Market Force Information Acquires Certified Marketing Services
BOULDER, Colo. (February 6, 2008) — Market Force Information, Inc., the leading customer experience information and insights company, announced today the acquisition of Certified Marketing Services, Inc. (“CMS”), a full-service, national marketing and merchandising services organization. This acquisition makes Market Force Information the only company in the industry to offer a truly full-service, integrated suite of mystery shopping, direct customer feedback, on-site merchandising and analytics services from a single provider.
With more than 27,000 in-field representatives and over 50 years of industry experience, CMS brings multiple capabilities to the Market Force platform through three leading business units.
CMS also provides critical intelligence at the theater level for all of the motion picture distributors and trade associations through its Certified Reports division. Certified Reports has been the industry standard for theater checks and installation services to the motion picture industry for over five decades.
Finally, the Certified Marketing Research Services business unit offers complete lines of research services, including mystery shopping, store profiling, ad compliance evaluations, POP/display checks, inventory audits and intercept interviews.
“CMS was built upon operational excellence, vertical expertise and strong customer relationships,” said Bill Smith, CEO of CMS. “We believe that Market Force will take these values to the next level with insight and innovation in a rapidly evolving market. We are excited to join them in pursuit of perfect customer experiences, unparalleled actionability and visible results for our customers.”
“CMS brings valuable expertise to our team and leading products to our platform,” said Karl Maier, CEO of Market Force. “This acquisition is particularly exciting for the retail industry because it makes Market Force the only one-stop shop for on-site merchandising services along with a range of other complimentary customer experience solutions. Traditionally, retailers are forced to obtain all of the on-site customer experience services they need through multiple vendors requiring multiple data delivery platforms, and those programs are often poorly integrated as a result. Now retailers will have one reliable partner for all of these services integrated with robust analytics, giving customers a single, more complete and actionable view of their customer experience.”
CMS complements Market Force’s successful prior acquisitions of Shop’n Chek Worldwide in 2006 and Speedmark Information Services in 2007, playing a key role in the company’s mission to transform the customer experience information and insights industry. The combined company will continue to aggressively grow the business through key acquisitions and new product introductions, providing clients with the very latest innovations, technologies and solutions to perfect the on-site customer experience.
About Market Force
Market Force Information, Inc. is the leading global customer experience information and insights company for multi-location businesses including major retailers, restaurants, drug and grocery stores, financial institutions and consumer packaged goods companies. With over 70 years of combined industry experience, Market Force Information has pioneered the industry with a suite of customer experience information solutions – from 280,000 mystery shoppers, to real customer surveys, to expert evaluation – that provides actionable insight into the customer’s ‘moment of truth’ and gives its clients a holistic view of their customer’s in-store experience.
About Certified Marketing Services
Certified Marketing Services, Inc. is a full-service, national merchandising field organization offering a full range of merchandising, theater checking / installation and on-site research services. With more than 27,000 field representatives, CMS has been helping clients in the entertainment, retail and CPG industries make sound, well-informed business decisions since 1956. For more information about CMS, please visit: www.certifiedmarketingservices.com.