Verian Group is an independent research, evidence, evaluation, and communications agency, headquartered in Millbank, London, UK.[1] It has offices in continental Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands), the Asia–Pacific (Australia, India, New Zealand, Singapore), and US.[2] Verian conducts social research, program evaluation, and media analysis for governments, local communities, interest groups, trade unions, NGOs, and private sector organisations.[3][4][5][6] British Politics and Policy, a blog run by the London School of Economics (LSE), evaluated Verian's (then known as TNS BMRB) polling on the run up to the 2016 UK Brexit referendum; Verian was one of a minority to correctly forecast the result and had the lowest bias.[7] Verian's opinion polling for the 2024 United Kingdom general election also came closest to the final result.[8]
Headquarters | London, UK |
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Key people |
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Website | www |
Partial timeline
edit- 1933: British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) was founded as the market research arm of advertising agency J. Walter Thompson.[9][10]
- 1987: WPP acquired JWT group, owner of J. Walter Thompson and BMRB.[11]
- 1992: WPP founded Kantar Group.[12]
- 2000: Svenska institutet för opinionsundersökningar (Sifo) acquired by Kantar.[13]
- 2008: Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) acquired by Kantar.[14]
- 2009: BMRB Social Research and TNS Social Research integrated to become TNS BMRB.[15]
- 2016: Kantar Public launched, bringing together Kantar's government and public sector teams including TNS BMRB.[16]
- 2017: Kantar Public opened an office in Singapore.[17]
- 2021: Colmar Brunton merged with Kantar, with some staff moving to Kantar Public.[18]
- 2022: Kantar Public sold to private equity firm Trilantic Europe.[19]
- 2023: PPMI, a European policy research and consultancy company, based in Vilnius, Lithuania, acquired by Kantar Public.[20]
- 2023: Kantar Public rebranded Verian.[21][22]
Example work
edit- Voice of Ukraine: A longitudinal survey of migration paths, needs, and expectations of Ukrainians displaced by war. So far there have been over 6,500 respondents across six waves of research.[23]
- Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study: The largest longitudinal study of its kind in the world, covering around 27,000 households in the UK annually. Verian (and its predecessor, Kantar Public) has led delivery of the study since 2012.[24][25]
- Public voice: A digital random probability panel established in 2019 that is available in UK, Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia, Czechia and Luxembourg.[26] This panel was used for opinion polling for the 2024 United Kingdom general election.[27]
- Crime Survey for England and Wales: Conducted by Verian on behalf of the Office for National Statistics. In 2024/25, around 75,000 households will be invited take part.[28]
- Evaluation of the Safer Streets Fund: An evaluation of the impact of funding for situational interventions aimed at preventing acquisitive crime, conducted by Verian on behalf of the Home Office.[29]
- UK COVID-19 Inquiry: Verian was appointed in 2024 to conduct a large-scale qualitative research project to investigate the experiences of children and young people.[30]
- Making Tax Digital: Early impact on VAT below threshold customers: Research funded by HM Revenue and Customs to understand how businesses below the £85,000 VAT threshold adapted to requirements to keep digital records; use software that works with Making Tax Digital; and submit updates every quarter.[31]
- Does proactively asking about allergens before ordering improve customer outcomes? (2023): A cluster-randomised trial of the effects of proactively asking customers about food hypersensitivity, including 936 customers at 18 outlets, funded by Food Standards Agency.[32]
- Quantum Technologies Public Dialogue Report: Funded by EPSRC, this research explored the general public's views and values in relation to quantum technologies.[33] It was announced in May 2024 that Verian will repeat the research, with a survey of around 1,000 participants and workshops with 40.[34]
Further reading
edit- Downham, John (1993). BMRB International: The First Sixty Years, 1933–1993. London: BMRB International.
- Cauter, Tom (1952). "Organization of a Statistical Department: Some Details of a Market Research Agency". The Incorporated Statistician. 3 (3): 37–54. doi:10.2307/2986400. JSTOR 2986400.
References
edit- ^ "Verian Global Homepage". Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ "Office Locations". Verian home page. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Evidence for Public Policy". Verian home page. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
- ^ "Policy Development and Evaluation". Verian home page. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
- ^ "Behavioural and Communications". Verian home page. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
- ^ "Political, Opinion and Electoral Advisory". Verian home page. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
- ^ "Leave was always in the lead: why the polls got the referendum result wrong". British Politics and Policy at LSE. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
- ^ Vincent, Jonathan (9 July 2024). "Why did the pollsters overestimate Labour's vote?". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ Schwarzkopf, Stefan (2011). "A Radical Past? The Politics of Market Research in Britain, 1900-1950". In Brückweh, Kerstin (ed.). The voice of the citizen consumer: a history of market research, consumer movements, and the political public sphere. Studies of the German Historical Institute London. Oxford University Press. pp. 29–50. ISBN 978-0-19-960402-9.
- ^ "British Market Research Bureau Limited certificate of incorporation". Companies House. 25 April 1933. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ Warner, Jeremy (27 June 1987). "JWT agrees cash bid by WPP". The Independent. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
- ^ "Proposed sale of 60% of Kantar". WPP. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ "WPP Annual Report & Accounts 2000" (PDF).
- ^ Holton, Kate (8 October 2008). "WPP declares victory in TNS bid battle". Reuters. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
- ^ Verrinder, James (23 February 2009). "TNS and Research International merge in Kantar shake up". Research Live. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ "Kantar unveils government and public sector offer". Research Live. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ "Kantar Public opens Singapore office". Research Live. 7 February 2017.
- ^ "Colmar Brunton NZ Name To Go as Kantar Integrates". MrWeb. 30 June 2021.
- ^ "Kantar Completes Sale of Kantar Public to Trilantic". MrWeb. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ McQuater, Katie (6 July 2023). "Kantar Public buys Lithuanian policy business". Research Live. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
- ^ "Kantar Public rebrands globally to become Verian". Verian Global Homepage. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ Kay-McClean, Liam (9 November 2023). "Kantar Public changes name to Verian". Research Live.
- ^ "Voice of Ukraine". Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Understanding Society: The UK's Household Longitudinal Study". Verian home page. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "The UK Household Longitudinal Study". Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Data solutions". Verian home page. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Labour 18-point lead over Conservatives". Verian home page. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ "Crime Survey for England & Wales". Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ Home Office. "Collection: Safer Streets Fund evaluation". Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Inquiry appoints new partner to investigate impact of the pandemic on children and young people". UK Covid-19 Inquiry. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ HMRC (2024). "Making Tax Digital: Early impact on VAT below threshold customers". Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ McPhedran, Robert; Cornel, Pieter; Yang, Yuchen; Devarajan, Sanjeev; Toombs, Ben; Mohideen, Anya; Rayner, Alice; Jones, Phil; Gold, Natalie (2023). "Does proactively asking about allergens before ordering improve customer outcomes? An in-business randomised controlled trial". Clinical & Experimental Allergy. 53 (8): 866–869. doi:10.1111/cea.14326. PMID 37186399. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
- ^ Kantar Public (2018). Quantum Technologies: Public Dialogue Report (PDF).
- ^ "Quantum conversations – exploring public attitudes to quantum computing". Quantum Computing and Simulation (QCS) Hub. Retrieved 12 June 2024.