StrategyOne Acquires Market Research Company

Edelman‘s research company StrategyOne has acquired PluggedIN, a market research company that specializes in using social networking elements for building research groups to gain insight, or MROCs (market research online communities).

PluggedIN was founded in 2006 and will operate as StrategyOne. PluggedIN’s co-founders Ben Werzinger and Matt Foley will lead The StrategyOne PluggedIN Communities Team, based in Rochester, NY.

The press release announcing the acquisition contains stats from the 2011 GreenBook Research Industry Trends that show 58 percent of research buyers plan to use MROCs in the future, more than mobile surveys. PluggedIn’s clients include Kraft Foods, T-Mobile, and other large corporations.

“We feel strongly that community based research is only beginning to achieve its true potential and that this research approach will continue to see explosive growth in the years ahead,” StrategyOne’s U.S. president Robert Moran said in a statement.

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