For the second time in as many years, the Gallup Organization awarded Survey Sampling International its 2008 Gallup Premier Partner Award.

Below you find the press release:

"As partners, Survey Sampling puts us at the top of the queue. The company is responsive and takes ownership for our account. SSI's accuracy is 99.999 percent for the more than 10 million records per year that we order," said Jane Miller, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Gallup. "SSI's relationship is integral to Gallup's integrity and brand of truly random sampling," added Miller, who served as the host of the annual awards ceremony that took place on March 27 at the Gallup Riverfront Campus in Omaha, Neb. More than 180 people attended, including suppliers and Gallup staff.

For more than a decade, Gallup has honored its preferred suppliers through a special annual awards celebration. These suppliers are chosen by a committee of Gallup associates based on four categories: operational services, facilities and equipment, technology, and corporate services. Nominees must meet the following criteria: provide Gallup with a high level of service and performance on an ongoing basis; strive to provide Gallup with cost-effective solutions; display an in-depth knowledge of Gallup's current and future business needs; consistently deliver high-quality products and services; provide innovative and proactive ideas; and maintain extreme excellence in customer service and responsiveness that surpasses standard expectations.

"This award recognizes that Survey Sampling has gone above and beyond, as true partners, to provide service excellence to Gallup, an SSI client for 30 years," said Jessica Smith, general manager of SSI's telephone survey business unit, when receiving the award.

"I want to thank my team, including Linda Piekarski, SSI vice president of database management; Missy Mosher, SSI manager of telephone products; Kim LoPiano, SSI account executive, and the rest of the SSI team for helping deliver quality service to Gallup on a 24/7 basis.". The Gallup Organization also honored SSI in 2007 with this same award. And in 2001, Gallup awarded SSI with its "Quality of Service" award. Prior to that, SSI won the "Perfect 5s on Internal Ratings" award.
Gallup Organization
Gallup has studied human nature and behavior for more than 70 years. Gallup employs many of the world's leading scientists in management, economics, psychology, and sociology. Gallup consultants help organizations boost organic growth by increasing customer engagement and maximizing employee productivity through measurement tools, coursework, and strategic advisory services. Gallup's 2,000 professionals deliver services at client organizations, through the Web, at Gallup University's campuses, and in 40 offices around the world.

Survey Sampling International
Survey Sampling International is the premier global provider of sampling solutions for survey research. SSI offers access to consumer and business-to-business respondents via Internet, telephone, and mobile. Additional services include survey programming and hosting, data processing, random digit dialing, and sampling consultation. SSI serves more than 1,800 marketing research clients, including nearly three-quarters of the top researchers worldwide.

SSI provides access to more than 3.5 million research respondents in more than 70 countries via proprietary communities and managed affiliate relationships. Founded in 1977, SSI has an international staff of 335 people representing 50 countries and 36 languages. The company is based in Fairfield, Conn. with additional offices in London, Paris, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Madrid, Beijing, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, and La Quinta, Calif. For more information, visit Survey Sampling International.

Under Stockholm Media Week diskuteras varumärken, reklam och medier. I år togs även varumärkets och reklammätningar upp i programmet. Panelen berättade om sina favoritmått och hur undersökningar har en central roll för varumärkesarbetet.

WPP gruppen med verksamhet inom reklam, media, research, design och PR ökade under första kvartalet 2012 sin omsättning med 7,6% till £2,4 miljarder pund. Men Researchdivisionen bidrar föga till att öka omsättning eller marginaler.

Enkätverktyget SurveyMonkey har triumferat senaste åren med storslagna kunderövringar, enkätleveranser i miljontals och en makalös geografisk expansion. Nu senast i Brasilien.

Det norska fältföretaget Norstat köper det tyska onlinedatainsamlingsföretaget ODC med 24 anställda i Tyskland och UK. Köpsumman är okänd.

Fyra månader efter sammanslagningen av Ipsos och Synovate har Karin Nelsson bestämt sig för att lämna det fusionerade bolaget för nya utmaningar. Efter att bland annat jobbat med hur det nya bolagets intervjuproduktion skall gå till saknade hon kundsidan för mycket. Såhär förklarar Karin om varför hon slutar och var undersökningsbranschen är på väg…

Undersökningsföretaget ISI Wissing AB inledde konkurs den 12 april. Officiella siffror vittnar om dålig lönsamhet och minskad omsättning.

The Swedish panel exchange provider Cint have initiated a partnerships with the Chinas Tudou panel and STAR TV Network, part of the Rupert Murdoch News Media Corporation in India. Cint's panels now gives access to over 1 million members and will be accessible via Cint’s OpinionHUB, in collaboration with Swedish brand tracking provider Nepa.

I conjuction with the opening of Nepa's Chinese subsidiary and the co‑operation with the Chinese Video website Tudoud, Mattias Erlandsson (pictured) is contracted as Managing Director for the Chinese operations as of February 27th. He will be operating from offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Den amerikanska app-analys byrån Kontagent har startat ett nätverk för etablera en gemensam standard för datainsamling, bearbetning och rapportering inom app-baserade undersökningar.

GfK:s Samhällsbarometer visar att en klar majoritet av Sveriges befolkning, närmare bestämt 68 procent, är uttalat emot att byta ut han/hon som personligt pronomen mot det könsneutrala ”hen”.

Toppranking i kundnöjdhet ger också bättre aktieutveckling på lång sikt, menar svenska fondkommissionären Strukturinvest, som har konstruerat en aktieobligation som investerar i de 10 amerikanska bolag med med högst kundnöjdhet enligt American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

Funderar du på hur sociala medier påverkar dig som undersökare? Missade du Francesco D'Orazio presentation på MU-dagen för ett par veckor sedan?

Som ett välkommet bidrag för att sprida kunskap om sociala mediers betydelse för framtidens undersökningar, lanserar Sveriges Marknadsundersökare, SÖK, ett halvdags seminarium med två framstående forskare och rådgivare inom området.

Som tidigare aviserats släpper nu Google sin undersökningsprodukt Google Consumer Survey. Det är ett do-it-yourself verktyg med enkät- och utvalsmodul i ett.

Målsättningen enligt Google är att göra enkla undersökningar billigare och att för sajtägare erbjuda en alternativ ersättningsmodell för premium innehåll på internet (f.n. endast i USA).

En sak är säker. Denna nya konkurrent kommer inte passera obemärkt i undersökningsbranschen.

Lena Gilchrist blir åter vd för Ipsos i Sverige. Sedan samgåendet mellan Ipsos och Synovate i slutet av 2011 har Ulf Bonnevier, tidigare Nordenchef för Synovate, lett kombinationsarbetet mellan företagen och haft rollen som vd. Han slutar nu för en befattning utanför företaget.

Online research firm YouGov plc has announced interim results for the six months ended 31 January 2012, with organic revenue growth of 12% and adjusted profit before tax of £2.2m. YouGov expects to pay its first dividend, when full year results are out.

Sociala medier blir en allt viktigare del i företagens kommunikation. Samtidigt ökar andelen som inte vet om arbetet med sociala medier ger resultat eller ej.

Chip maker Intel invests $21 million in the Swedish eye-tracking specialist Tobii. The new funding from Intel will help Tobii to further accelerate the technological evolution and to take the leap into mass-market applications, such as mainstream computers, cars, games and other consumer and professional products.

The UK Online specialist BrainJuicer has reported results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2011, confirming 27% revenue growth to £20.71m and profit after tax up 25% to £1.85m.