar Appoints David Gompel as UK Executive Managing Director Kantar appointed former Valtech leader David Gompel as Executive Managing Director in the UK on March 10. Gompel brings over 25 years of experience in digital transformation, data and marketing, having most recently served as CEO Europe at digital consultancy Valtech. Rodeo13 Appoints Four Non-Executive Directors to New Board Marketing consultancy for the insight sector Rodeo13 appointed four Non-Executive Directors to a new Board on March 16: Nikki Lavoie, Shazia Ginai, Paul Griffiths and Steve Henke. The establishment of the Board reflects the company's commitment to diversity of thought and ensures operations keep up with rapid growth. Ipsos Appoints Nathan Brumby as Chief Platforms and Technology Officer Ipsos announced the appointment of Nathan Brumby as Chief Platforms and Technology Officer on February 23, effective February 16. The appointment signals the company's continued investment in technology infrastructure and platforms to support its global market research operations. Expert Insights & Thought Leadership Quirk's Dallas 2026 Highlights Industry Focus on Speed and AI The Quirk's Event Dallas 2026, held March 10-11, confirmed that agility was the word of the show as brands face pressure to make decisions with less time and smaller teams. Digital twins emerged as one of the buzziest topics, with brands using AI-built personas to simulate consumer behavior and test decisions quickly. ESOMAR LATAM 2026 Conference Held in Rio de Janeiro ESOMAR LATAM 2026 took place March 22-24 in Rio de Janeiro under the theme Floresça, focusing on growing ideas, inspiring connections and shaping thriving markets. ESOMAR partnered with Globo, the largest media company in Latin America, for content collaboration and visibility around the event. Quirk's Virtual Event Explores The Changing Consumer Quirk's Media hosted Quirk's Virtual – The Changing Consumer on March 25, featuring sessions on insights playbooks for strategic decision-making and how TikTok and EyeSee are exploring shifts in consumer behavior and the creator economy's role in turning cultural signals into commercial outcomes. Industry Debate Intensifies on Synthetic Data in Market Research Qualtrics research shows 62% of market researchers have already used synthetic data, and 71% believe it will constitute the majority of research within three years. The synthetic data market is projected to grow from $1.8 billion in 2024 to $8.2 billion by 2029, with industry bodies like ESOMAR and MRS expected to publish validation frameworks within two years.

March 27, 2026

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The Great Consolidation in Market Research

A decade of mergers, acquisitions, and private equity deals that reshaped the global market research industry — from billion-dollar platform plays to quiet tuck-ins that redrew the competitive map.

March 23, 2026

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This Week in Research {twir}

This Week in Research (March 13–19, 2026): IQVIA and NVIDIA launch agentic AI platform, Kantar partners with Quilt.AI on EvaluateExplorer, Smartly acquires INCRMNTAL, Publicis buys AdgeAI, Comscore reports flat 2025 revenue, Nielsen cuts ad tracking in 137 markets, Basis Global and AnswerRocket form AI partnership, plus leadership moves at Omdia, Angus Reid, dentsu, and more market research industry news.

March 20, 2026

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