By James Wells

SYDNEY, NSW: German-based market research organisation, GfK, is celebrating its 75th year of operation. Originally established as a research institute with strong links to Nurnberg University, GfK has grown to become the world’s fourth largest market research agency,  with sales over 1.2 billion Euros; and, since 1999, has been listed on the German stock exchange.

Established in 1934 for the promotion of market research and measurement, the company still follows its original philosophy of “allowing the voice of the consumer to be heard”, through its three global business divisions: Custom Research; Retail and Technology (RT); and Media.

According to GfK RT Australia managing director, Gary Lamb, the local subsidiary’s 17 year history has seen the business grow to an organisation with 80 staff. Lamb, who has been with GfK for over 22 years, and who took over the management of the local RT subsidiary 10 years ago when there were just 20 staff with the company, has overseen a number of acquisitions during his time at the helm. In 2002, GfK RT purchased Canberra-based research agency Informark and followed this with the purchase of Inform in 2003. Last year, GfK RT opened an Auckland office; while the GfK Group also created its first Australian representation from the Custom division with the acquisition of established, well-respected qual/quant specialists, Blue Moon.

“Even though we have been around for 75 years, in the industries where we are represented, we are cutting edge. The creation of the StarTrack global data warehouse, demonstrates that we are at the cutting edge of retail audit methodologies,” Lamb said.