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.
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Episode Summary: AI, Innovation, and Market Research Trends (August 1 – August 7, 2025)
AI and Tech Innovations in Market Research
- Rival Technologies Enhances Conversational Research Platform: Vancouver-based Rival Tech unveiled upgrades including AI-driven mobile surveys and a proprietary “Thoughtfulness Score” to gauge open-ended response quality. New Unstructured Data and Authoring AI tools help researchers recruit, engage and analyze insights faster, integrating quant, qual and video feedback in one platform. CEO Andrew Reid says the updates focus on “practical innovation” – speeding recruitment, adding channels like WhatsApp, and using AI to save researchers time without losing the human touch.
- Pureprofile Launches Synthetic Respondents for Message Testing: Australia’s Pureprofile rolled out a Message Testing solution that uses AI-generated personas to simulate survey respondents. The synthetic audiences, derived from panel data via a “PersonaPanels” engine, mirror real consumer behavior and preferences, enabling instant creative feedback. Global Head of Innovation Young Ham calls it a breakthrough letting brands “test, learn and adapt in real-time” without traditional research bottlenecks. The firm has recently launched other AI tools (conversational surveys, social sentiment analysis) to help marketers iterate rapidly.
- Qualtrics & PureSpectrum Expand AI-Powered Panels: Experience management giant Qualtrics deepened its partnership with PureSpectrum to integrate synthetic sample into Qualtrics’ platform. PureSpectrum’s AI model generates realistic survey responses, promising to cut fieldwork costs by up to 50%. Under the exclusive deal, Qualtrics clients can tap Edge Audiences – flexible panels blending real and AI respondents – already used by firms like Booking.com. Leaders say this provides a “trusted AI-generated” source of insights to complement traditional data, reflecting a surge of interest in synthetic data to overcome speed and scalability limits.
- Metaforms Secures $9M to Automate Research Ops: San Francisco startup Metaforms raised a $9M Series A to grow its AI “research co-pilot” platform for agencies. Founded in 2022, Metaforms’ AI agents integrate into market research workflows, automating laborious tasks like survey programming, bad data cleaning, quota management and panel procurement. The funding (led by Peak XV, formerly Sequoia India) will triple the team and expand into voice research and automated report writing. CEO Akshat Tyagi says the goal is to let research teams “spend less time firefighting and more time on work that matters” by offloading grunt work to AI.
B2B Market Research Developments
- Global Grocers Fund Product Data Startup Harmonya: US-based Harmonya, a product analytics and shopper insights platform, received backing from W23 Global – a venture fund of five major grocery chains. The investment (following a prior round led by dunnhumby) will help Harmonya scale its AI solutions that track $500B+ in retail sales and enrich CPG product data in real time. CEO Cem Kent says having retail heavyweights on board will empower more brands and retailers to “move faster and make better decisions” using harmonized, AI-driven product insights.
- AI Health Tech Intelligence Platform Elion Raises $9.3M: In New York, Elion closed an oversubscribed $9.3M seed round to expand its AI-powered research platform for healthcare technology decisions. Elion aggregates data on thousands of health-tech vendors and hospital workflows to guide health systems on purchasing and implementing new solutions. NEA led the round, with Cedars-Sinai’s VC arm among backers. CEO Bobby Guelich says Elion is “reimagining” tech advisory in the generative AI age, as over 60% of US health systems already use its marketplace to navigate a crowded medtech landscape.
- Indian Firm Wins Armenia’s TV Ratings Contract: India’s Inditronics Media signed a 7-year deal to run television audience measurement in Armenia. Kicking off with national TV ratings and ad monitoring, the project will later extend into digital and radio metrics. Inditronics, which tracks viewing behavior of 836 million people across India and beyond, will deploy its tech in Armenian homes and OTT platforms. The Media Industrial Committee of Armenia praised the partnership as a step toward a “fair, competitive” media ecosystem built on transparent data. The win underscores growing South-South collaboration in media research.
- Strategus Unveils Auto Ad “SalesLink” Attribution: Denver-based CTV ad specialist Strategus launched SalesLink for Auto, an attribution tool linking streaming TV ads to car sales. Aimed at automotive marketers, the system matches exposure data from connected TV campaigns to real-world dealership transactions, providing a clear read on ROI. The product addresses a major “last mile” gap by showing which OTT ads directly drive vehicle purchases, helping auto brands optimize their ad spend. Strategus is part of a broader trend of adtech and research firms delivering more closed-loop measurement in connected media.
Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions
- Omnicom–Interpublic $13B Merger Clears UK Hurdle: Britain’s competition regulator gave the green light to the mega-merger of ad holding giants Omnicom and Interpublic. The $13.25B all-stock deal – creating the world’s largest agency group at 100,000+ staff – won UK approval after US regulators okayed it in June with conditions. The CMA opted not to conduct a deeper Phase 2 probe, indicating it sees limited competition concerns in the UK. The combined entity will now forge ahead, though watchdogs will monitor how the merger impacts media buying dynamics globally.
