Research Now Mobile today released Version 3.2 of its industry-leading Research Now Mobile™ platform, featuring its Mobile Access Panel and Relevant Movement™ technology.
 
With its established reputation for high-quality international respondents, Research Now is known as the go-to option for accessing consumers and business decision-makers for survey data. With the launch of Mobile Access Panels, researchers can now also tap into Research Now’s highly regarded mobile panel—available to the U.S. market—while continuing to program their surveys on the platform of their choice and taking advantage of unique native app capabilities and launch mechanisms like geo-location.

“The number of respondents electing to be ‘mobile first’ is increasing by leaps and bounds, with anywhere from 10 percent to 30 percent of initial survey traffic coming from mobile,” said Kurt Knapton, president and chief executive officer of Research Now. “Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for our industry to include mobile respondents in their research studies; assuring results are both balanced and unbiased.”

Through this latest release, clients are able to include everything from mobile-only to a mix of mobile and online sample, with the ability to control the percentage of mobile respondents. Qualified panelists complete each survey through an integrated, in-app window linked to the client’s questionnaire—enabling researchers to gather data from a global network, in real time, in their preferred formats, on their own system.

Also available with this latest release, Research Now Mobile brings its Relevant Movement technology to location-based research. Recent upgrades made to its innovative geo-fencing technology and In-The-Moment survey capabilities allow for clients to engage with consumers’ daily lives in a truly unique way.

Pala Kuppusamy, chief executive officer of Research Now Mobile, also comments on the announcement: “The role that a respondent’s location and movement plays in modern research is growing. In parallel to this evolution, we’ve further enhanced our early geo-fencing technology to empower researchers with the ability to understand the locational attitudes and behaviors of individuals, as well as to map respondents given their permission.”

With the launch of the company’s Relevant Movement technology, research organizations can now:

• Target and engage respondents immediately upon entrance and/or exit of a fenced location.
• Minimize false positives, to help ensure that surveys are sent only to those who have visited a fenced location long enough to qualify for a survey—and not to those who have simply ‘broken the fence.’
• Enhance consumer follow-ups, so that only those who respond within a specified timeframe are qualified to complete a survey upon exiting a fenced location.
• Segment by single or repeat trips within the same fence, to help ensure that respondents only receive one survey invitation within a set amount of time—and not each time they trip that location’s fence.

About Research Now
Research Now, the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back. To find out more or begin a conversation with us, visit www.researchnow.com.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

This paper examines work that has been carried out in support of a single-source methodology in order to understand how, when applied to consumers’ devices, the new research tracking technologies complement and enhance the traditional survey question approach. The aim of this research is to better understand the complex world of multiple devices and how consumers engage with them to establish standards for a research methodology to assess the current multi-channel branding and communication efforts.

Technology has replaced the middleman and created endless opportunities for consumers to search and purchase a product and to interact with brands. For brands, technology has opened up new channels of communication, offering a broad spectrum of targeting capabilities. Displaying the right message to the right person at the right time has, for the last few years, been the mantra of online media companies.

Consumers are now the center of attention and their online lives are no longer a mystery. They can be metered, tracked and cookied with the newest technology, which is transparent, precise and permission-based, with no hidden spyware or pop-ups. Consumers are also no longer “hiding” online or pretending that they are someone else with a higher household income, better car or lifestyle. There are too many benefits to being who you really are online…

Click here to download the full white paper.

Consumer Ailments Panel Provides Access to Over 80,000 Respondents with Autoimmune Related Diseases

Research Now Healthcare, a portfolio company of Research Now, today announced the launch of its Autoimmune Panel, providing a resource for creating a better understanding of the concerns of Americans and Canadians who suffer from autoimmune related diseases.

As a result of the launch, researchers now have access to a targeted audience of over 80,000 deeply-profiled panelists in the U.S. and Canada who have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis or Psoriasis. This is the third market research panel based around therapeutic areas to be launched by the company. Research Now Healthcare also provides deeply-profiled panels consisting of diabetes and arthritis sufferers.

“Data collection on the topic of autoimmune diseases is particularly complex as it covers a broad range of diseases with symptoms that are often misdiagnosed or ignored. This is why an all-inclusive approach to healthcare research with multiple perspectives is crucial,” said Senior Vice President of Global Healthcare Vincent DeRobertis. “With the launch of our Autoimmune Panel, we are able to offer researchers a more holistic solution for gaining a deeper understanding of each of the conditions as they relate to one another.”

To allow for multi-country research projects, Research Now Healthcare plans to launch its Autoimmune Panel in select European markets by the end of 2014. The company’s condition-based healthcare panels also include hard-to-reach physicians, nurses, pharmacists, hospital executives and administrators.

About Research Now
Research Now, the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

This is an abstract from the paper that was submitted and presented at ESOMAR Congress in Istanbul on September 24th, 2013 and was awarded Best Methodological Paper. Copyright on the full paper is held by ESOMAR.

