Millward Brown

What Millward Brown does

Kantar (operating with Millward Brown legacy) is a global market research and data analytics company headquartered in London that helps advertisers, brands, and agencies measure brand equity, test advertising creative, and decode consumer and shopper behaviour. Its core platform architecture centers on Kantar Marketplace, an automated self-serve research hub combining brand tracking (BrandDynamics), brand equity measurement (BrandEvaluator, BrandSnapshot), creative effectiveness (LINK+, LINK AI), and media optimization (Context Lab). Underpinning these are three flagship data assets: BrandZ (the world's largest brand equity study covering 4.3 million consumers, 21,000 brands, 525 categories in 54 markets), Worldpanel (the world's largest consumer panel tracking 563 billion brand choices annually across 65 markets), and Kantar Profiles (a respondent network of 170+ million across 100+ markets). Proprietary methodology includes the Meaningful Different Salient framework, Blueprint for Brand Growth, and AI-powered capabilities including facial coding, predictive eye tracking, and the Qubed Data Defence Suite using 5 Deep Neural Networks.

Kantar monetizes through a dual GTM model: enterprise field sales with dedicated account teams serving 96 of the world's 100 biggest advertisers via multi-year contracts and bespoke consulting, complemented by self-serve usage-based and subscription pricing on Kantar Marketplace. Pricing tiers range from $500 per AI ad test (LINK AI) and $7,700 annually for BrandCampaign, to $13,950 for Context Lab and $27,880 for BrandEvaluator. Revenue streams span subscription/recurring engagements, usage-based platform credits, and enterprise data/report products. The customer base is anchored in CPG (Unilever, Nestlé, KitKat), with additional verticals in retail (Saigon Co-op), F&B (Tassal), and fashion/beauty (New Look, Danoninho). With 20,000 employees across 80+ countries, ISO/IEC 27001 certification, and GDPR compliance, Kantar operates as a privately held subsidiary within its parent structure, governed by Kantar Group Limited in England and Wales.

Name

Millward Brown

Legal name

Kantar Group Limited

Website

https://kantar.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kantar is a global market research and analytics firm that helps advertisers and brands measure brand equity, test creative effectiveness, and decode consumer behavior across 80+ countries, serving 96 of the world's 100 biggest advertisers through its BrandZ, Worldpanel, Profiles, and LINK platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research & Consumer Insights

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Syndicated Market Research (Panels, Omnibus, Tracker Studies) (MPAAALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brand Research & Positioning (Audience/Competitive Insights) (MPAAAEAI), Social & Digital Insights (Social Listening, Online Community Research) (MPAAALAK), Shopper Insights & Path-to-Purchase Research (MPAAAJAL)

Keywords

• Market research services
• Brand equity measurement
• Advertising effectiveness testing
• Consumer panel research
• Brand valuation analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Copenhagen

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Market Research and Analytics Services: Kantar provides comprehensive market research services including brand equity measurement, consumer insights, advertising effectiveness testing, and strategic consulting. Revenue is generated through project-based engagements, subscription platforms, and consulting engagements.
2. Self-Serve Platform (Kantar Marketplace): Automated market research platform offering solutions for ad testing, innovation, media planning, brand insights, and customer experience. Clients can purchase individual credits or predetermined packages with pay-as-you-go options.
3. Enterprise Data and Reports: Premium brand intelligence reports and data products including BrandZ valuations, competitive intelligence dashboards, and custom research deliverables.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Millward Brown delivers market research, brand equity measurement, and advertising effectiveness analytics through Kantar's platform of syndicated studies and custom research services. Its offerings include the BrandZ brand valuation study, LINK+ and LINK AI ad testing solutions, Worldpanel consumer purchase behavior tracking, and Kantar Profiles custom survey research — sold via enterprise contracts and a self-serve Marketplace platform.

Product overview

Kantar operates as a unified platform-plus-modules architecture under the Kantar Marketplace umbrella. The core offering centers on brand effectiveness and advertising research solutions including LINK+ (ad testing), LINK AI (AI-powered ad testing), and BrandSnapshot (brand equity analysis), alongside consumer panel solutions through Worldpanel and custom survey services via Kantar Profiles. These products work together to provide predictive brand analytics across 80+ countries, serving 96 of the world's top 100 advertisers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BrandZ: Industry-leading brand valuation combined with the world's largest brand equity study covering 4.3 million consumers, 21,000 brands across 525 categories in 54 markets.
• Worldpanel
• Worldpanel Usage
• Worldpanel Purchase
• PanelVoice Surveys
• BrandDynamics
• BrandEvaluator
• BrandCampaign
• Kantar Profiles
• Qubed
• LINK+
• LINK AI
• Kantar Marketplace
• BrandSnapshot
• Context Lab
• Data Positive

