Tag: Kantar

Australia – Over two in five Australians (42%) claim that they will stop buying US products and services and over half that they will buy more local products and services (53%), according to new data from Kantar.

The data also shows significant shifts in buying behaviour – Australians are cutting back on big ticket items like cars and overseas holidays, shifting their expenditure and saving more as they continue to grapple with the high cost-of-living. But they are still spending, redirecting their hard-earned dollars to small indulgences. 

They want to still have a nice time but spend their money more locally. And while it is easier to anticipate cutbacks to happen on big ticket items, even day-to-day items are feeling the heat; for example, fast food and takeaways (41%), new clothes (39%), streaming services (37%) and a few drinks in a bar (38%). This is compounding issues ever-present due to an already stalling economy.

Moreover, no brand is safe as people globally are already cost-cutting, bargain hunting and trading down due to ongoing cost-of-living pressures. The data does reveal however, marked differences in drivers of behaviour across the world. Here in Australia, 43% of people are deliberately looking for price reductions. 

Consumers locally feel that business profiteering (51%), rising energy costs (64%) and economic policies (52%) are driving up the cost-of-living, with four in five believing it to be the government’s responsibility to address economic, political, social and environmental concerns.

Mark Kennedy, managing partner for consulting at Kantar Australia, said, “In this poly-crisis world, people are uncertain – and genuinely so. When ‘enshitification’ was announced as the Macquarie Dictionary word of the year in 2024, it wasn’t hard to figure out that Australians were feeling a little over it. Add tariffs to an already tumultuous world and it’s important to understand public sentiment and how this is impacting people’s behaviour, what’s changing, what’s staying the same and where opportunity lies.”

He added, “To make your own luck in turbulent times, foresight becomes critical. Now unfortunately, even at Kantar, we don’t have a crystal ball, but we can build possible scenarios based on the data we have. This scenario planning process was both eerily accurate and dramatically helpful for businesses across the world managing the impact of COVID. Understanding the possible scenarios, and the impact of these possible futures on your individual category and brand, forms the basis of effective strategic planning and the ability to make your own luck.”

Kennedy also noted that the situation reflects the ongoing uncertainty of a “will he/won’t he?” dilemma. It indicates that in an unpredictable world, Australians seem to be seeking stability and security. While there are still sentiments of affection toward the United States, the relationship appears to have changed, prompting some to consider the need for distance, self-reflection, or a reassessment of their true feelings.

“What is clear is that in Australia, the disparity is growing, and the impact is not being felt equally across the population, and across business. There is no single direction of ‘travel’. In market disruption, your strategy becomes more impactful. But for many, people aren’t clear what ‘good’ looks like in Australia. They do not have a clear measurement or benchmark about what growth really should be – what’s the number? Many only have their ‘lived experience’,” he said.

He added, “What is critical is that if your business is underperforming in good times, but you can’t see it, there is an instant impact in the bad times. What this means is that you haven’t built your brand in a way that it is defending you. You are not clear on your scenario planning. Now is the wrong time to be passive. When things move and changes are unequal you must step forward.”

Kenneth also stated that choosing not to act is itself an active — and potentially very risky — decision. He highlighted the importance for marketers to grasp not just the broader landscape, but more critically, how it applies specifically to their own business, brand, and context. This, it was noted, demands intelligent scenario planning that identifies what is most relevant and encourages bold, decisive action.

Singapore – Kantar Group is seeing yet another breakup from its current corporate structure, with multiple reports suggesting that Worldpanel, the consumer knowledge and insights arm of Kantar, is up for sale for $6.5b.

An initial report from Sky News notes that included in the move will leave Worldpanel as a pureplay brand strategy consultancy. It will merge with US-based business Numerator, which Kantar acquired back in 2021.

It is worth noting that Numerator and Kantar Worldpanel merged together in January this year to form a new global consumer data company. Eric Belcher, who was the current CEO of Numerator, will lead the new combined organisation which will operate globally under the name Numerator

WPP, Kantar’s owners, as well as Bain Capital has yet to approve the Kantar Wordlpanel sale, according to reports.

