Kantar Group
Kantar Group is a global data, insights, and consulting company based in London, England. It was founded in 1992, and has approximately 30,000 employees in over 90 countries working in various research disciplines, including brand guidance, brand strategy, social media monitoring, advertising effectiveness, consumer and shopper behaviour, and public[4] opinion.
Company type
Private limited company
1992 (as the Market Research, Insight and Consultancy division of WPP)
London, England, UK
Market research
Data investment
Management consultancy
Bain Capital (60%)
WPP Group (40%)
Vivvix[3]
Kantar has been majority owned by Bain Capital Private Equity since July 2019, when WPP sold a 60% stake of the company for $3.1 billion, at a valuation of $4.0 billion.[5]
History[edit]
Leadership[edit]
On 24 October 2018 it was announced that the WPP board approved the plans to sell Kantar Group.[6] In Dec 2019, Eric Salama stepped down as the CEO of Kantar Group. Eric Salama has been with Kantar since it was bought by WPP in 1988.[7]
In January 2020, Ian Griffiths (former CFO and COO at ITV) was named Chief Financial Officer[8] of Kantar, while Adam Crozier was appointed chairman.[9] In October 2020, Kantar announced the appointment of Alexis Nasard as chief executive officer, effective 30 December 2020. Nasard subsequently stepped down as CEO of Kantar on 27 April 2021.[10]
In July 2021, Chris Jansen was appointed to replace Alexis Nasard as CEO, effective 1 November 2021.[11]
Former Brands[edit]
Kantar IMRB[edit]
Kantar IMRB (formerly "IMRB International" and "Indian Market Research Bureau") is a multi-country market research, survey and business consultancy firm established in 1970 that offers a range of syndicated data and customized research services. With over 1200 employees, IMRB is one of the largest providers of market research in India in an industry estimated to be worth a minimum of $187 million. As the oldest extant market research company in India, IMRB has been responsible for establishing the first and only household panel, the first television audience measurement system and the first radio panel in the country.[28] IMRB International's specialized areas are consumer markets, industrial marketing, business-to-business marketing, social marketing and rural marketing.
Kantar Millward Brown[edit]
Millward Brown was founded in Leamington Spa, England in 1973 and acquired by WPP Group in 1990. In 2004, WPP backed Millward Brown acquired strategic marketing research and consulting firm, MaPS - Marketing and Planning Systems based at Boston[29] In 2015, the experts from MaPS were moved to Millward Brown Analytics.[30] Kantar Millward Brown, now part of Kantar's Insights Division, is a global research agency specialising in advertising, marketing communications, media and brand equity research. Kantar Millward Brown works across a range of industries and categories, and has a number of specialist practices.
Kantar TNS[edit]
In 2008, Kantar TNS (Taylor Nelson Sofres) was acquired by WPP and included in Kantar. In February 2009, Kantar merged TNS and Research International.[31]
Kantar Vermeer[edit]
In 2014, Millward Brown acquired EffectiveBrands Holding B.V., a marketing strategy consulting firm headquartered in Amsterdam. Millward Brown merged EffectiveBrands with Millward Brown Optimor, its strategy consulting unit, to form Millward Brown Vermeer.
Kantar Health[edit]
Kantar Health (now Kantar's Health Division) provides data, analytics, and research to the life sciences industry. As of December 2020, Cerner announced that it will acquire Kantar Health, acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2021.[34] On 1 April 2021 Cerner completed the acquisition of Kantar's Health Division and has re-branded to Cerner Enviza.[35]
Acquisitions[edit]
British Market Research Bureau Limited – BMRB, which was established in 1933, London, were acquired by the group in 2009 and merged into Kantar Public in 2016.[37] The subsidiary TGI – Target Group Index of BMRB, which was established in 1969, was split and merged into the Kantar Media brand in 2009.[38]
In December 2019, the Kantar Group acquired the market research company Colmar Brunton Australia as part of its acquisition of WPPAUNZ's Data Investment Management division. In February 2020, Colmar Brunton in Australia was fully integrated into Kantar, with the Colmar Brunton brand being retired in Australia.[39] The following year, Kantar acquired Colmar Brunton's New Zealand parent company.[40]
In July 2021, Kantar completed the acquisition of its U.S. based rival Numerator (valued at $1.5 Billion) from Vista Equity Partners, aiming to strengthen its Worldpanel and Advertising Intelligence divisions with US and Canada in focus. The terms of deal were not disclosed.[41][42]
In January 2022, Kantar announced it had acquired MindIT, a spin-out from the University of Bologna that specializes in machine-learning algorithms and AI.[43]
In April 2022, Kantar announced it had acquired the Copenhagen-based marketing measurement and optimization company, Blackwood Seven.[44]
In May 2022, Kantar announced it had acquired Qmee.[45] In August 2022, Kantar announced the acquisition of StepUp RGM to strengthen its existing XTEL division, revenue management solutions provider.[46]
In Jan 2023, Kantar announced the acquisition of Kauza to augment its Worldpanel in the Nordics.[47]