As a result of the widespread availability of online and mobile technologies, online data collection has become the dominant paradigm in developed markets and is rapidly replacing other forms of survey research in emerging markets. More recently, the rapid adoption of smartphones has made market researchers focus their attention on the potential and limitations of this form of data collection.

In survey research, we rely on scales to help understand people’s responses – whether it be to understand how people perceive brands, their various interests, their intentions or their attitudes. Understanding the differences in opinions is central to market research; however, are these differences really significant?

Click here to download the full white paper.

Healthcare professionals are more concerned about pandemics than the public, survey finds

A new Research Now study of 2,000 members of the public and 600 General Practitioners in the U.S. and the U.K. has found discrepancies between what the public think about major health scares and what healthcare professionals think.

The survey asked to what extent participants were concerned and to what extent they had been affected by the following health scares: Swine Flu, BPA (the chemical found in plastic products like bottles), lead paint found on toys, Bird Flu, trans-fats, SARS, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Anthrax, brain tumors caused by mobile phones, the bubonic plague and AIDS.

Ben Hogg, Managing Director of EMEA, Portfolio Companies at Research Now comments on the findings: “The gap between the public’s perceived danger of health scares and that of healthcare professionals shows the importance of investigating the opinions of both parties. Our study found that there is also clearly an opportunity for the media and governments to improve the way they communicate to the general public to ensure an understanding of genuine risk in the future.”

Main findings:

• Inconsistencies exist between physicians and the general public about which health scares are the most concerning
• For the public, trans-fats and BPA are the health scares that have affected their lives the most
• The media is perceived by the public as a better source of information than the governments
• No sign of pandemic ‘fatigue’ or complacency with high numbers of people effected in both countries

There is an inconsistency between physicians and the general public about which health scares are the most concerning. BPA is the top health scare for Americans (39%), followed by trans-fats and lead paint on toys (33% respectively). Bird Flu and lead paint on toys are most concerning among British respondents (32% respectively), followed by Swine Flu (29%).

For American healthcare professionals, lead paint on toys (48%), trans-fats (42%) and Bird Flu (39%) caused the most concern, while Bird Flu, Swine Flu and SARS caused the most concern (43% respectively) for British healthcare professionals.

Taking action against trans-fats and BPA
Unlike the potentially unstoppable threat of Bird Flu, trans-fats and BPA are the scares which are reported to be affecting the public the most because they are the most common, but easy to avoid through simple practices. In the U.S., 84% of respondents reported that their daily life has been somewhat or extremely affected by concerns about trans-fats, and 83% have reported the same about BPA. In the U.K., 71% of the public have been affected by the trans-fats scare and 69% by BPA. When asked about what actions respondents are taking to avoid complications from BPA exposure and trans-fats, in both countries the general public most commonly reported they have stopped reusing plastic bottles and reduced the intake of ‘bad’ fats in their diet. In comparison, the effects of pandemics are relatively low.

Is the gap between public perception and the understanding of healthcare professionals due to media ‘misinformation’?
The study asked about the different attitudes of the general respondents and healthcare professionals towards different sources of information on health scares. Physicians overall showed dissatisfaction with the information provided by the media; only 22% from the U.S. and 17% from the U.K. agreed that the media kept them well informed during health scares. On the other hand, the public were far more satisfied with the information provided by the media; in the U.S., 31% agree and in the U.K. 38% agree that the media kept them well informed regarding the health scares.

One explanation for this gap in attitudes towards the media can be found in the public’s dissatisfaction towards information provided by the government. Only 15% of Americans and 16% of Brits agree that their government kept them well informed during health scares.

Concern about pandemics remains steady: no sign of ‘fatigue’ or complacency
Although three of the pandemics included in the survey occurred  in the last 10 years - 2003 (SARS), 2007 (Bird Flu) and 2009 (Swine Flu) - the survey results (September 2013) show no sign that either the public or healthcare professionals have become ‘tired’ of major health scares, and are therefore less likely to be concerned or take action in the future. 38% of U.S. healthcare professionals reported being very concerned about SARs, 39% about Bird Flu and 37% about Swine Flu. However, concern among the general public in the U.S. is a little lower, with 22% being extremely concerned about SARS, 27% about Bird Flu and 24% about Swine Flu. Concern expressed by healthcare professionals in the U.K. is even more consistent across all three pandemics; with 43% of U.K. healthcare professionals being very concerned about SARS, Bird Flu and Swine Flu. Public concern in the U.K. around these pandemics is at a similar level across all three; with 27% being extremely concerned about SARs, 33% about Bird Flu and 29% about Swine Flu. As concern peaks at the second pandemic (Bird Flu), it is clear that fatigue is not a factor that affects concern.