It is worth noting that Kantar Group recently proposed the sale of its media measurement arm Kantar Media to global alternative investment firm H.I.G. Capital. earlier this year. The transaction’s purchase price of approximately $1b is anticipated to be primarily paid in cash, along with certain non-cash consideration, including separation-related investments by H.I.G. Capital, and an earn-out.

Singapore – Many marketers, 4.9 out of 10, say they are not yet ready to implement and integrate generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), according to a report from Kantar, a marketing data and analytics company.

The study has found that while many marketing leaders (9 out of 10) recognise the potential of GenAI in transforming their operations, their adoption is hindered by insufficient training and high costs.

Due to the challenges that marketers face, the report sees a gap between GenAI’s potential and its adoption. Meanwhile, 5.3 out of 10 of their external partners such as agencies and data providers, are considered to be at the forefront of new technologies. This has led to the industry not being able to unlock the full potential of GenAI tools, with its impact rated at 5.3 out of 10.

The study also considers efforts to preserve traditional marketing skills as a contributor to their hesitation to adopt GenAI.

Addressing marketers’ reluctance, Kantar details how GenAI can revolutionise marketing. This includes building long-term strategies, streamlining daily tasks, and engaging consumers in real time.

Kantar’s study aims to help marketing leaders encourage their teams to eliminate fear of GenAI tools.

Lyn Lim, head of commercial growth at Kantar Consulting, said, “The overwhelming consensus among senior marketers is that GenAI is going to revolutionise the industry. But reality today is that many companies don’t feel ready yet. We see that leading organisations are making the shift from using GenAI predominantly for efficiency reasons to now also driving effectiveness. Those that get it right will succeed by building excitement and understanding around GenAI among everyone in their business: how they can help them achieve more with greater efficiency, speed, and effectiveness. We believe APAC marketing has the potential to leapfrog the world in its adoption of GenAI, just as it’s led the world in other aspects like social commerce and mobile marketing.”

Singapore – Majority or 88% of consumers in Southeast Asia rely on AI-driven content and product recommendations for purchasing decisions, with 83% willing to pay more for AI-enhanced shopping experiences, reveals a whitepaper jointly developed by Lazada and Kantar.

The report reveals that nearly two-thirds of respondents (63%) in Southeast Asia perceive AI as widely adopted in online shopping, with more than half identifying AI chatbots (63%), translations (53%), and visual product searches (52%), as key recognised features in ecommerce.

In terms of actual adoption, however, usage of these features remains below 50%—47% for AI chatbots, 40% for visual product searches, and 40% for translations. The report also indicates that only one-third of respondents found these features helpful in meeting their needs.

According to the whitepaper, the gap between perceived and actual effectiveness of AI features highlights an opportunity for ecommerce platforms to leverage AI and data insights, bridging this divide to boost customer satisfaction.

Interestingly, while only a few respondents found AI features in online shopping helpful, the report reveals a strong trust in AI-powered platforms. The majority rely on AI for personalised recommendations (92%) and product summaries (90%), with 88% making purchasing decisions based on AI-generated content and suggestions.

When examining consumer motivations for using AI in online shopping, over half of SEA respondents (52%) cited convenience as a primary reason for adopting AI in their personal lives. Similarly, 51% prioritise product and seller reviews, highlighting an opportunity to enhance review depth, relevance, and authenticity through AI technology.

Furthermore, a substantial majority of shoppers (83%) are willing to pay more for AI-powered shopping experiences. This willingness is linked to the positive benefits shoppers perceive, with nearly half of respondents (49%) indicating that AI enhances discovery, customer service, and overall enjoyment during online shopping.

