RESEARCH & DATA ANALYTICS INDUSTRY TOP 50 REPORT U.S., 2020 AUTHORED BY DIANE BOWERS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE INSIGHTS ASSOCIATION & MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SPONSORED BY: AMA, ESOMAR AND GRBN 1 An Opening Note 2020 has been a huge shock for our personal, public, and The American Marketing Association advances the professional life in the U.S. and around the world. Our industry profession and excellence of marketing through a (like every industry) has struggled to sustain business by adopting membership of 30,000 professional marketers and new and different ways of working, communicating, marketing, academicians. Once again, AMA will be publishing and providing services. As we navigate through this difficult time the U.S. Top 50 Report in “Marketing News” in the fall and (hopefully soon) control and even vanquish this pandemic, issue. I am confident that working together we will reestablish a stable ESOMAR is the global voice of the data, research, and and predictable environment and economy for our lives, our insights community. For many years ESOMAR has communities, and our businesses. included the U.S. Top 50 Report in either their monthly With the publication of the 2020 U.S. Top 50 Report, we are magazine or in their annual industry report. This year, continuing to document the development, progress and ESOMAR will publish the U.S. Top 50 Report in the transformation of our industry. Over the past 47 years, this report ESOMAR Global Market Research 2020, which will be has focused on survey research and marketing research. Now, available in September. with the expansion and transformation of our products and The Global Research Business Network is an services, we showcase the U.S. Research and Data Analytics association of research business associations Industry. This year we will be taking a broader view of the 2019 around the world. Its members include four regional U.S. industry to include the full scope of current services among federations and over 40 national associations. Its the Top 50 companies and in the industry as a whole. mission is to promote and advance the business of “The 2020 U.S. Top 50 Report” is produced in partnership with research. Insights Association and Michigan State University. All of the associations and institutions that have partnered or Insights Association—the U.S. association for sponsored the 2020 U.S. Top 50 Report are committed advocates professionals, businesses, and corporate clients for the industry, its professionals, and its businesses. Please in research, insights, and data analytics—will be connect with them—you can depend on their interest, their care, publishing the Top 50 Report on their website. Also, IA and their knowledge. has provided information about 211 research and data analytics company members (outside of the Top 50 companies) so that we can broaden the assessment of the U.S. industry. Table of Contents Michigan State University is represented through its “Research Transformed Collaborative,” an initiative AN OPENING NOTE 2 launched and led by Michael Brereton, Professor in 2019 IN SUM 3 the Department of Marketing, Eli Broad College of Business. As he has done in previous Top 50 Reports, 2019 IN DETAIL 4 Michael Brereton has contributed an update on the transforming industry, featuring a new approach TOP 50 COMPANIES 7 to defining and measuring the key segments of our insights and analytics services. 2020 TOP 50 REPORT 12 In addition, I am pleased to announce that the 2020 U.S. Top 50 Report is sponsored by AMA, ESOMAR, and GRBN. A MORE EXPANSIVE VIEW OF INSIGHTS 16 TOP 50: COMPANY PROFILES 18 2 2019 In Sum Total 2019 U.S. research revenue for the Top 50 companies, along information was disclosed and appropriate adjustments were with 211 Insights Association (IA) research company members is made to ensure an apples-to-apples comparison. $15,609.3 million. All of these 261 companies are research and The Top 50 companies also provided Profiles of their analytics businesses whose areas of expertise and specialization companies, describing their services and specializations, major reflect the breadth of our changing and expanding research accomplishments in 2019, and new initiatives and services industry, which includes data analytics, strategic consulting moving forward. services, technology services and platforms, as well as market, opinion, social, and survey research. They are all for-profit firms The additional 211 IA member companies reported a total of that are either U.S. companies or have a U.S. headquarters and $735.0 million in U.S. revenue in 2019. The median U.S. revenue operations. of these 211 companies is under $1 million; while the average is $3.5 million. 