The affect each of these pandemics has had on the public in the U.S. and the U.K. also remains steady. In the U.S., 75% of respondents reported that their daily routine has been affected by SARS, 77% by Bird Flu, and 76% by Swine Flu. In the U.K., 63% of respondents reported that their daily routine has been affected by SARS, 65% by Bird Flu and 66% by Swine Flu. Both healthcare professionals and the public report taking similar actions during major outbreaks with improved hygiene, such as hand washing, being the action most often taken.

Survey Methodology
Research Now used its “BY-INVITATION-ONLY”™ consumer research panel, its Valued Opinions™ Panel, and its deeply-profiled Healthcare Panel to conduct the online survey among a total of 2,000 members of the general public and 600 General Practitioners – evenly split between U.S. residents and U.K. residents. Quotas were set for age, gender, ethnicity and region to bring them more into line with their actual proportions in the population. The study ran between 14 September and 18 September 2013.

About Research Now
Research Now, the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Download the infographic.

For UK enquiries please contact:
Emily Slee
Keen as Mustard Marketing, Ltd
0207 6220355
emily@mustardmarketing.com

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

HAMBURG – 06. März 2014 – Research Now, der führende Anbieter für rechtssichere, digitale Datenerhebung, hat heute den Start seines Research Now Diabetes Panels in Deutschland bekanntgegeben.

Mit dem neuen Diabetes-Panel ermöglicht Research Now den Zugang zu mehr als 8,500 Panelteilnehmern in Deutschland, bei denen Diabetes vom Typ 1 oder Typ 2, Bluthochdruck oder Adipositas diagnostiziert wurde. So können Marktforscher im Gesundheitswesen für die Feldforschung auf ein aktiv gemanagtes Panel zugreifen, um Antworten auf ihre Forschungsfragen zu erhalten – rechtssicher und zeitnah. Der Start des Diabetes-Panels in Deutschland folgt auf die bisher von Research Now erfolgreich gestarteten Diabetes-Panels in den USA, Kanada und Großbritannien. 

Marc Smaluhn, Managing Director Central Europe bei Research Now, erklärt: „Erkrankungen sind in Bezug auf Ursache und Behandlung mitunter sehr komplex. Hier bietet unser neues Diabetes-Panel die Möglichkeit, Antworten auf allgemeine und insbesondere auf sehr spezifische Forschungsfragen zu erhalten. Aufgrund steigender Kundennachfrage wurde das Diabetes-Panel als erster Schritt in einer Reihe indikationsbasierter Panels aufgebaut. Weitere Spezial-Panels werden in der nächsten Zeit folgen. Wir wollen unseren Kunden zuverlässige Lösungen bieten, die verlässliche Daten liefern, in der von Research Now gewohnt hohen Qualität. Sodass diese die richtigen Unternehmensentscheidungen treffen.

Das Research Now Diabetes Panel ist Bestandteil des Research Now Healthcare Panels, zu dem auch schwer erreichbare Zielgruppen wie Ärzte, Krankenschwestern, Apotheker oder Krankenhausverwalter gehören. Damit bietet Research Now Lösungen für Samples und Datenerhebung für die Marktforschung im deutschen Gesundheitswesen – in Europa, Nord- und Südamerika sowie im asiatisch-pazifischen Raum.

Über Research Now

Research Now ist der weltweit führende Anbieter für rechtssichere, erlaubnisbasierte digitale Datenerhebung in der Marktforschung. Wir ermöglichen Marktforschungsinstituten und Unternehmen weltweit, Meinungen und Einstellungen von Verbrauchern, Business-Entscheidern sowie Patienten und Fachkräften im Gesundheitswesen zuverlässig zu erheben. Unsere leistungsstarken Lösungen zur Datenerfassung in den Bereichen Online, Mobile, digitale Medien und soziale Netzwerke ermöglichen Marktforschungsprojekte in hoher Qualität, mit guten Ausschöpfungsraten und verlässlichen Ergebnissen. Ein erfahrenes Team von Experten steht in Hamburg, München und Frankfurt sowie an mehr als 20 Standorten weltweit als Ansprechpartner und Berater bereit. Research Now pflegt eine sozial verantwortliche Kultur und fördert seine Mitarbeiter, sodass diese ihren Beitrag dazu leisten können. Besuchen Sie www.researchnow.com für mehr Informationen.

Market leaders create the most robust set of psychographic, demographic and behavioral data in mobile

Flurry, the leader in mobile analytics and advertising, and Research Now, the global leader in permission-based, digital data collection, are partnering to improve mobile ad targeting and to better measure the effectiveness of in-app advertising. To do this, the companies have built the most robust panel and behavioral data set on mobile consumers, and will use that data to build new products to help marketers.