James Dong, chief executive officer of Lazada Group, elaborated, “The launch of our inaugural whitepaper marks a pivotal moment in understanding how AI is shaping the future of eCommerce. As technology evolves, so do consumer expectations. This whitepaper explores the transformative potential of AI and provides insights into how businesses in Southeast Asia can harness it to create personalised, seamless, and smart shopping experiences.” 

“At Lazada, we are committed to staying at the forefront of innovation, ensuring that AI drives both efficiency and enhanced customer engagement across all touchpoints. Going forward, we will continue to invest in AI and cutting-edge technologies to revolutionise the eCommerce ecosystem,” he added. 

With 80% of respondents using AI features on eCommerce apps at least once a week, the whitepaper urges eCommerce platforms to seize the opportunity to enhance their AI integration efforts and provide more holistic and exceptional shopping experiences.

“AI has become an integral part of the eCommerce landscape, enabling smarter decision-making and more tailored customer experiences at scale. As we dive deep into how we can enhance AI algorithms to personalise product recommendations, optimise supply chains, and enhance customer service interactions, it is clear that AI will remain a key enabler in pushing the boundaries of what eCommerce can achieve. What excites me most is how we are building robust AI systems to solve complex technical problems in ways that directly improve the shopping experience for our customers,” said Howard Wang, chief technology officer at Lazada Group.

Singapore – Bain & Company, Kantar, and Qualtrics have revised the Global Standards for Customer Experience (CX) after a wide-ranging industry consultation that aims to elevate CX practices.

The standards offer strategies for CX excellence, guiding businesses in crafting superior customer experiences. 

According to research from Kantar, companies with improved CX are 2.5 times more likely to increase their market share compared to those without enhancements. 

Meanwhile, Qualtrics’ analysis highlights the financial impact of bad CX. Organisations risk $3.7 trillion annually due to poor experiences, a 19% increase from last year’s projections.

Over 1,500 CX professionals from 23 countries participated in the consultation, leading to refinements of half the initial standards and the addition of three new ones. Key themes included applying standards in complex organisations, the cultural dimension of CX, measuring the return on investment (ROI) of CX programs, and leveraging technology to support CX improvements.

Rob Huijboom, global head of customer experience at Kantar, said, “The Experience Economy has caused a fundamental shift for businesses, and experience is now an important – if not the single most important – driver for growth. Our clients and the wider industry have responded positively to the Global Standards for CX, demonstrating that a set of common industry standards is long-overdue, and an enthusiasm for the growth our framework can unlock.”

“There’s work to be done now in winning over hearts and minds of the industry and generating critical mass behind the Global Standards for CX. In doing so, we aim to re-establish the role of CX within businesses; it’s more than just doing satisfaction surveys,” Stanford Swinton, executive vice president at Bain & Company and principal author of the standards, said.

“The real value of experience management is in helping organisations better serve their stakeholders. These global standards serve as a roadmap for companies aiming to build durable differentiation and the discipline to quickly adapt to the evolving needs of their market, their customers and their employees,” said Brian Stucki, President and chief operating officer of Qualtrics. 

Australia – Australian marketers recognise the value of brand in marketing but are increasingly focused on performance marketing and sales promotions, especially in tough economic times, according to new Kantar research.

The report found that the shift toward performance marketing is driven by marketers’ ease in communicating returns (47%), its ability to deliver short-term gains over brand marketing (42%), pressure from the C-Suite to meet targets (38%), and its perceived cost-effectiveness (31%).

Kantar’s report highlights key traits distinguishing leading Australian organisations from their lagging counterparts. While 75% of high-performing businesses view marketing as a strategic partner in driving growth, only 48% of lagging companies share this perspective. However, the report also reveals that marketing effectiveness is often poorly defined and measured, with Australia lagging behind the global average of 84% for leaders.

According to Kantar, leading Australian businesses prioritise consumer centricity across all functions, maintain clarity in their positioning and portfolio, and effectively defend their differentiation and relevance. They implement robust measurement systems that provide evidence to build trust with senior leadership and crucially include brand metrics to reflect the full impact of marketing on sales. Furthermore, these organisations focus on optimising execution rather than merely testing strategies.