Products and services

• BrandSnapshot Self-serve brand equity analysis tool powered by BrandZ that delivers instant brand equity indicators across 1,100+ categories in 44 markets, enabling users to understand brand performance, competitive positioning, and growth potential.
• LINK+ Flagship ad testing solution for evaluating and optimising creative across digital, TV, audio, print, and outdoor formats. Delivers results in as few as 6 hours with configurable KPIs, drawing on the world's largest ad testing database of 260,000 ads.
• LINK AI AI-powered ad testing solution for rapid assessment of creator, digital, TV, print, and out-of-home content. Provides predictive brand lift assessments starting from $500 with pay-as-you-go pricing.
• BrandEvaluator Brand equity measurement solution for unlocking growth opportunities affordably and at speed, with annual subscriptions starting from $27,880.
• BrandCampaign Creative mix optimization solution measuring in-market creative performance to enable fast investment decisions, with annual subscriptions starting from $7,700.
• Worldpanel World's largest consumer panel providing behavioral data across 65 markets, tracking 563 billion brand choices annually. Includes purchase panels, usage panels, and behavioral analytics for FMCG, beauty, fashion, tech, and entertainment sectors.
• Kantar Profiles Custom survey services platform providing access to over 170 million respondents across 100+ markets through the Respondent Hub, featuring AI-driven anti-fraud technology (Qubed) and quick-turn survey solutions.
• Kantar BrandZ Industry-leading brand valuation combined with the world's largest brand equity study, covering 4.3 million consumers, 21,000 brands across 525 categories in 54 markets. Delivered as syndicated reports, custom research, and annual Most Valuable Global Brands rankings.

Quantifiable outcome

• Testing ads early in creative development can increase effectiveness by up to 12%
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• MicrosoftcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2026Microsoft Azure AI services integrated into Kantar's AI-powered products including AI advertising tools and predictive analytics. Subject to Microsoft AI Code of Conduct and customer copyright commitment policies.
• Bain & CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Joint release of China Shopper Report (27th edition in 2024) combining Kantar Worldpanel consumer data with Bain & Company consulting expertise for FMCG insights in Mainland China market.
• Effie Awards EuropemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Third year partnership with Effie Awards Europe revealing strategies behind Europe's most effective and resonant campaigns. Collaborative research booklet on brand building in creator era.

Scale indicators19 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ipsos: Ipsos is one of the largest global market research companies, offering brand and advertising research, consumer panels, and public opinion polling. It directly overlaps Kantar's brand tracking, ad testing, and consumer insight offerings with comparable global footprint.
• YouGov: YouGov operates one of the largest proprietary consumer panels globally and offers brand tracking, audience profiling, and custom research. It directly competes with Kantar Profiles and BrandDynamics in syndicated brand and consumer research.
• Comscore: Comscore provides cross-platform audience measurement and advertising effectiveness analytics, directly competing with Kantar's media effectiveness and Context Lab offerings. Both serve advertiser needs for cross-channel campaign measurement.
• Mintel: Mintel provides syndicated market research, consumer insights, and product intelligence, particularly to CPG and retail clients. Its category-level research overlaps with Kantar's innovation testing and shopper insight offerings.
• GfK: GfK (now part of NIQ) provides consumer panels, market intelligence, and ad effectiveness research across global markets. It competes with Kantar on consumer panel scale and brand measurement offerings.
• Nielsen: Nielsen is the closest direct peer to Kantar, offering syndicated audience measurement, consumer panels, and media analytics to advertisers globally. Both firms compete on consumer panel scale (Nielsen Homescan vs Worldpanel) and TV/ad measurement.
• Circana (formerly IRI): Circana specializes in consumer panel data and retail measurement for CPG and retail clients, directly competing with Kantar Worldpanel. Its POS and household panel datasets are the closest functional substitute to Worldpanel in the CPG vertical.

Broad incumbents

• NielsenIQ (NIQ): NielsenIQ is the consumer intelligence arm of Nielsen, offering retail measurement, consumer panels, and CPG analytics at global scale. It is a broader incumbent competing across Worldpanel and CPG insights with a wider portfolio than Kantar's shopper-focused offerings.

Emerging players

• Dynata: Dynata operates one of the world's largest first-party research data networks and competes with Kantar Profiles on survey sampling and respondent access. It focuses more on the supply side of online sample while Kantar Profiles spans both supply and full research services.
• Similarweb: Similarweb provides digital consumer insights and market intelligence, increasingly competing with Kantar in digital ad effectiveness and audience research. Its digital-first dataset complements but is narrower than Kantar's omnichannel panel.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kantar
• Xx.com/MB_Nordic

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Millward Brown