Enhanced Flurry Personas for Improved Ad Relevance
Flurry Personas are audience segments built with behavioral data from 150 billion app sessions across 1.3 billion devices each month. Research Now will enhance Flurry Personas with profile and survey-based information about consumers’ brand preference, recent purchases, purchase intent and more. Marketers can choose to enhance any of Flurry’s 40+ “out of the box” Personas with Research Now insights, or work with Flurry to develop Custom Personas for the audience they are trying to reach.

For example, a film marketer can now reach Flurry’s Movie Lover Persona, enhanced with survey data from Research Now that shows intent to go to the movies in the next two weeks. This results in a much more relevant advertisement for end consumers. Then, the companies measure whether the consumers who saw the ad actually went to see the movie.

“Flurry captures trillions of signals coming from smartphones and tablets, and uses that data to deliver relevant ads to consumers on their most personal devices,” said Simon Khalaf, President and CEO of Flurry. “Together, Flurry and Research Now have created a more precise way for marketers to identify high-value consumers, and delight them with an ad that resonates. This is a very powerful data asset, and we are excited to see marketers put it to use.”

ADimension® Mobile for Better Measurement of Mobile Ad Effectiveness
Leveraging Flurry’s advertising platform, Research Now has built the industry-leading measurement and optimization solution, ADimension Mobile, to evaluate in-app advertising effectiveness. Once the target audience has been defined and identified by Flurry, Research Now passively tracks opted-in panelists exposed to in-app advertising campaigns – served via Flurry – and compares them to unexposed groups. By surveying both the exposed and unexposed audiences, Research Now enables clients to analyze and evaluate campaign effectiveness.
 
“We are excited to partner with the market leader in mobile app behavioral data to move this fast growing mobile advertising segment of the market forward,” said Kurt Knapton, President and CEO of Research Now. “In addition to helping with ad relevance, Research Now will have the ability to conduct sophisticated mobile brand lift studies that shed light on how campaigns are performing against advertisers’ KPIs.”

Research Now has built a reputation for delivering the highest quality, hard-to-reach respondents through its proven “By-Invitation-Only”® recruiting model. With research panels in 38 countries spanning the globe, Research Now provides access to over 6.5 million consumers and business professionals worldwide. Flurry, the leader in mobile analytics, sees consumer activity from an average of eight apps per device each month, or about 30% of all app sessions worldwide.

Marketers and agencies interested in using Flurry Personas enhanced with Research Now data can email sales@flurry.com for more information.

Researchers and agencies interested in using Research Now’s ADimension Mobile methodology leveraging Flurry’s platform can email DigitalUS@researchnow.com for more information.

About Flurry
Flurry is optimizing the mobile experience for developers, marketers and consumers.  Flurry’s market-leading analytics product sees activity from more than 450,000 smartphone and tablet apps on over 1.3 billion devices worldwide, giving the company the deepest understanding of mobile consumer behavior. Flurry has turned this knowledge into accelerated revenue and growth opportunities for app developers, and an effective, measurable advertising channel for marketers to engage their audiences on mobile devices. Flurry has raised over $60 million in venture funding and has offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Chicago and Mumbai. For more information, please visit www.Flurry.com.

About Research Now
Research Now, the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations – Research Now
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Hillary Murphy
Director, Public Relations – Flurry
+1 415 309 5061
press@flurry.com

This is an abstract from the paper that was presented at ESOMAR Congress in Istanbul on September 24th, 2013 and was awarded best methodological paper. Copyright on the full paper is held by ESOMAR.

As a result of the widespread availability of online and mobile technologies, online data collection has become the dominant paradigm in developed markets and is rapidly replacing other forms of survey research in emerging markets. More recently, the rapid adoption of smartphones has made market researchers focus their attention on the potential and limitations of this form of data collection.

In survey research, we rely on scales to help understand people’s responses – whether it be to understand how people perceive brands, their various interests, their intentions, or their attitudes. Understanding the differences in opinions is central to market research; however, are these differences really significant?

Click here to download the full white paper.

Co-founder of BlueKai, former Sr. Director at Yahoo! and CTO at Extole joins Research Now’s executive team

Research Now, the global leader in permission-based, digital data collection, today announced the appointment of Chief Technology Officer Michael Bigby. In this role, Bigby will lead Research Now’s global technology team, driving major technology-enabled initiatives as part of the company’s advancing business model.

With nearly two decades of software development and management experience in both startups and large companies, Bigby brings a great deal of knowledge and expertise to the organization. Most recently, he served as Chief Technology Officer at referral marketing startup Extole. In this role, he rebuilt the engineering organization and product offering, in addition to serving as interim Chief Executive Officer.

Previous to this, Bigby served as co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at BlueKai, the world’s first complete enterprise data activation system for intelligent marketing and the largest marketplace for intent data on the web. BlueKai was recently acquired by Oracle as a key element to their Marketing Cloud. Bigby also held multiple senior roles at Redpoint Ventures, Yahoo! and Broadcast.com.