“But the biggest difference is that they prioritise marketing in any economic environment as an investment, not a cost. This prompts the need for marketing functions to ensure that they are speaking the same language as their financial decision-makers. Marketing needs more credibility to be seen as a growth engine. This requires honest conversations about what is and isn’t working (tactics, measurement) and transparency to allow other departments (finance) to verify effectiveness,” says Mark Kennedy, managing partner for consulting at Kantar in Australia.

“There is indisputable evidence that unbalanced brands struggle in the long term. Global Kantar studies show that if brands consistently favour performance marketing, baseline sales will erode, and this is leading to a decline in brand equity in Australia. Kantar BrandZ global data shows that brands grow by being ‘Meaningfully Different’ to more people with strong brand equity driving four times more value share, yet the number of Australian brands considered to be highly ‘Meaningfully Different’ has dropped 51 percent in the last decade.”

“Marketing is at an inflection point in an era of unprecedented change and must evolve to meet the needs of today and tomorrow by reframing its critical role in an organisation,” Kennedy further explained. 

He added, “Marketing must become much more deliberate about its commercial value and how this is interlinked and communicated throughout the business. Marketing must have proper conversations with the CFO, and to do this, the language of marketing needs to change. Reframing its commercial focus will go a long way to ensure that marketing can reclaim its rightful place at the board table and partner with the C-Suite to drive overall performance—in both the short- and long-term.”

The report also reveals that organisations with high levels of trust in marketing tend to perform better. However, a significant capability gap in measuring and demonstrating effectiveness is undermining confidence in the marketing function, particularly as economic pressures persist.

Jonathan Sinton, chief commercial officer for Kantar in Australia, explained, “While some marketing effectiveness opportunities are enduring, such as establishing the commercial credibility of marketing within an organisation, others are newly emerging, such as the impact of artificial intelligence on content creation, media buying, and measurement. All of this combines into a paradox where there is a heightened focus on effectiveness, alongside diminishing confidence in how to achieve it.”

Notably, only one-third of Australian organisations have cut marketing budgets, even though 57% report being affected by current economic conditions. Ultimately, the focus on capability rather than budget cuts is impacting resource allocation and effectiveness measurement.

“Times remain tough—from cash flow to confidence—and what hasn’t subsided since the start of the pandemic is the economic conditions in which we continue to operate. Some of the key challenges that continue to impact marketers are the need for instant results resulting in a continual move to short-termism, tightening marketing budgets that mean being brave and experimental is becoming riskier, and a subsequent lack of investment in brand building resulting in a sea of sameness. We may be at significant crossroads, but the opportunity is ripe to build a strong foundation—key to both short- and long-term sustainable growth,” he continued. 

“Overall, leading Australian organisations are less impacted by the economy and are seeing marketing budgets increase despite resourcing being compromised. They are also more holistic in their approach, and the C-Suite does see marketing as a strategic business partner. Overwhelmingly, they are in it for the long term. There is a lot to learn from those who have their marketing effectiveness roadmap aligned with their entire organisation—those with a holistic focus on organisational performance are set up for success,” Sinton concluded. 

Indonesia – Meta is the most effective platform for driving offline and online sales, giving the highest return on ad spend (ROAS) delivered at 1.8x across traditional and digital platforms, a study from Kantar showed. 

According to the latest Kantar study commissioned by Meta, despite economic challenges in Southeast Asia, consumer confidence is rebounding, with the region projected to achieve 1.6x economic growth over the next decade. As businesses and brands seek to engage the evolving Southeast Asian consumer effectively, optimising marketing budgets and choosing the right engagement channels are crucial for maximising efficiency.

