History

At the begining

Ipsos was founded in 1975 in Paris by Didier Truchot, who brought a fresh approach to the research industry. His objective was to offer clients high quality information adding significant value i.e. information that is both thorough and reliable, along with explanations and advice so it can be used immediately.

A rapid development in France

The 1980s saw the Group's first period of strong growth. The start of this period coincided with the arival of Jean-Marc Lech, formerly Chairman of IFOP (Institut français d'opinion publique,
French Institute of Public Opinion), who became Co-Chairman alongside Didier Truchot.

The Company benefitted from favourable conditions. France in the 1980s was the setting for a tremendous boom communications. The advertising industry was remarkably buoyant, business press (economic and trade publications) developed, and the period of alternating governments was accompanied by the emergence of political communication and politicians' growing awareness of the challenges of managinig their public image.

Ipsos grew very fast and acquired an image of excellence, particulary in the media, advertising research and public opinion and social research.

In 1989, Ipsos achieved revenues of 100 million francs (15 million euros) and was fifth in the French market behind Nielsen, Secodip, Sofres and BVA.

Nevertheless, large multinational groups, keen to globalise their approach across all their markets, wanted to work with the same research companies worldwide in order to have conistent and comparable data from one country to the next.
Ipsos Directors perceived this evolution and therefore decided to expand beyond France in order to meet their clients' needs abroad.

Expansion in Europe

In the early 1990s, Ipsos built uo positions in major European countries (Southern Europe, Germany, United Kingdom) and Central Europe by initiating a selective acquisition policy.

In 1999, to gain access to the resources needed to build up a world-class group while retaining their independence, the Co-Presidents of Ipsos decided to list the Company on the stock exchange.

After 2000, Ipsos stepped up its acquisition policy and extended its network on the five continents thanks to a continous sustained organic growth.

In 2009, Ipsos had positions in all major markets and was among the world's five largest research groups.