Digital Company news South Africa

IQbusiness fast-tracks its growth and market research expansion with nudge acquisition

South African independent management and technology consulting firm, IQbusiness, announced that it has acquired innovative insights agency, nudge, as part of a targeted merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy to ramp up organic growth and diversify its offering.
IQbusiness fast-tracks its growth and market research expansion with nudge acquisition

The company first started implementing its M&A strategy in 2019 to meet the rising demand for credible local business services firms. Through strategic acquisitive growth, IQbusiness is making significant inroads towards becoming the African consulting, operations and technology firm of choice.

Following the successful acquisition of Genex Insights in 2019, IQbusiness continued its search for strategic businesses it could acquire to evolve and ultimately fulfil its purpose to grow people, grow business and grow Africa.

Nudge stood out as the ideal acquisition opportunity.  They are a specialist online insights company that leverages the power of digital to access consumer and market insights that help businesses make better decisions to achieve their growth objectives. IQbusiness saw immense value in the disruptive and digital-only approach at nudge to provide consumer market research and insights.

Founded in 2012, to address frustration with a very traditional market research industry, nudge disrupted the market research space by leveraging best-in-class technology to deliver rapid, quality insights to clients at an affordable price.

Fast-forward to today, and nudge continues to generate consumer insights for clients in 27 markets across Africa and the Middle East. Nudge builds online communities and panels for clients, as well as digital brand and media tracking, combined with online quantitative and qualitative research.

In keeping with their unique skill set at nudge, the entire acquisition – from due diligence to conclusion – was conducted via digital communication and collaboration tools to abide by lockdown protocols.

With complementary propositions and clients, combining nudge and Genex Insights further deepens the presence of IQbusiness in consumer research. Great news for an industry that’s predominantly occupied by multinational operators.

IQbusiness CEO Adam Craker welcomed nudge to the IQbusiness family, saying: “This acquisition drives continued momentum for our business by enabling access to new clients and new technologies that will pave the way for improved offerings for our clients. It serves as an incubator for innovations that will meet rapidly changing needs in consumer behaviour, digitalisation and a proliferation of new data sources and technologies that help us to truly understand our clients and their customers.”

Nudge CEO Jake Orpen also expressed his excitement around the growth potential of the acquisition, adding: “We recognised that for nudge to continue to expand and evolve rapidly in a world in flux, we needed to join forces with a trusted pioneer, such as IQbusiness. Like IQbusiness, we know that to be competitive in a changing future, agility and adaptability are crucial – these attributes have always been at the core of our operations and culture. The synergy we have found with IQbusiness in strategy, culture and values offer the ideal fit for our growth."

Craker concluded by explaining the vision for IQbusiness: “As a proudly South African, growth-orientated, and challenger company, we want to consolidate our market research subsidiaries into a single local business that can compete with international operators while driving a truly African agenda. This will lay the foundation for the rapid roll-out of market research innovations that exploit digital trends, artificial intelligence, social media and an explosion of big data to transform the consumer landscape.”

IQbusiness Insights
We are a full-service Market Research Agency and now part of SA's leading Management Consulting firm IQbusiness. We use technology and a deep understanding of human motivations to uncover powerful insights to help our customers to grow.
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