Advertising services firm TNS Media Intelligence has acquired market analytics firm Cymfony. The new operating unit will be called TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony.
The acquisition integrates Cymfony’s analytics system into TNS Media’s advertising platforms, incorporating analytics of traditional and social media like blogs and social networks with advertising research.
“We wanted to move into the analytics’ side of the Internet because of its growth in the last couple of years,” said Steve Fredericks, president/CEO at TNS Media Intelligence, New York. “Consumers are taking control of how and when they see ads, so we wanted to get closer to the consumers and see how this affects ad campaigns as a whole. We think that this whole thing is going to explode.”
According to Mr. Fredericks, TNS Media Intelligence decided to acquire a company rather than build one to prepare for the rapid growth in Internet advertising. He consulted with a handful of firms in the industry before deciding on Cymfony.
“It’s a perfect fit into our long-term plan with how we’d like to grow the company,” said Andrew Bernstein, CEO at Cymfony.
Cymfony will act as a wholly owned subsidiary of TNS Media Intelligence and retain its offices in Watertown, MA.
According to Peter Kim, analyst at Forrester Research, the merger was expected. He also expects there to be additional activity in the brand monitoring market. Writing in Forrester’s Marketing Blog, he predicts that agencies will boost market research capabilities and that PR services agencies will upgrade offerings.
“So who’s next? Well, the only ones I didn’t mention yet are BrandDimensions and Umbria,” he said on the blog. “For BrandDimensions, it’ll mean selling off half the business, i.e., BrandIntel. I think Umbria will follow in the path of Buzzmetrics and Cymfony, getting paired up with a major research firm. BTW did you know Umbria’s CEO is the former CMO of IRI?”