30% of the 211 companies conduct research outside The U.S. research revenue for the Top 50 companies in 2019 is of the U.S. These 63 companies account for a total of $98 million $14,874.3 million, or 50.2% of the worldwide total revenue for the non-U.S. revenue in 2019. Top 50 of $29,608.1 million. The total 2019 revenue for the 261 companies included in the U.S. Non-U.S. 2019 revenue for the Top 50 companies is $14,733.8 Top 50 Report is $30,441.1 million ($15,609.3 million U.S. revenue million, or 49.8% of worldwide revenue. and $14,831.8 million non-U.S. revenue). These companies were asked to submit 2019 U.S. and non-U.S. In 2019, these 261 companies had an estimated 53,707 full-time research revenues, as well as the comparable data for 2018, in U.S. employees and a total U.S. order to determine the annual rate of revenue growth or decline. If a company made an acquisition or divestiture in 2019 that 3 2019 In Detail Figure 1 TOP 50 & ALL OTHER IA Top 50 Total # of Total U.S. Annual Revenue “Real Growth” MEMBERS GROWTH RATE Report In Research Research Growth Rate for Rate (after CPI Year . Companies Revenue (billion) the Companies adjustment) The growth rate in the U.S. market for the included in the included in the included in the in the Top 50 Top 50 companies in 2019 was 4.8%. The Top 50 Report Top 50 Report Top 50 Report % Report % growth rate for the Top 50 companies and the 211 all other Insights Association 2008 196 $8.9 1.6 -2.2 members was 4.6%. After adjustment for inflation—Consumer Price Index (CPI) 2009 203 $8.6 -3.7 -3.3 of 1.7%—the real-growth rate for 2019 is 2010 199 $9.2 4.7 3.1 2.9%. 2011 204 $9.2 5.1 2.9 Figure 1 compares the Top 50 Reports for the past dozen years, showing the 2012 207 $9.5 1.7 -.4 fluctuating recovery from the Great 2013 196 $10.7 3.6 2.1 Recession in 2008 and 2009. There have been three periods of back-to-back strong 2014 192 $10.6 3.2 1.6 growth rates in the past twelve years: 2015 185 $11.2 4.8 4.1 2010-2011; 2015-2016; and 2018-2019. In the first two back-to-back growth periods, 2016 202 $11.6 5.7 3.6 the growth rate increased YOY. The growth 2017 198 $12.3 3.5 1.4 rate for 2018 and 2019, however, has 2018 269 $14.5 5.6 3.7 reversed the pattern, with 2019’s 4.6% growth rate declining one full percentage 2019 261 $15.6 4.6 2.9 point from 2018’s 5.6% growth rate. The annual U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate offers Top 50 reports, the U.S. research industry’s annual growth rate, another benchmark against which to measure the industry’s historically, has tracked ahead of the annual real GDP growth annual growth. In Figure 2, the annual U.S. Real GDP Growth Rate rate, except in 2009 during the Great Recession and, again, in shows the yearly growth of the estimated value of all the country’s 2012. In 2019 the 4.6% growth rate of the 261 companies in the goods produced and services provided. As reported in previous Top 50 report doubled the Real GDP Growth Rate of 2.3%. Figure 2 Top 50 + “All Other” 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Members Real GDP Growth Rate* -.3 -2.6 2.5 1.6 2.2 1.7 2.4 2.6 1.5 2.3 2.9 2.3 % Top 50 Report U.S. Research 1.6 -3.7 4.7 5.1 1.7 3.6 3.2 4.8 5.7 3.5 5.6 4.6 Growth Rate % U.S. Research Industry Net 1.9 -1.1 +2.2 +3.5 -.5 +1.9 +.8 +2.2 +4.2 +1.2 +2.7 +2.3 Increase/Decline Compared to real GDP growth rate % 4 *Bureau of Economic Analysis and World Bank TOP 50 GLOBAL GROWTH Figure 3 RATE Top 50 U.S. Non-U.S. Worldwide % Non-U.S. Number of Figure 3 shows the global growth rate and Revenue $ Revenue $ Total Revenue Companies percentage of total revenue for the Top (000) (000) Revenue $ without 50 companies for the past 10 years. There (000) International was a surprising development in the Top Revenue 50 global revenue data for 2019. For the 2010 $9,246.2 $10,421.4 $19,697.7 52.9% 15 first time in many, many years, non-U.S. revenue did not exceed U.S. revenue for 2011 $9,190.0 $10,686.5 $19,876.5 53.8% 12 the Top 50 companies.