As part of Research Now’s Executive Leadership team, Bigby will report to President and Chief Executive Officer Kurt Knapton, who commented on the appointment: “Mike’s proven experience in assembling world-class engineering teams and building high-performance software will be transformative for Research Now and our quickly-evolving industry. I am excited to have someone of his caliber and vision on our global team.”

Bigby is a native of Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. Bigby will be relocating, with his family, from Silicon Valley to the company’s global headquarters in Plano, Texas.

About Research Now
Research Now, the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Research Now, the global leader in permission-based, digital data collection, today announced that John Rothwell has been named the new Managing Director, Americas after Craig Stevens has decided to leave the business to pursue new opportunities.

Stevens, who is leaving after a decade of service, will remain with the company through the end of June. Commenting on his departure, Stevens said, “Research Now is a special company with exceptional leadership and talented, passionate employees in all areas of the business. With the company performing better than ever, and after 10 years of service, I feel the time is right for me to explore new opportunities with full confidence that Research Now will continue to flourish.”

President and CEO Kurt Knapton commented: “Craig has contributed tremendously to our organization’s growth and success, for which we are very grateful. When Craig joined in 2004 as a Senior Sales Director, our upstart company’s annual revenue was approximately $6 million. Today, as the industry leader, our weekly revenue exceeds that mark.”

Effective immediately, John Rothwell takes over the position of Managing Director, Americas, responsible for the company’s growth and profitability in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Already a key senior executive at Research Now who oversees the Research Now Technologies division and global Supply organization, Rothwell is well-grounded in the history of the company, having joined as the first employee of then e-Rewards, Inc. in 1999.

Knapton continued: “I have worked closely with John in multiple capacities over the past twenty years. John’s early success in growing the business was extraordinary, and his energy, passion for innovation, and understanding of our company make him an outstanding fit for this expanded role. With the momentum we are seeing in our organization, I expect a smooth transition as Craig hands the baton to John.”

About Research Now
Research Now, the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Former SVP at uSamp and Sr. Director at Hilton Hotels Corp. to Oversee Americas Marketing Function

Research Now, the global leader in permission-based, digital data collection, today announced the appointment of Ed Russo to Senior Vice President of Marketing for the Americas. Assuming his new position, Russo will play an integral role in the planning, organizing and management of all marketing functions in the Americas.

Russo brings with him nearly 15 years of brand management and marketing experience in the market research industry, as well as the hospitality industry. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at uSamp, where he launched the brand and created the overall marketing strategy for its offerings worldwide.

Previous to this, Russo served in multiple roles – first as Regional Finance and Operations Analyst, and then as Senior Director of Brand Management – for Hilton Hotels Corp., where he helped launch the luxury brand of hotels based on the legendary Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. Russo started his professional career on Wall Street as an analyst at stock brokerage and asset management firm Paine Webber Inc. (now part of UBS), and later at wealth management firm J.B. Hanauer & Co.

In his new role, Russo will report to Managing Director of Americas John Rothwell, who commented on the appointment: “Ed’s proven track record in successfully launching two corporate brands and delivering the brand promise will be transformative for Research Now as we continue to build upon a consistent brand execution and marketing message for our clients. I am pleased to welcome his enthusiasm and talent to our team.”

Russo graduated from Hofstra University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in banking and finance. He will be based at the company’s global headquarters in Plano, Texas.

About Research Now
Research Now, the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Former Research Director at Texas Instruments, Inc. to lead Corporate, Strategy and Healthcare Divisions

Research Now, the global leader in permission-based, digital data collection, today announced the appointment of Michael Ryan-Todd as Vice President of Client Services. In this role, Ryan-Todd will be responsible for overseeing market research client service groups in North America for the Corporate, Strategy and Healthcare sectors.

Ryan-Todd has over 15 years of market research and analysis experience including both qualitative and quantitative research work. He started his career at IMS Health, where he served as Senior Marketing Research Analyst and supported market research functions at major pharmaceutical manufacturers. He also served in multiple management and senior management roles at Geneva Pharmaceuticals, Coors Brewing Company, Abbot Laboratories and Replidyne, Inc. Ryan-Todd most recently served as Director of Market Research at Texas Instruments, Inc., where he successfully reorganized the company’s market research department to reduce costs and improve service to internal stakeholders.

In his new role, Ryan-Todd will report to Melanie Courtright, Senior Vice President of Client Services, who commented, “Mike is joining Research Now at a time of high growth and expansion for our Corporate, Strategy and Healthcare sectors. With more than 15 years of market research experience working for both national and international companies in the pharmaceutical, beverage and technology industries, Mike is the right fit to provide operational and hands-on leadership for our client services and research functions. We look forward to his contributions as our organization continues to grow its Corporate, Strategy and Healthcare divisions.”

Ryan-Todd graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing and holds his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He will be based at the company’s global headquarters in Plano, Texas.

