Ipsos Acquires The US Based Company Marketing Metrics

Paris, October 1, 2003 - Ipsos today announced the acquisition of Marketing Metrics (MMI), a leading U.S.-based research company specializing in customer relationship and customer satisfaction management.

CRM/CSM, which will be offered globally under the Ipsos Loyalty brand name in 2004, currently accounts for 8% of total Ipsos revenues and is one of the company's five research specializations, along with advertising research, marketing research, media research and public opinion research. The Ipsos Loyalty research division will be headed by Henri Wallard, Paris-based CEO of Ipsos.

Based in Paramus N.J., MMI generated close to $10 million USD in revenues last year. It ranks among the Top 50 research companies in terms of size in the U.S. Founded in 1984 by Terry G. Vavra, MMI emphasizes its approach to customer satisfaction research and CRM systems using "The Customer Delight Principle" and "Aftermarketing" proprietary models, but also offers customized solutions to clients in the luxury auto manufacturing, global investment banking, international retail and telecommunications sectors.

"We're delighted to have Terry and his team bring their best-in-class research and modeling methodologies in the CRM/CSM fields to Ipsos," Wallard said. "MMI gives our clients new perspectives and solutions to help solve their business challenges along with sophisticated CRM/CSM research and data mining decision-making tools."

Added Vavra: "The benefits to MMI clients are the breadth and scope of Ipsos global capabilities in data collection, its norms and databases, and its research specialization focus. As our clients' needs grow and become more complex, and as they expand beyond local markets, so can we."

Meanwhile, Ipsos North America COO Rupert Walters said: "MMI is a research firm with a rich history of innovative project assignments and a roster of internationally respected clients. It gives Ipsos in North America a thoughtful and sophisticated approach to customer satisfaction research. We are particularly excited about the potential of its newest work in linkage analysis (satisfaction to profits) and satisfaction action-planning." For more information, please contact: Dan Maceluch Vice-President, Corporate Communications Ipsos North America 604.257.3200 About Ipsos The Ipsos group is the second largest survey-based marketing research company in the world, and has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999. Ipsos companies offer a full suite of research services, guided by industry experts and bolstered by advanced analytics and methodologies in advertising, marketing, media, public opinion and customer loyalty research. Member companies, employing more than 3800 staff in 35 countries, also offer in each of their specializations a full range of off-line and online research products as well as custom, syndicated, omnibus and panel services. The acquisition of MMI, to be marketed under the Ipsos Loyalty Inc. brand name, now gives Ipsos clients a complete and dedicated offer in CSM/CRM research and positions the company for further growth in this key sector. To learn more, visit: www.ipsos.com. Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris Premier Marchй, and is part of the SBF 120 and Next Prime Indices as well as eligible to the Deferred Settlement System (SRD). Euroclear code 7329, Reuters ISOS.LN, Bloomberg IPS FP