DigitalMR

Services

DigitalMR offers several services such as social media listening & analytics, private online communities, online quantitative research, online qualitative research and advanced analytics. Social media listening operates on the principles of harvesting public posts from the web, analysing them, understanding and engaging with the creators of the posts, and deals with semantic and sentiment analysis, while private online communities enable insights, co-creation, and customer advocacy. The company helps its clients understand consumers and market needs (by identifying how a brand is perceived) as well as manage their online reputation and improve their services.

DigitalMR also has a noteworthy blog, which is updated continuously by different employees and the occasional guest. Entries on the blog address pressing new questions in the social media listening world as well as the traditional market research world.

History

In August 2010 when DigitalMR was established, founder, Michalis Michael, had been MD for Western Europe at Masmi, and prior to that, head of the global online division at Synovate, a multinational in market research ranking number 6 globally at the time. Masmi - a current partner to DigitalMR - has supported the company from the start, in fact DigitalMR was incubated from within Masmi in London. The bond between the two companies remains strong with Masmi CEO Dr.Nicos Rossides becoming both a shareholder and chairman of the advisory board. The first advisory board was made up of the following individuals: Dr.Nicos Rossides; CEO at Masmi, Steve Alexander; president at Symmetrics, Stavros Hadjiyiangou; Managing Partner at A.T.A Associates LLP, Simon Preston; CEO at risebeyond.org and former Young Presidents' Organization international chairman, Peter Nathanial; partner at Impala partners and former Group Chief Risk Officer for RBS, and Neil Everitt; investor and entrepreneur. In August 2011, Michalis Michael participated in an online debate on research and privacy in relation to social media, hosted by GreenBook blog. Michael supported that if the new ESOMAR and MRS guidelines on privacy, anonymity, and consent were to be implemented, software development companies would probably prevail in the sector. He was the first one to respond in this discussion through a blog post, questioning the Market Research Society's position on the subject, and argued that people posting online actually want to be heard, and are aware of the potential consequences. In 2012, the company headquarters moved from their previous location to a larger space at Westminster Business Square in Vauxhall.

Partners

DigitalMR has a number of agency partners offering its products to clients in their own countries, including Cocedal, MindTake, 360Insights, Masmi, YouGov and MRB Hellas in Europe, as well as Decision Analyst in the USA.

Clients

DigitalMR has gained a diverse group of clients since its beginning. From banks to coffee shop chains, DigitalMR has connected internationally to a wide variety of companies. Noteworthy clients include, Procter & Gamble, Tesco, Young Presidents' Organization, LinkedIn, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, Tchibo, and University of Manchester.

Competitions and Awards

In late 2011, the DigitalMR blog was nominated for the 'Top New Market Research Blogs of 2012' annual competition. The blog had also received a badge from Next Generation Market Research(NGMR) as one of the most influential in research. During the same year, Michalis Michael was one of the individual finalists for the 'Next Gen Market Research Innovation Award'. In 2013, the DigitalMR online communities platform won the ‘Best Implementation of Enterprise Gamification’ award by Ovum for the use of gamification in market research. In early 2014, DigitalMR was announced as a finalist for the Digital Innovation-Advertising contest in the category of Next Generation Social Media Analytics. Also, DigitalMR was a runner up in a competition to win a place at the UK Trade & Investment(UKTI) Pavilion at CeBIT 2014. Both were supported by IC tomorrow, a Technology Strategy Board programme.

Media Attention

In 2011, DigitalMR made several news reports regarding their research done on customers' social media posts about five major banks. They brought to light the importance of checking criticisms on newer platforms such as social media. They revealed the top 10 unknown problems, such as customer service, that were going unnoticed in the banking world.