CNS Institut

What CNS Institut does

CNS Institut is a privately held French market research and consulting firm founded in 2007 and headquartered at 27-29 avenue de Saint-Mandé in Paris (SIRET 501 395 263 00020, APE 7320Z). The company delivers bespoke quantitative and qualitative market research studies, organized around five core service lines: Positioning Survey, Ad Hoc Survey, Communication Survey, Satisfaction Survey, and Persona Survey. Its primary vertical is the automotive sector's Parts and Services activity, and it has extended its methodology into general commercial sectors. The firm operates a sales-led B2B model, reaching clients directly through its bilingual website, LinkedIn, Twitter, and inbound contact forms, with no disclosed resellers or distribution partners.

The company's core technology is an integrated call center located in the Paris region, staffed by native investigators and deliberately kept in-house to avoid outsourcing. This infrastructure enables real-time monitoring of fieldwork and is the firm's primary operational differentiator versus competitors who subcontract data collection. CNS Institut also operates a sub-brand platform called Capt' Network (with a Capt' Network Survey service line) positioned as an international marketing survey offering. Geographic reach spans approximately 40 countries, and the firm maintains both French and English website and social presences to serve international clients.

CNS Institut generates revenue through professional services fees for customized survey projects, with pricing provided on a quote basis after a client inquiry. The company is bootstrapped and founder-owned, with no disclosed external funding, no parent company, and no subsidiaries. Headcount sits in the 11-50 range, consistent with a small consultancy. No public revenue figure, named customer, or certification is disclosed, and the firm has not announced any funding rounds, acquisitions, or leadership changes.

Name

CNS Institut

Legal name

CNS INSTITUT

Website

https://cnsinstitut.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CNS Institut is a French B2B market research consultancy founded in 2007, delivering bespoke quantitative and qualitative surveys across approximately 40 countries. It primarily serves the automotive Parts and Services sector through five core survey offerings, backed by an integrated in-house call center.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Courbevoie

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Market Research Services: CNS Institut generates revenue through providing customized quantitative and qualitative market research studies to B2B and B2C clients. Services include positioning surveys, ad hoc studies, communication studies, satisfaction surveys, and persona studies. The methodology and typology of studies vary based on client needs and budgets.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CNS Institut is an international market research and consulting firm that designs and executes customized quantitative and qualitative surveys for businesses. Its five core service lines—Positioning, Ad Hoc, Communication, Satisfaction, and Persona studies—are delivered through an in-house call center in the Paris region with native investigators, enabling end-to-end production without outsourcing. The company operates across approximately 40 countries, with primary specialization in the automotive sector's Parts and Services activity.

Product overview

CNS Institut is an international marketing consultancy and research company offering a portfolio of five core survey services: Positioning Survey, Ad Hoc Survey, Communication Survey, Satisfaction Survey, and Persona Survey. The company conducts both quantitative and qualitative studies across approximately 40 countries, with a particular focus on the automotive sector's Parts and Services market. CNS Institut maintains an integrated call center in the Paris region to ensure quality control and real-time monitoring of native investigators, avoiding outsourcing to guarantee result quality.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Capt' Network: International marketing survey platform and brand operated by CNS Institut.
• Capt' Network Survey

Products and services

• Positioning Survey (Étude de Positionnement) Comprehensive competitive analysis service that enables clients to adapt the price positioning of a product or service based on competitor analysis. Targeted at businesses, with a primary focus on the automotive Parts and Services sector.
• Ad Hoc Survey (Étude Ad'Hoc) Custom survey conducted on commission to meet a specific business need and provide an answer to a specific problem, tailored to each client's requirements. Targeted at business clients across commercial sectors.
• Communication Survey (Étude de Communication) Survey that enables better targeting of customer campaigns by collecting information from target audiences about sensitive topics to address or avoid during the communication phase. Targeted at businesses planning customer communications.
• Satisfaction Survey (Étude de Satisfaction) Survey that measures the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of B2B or B2C customers with respect to a service or product. Targeted at businesses seeking to evaluate customer experience.
• Persona Survey (Étude Persona) Service that creates a fictional person profile representing a target buyer or user, developed by analyzing existing customers, enabling development of usage scenarios for a product or service and supporting marketing or promotional strategy. Targeted at businesses developing go-to-market or marketing plans.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• BVA: French market research firm providing custom ad hoc, satisfaction, and positioning studies. Direct competitor for CNS Institut's core service lines, especially in B2B and consumer research.
• Ifop: French-origin market research firm offering both ad hoc and syndicated studies across verticals. Highly comparable in size and service model to CNS Institut, with overlap on B2B custom surveys.
• Harris Interactive: France-based research firm with strong automotive sector presence and a full portfolio of custom survey services. Overlaps with CNS Institut on both methodology and end-market.
• OpinionWay: Paris-based market research and consulting firm offering quantitative and qualitative studies. Closely comparable scale and methodology mix to CNS Institut.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Global market research leader headquartered in France. Directly competes with CNS Institut on custom B2B survey work and automotive aftermarket research, but at vastly larger scale and with syndicated offerings.
• NielsenIQ: Global consumer intelligence firm with automotive aftermarket measurement products. Larger and more diversified than CNS Institut but competes for the same aftermarket intelligence budgets.
• Kantar: Global research and insights giant serving automotive and consumer goods with quantitative and qualitative methods. Competes with CNS Institut on enterprise engagements while offering much broader portfolio.
• GfK: Global market intelligence provider with deep automotive and consumer goods practices. Competes with CNS Institut in custom research, particularly across European markets.

Emerging players

• Dynata: Large online panel and data-collection platform enabling DIY and assisted survey research. Represents a structural threat to traditional custom-survey providers like CNS Institut.
• Toluna: Global digital consumer insights and panel provider with automated survey capabilities. Adjacent competitor for lower-complexity custom survey work that CNS Institut currently performs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cnsinstitut
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cns-institut

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 CNS Institut