Synovate brand absorbed into Ipsos, will no longer be used

While the name Synovate will continue to exist for time as a legal entity and may persist in some markets (such as Ipsos-Synovate Kenya), for all intents and purposes the two companies are now “pure Ipsos”, even in Hong Kong where Synovate’s brand and heritage has been strongest, explained Darlene Lee, managing director of Ipsos HK.

“If we’re going to be operating as a global company it is confusing to the market if we’re operating under different brands,” Lee told Campaign Asia-Pacific.

Although Synovate’s presence most Asia-Pacific markets, except for China, has been larger than Ipsos, its clients understand that the merger has expanded the research firm’s operational capacity as well as extending its solutions to include Ipsos’ global products, she added.

Synovate was founded in Hong Kong under the name Asia Market Intelligence (AMI) in the early 1990s by Adrian Chedore. It was sold in 2000 to Aegis Media for a reported US$80 milllion and rebranded in 2003 as Synovate. It was acquired last October by Ipsos for an enterprise value of US$723 million, making Ipsos the third-largest global market research company.

Despite its long history in Hong Kong, the transition has been smooth, according to Lee. “Clients are working with the same team, the same expertise, except now with the reach of Ipsos,” she said.

The merger has been seamless, she continued. “A lot of the key solutions we provide to clients match well together and don’t overlap.” For example, the fit between a Synovate legacy solution, ‘ideal customer experience’, which charts the physical journey of the customer through a retail outlet with Ipsos’ solution, ‘journey pathfinder’, which identifies the reasons behind the choices customers make. “Put the two together and the result is seamless,” she said.

Ipsos has no plans to rebrand itself or to push the newly merged entity beyond hosting seminars and engaging with the press. “We will continue to establish our brand in Asia-Pacific as we have always done everywhere, by delivering great insights,” Lee said.