The study’s findings highlight Meta as the most effective platform for driving omnichannel sales, seamlessly integrating offline and online channels, with the highest ROAS of 1.8x. Meta contributes 16% of incremental media sales with only a 10% share of spend, surpassing both other digital platforms and TV. Additionally, Meta attracts the highest number of new buyers across digital platforms at the lowest cost, underscoring its ability to achieve substantial business outcomes.

Kantar’s study also analysed how many people who saw a media campaign on Meta’s platforms and other media made a purchase. It revealed that campaigns on Meta achieved the highest conversion rate at 22%, compared to 20% on TV and 13% on other digital media. This means that 1 in 5 viewers who encountered an ad campaign on Meta made a purchase.

In terms of reach, Meta achieved a substantial 59%, closely trailing TV while outperforming other digital channels at 43%. Meta also led in incremental reach across its platforms with 6%, compared to only 2% on other digital platforms.

When integrated with TV, media campaigns on Meta platforms demonstrated superior synergy, yielding a 12% additional impact on sales. In contrast, campaigns combining other digital platforms with TV achieved an 8% impact, with a 33% overlap in reach. This underscores the effectiveness of integrated media strategies involving Meta.

Meta, as a platform, was also found to bring in new shoppers at the lowest cost. Ads on Meta platforms help drive maximum value for marketing dollars, as the study showed that Meta delivered the highest number of new buyers across digital platforms at the lowest cost of $3.90 per recruit.

Furthermore, among tech-savvy demographics such as Gen Z and Millennials, Meta leads in digital media-driven sales, capturing 44% of the digital sales market. 

Kishore Parthasarathy, director of marketing communications for Southeast Asia at Meta, said, “At Meta, we strive towards the gold standard in measurement based on data and science. We look at our advertiser’s total marketing plan to ensure we deliver actionable insights across the marketing funnel. Kantar’s latest study has enabled us to measure holistically, providing robust ROI, reach, and shopper behaviour to inform our clients and partners planning and creative strategies.” 

Harjyot Singh, APAC media and digital lead at PepsiCo, also shared, “At PepsiCo, we prioritise creating meaningful experiences for our consumers. By harnessing the power of consumer insights and utilising Meta platforms, we craft relevant and impactful interactions. This approach resonates with our audience, driving enhanced consumer engagement and sustainable business growth.”

Sydney, Australia – Kantar has announced the launch of the Kantar AI Lab, which brings together the company’s AI teams across its entire business. This new centre of expertise for the development of AI Technologies, products, and collaborations incorporates AI into all aspects of Kantar’s business. 

This approach aims to disrupt the insights sector on a broad scale by integrating Kantar’s AI capabilities with its expertise and extensive data to provide clients with an improved experience. 

The Kantar AI Lab includes the Kantar AI Assistant (KaiA), a conversational generative AI assistant that allows marketers to interact with data more intuitively by just asking questions. KaiA integrates proprietary data, models, and analytical frameworks to create insights in seconds, and it is initially available to Kantar Brand Tracking clients. 

One of the features of Kantar AI Lab is Text AI, a novel, proprietary generative AI-based method intended for large-scale analysis of thousands of open-ended survey answers. In massive amounts of text-based responses, it finds, classifies, and comprehends common patterns while upholding data security and privacy norms. More probing questions can lead to a more in-depth understanding. 

The next innovation from Kantar AI Lab is Text AI, a brand-new, in-house generative AI method that can evaluate tens of thousands of survey replies with open-ended questions at once. In massive amounts of text-based responses, it finds, classifies, and comprehends common patterns while upholding data security and privacy norms. More probing questions can lead to more in-depth understanding. 

For video, LINK AI Creative Insights integrates media effectiveness evaluation with creative thinking. Brands may now make comprehensive judgments about media planning because of this connection. 

A newly developed hybrid metric that predicts an advertisement’s impact on brand awareness, consideration, and purchase intent inside digital advertising is introduced via the predicted brand lift function in LINK+ digital creative testing. 

