Harris Insights & Analytics
The Harris Poll, formally known as Harris Insights and Analytics, is a market research and global consulting firm headquartered in Chicago and New York City, United States with additional offices in Washington, D.C. and Rochester, New York. Founded in 1963, The Harris Poll is one of the longest-running surveys measuring public opinion in the U.S., with a history of advising leaders during times of change such as John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
Harris works in a wide range of industries, across countries and territories in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company has been a member of several research organizations, including the US National Council of Public Polls, the British Polling Council, the Council of American Survey Research Organizations, the US Council for Marketing and Opinion Research, and the UK Market Research Society.
In November 2013, Nielsen Holdings agreed to purchase Harris Interactive for $116.6 million. The purchase was completed on February 3, 2014.HARRIS INTERACTIVE INC"> In January 2017, Harris was acquired by the Stagwell Group. The Harris Poll continues to run, and current releases by The Harris Poll can be found on its new website.
History
The Harris Poll was founded by Louis Harris in 1963 to conduct polling for political candidates. In 1960, Harris became the first presidential pollster, working for the campaign of John F. Kennedy, who was elected U.S. president that year. In 1970, Harris acquired Humphrey Taylor's firm, where Humphrey was the leading strategist and pollster for the conservative party and for Margaret Thatcher.In January 1992, Lou Harris retired from Louis Harris & Associates, which had by then been owned by a corporation for some time, and formed his own company, LH Associates.
Mergers, acquisitions, and sale of business
The Gordon S. Black Corporation was founded in 1975 as a New York corporation. It formed and became part of the Delaware corporation now known as Harris Interactive in 1997. During these years, the company's acquisitions have included:- February 1996 – all of the stock of Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., headquartered in New York.
- February 2001 – the custom research division of Yankelovich Partners, Inc., headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.
- August 2001 – all of the capital stock of Market Research Solutions Limited, a privately owned UK company headquartered in Oxford, England.
- September 2001 – all of the capital stock of M&A Create Limited, a privately owned company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
- November 2001 – all of the capital stock of Total Research Corporation, a Delaware corporation headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.
- March 2004 – all of the capital stock of Novatris, S.A., a share corporation organized and existing under the laws of France.
- September 2004 – all of the capital stock of Wirthlin Worldwide, Inc. a privately held California corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia.
- April 2007 – all of the capital stock of MediaTransfer AG Netresearch & Consulting, a privately held German stock corporation headquartered in Hamburg, Germany.
- August 2007 – all of the capital stock of Decima Research Inc., a corporation incorporated in Ontario, Canada.
- August 2007 – all of the capital stock of Marketshare Limited, a company incorporated under the laws of Hong Kong, and Marketshare Pte Ltd, a company incorporated under the laws of Singapore.
- February 2014 – Harris Interactive joins Nielsen. Nielsen and its wholly owned subsidiary, Prime Acquisition Corp., completed tender offer to buy all outstanding shares of common stock of Harris Interactive, Inc.. Harris Interactive became a wholly owned subsidiary of Nielsen and its shares ceased to be traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market.
- June 2014 – ITWP Acquires Harris Interactive UK, Harris Interactive SAS in France, and Harris Interactive AG in Germany from Nielsen.
- January 2017 – The Stagwell Group acquires Harris.
| Name | Tenure |
| Gordon S. Black | 1975 – January 2004 |
| Robert E. Knapp | January 2004 – May 2005 |
| Gregory T. Novak | May 2005 – October 2008 |
| Kimberly Till | October 2008 – June 2011 |
| Albert A. Angrisani | June 2011 – February 2014 |
| Will Johnson & John Gerzema | February 2014 – Present |