PLACEMENT REPORT
Candidate Number: 658855
Degree: Business and Management
Employer: Kantar Worldpanel UK
Job Title: Research Analyst
Department/Functional Area: New Business Insights
Contents
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Organisational Background
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Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability
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Employment Experience
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The Recruitment Process
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The Induction Process
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Advice for Future Students
Organisational Background
Kantar Worldpanel is the UK's leading Continuous Consumer Panel Market Research
provider, offering actionable insights to a range of clients from a myriad of sectors
specailising in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Fashion and Beauty.
Worldpanel operate in over 50 countries worldwide offering diverse research offerings
tailored to client’s needs and size by working with the largest retailers and brands as
well as the smallest.
Through regular monitoring of what people buy, Worldpanel provide demographic
profiles, market performances and opportunity identifications through varying mediums
such as excel data, presentations and through an interactive online portal.
Kantar Worldpanel is a marketing
agency which is housed within the
Kantar Group, Kantar houses
numerous research providers ranging
from online panels to consumer
surveys. Kantar itself is a part of WPP,
who are one of the world’s largest
marketing agencies, where Kantar act
as the company’s Insight and
Consultancy Group.
Figure 1: Kantar Worldpanel
Corporate Environment
Within Kantar Worldpanel there is a number of departments all who provide a service
either to clients or internally. Internal facing roles are based within the Operations area
of the business, the Commercial area is inclusive of all client service operatives.
The Commercial team is the larger of the two areas and includes all areas of client facing
departments.
Commercial
Fresh
Key
Accounts
Retail
Lifestyles
Health &
Beauty
New
Business
Figure 2: Kantar Worldpanel Commercial Team Structure
Within Worldpanel there was 9 placement roles available, 5 were within the Reporting
Team within the Operations department and 4 placement roles within the Commercial
Team (1 within New Business and 3 within Retail)
Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability
Kantar Worldpanel have been consistently listed within the Sunday Times Top 100
Companies which shows the positive environment it creates throughout the company
through a focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Worldpanel have a strong focus on its CSR and are continuing to develop on the strong
base it already has with improving philosophies such as a new ‘Well-Being’ initiative.
Which is monitored through the Human Resource Team and provides employee benefits
through categories including Pensions, Health Welfare and Benefits.
A key way in which Worldpanel helps to encourage a strong CSR within the company is
through its strong ties with local and worldwide charities. Kantar’s KWILL program is an
example of this CSR, KWILL is an acronym for ‘Kantar Working In Local Life’, this is where
employees are encouraged to participate in helping local projects such as clearing waste
and helping provide help to the homeless. Employees are further enticed to help
charities through the company giving all employees 2 paid days a year to take from work
to help charities, during my placement at the company I was involved in a 10km run
with the New Business Team where we raised money for charities.
Worldpanel also have strong ties to Unicef and are an ambassador for the charity within
the whole of Kantar. Worldpanel raise money regularly for Unicef through Cake Sales,
Raffles and Sports Tournaments.
Employee satisfaction is another way in which Worldpanel like to showcase its strong
CSR, there are many ways in which the company motivates staff and ensure that they
are equipped for their relevant job roles. Relatively simple initiatives including free fruit
on a Tuesday and Thursday and 4 o’clock finishing on Fridays help to keep staff
motivated and feel valued.
In keeping with WPP protocol Worldpanel also ensure that all employees regularly
(twice a year) take the company’s Bribery and Ethics Courses which ensures all
employees are understanding of the relevant procedures and risks of working in a client
facing agency role.
Despite being within a computer and data based industry there is numerous ways in
which Worldpanel promotes sustainability. Along with emphasising the reduction of
paper use through needless printing, another way in which Worldpanel tries to help
lower carbon emissions is through encouraging people to travel by bicycle to work. This
is done through having shower and changing facilities onsite and also offering money off
loans to help employees buy a bicycle which helps provide employees with the means
for reducing carbon emissions.
Employee Experience
The placement undertaken was within the New Business Team at Kantar Worldpanel.
The New Business Team acts as a smaller entity within the Fresh team and consists of
12members. The New Business Team is classified into 3 smaller teams, Fresh New
Business, Ambient New Business and Business Insights.
Business Unit
Director
Fresh New
Business
Director
Ambient New
Business
Director
Fresh New
Business Sales
Executives (x2)
Ambient New
Business Sales
Executives (x4)
New Business
Insight Director
Business Insights
Manager
Placement
Student
Figure 3: New Business Team Structure
The placement role is based within the New Business Insights Team. The key role of this
team is to liaise and work with the Ambient New Business Sales Executives to help
produce reports and control workloads and timelines for clients which the team have
sold data to. The team act as a first point of contact for many clients data queries which
provides opportunity to engage with clients and help build rapport with the client.
Within the Placement Role you will be working closest with the other members of the
Insight Team and report directly to the New Business Insight Director who has overseen
numerous placements within the team and so can help with any query ranging from
data queries to persona issues. Because of the role of the team having to provide
resource for the Ambient Sales Executives this means that you will also be liaising
heavily with the sales team as you will require information and briefs to help produce
client specific reports and also to monitor workloads and timelines for the contracted
clients within the team.