Advertisers can track campaign adherence to channel or brand rules with automated creative tagging for ads tested with LINK AI in addition to LINK AI’s creative effectiveness data. Deeper meta-analyses that determine which creative components tend to produce desired results for advertisers and their clients are made possible by this combination.

The hybrid market transfer function in LINK AI provides AI-based forecasts of ad success in secondary markets by leveraging LINK+ results from the primary market. This tool assists brands with the problem of developing memorable advertising while maximising effect by identifying creative executions fit for global deployment. It offers to save time, maximise ad ROI, and boost advertiser confidence when expanding campaigns abroad. 

ConceptEvaluate AI is a new tool created with Kantar’s innovation database to provide brands with precise estimates of in-market success for their concepts. It aims to reduce time to market and increase cost-effectiveness by providing early input on up to 100 proposals. By finding higher-performing concepts, the tool reduces risk in the innovation process and indicates which concepts should be tested further. 

Speaking about the launch, Ashok Kalidas, global chief AI scientist at Kantar, said, “We’re focused on the impact that AI can have in enhancing fraud prevention, the role of synthetic data, and fast and flexible data sourcing. For clients, our work is enabling everything from data connectivity to campaign optimisation, pushing the boundaries of how we understand people and help shape the brands of tomorrow.” 

Meanwhile, John Cucka, head of analytics and AI for Kantar Australia, said, “Streamlining our processes, improving data quality, and maintaining cost control for our clients aren’t the sexy news businesses usually shout about. The launch of AI Lab is an opportunity to shout about the new AI tools we’ve developed that are getting into our client’s hands.” 

He added, “Leveraging our world-leading frameworks, proprietary databases, and an army of data science, statistics, and technology experts, we’ve developed tools across the entire marketing landscape based on world-leading technologies. The depth and breadth of our AI-powered portfolio are like nothing else available in Australia. Whether the need is in Creative, Media, Innovation or Branding, AI-powered tools now exist from idea generation through to testing, refinement, optimisation, and forecasting.” 

“This is just the beginning of the AI evolution of the industry. As we can continue to train up our AI agents, speed and quality will continue to rise, and accessibility will continue to open. AI is fundamentally changing how we work, but it’s not replacing humans. It is freeing up our incredibly talented and experienced team to focus on leveraging the tools to our client’s advantage, generating better insights to ultimately drive better strategic and tactical decision-making,” Cucka concluded. 

Singapore – Advertising spend on retail media networks (RMNs) in Southeast Asia is projected to hit US$4.b by 2030, underscoring the increasing significance of RMNs as a pivotal channel for advertising by marketers in the region. This is based on the latest study by GrabAds and Kantar.

Globally, RMN ad spend is expected to surge by 73% in the next seven years, surpassing growth rates in search (47%) and social (45%).

The study also reveals that year-on-year growth of RMN ad spend in Southeast Asia is forecast to be higher or consistent with the growth being seen globally. The study also notes that Southeast Asian marketers will prioritise investments towards RMN channels this year, with year-on-year ad spend growth projected to increase from 8% in 2024 to 11 % in 2030.

Ad spend growth on RMNs in each of the Southeast Asian countries is also projected to grow higher than the global growth index, with Indonesia leading the pack with a forecasted growth of 219% from 2023 to 2030. Indonesia is also projected to have a CAGR of 13.41%, which is around 1.9x higher than the projected global rate.

Moreover, said study reveals the four main types of RMNs in Southeast Asia- social media RMNs, which are digital marketplaces within social media platforms; e-commerce RMNs, digital retail marketplaces that offer advertising spaces; large retailer RMNs, which differ from e-commerce RMNs by nature of their physical retail spaces; and superapp RMNs, which consist of an ecosystem of services. 

The increasing share of RMNs in marketers’ media mix over the next 7 years is also propelled by the unique market dynamics in Southeast Asia. The study also highlighted that 2 out of 3 Southeast Asians find it important to have products and services on demand. 61% also shared that it is very important to have products or services to anticipate their needs, compared to the global figure of 52%. 