About Research Now
Research Now, the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Loyalty program joins e-Rewards Opinion Panel, partners with Research Now

Looking for a quick and easy way to boost your Wyndham Rewards point balance this summer? Thanks to a partnership with Research Now and the e-Rewards® Opinion Panel, members of the growing hotel loyalty program can now do just that simply by completing brief online surveys.

To get started, Wyndham Rewards members should visit www.wyndhamrewards.com and click on the “Earn” tab at the top of the program’s homepage. From there, a quick click on the section titled “e-Rewards Opinion Panel” starts the enrollment process and in short-order, members are able to start earning and redeeming e-Rewards currency for bonus Wyndham Rewards points.

“Our goal is to make the Wyndham Rewards program as rewarding as possible for members and part of that means finding new and creative ways that allow for members to earn points, particularly during times when members may not have a trip planned for several months,” said Mike Mueller, vice president of loyalty, marketing and partnerships at Wyndham Hotel Group. “Research Now and the e-Rewards program are a great solution because they work with any schedule and the number of points members can earn is entirely up to them.”

Wyndham Rewards is the world’s largest hotel loyalty program as measured by more than 7,000 participating hotels and the only hotel loyalty program to offer members guaranteed rewards after just one qualified stay.

“We are thrilled to add Wyndham Rewards as our newest partner,” said Heather White, vice president of partner relations at Research Now. “By enabling Wyndham Rewards members to collect points for completing surveys through the e-Rewards Opinion Panel, we provide our market research clients with the opportunity to survey a highly engaged and targeted group of consumer and business travelers in the U.S. and Canada.”

For more information on the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program or to enroll, visit www.wyndhamrewards.com.

About Research Now
Research Now, the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back. To find out more or begin a conversation with us, visit www.researchnow.com.

About Wyndham Rewards
Wyndham Rewards, the free-to-join guest loyalty program of Wyndham Hotel Group, is the world’s largest lodging loyalty program as measured by number of participating hotels and the only hotel loyalty program to offer members guaranteed rewards after just one qualified stay.

With over 7,000 participating hotels throughout more than 50 countries, the program offers its over 9.7 million active members the opportunity to earn valuable points for their qualified stays. Those points may be redeemed for hundreds of rewards options including free hotel stays, airline travel, gift cards for leading retailers and restaurants and more. Free stays start as low as 5,500 points, while other reward options start as low as 50 points. Members may also choose to earn with approximately 20 leading airline carriers and other partners.

In addition, frequent travelers will appreciate the program’s Gold Status, which provides the program’s most loyal members with an additional free night after every 20 qualified nights. For more information or to join, visit www.wyndhamrewards.com.

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Press Contacts:
Rob Myers
Wyndham Hotel Group
22 Sylvan Way
Parsippany, NJ 07054
+1 973 753 6590
rob.myers@wyn.com

Heather Milt
Research Now
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Research Now, the leader in permission-based, digital data collection, has entered into an agreement with Greyhound, the largest North American provider of intercity bus transportation, to invite its customers to join the e-Rewards® Opinion Panel.

Greyhound travelers in the United States now have the opportunity to earn e-Rewards Currency by sharing their valuable opinions and completing market research surveys. As members of the e-Rewards Opinion Panel, Greyhound members will have the ability to redeem their e-Rewards Currency for hotel points, magazines, retail discounts and gift cards to some of the nation’s leading consumer brands.

“Research Now is delighted to include Greyhound as its newest panel partner,” said Heather White, vice president of Partner Relations at Research Now. “Through our partnership with the nation’s largest intercity bus company, we enable our market research clients to access a range of business and consumer travelers in the US, and we look forward to developing this partnership over the years to come.”

Research Now partners with over 40 of today’s leading global brands to invite business professionals and the general public to join its market research panels. The company’s “By-Invitation-Only” ® recruitment model has resulted in an online community of over 6.5 million active survey respondents worldwide.

“We’re excited about our partnership with Research Now as it provides an opportunity for our customers to earn rewards while sharing their valuable opinions on issues that matter most to them,” said Andy Kaplinsky, chief commercial officer, Greyhound Lines, Inc. “After 100 years, we are constantly looking for ways to provide value, and this partnership is a win-win for both Greyhound’s customers, who are able to have their voices heard while earning e-Rewards Currency for goods and services they purchase every day, as well as for Research Now, who now has an increased number of motivated consumers to participate in their market research surveys.”

About Research Now Group, Inc.
Research Now Group, Inc., the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back. To find out more or begin a conversation with us, visit www.researchnow.com.

