GfK (originally ) is the largest German

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining com ...

company. It provides data and intelligence to the

consumer goods A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike an intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good. W ...

industry and is headquartered in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, Germany. The company is a subsidiary of NIQ.

History

GfK was founded as GfK-Nürnberg Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung e. V. in 1934 by university lecturers from Nuremberg, among them the future German Minister of Economic Affairs and Federal Chancellor

Ludwig Erhard Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (; 4 February 1897 – 5 May 1977) was a German politician and economist affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Chancellor of Germany (1949–), chancellor of West Ge ...

. The concept was developed by co-founder Wilhelm Vershofen. Initially, the association conducted 71 different studies, including: * Awareness of trademarks * Personal care and soap consumption in Germany * Structure of beverage consumption in Germany * Patient and pharmaceuticals * The motorist assesses the road maps from fuel companies After the war, GfK’s activities from 1934 to 1945 were investigated by the American occupying powers. Following this investigation, GfK received a license to continue its activities in 1947. In 1984, commercial activities were spun off into GfK GmbH, which was renamed GfK AG on January 23, 1990. At that time, the “GfK Association” was limited to promoting market and sales research. In 2010, the company was the world's fourth-largest market research company by revenue. In December 2016, investment company American private equity group

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total ...

made a takeover bid for 18.54 percent of the company's shares. Since March 2017, GfK SE has been majority-owned (96.7%) by the investment fund Acceleratio Capital N.V., a holding company of KKR. In the autumn of 2018, GfK’s French competitor

Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. (; derived from the Latin expression, ) is a multinational market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, Chairman of the company, and has been publ ...

acquired a division of GfK with 1,000 staff dealing with client-specific projects for 105 million euros. In 2020, GfK launched gfknewron, a new AI-powered platform. Therefore, customers can access relevant data in real time and receive recommendations for action based on predictions. In July 2023, NIQ (formerly a part of

Nielsen Holdings Nielsen Holdings plc (or Nielsen) is an American media audience measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 15,000 people worldwide. For most of its history, the company was known for its two subsidiarie ...

), a U.S. market research and consumer intelligence company owned by

Advent International Advent International Corporation is an American global private equity firm. It is focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strat ...

, gained approval from the European Union to acquire GfK after an antitrust investigation that began in June 2023. This approval was given under the condition of selling its consumer panel business, which went to the British market research company

YouGov YouGov plc is a international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm headquartered in the UK with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. History 2000–2010 Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim ...

in July 2023.

Acquisitions

In April 2005, it acquired NOP World (originally National Opinion Polls), based mostly in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, which was rated the world's ninth largest market research business. In May 2008, it acquired an equity stake in Deep-Packet Inspection company Qosmos in order to track and monitor Internet usage for marketing research.

Organisation

The management team consists of nine individuals (as of 22 February 2024): * Jim Peck (CEO) * Tracey Massey (COO) * John Blenke (Chief Legal Officer) * Mike Burwell (CFO) * Lorena Elizondo (Chief Strategy Officer) * Joshua Hubbert (President CMI and Media Measurement) * Mohit Kapoor (Chief Technology and Operations Officer) * Curtis Miller (Chief Transformation Officer) * Shaun Zitting (Chief Human Resources Officer)

Services

GfK's core business is collecting and processing data on consumer behavior. It includes advising companies using technology-based applications. GfK industry area include technology and consumer durables, retail, consumer goods, automotive, financial services, media and entertainment. It collects data on over 180 million SKUs and surveys over two million people in 15 countries, working in compliance with market and social research associations (such as the

ESOMAR ESOMAR is a global professional association for market research and insights that was founded in 1947. The name ESOMAR is an abbreviation of their original name, the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research, which reflects the orig ...

Standards) which contain mandatory requirements. It provides real-time insight into market activity. GfK enables its customers to make key business decisions in areas such as marketing and sales. Since 2020, GfK has offered its customers an AI-powered platform that uses relevant data to provide forecasts and produces recommendations to facilitate critical business decisions.

Notes

External links