- Kantar Finalizes Sale of Media Division to H.I.G.: Private equity firm H.I.G. Capital completed its acquisition of Kantar Media for roughly $1B. The deal, first agreed in January, spins off Kantar’s audience measurement and analytics arm (4,000 employees, 15% of Kantar’s revenue) as an independent entity under CEO Patrick Béhar. H.I.G. plans to “sharpen strategic focus” and accelerate innovation in the unit. Kantar Media’s new ownership comes after interest from rivals like Ipsos and reflects investor appetite for mission-critical media data businesses with growing AI and cross-media capabilities.
- AI Firm Largo.ai Acquires UK Research Tech QuMind: Switzerland-based Largo.ai, known for AI that predicts film and TV audience reactions, acquired London research platform QuMind. Backed by Sylvester Stallone, Largo recently raised a Series A and is expanding beyond entertainment into marketing insights. QuMind (founded 1999 as Tpoll) brings a suite of DIY quant/qual tools and a panel to the table. The combined offering will allow clients to test content or products using either real consumers or AI-driven “digital twins” of audiences. Largo’s CEO Sami Arpa says the goal is a “seamless, automated ecosystem” blending human creativity with AI’s speed for next-gen product development.
- Nielsen & WPP Partner on Cross-Media Measurement: WPP’s media arm struck a deal with Nielsen to integrate Nielsen ONE audience data into WPP’s Open Media Studio platform. The partnership spans TV, streaming, audio and cross-platform ads, leveraging Nielsen’s panels, big data and ID graph within WPP’s planning tools. WPP Media (formerly GroupM) says the move gives advertisers “a more seamless, interoperable measurement ecosystem,” aligning with clients’ demand for unified campaign insights. Nielsen’s agency lead Matt Devitt adds that such collaborations will “power the future of audience measurement” across channels.
- Odeeo & Claritas Pioneer In-Game Audio Ad Metrics: New York-based Odeeo, which serves audio ads in mobile games, partnered with Claritas to launch an attribution solution for in-game audio advertising. Claritas will apply its identity graph and attribution tech – long used for visual and podcast ads – to Odeeo’s in-game audio inventory. This enables brands to track gamer exposure through to conversion, comparing performance across streaming, podcast, and now in-game audio on one dashboard. The partners are even exploring using Claritas’ AI optimization to auto-tune targeting and creative in real time, as advertisers invest more in the growing gaming audio segment.
Industry Leadership & Organizational Changes
- Ipsos India Names New CEO: Paris-based research giant Ipsos appointed Suresh Ramalingam as CEO of Ipsos India, succeeding veteran Amit Adarkar who led for a decade. Ramalingam, formerly Ipsos’ Chief Client Officer for APEC, brings 25+ years’ experience across Nielsen and Ipsos roles in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Adarkar is stepping down to pursue writing after growing Ipsos India into a top-five market for the firm. Ipsos’ APEC chief Hamish Munro said Ramalingam’s global pedigree and client focus will help India “continue to be a key growth engine” as the business evolves.
- New Chairman for BARC India: Gaurav Banerjee, President of Sony Pictures Networks India, was elected Chairman of India’s TV ratings body BARC. He replaces Shashi Sinha (IPG Mediabrands India CEO), who served for three years during which BARC expanded its panel and data granularity. Banerjee, a media industry veteran and Vice President of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, takes charge as BARC embarks on updates to its Establishment Survey and methodology. Outgoing Chair Sinha welcomed Banerjee’s “unique leadership style” and urged the team to continue innovating to meet the industry’s evolving needs.
- 6sense Hires Trio of C-Suite Executives: B2B intent data platform 6sense added three new leaders: Tim O’Neil as Chief Sales Officer, Amir Ravandoust as Chief Operating Officer, and Raj Gupta as Chief Development Officer. The San Francisco firm, known for its AI-driven “Revenue Intelligence” for sales teams, is bolstering its ranks to support global scaling. CEO Jason Zintak said the hires bring the “precision, speed, and ambition” needed as 6sense aims to “set the standard” in using AI and predictive analytics for revenue growth. The trio come from senior roles at ThoughtSpot, Alteryx, Oracle and more, signaling 6sense’s intent to unify its platform and accelerate innovation.
- Leadership Moves at Research Firms: Sample quality specialist Rep Data promoted two of its leaders to Executive Vice President. Steven Snell becomes EVP of Research, tasked with driving research strategy and data rigor, while Ricky Odello is now EVP of Sales, overseeing strategic growth with clients. The New Orleans-based firm (founded 2019) recently acquired Research Defender to bolster anti-fraud capabilities. Founder Patrick Stokes said Snell is a “champion for quality” and Odello’s client focus has been “key to our growth,” with their expanded roles poised to further Rep Data’s mission of high-quality, efficient insights.
Expert Insights & Thought Leadership
- Insights Association: US Industry Grew 7.6%, Led by Tech: The Insights Association’s latest Market Report shows the U.S. insights and analytics market expanded by 7.6% in 2023 to nearly $80 billion. While solid, growth cooled from the post-Covid boom (14–16% in 2021–22) and hovered around pre-pandemic levels. Notably, ResTech and digital analytics sectors outpaced traditional research, as more budgets shifted to self-serve platforms, enterprise feedback management and AI-enabled data streams. IA CEO Melanie Courtright highlighted the diverging fortunes of “overperforming and underperforming segments,” urging firms to study the data for strategic planning.