Millward Brown Taps OpenAmplify's Semantic Service

WPP-owned Millward Brown has partnered with semantic web service OpenAmplify to provide clients with a deeper understanding of what respondents actually mean in their answers to surveys.

OpenAmplify uses patented Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology to identify features contained in online text, including topics, brands, emotions and intentions.

Last year, the firm launched TopicIntentions, a tool which analyses large amounts of data to uncover users' real needs, and assess whether their purchasing decisions can be influenced.

Millward Brown will add OpenAmplify's semantic technology to its brand tracking and other studies, to automatically distinguish whether what is being said is negative, positive or neutral, in order to provide a 'more accurate' interpretation of response.

'As brands become wise to what is being said about them, tracking studies increase in size, length, and complexity which makes including a human element difficult and expensive,' states Jorge Alagón, Millward Brown's Head of Global Innovations. 'Working with OpenAmplify will help us to put the human meaning of words and phrases into our automated analysis.'

The service has been rolled out globally to all Millward Brown companies and licensees, for English language research projects.

OpenAmplify's CEO Mark Redgrave says the deal will provide Milllward Brown with a level of analysis that was previously only possible through time-intensive manual coding.

Web site: www.millwardbrown.com and www.openamplify.com .