TNS & KANTAR GROUP, UNITED AS ONE! AGB NIELSEN NIYANIG?

Just after WPP acquired TNS in 2008 and included TNS under the Kantar Group portfolio, the Kantar Group initiated a process of re-structuring. The model of the new structure was guided by a consolidation and easy identification of company competencies, brand recognition, and cost and redundancy reduction 

It has been suggested that after the TNS acquisition WPP became somehow "undigested". The speed of the acquisition, the size of the investment and the period - during the financial crisis that dominated most of 2008, would be factors affecting the business perception of the shareholders and financial institutions that contributed with the acquisition. The new structure would challenge the freedom and internal competition that the companies of the group enjoyed before the acquisition and would promote the in-sourcing and overall financial control - sometimes imposing a different corporative culture in some of the companies of the group, old and new ones. Nevertheless, the group is led by facilitating the payback of the acquisition while at the same time deterring the competition more effectively.

The Kantar Group is one of the world's largest research, insight and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of more than 20 specialist companies – including the recently-acquired TNS – the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and actionable insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 80 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies. 

Kantar Media brings together the specialist media capabilities of TNS Media Intelligence, TNS Media Research, KMR and TGI. The business will be organised into four key operations: Kantar Media Intelligence, Kantar Audience Measurement (formerly Media Research), TGI Global (including other single source services) and an integrated company covering all disciplines in the US market. The identity for the new company will be Kantar Media, but it will reference TNS in its branding in acknowledgment of the strength of the TNS brand in the media world. The enlarged unit will have a leading worldwide position in areas such as audience measurement, advertising expenditure tracking, software and news monitoring. It will also be the home for the increased focus on behavioural data from new technologies, return path data and mobile and for developing the infrastructure for addressable advertising.

Top ten of the market research sector 2006

Rank	Company	Sales in 2006 (million USD)	Growth in %
1	Nielsen Company	3,696.0	2.6
2	IMS Health Inc.	1,958.6	8.9
3	Taylor Nelson Sofres	1,851.1	2.5
4	Kantar Group	1,401.4	4.1
5	GfK AG	1,397.3	5.4
6	Ipsos	1,077.0	6.5
7	Synovate	739.6	9.5
8	IRI	665.0	6.6
9	Westat	425.8	0.8
10	Arbitron	329.3	5.9

For further information, please visit www.kantargrouptns.com