This announcement follows the successful completion of Ipsos' global acquisition of Synovate on the 12th October 2011.
Orpen was appointed as Managing Director of Synovate South Africa in January 2011, and previously fulfilled the role of Managing Director of Conexus, one of Synovate's successful business units. Orpen is well-regarded for his inspired leadership and has a proven track record in running successful businesses.
The companies will be formally united by January 2012. Until then, Jake will oversee all aspects of the integration across the two businesses. Orpen says, "We have amazing talent and committed hard-working people. This combination will set us up as a formidable research team in South Africa."
Ian Jeffrey, current CEO of Ipsos Markinor in South Africa, will take up a global role within Ipsos Mystery Shopping. Ian has maintained a prominent presence at the forefront of Mystery Shopping, Retail audit and Customer Experience research in South Africa for over 20 years and his appointment is testament to the success of the Ipsos focus on Mystery Shopping as a business line. Synovate also brings a strong Mystery Shopping portfolio to the table and the new Ipsos will be home to the biggest Mystery Shopping operation in South Africa.
"Bringing these two leading companies together will create a unique opportunity for our clients because of the breadth and depth of our solution and sector expertise. We will compete actively in all areas of marketing research and across all sectors," states Orpen. "We will become a preferred single destination for all our client research needs and will be able to offer the best that there is in research."
The combined business in South Africa will boast unsurpassed data collection and quantitative capabilities in South Africa. The combined CATI (computer assisted telephonic interviewing) centre will incorporate over 420 seats and boasts increased capacity, broader management experience and world-class quality. From a face-to-face perspective, computer and handheld data collection technologies will offer a superior data collection alternative with significant timing, quality and efficiency advantages.
Orpen states: "We will also boast a qualitative research department that employs globally leading solutions and techniques with some of the most experienced researchers in the business. Our deep local knowledge and experience across the full spectrum of South African consumers will go a long way towards offering clients a superior service in this regard. We have also extended our African footprint with the largest research coverage on the African continent with dedicated representation in 11 countries."
"January 1st 2012 marks the beginning of the new Ipsos - represented by the best talent, technology, advanced solutions and unwavering client focus," concludes Orpen.
Shane Farrell, CEO of Ipsos EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), comments: "There are three key reasons for this acquisition: Increased research coverage in more geographies, increased scale of operations and increased research capabilities. These will translate into a Better Ipsos and a compelling client proposition."
About Ipsos
Ipsos is an innovative, entrepreneurial, client-focused organisation, providing research services to clients on a global basis. We set ourselves high standards and aim to work collaboratively in partnership with our teams in order to service our clients most effectively.
Ipsos is proud to be the only global market research company that is still controlled and operated by market researchers. We aim to remain the natural home for intellectually curious and passionate researchers.
Our goal is simple: to be our clients' preferred research partners in our areas of specialisation, based on BQC (Better, Quicker, Cheaper) methodologies and processes. We want our clients to be proud and pleased to work with us - and we want each one of us to be proud and pleased to offer our clients high quality standards, efficiency and intelligence.
About Synovate
Synovate generates insights to help clients drive competitive brand, product and customer experience strategies. Now part of Ipsos, with offices in over 80 countries, our approach combines best in class global research capabilities with personalised service, local knowledge and the flexibility to create teams and processes that meet clients' specific requirements. At Synovate, our clients sit at the top of our organisational chart, driving us to continually develop more innovative research solutions that predict actual business outcomes.
