• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, September 26, 2016

Kantar has launched a new global consultancy operation to serve the public and governmental sector called Kantar Public.

The new operation will provide research services related to public policy, advise clients on “internal capability building,” and help them assess the impact on developing projects, among other services.

Kantar veteran Michelle Harrison, previously Global Head of the Political and Social Practice at Kantar TNS, has been named Global CEO and the Chair of Kantar Public UK.

The new unit will tap existing Kantar resources, such as those provided by Kantar TNS, Kantar Millward Brown, Kantar IMRB and Kantar IBOPE to help shape its offering.

Both Kantar and parent WPP have burgeoning government and public sector practices, and Kantar Public is designed to build on those efforts. Kantar Public, for example, will work with WPP’s Government and Public Sector Practice (which will continue to be headed by Harrison) to support clients in the government communications field with integrated campaign activity and digital government service delivery.

Eric Salama, Kantar CEO, stated that the company’s work in the sector is “growing fast. Its increasing importance in stimulating behavioral change in many aspects of societies requires the kind of expert resource and investment that Kantar Public will provide.”