About Greyhound
Greyhound is the largest North American provider of intercity bus transportation, serving more than 3,800 destinations across the continent. The company also provides Greyhound Package Express (GPX) and charter services. For fare and schedule information and to buy tickets call 1-800-231-2222 or visit the website at www.greyhound.com. For the latest news and travel deals, follow GreyhoundBus on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GreyhoundBus, Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GreyhoundBus, or follow our new blog, The Hound, at http://www.bloggreyhound.com.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Research Now
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Research Now, the global leader in permission-based, digital data collection, swept all five dimensions among Online Sample Providers in the recently released “2014 Annual Survey of Market Research Professionals,” sponsored by MarketResearchCareers.com.

Research Now Group, Inc. (formerly e-Rewards, Inc.) is the first of market research suppliers evaluated in the annual survey to rank no. 1 in all five dimensions. This is the second consecutive year the company has received the highest ranking for providing quality deliverables, having the best employees and effectively using technology.

The ninth edition surveyed customers of 116 market research suppliers to identify the best firm along each of the following five dimensions: is a thought leader; offers unique methodologies; provides quality deliverables; has the best employees; and effectively uses technology. Suppliers were then grouped into the following five categories: online sample; qualitative research; syndicated research; full service research; and online survey software. Of the 13 online sample providers which were evaluated, Research Now ranked no. 1 provider across all five perceptual dimensions.

"The recognition of our company is both humbling and exciting for our team,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Kurt Knapton. "We are truly honored by this distinction in the Online Sample category, and attribute these accolades to our team’s shared experience, knowledge and dedication. Most of all, we recognize this vote of confidence comes from our valued clients who trust us to deliver exceptional results year after year."

The 2014 study was conducted between January 23 and February 13, 2014 and surveyed a total of 606 market research professionals – providing an aggregate data tolerance of +/- 4.0% at the 95% confidence level.

About Research Now Group, Inc.
Research Now Group, Inc., the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Latest consumer ailments panel provides access to a targetable universe of mental health patients, their caregivers and doctors

Research Now Healthcare, a portfolio company of Research Now, today announced the launch of its Mental Health Panel, providing a resource for creating a better understanding of the concerns of Americans and Canadians who suffer from various forms of mental health conditions.

Researchers now have access to a targeted audience of over 350,000 deeply-profiled panelists in the U.S. and Canada who have been diagnosed with one or more of the following: depression, epilepsy, bipolar disorder, narcolepsy, sleep disorder or sleep apnea, and anxiety. Furthermore, researchers have access to over 20,000 caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s and over 7,000 caregivers of patients with schizophrenia.

Senior Vice President of Global Healthcare Vincent DeRobertis commented, “While industry changes trigger healthcare companies to reconsider their roles and business models, data collection becomes even more essential to the research process. With our latest ailments panel, we’re able to approach each condition exclusively, enabling researchers to gain deeper insights from hard-to-reach physicians, healthcare professionals and caregivers on mental health practices, treatments and sentiments for quality research initiatives.”

This is the third market research panel based around therapeutic areas to be launched by the company in North America. Research Now Healthcare also provides deeply-profiled panels consisting of diabetes sufferers and arthritis sufferers. To allow for multi-country research projects, Research Now Healthcare plans to launch its Mental Health Panel in the EU5 by the end of 2014.

About Research Now Group, Inc.
Research Now Group, Inc., the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Former SVP at Office Depot, Inc. and insights industry veteran to lead client development efforts in the Americas

Research Now, the global leader in permission-based, digital data collection, today announced the appointment of Tom Markert to Executive Vice President of Sales and Business Development for the Americas. Assuming his new position, Markert will lead the company’s overall client development efforts in the Americas.

Markert brings with him over 30 years of experience in business and marketing for Fortune 500 companies and leading market research agencies. Most recently, he co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of Digital Tailwind, LLC, a full service digital marketing agency focused on customer acquisition for large B2B and B2C clients. Prior to this, Markert served first as Senior Vice President of Marketing for the Business Solutions Division, and later as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Innovation for Office Depot, Inc.

Markert became known as a market research and insights industry leader through numerous senior management and executive positions during his 20 plus years with the Nielsen Corporation (then ACNielsen) with roles including: Senior Vice President of Client Services; President – Canada; Group Chief Executive Officer – Pacific; Chief Marketing Officer – Asia Pacific; Global Chief Marketing and Client Services Officer; and President of ACNielsen Loyalty. Markert also served as Chief Executive Officer of Ipsos Loyalty Worldwide. Other professional experiences include Loyalty Management Group, Citicorp and Procter & Gamble.

In his new role, Markert will report to Managing Director of Americas John Rothwell, who commented on the appointment: “Tom’s background is extensive and filled with notable accomplishments. His experience at some of today’s largest corporations and leading industry providers of data and insights, coupled with his effective management of client facing teams, will be invaluable to our organization. I am delighted to welcome Tom and his proven business and marketing acumen to our team.”

Markert graduated from St. Lawrence University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and is a HarperCollins-published author. He will be based at the company’s global headquarters in Plano, Texas.