This suggests that Southeast Asian consumers prefer seamless, convenient transactions that fulfil their needs quickly. Superapp RMNs are well-positioned to serve these consumer needs with their O2O full-funnel ecosystem powered by first-party data.

Ken Mandel, regional managing director at GrabAds and brand insights at Grab, said, “Tomorrow’s hybrid shopper will look very different from today’s shopper. Marketers are tasked with the arduous task of identifying the right ads to serve at the right time to the right consumers to value-add to the buying or discovery experience.”

He added, “RMNs provide a full-funnel sales flywheel to help marketers do just that – first-party transaction data from RMNs inform marketers of users’ real needs and interests, thereby delivering ads that provide a suitable solution for the right occasion, while their full-funnel ecosystem allows marketers to close the loop and track return on investments accurately. As marketers increasingly invest in this emerging channel, it is crucial to design ad campaigns that leverage RMNs’ unique features, creating immersive experiences that extend beyond the conventional buying journey to also include loyalty and advocacy.”

Meanwhile, Katie McClintock, regional managing director at Kantar, commented, “RMNs allow marketers to serve highly relevant ads to consumers by showcasing products and brands that cater to their immediate needs and behaviour across the buying journey. This approach to advertising adds value to consumers rather than disrupting the browsing experience.”

She added, “Keeping up with consumer habits and behaviour is the only way for brands to be meaningfully different, and we at Kantar believe that RMNs, with first-party data informed by real consumer transactions, can give brands the tools they need to provide greater value for consumers and build strong brand differentiation.”

Sydney, Australia – Market research firm Kantar Australia has recently announced the promotion of Mark Kennedy and Colin MacArthur into the joint role of managing partner, consulting, at Kantar Australia. They will be replacing Dennis Wong who is leaving Kantar after 15 years to pursue his own professional interests.

In their new roles, Kennedy and MacArthur will be leading Kantar’s consulting department together, leveraging the unique set of skills housed within Kantar’s consulting team across its Australia business and clients. 

Prior to his appointment, Kennedy spent his 10 years at Kantar, where he led an extensive portfolio of blue-chip clients in Europe, Asia and the USA, and is respected by his peers and clients for delivering ‘marketing inspiration’ that is simple and actionable, all solidifying his reputation as a strategic leader.

Overall, he possesses 30 years of experience in the design, marketing, and strategy sectors in both client and agency worlds, including global leadership positions at Landor Associates and Blue Marlin Brand Design as well as leadership roles at South African Breweries International and Design Works.

On the other hand, MacArthur has been working in the insight and consulting space of Kantar for over 20 years. Prior to joining Kantar eight years ago, he built his career at Jigsaw Strategic Research and The Leading Edge in Australia, and at Hall & Partners and KPMG Nunwood in the UK. 

MacArthur is also a passionate member of Kantar’s Inclusion, Diversity and Wellbeing Committee and supports not-for-profit organisations on campaigns focused on greater inclusion and diversity and health outcomes for the LGBTGQI+ community. 

Speaking on his appointment, Kennedy said, “I am thrilled and honoured to take on the role of joint Managing Partner for Kantar’s Consulting practice in Australia. The client and consulting landscapes are evolving rapidly, and, alongside Colin, I look forward to bridging these worlds together to drive growth, build connections and shape the future.”

Also commenting on his own appointment, MacArthur added, “In this ongoing period of flux and change in the domestic and global markets that we work in, my excitement of taking on this role with Mark stems from the prospect of bringing my strategic vision, operational expertise, and client-focused approach to drive growth and success for both Kantar and our clients.”

Meanwhile, Jon Foged, managing director for Kantar Australia, mentioned, “I am excited about this partnership as Mark and Colin already have a close and trusted relationship with each other and the wider Kantar team, they have complementary strengths they can amplify together in this role, they are experts that our clients respect, and they are passionate and enthusiastic leaders”.