Brand Support - Media Research & Consulting

What Brand Support - Media Research & Consulting does

Brand Support (legal entity TBSC The Brand Support Company GmbH & Co. KG) is a Schwaig, Bavaria-based media research and consulting firm founded by Christoph Pöschl in 2002. The company specializes in audience research, strategic consulting, music testing, and brand tracking for radio broadcasters, media groups, and related organizations across Europe, with selective engagements in North America. Its client base includes RTL Radio Group, ORF, BBC Radio, MTV Europe, Bauer Media, Hitradio Ö3, and CH Media, among others, with several relationships extending 15+ years.

The firm operates a platform-plus-modules service architecture built around a proprietary tool ecosystem. Core offerings include BrandAdvocateClub (client-owned listener panels), BrandTracker (cloud-based weekly reach and image tracking), Mapping/Format Finder/Format Optimizer (strategic market and format studies), iFocus (focus groups with Real-Time-Response content testing), MusicMind (centralized music test database) supported by MusicTest, MusicCallout, and PlaylistAnalyzer, Streamalyzr (real-time web stream listening measurement), and AdOptimizer (campaign effectiveness testing). The underlying technology combines survey methodologies (CATI, online, in-hall EMT), panel management, and analytics dashboards, with a documented partnership with the Fraunhofer Institute for mobile survey and web analysis tool innovation.

Brand Support generates revenue through professional-services engagements structured as custom research proposals with multi-year contracts. Pricing is project-specific; payment is typically staged in three installments (commissioning, fieldwork start, results delivery). Distribution is direct and sales-led: the company targets enterprise broadcasters through custom proposals, thought-leadership publishing, conference speaking, and referral-driven repeat business rather than self-service or productized channels. No public pricing tiers, headcount details beyond a 1-10 range, or revenue figures are disclosed.

Name

Brand Support - Media Research & Consulting

Legal name

TBSC The Brand Support Company GmbH & Co. KG

Website

https://brandsupport.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Brand Support is a German boutique media research and consulting firm serving European radio broadcasters and media groups with proprietary audience-tracking, music-testing, and strategic-format tools, delivered through custom multi-year consulting engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Media Research & Consulting

NAICS

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

akta.pro primary industry

Custom Market Research (Ad Hoc Studies, Segmentation, U&A) (MPAAALAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brand Consulting, Audits & Research (Brand Health, Equity, Competitive) (BPAFAEAJ), Brand Strategy & Positioning (BPAFAEAA)

Keywords

• Media research consulting
• Radio audience measurement
• Music testing services
• Brand tracking analytics
• Market research services

Headquarters

HQ city

Schwaig, Bayern

HQ country

Germany

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. Custom Research Projects: Project-based market and social research consulting services. TBSC submits investigation proposals outlining scope, methodology, timeline, and fees. Payment typically structured in three installments: one third at commissioning, one third at data collection start, one third at delivery of results.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Brand Support is a media research and consulting firm that delivers custom audience research, music testing, brand tracking, format strategy studies, and campaign optimization services to radio stations, broadcasters, and media companies. Its offering combines project-based strategic consulting engagements with a proprietary suite of cloud-based research tools (BrandTracker, MusicMind, Streamalyzr, iFocus, AdOptimizer, BrandAdvocateClub) used to measure audiences, evaluate music programming, track brand image, and inform programming and marketing decisions.

Product overview

Brand Support is a research and consulting company offering a portfolio of specialized tools for radio and audio media companies. Its offering is organized as a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on audience research and strategic consulting. The core research tools include BrandAdvocateClub (listener panel/community), BrandTracker (continuous reach and image tracking), and the strategic study trio Mapping, Format Finder, and Format Optimizer (for market positioning and format development). The qualitative research tool iFocus combines focus groups with Real-Time-Response content testing. MusicMind serves as the central online data platform for all music research, underpinned by MusicCallout (regular song testing), MusicTest (large-scale back-catalog testing), and PlaylistAnalyzer. Streamalyzr delivers real-time web stream listening analytics, and AdOptimizer evaluates promotional campaigns. Together these tools help radio stations and media brands optimize their content, music programming, audience reach, and marketing effectiveness.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Radio Expres grew from 1% to 27% market share in 5 years with Brand Support support (2001-2007)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Triton Digital: Digital audio measurement and analytics platform serving broadcasters, podcasters, and streamers; highly comparable to Brand Support's Streamalyzr product for webstream listening analytics.
• Edison Research: US-based audio research firm specializing in radio listenership, podcast consumption, and music testing; closely comparable in mission, methodology (telephone/online call-outs), and radio/broadcaster client base to Brand Support.

Emerging players

• Audience Project: European cross-media audience measurement company operating in Northern Europe; comparable in providing audience insights to broadcasters and media brands across digital and traditional channels.
• SoundOut: Music research firm offering automated song testing, audience profiling, and brand tracking for music labels and broadcasters; directly comparable in music-testing methodology though serving labels alongside broadcasters.

Broad incumbents

• Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron): Dominant US radio ratings and audience measurement provider; comparable in serving radio broadcasters with continuous tracking data, though operating at much larger scale and serving a broader media portfolio.
• Ipsos: Global market research firm with deep media and audience research practices serving broadcasters and media brands; comparable custom research capability but at vastly larger scale and broader industry coverage.
• Kantar Media: Global media research division of Kantar covering audience measurement, advertising intelligence, and brand tracking for broadcasters; broad incumbent serving overlapping media clients with much larger scale.

Regional players

• Médiamétrie: France's primary audience measurement agency for TV, radio, and digital; directly comparable research methodology and radio-broadcaster client focus, though regionally scoped to France.
• Radiowave: Norwegian radio research firm providing audience measurement and music testing to Nordic broadcasters; highly comparable methodology and product mix though operating in a different European region.
• RMS (Radio Marketing Service): UK radio audience measurement and research provider serving commercial broadcasters with reach data and advertising effectiveness studies; comparable radio-specific research focus within a UK/Ireland footprint.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brandsupport

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Brand Support - Media Research & Consulting