About Research Now Group, Inc.
Research Now Group, Inc., the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Research Now, the leader in permission-based, digital data collection, has entered into an agreement with Best Buy, inviting Best Buy customers in the U.S. to earn Best Buy gift cards by completing online surveys through the e-Rewards® Opinion Panel.

“Our recent launch with Best Buy as a panel partner is an exciting step for Research Now and the e-Rewards Opinion Panel,” said Heather White, vice president of Partner Relations at Research Now. “Customers of Best Buy are an ideal group of engaged consumers in the electronics space. With our recent launch, we continue to empower our market research clients with access to a hard-to-reach and highly responsive audience for survey taking.”

As members of the e-Rewards Opinion Panel, Best Buy customers will also be able to redeem their e-Rewards Currency for Best Buy gift cards.

Research Now partners with over 40 of today’s leading global brands to invite business professionals and general consumers to join its market research panels. This has resulted in an online community of over 6.5 million active business and consumer panelists worldwide.

About Research Now Group, Inc.
Research Now Group, Inc., the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Research Now, the global leader in permission-based, digital data collection, was recently honored with the prestigious ESOMAR Excellence Award for Best Paper of the Year at the 2014 ESOMAR Congress, which took place September 7-10 in Nice, France.

The authors who collaborated on the winning paper with the highest standards of quality and best practice in research are:

• Melanie Courtright, Senior Vice President, Client Services – Americas
• Annie Pettit, Vice President, Research Standards
• Kartik Pashupati, Research Director
• Roddy Knowles, Director, Mobile Research

The winning paper, “Multimode, Global Scale Usage: Understanding Respondent Scale Usage across Borders and Devices,” was originally presented at ESOMAR Congress 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey. The paper was also an ESOMAR Congress 2013 Award Nominee for Best Paper Overall and an ESOMAR Congress 2013 Award Winner for Best Methodological Paper.

The paper seeks to understand how seemingly insignificant differences – the number of points on a scale, whether the scale was responded to on a computer or a mobile device, whether the person reacting to the scale is old or young, Canadian or British – affect survey results. The project of discussion is one of the first to use a large, census-balanced sample across 10 countries that were carefully selected to provide a diversity of cultural dimensions while at the same time including a mix of mature (U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Japan) and emerging (Brazil, China, India, Russia, Mexico) markets.

Commenting on the paper, ESOMAR President Dan Foreman said: "There were so many amazing candidates, but this paper had 'annals of history' and 'pivotal milestone' written all over it. Comprehensive, exhaustive, provocative and grounded, I am delighted the jury agreed on the paper from Research Now. I look forward to hearing more from this group as the industry moves forward."

ESOMAR’s Excellence Award is presented to a researcher – or group of researchers – whose conference paper has demonstrated a concrete contribution to the decision-making process while sustaining ESOMAR best practices. Nominated papers were selected from ESOMAR events between September 2013 and June 2014.

About Research Now Group, Inc.
Research Now Group, Inc., the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com

Co-founder of BlueKai, former Sr. Director at Yahoo! and CTO at Extole joins Research Now’s executive team

Research Now, the global leader in permission-based, digital data collection, today announced the appointment of Chief Technology Officer Michael Bigby. In this role, Bigby will lead Research Now’s global technology team, driving major technology-enabled initiatives as part of the company’s advancing business model.

With nearly two decades of software development and management experience in both startups and large companies, Bigby brings a great deal of knowledge and expertise to the organization. Most recently, he served as Chief Technology Officer at referral marketing startup Extole. In this role, he rebuilt the engineering organization and product offering, in addition to serving as interim Chief Executive Officer.

Previous to this, Bigby served as co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at BlueKai, the world’s first complete enterprise data activation system for intelligent marketing and the largest marketplace for intent data on the web. BlueKai was recently acquired by Oracle as a key element to their Marketing Cloud. Bigby also held multiple senior roles at Redpoint Ventures, Yahoo! and Broadcast.com.

As part of Research Now’s Executive Leadership team, Bigby will report to President and Chief Executive Officer Kurt Knapton, who commented on the appointment: “Mike’s proven experience in assembling world-class engineering teams and building high-performance software will be transformative for Research Now and our quickly-evolving industry. I am excited to have someone of his caliber and vision on our global team.”

Bigby is a native of Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. Bigby will be relocating, with his family, from Silicon Valley to the company’s global headquarters in Plano, Texas.

About Research Now
Research Now, the leading digital data collection provider, powers market research insights. We enable companies to listen to and interact with the world’s consumers and business professionals through online panels, as well as mobile, digital and social media technologies. Our team operates in over 20 offices globally and is recognized as the market research industry’s leader in client satisfaction. We foster a socially responsible culture by empowering our employees to give back.

Download the full press release.

Press Contact:
Heather Milt
Manager, Public Relations
+1 425 495 3743
hmilt@researchnow.com