Respected Business Executive
To Lead Ipsos North American Organisation
Lech and Truchot warmly thanked Kooyman for the work he accomplished in the four and half years at Ipsos: "Under Simon's leadership, Ipsos experienced a very exciting period of growth in North America. This included heightened awareness of the Ipsos brand in North America, integration of well-known companies into the Ipsos Group, an increase in the number of Ipsos research specializations, and the creation of a solid common management structure on which to build future growth."
Jim Smith has broad experience and an impressive background in management, marketing and market research, with particular knowledge of the consumer products sector, Lech and Truchot said. Most recently, Smith was Chairman and CEO of Delve, a fast growing U.S. market research company headquartered in St. Louis, MO. He began his career at Procter & Gamble where he spent 20 years in a number of U.S. and international assignments in Research & Development, Marketing and General Management. He was General Manager for Business Development for Health and Beauty Care (H&BC) for Europe, and was later appointed President H&BC for Spain, Portugal and Germany.
In 1991, Smith was named President of the Gerber Baby Food Company with responsibility for North and South America. In 1993, he was hired by ConAgra to lead their Frozen Foods division, and was eventually promoted to Group President for ConAgra Frozen Prepared Foods, then a $3 billion business. From 2000 to 2002, Smith was Chairman and CEO of Aurora Foods Inc.
"Jim comes to us with the reputation for being a strong leader and a hardworking manager. We are confident that, with the great potential and the on-going commitment of our teams in North America, he will bring to the company initiative, determination, and efficiency," Truchot said.
Added Smith: "I am very excited and pleased to be joining the Ipsos organization. Ipsos is a highly dynamic company whose record of past achievement, including in North America, is very noteworthy and impressive. There are many exciting new opportunities on the horizon for North America, and I am looking forward to partnering with our strong North American teams to continue to grow our business and fully realize these opportunities."
Smith will also have a seat on the Ipsos Management Board's Executive Committee.
About Ipsos
Ipsos is a leading global survey-based market research company, owned and managed by research professionals. Ipsos helps interpret, simulate, and anticipate the needs and responses of consumers, customers, and citizens around the world.
Ipsos member companies offer expertise in five specialisations: advertising research, marketing research - including forecasting, modeling and consulting -, quality and customer relationship management, media research, opinion and public affairs research. Ipsos has a full line of custom, syndicated, omnibus, access panels, and online research products and services, bolstered by advanced analytics and methodologies.
The company was founded in 1975 and has been publicly traded since 1999.
Ipsos in North America Ipsos is the fastest growing market research company in the U.S. for the third consecutive year (source Inside Research), market leader in Canada, and among the most trusted research brands in North America. With more than 1,300 professionals and support staff in the U.S. and Canada, Ipsos offers a suite of survey-based services guided by industry experts and bolstered by advanced analytics and methodologies in advertising and marketing research, quality and customer relationship management, as well as public affairs research.
Ipsos conducts polling on behalf of the Associated Press, the world's oldest and largest news organization.
In 2004, Ipsos generated 605.6 million Euro ($752.8 million U.S.) in total revenues, of which 35% came from its North American operations.