The role title for the Placement is Research Analyst and this will be seen on email
signatures and also on the internal directory used by all Worldpanel employees. Within
the role there is large scope for client interaction for numerous reasons such as
attending meetings to help analyse a client’s needs and prescribing the best data
solution and also talking clients through any issues they may have and helping to resolve
these.
The New Business Role is the only of the Worldpanel Placement opportunities which
offer such extensive client interaction, range of working tools and opportunities for
more interesting data analyses such as demographic segmentation and basket analyses.
Because of the small size of the Insight Team the placement student forms a key part of
the team. The placement student’s main role within the team is to monitor and produce
the scheduled monthly reports and to also help create ad-hoc projects for new clients.
This will consist of updating reports using different tools such as Excel, Powerpoint and
Worldpanel specific tools such as the database browser ‘Powerview’ and the online data
portal Worldpanel Online.
As the year progresses the responsibilities bestowed increases and helps to make you
feel valued by the team. An example of the responsibility and trust gained was where I
was solely responsible for the creation and monitoring of the largest contracted client
within the whole New Business Team.
The Recruitment Process
Kantar Worldpanel have a strong relationship with Aston University with many past
placements and students from the university joining the company as a graduate and
working their way through the company, the success of these placements and graduates
is why Worldpanel highly values Aston students.
For this reason Kantar Worldpanel advertise their job role on the Aston Futures Job Site
as well as on MilkRound.com. Worldpanel Commercial and Worldpanel Operations both
use similar recruitment processes although operate independently of each other; the
remainder of this section will focus on the Commercial recruitment process.
The recruitment process is a simple three stage process; Application, Telephone
Interview, Assessment Centre.
Figure 4: Kantar Worldpanel Recruitment Process
Worldpanel prefer to have their placement roles fulfilled early in the year so
applications may close before Christmas with roles being offered in Febuary/March.
The first stage to register interest within the role is to complete an online application
which can be found through the listed job description or through the Kantar Worldpanel
Website in the Careers section.
The application is relatively straight forward gathering information such as contact
details, education background and professional background. There is also a few
questions regarding your motivation and suitability for the job role and why you feel you
are the appropriate candidate for the job. There is also an optional feature which allows
you to upload your CV and a Cover Letter, uploading these is not mandatory to the
application although can help prove your determination to get the role. For help writing
Cover Letters contact the Placement Office as they have useful documents, examples
and outlines for successful Cover Letters.
If you have the required education and motivation for the role you will pass through to
the second stage of the recruitment process. You will receive an email or phone call
from the Human Resource Department arranging a telephone interview.
The telephone interview is 30-45 minutes in duration split evenly between questions
about the company, its background and competitors and your motivation and
appropriateness for the job role. The second half of the interview focuses on your
competencies and examples where you have demonstrated these. The interview will
typically be with a member of the management team who overlook the placements
during their year, the interview is slightly relaxed and with room for discussion, if you
answer with appropriate and correct responses you should hopefully receive an email
and phone call confirming your place at the Assessment Centre.

Competencies looked for include:
o Teamwork
- Working under pressure
o Working in difficult situations
- Communication
The Assessment Centre will take place a couple of weeks after the telephone interview,
this will take place at the company offices in Hanger Lane (where the placement will be
undertaken).
The assessment will take place over the course of a day; the morning will consist of an
introduction to the company, introductory exercises to each other and also a group
exercise which will test your teamwork, analysis and presenting skills as you will need to
answer questions around a scenario related to the work Worldpanel do.
After lunch there will be some smaller individual tasks and also an interview with 2 of
the managers who overlook the placement. This will focus in your personal skills and
relevant experience, how you perform here is key not only for getting a role with
Worldpanel but you interview style will be accounted for when deciding whether you
are placed within the New Business or Retail Team.
If you are successful over the assessment you will receive a call in the following days
with a verbal offer of the role. The team you are placed within will be disclosed to you
on your first day.
The Induction Process
A key thing to notice about Worldpanel is the informal nature of the company, the
dress-code is relatively casual and so creates a welcoming environment. All staff are
welcoming and pleasant and so if there are any issues there will always be someone
who can help.
The induction for placements at Worldpanel is primarily built around informal training
sessions with the previous placement students. There is also a formal session held by
the HR team which outlines the company mission, vision and initiatives which are
available for the employees.
There is a 3 week handover period where you will work and learn from the previous
placement student who will be in charge of the training plan and so will be a key contact
for the first few weeks. Line Managers have little input into the training but will ensure
all relevant areas are covered and you are developing as required.
The training will cover numerous areas including using the specialist software tools,
learning the corporate formatting techniques and also refresher lessons on Excel
formulas and Powerpoint utilising.
After the previous placement have left the company there will be extensive handover
notes to refer to although members of your team are there with a wide range of skills
and contacts and are happy to help.
The nature of Worldpanel makes the company welcoming and easy to settle in to. The
informal dress-code is issued across the company and so gives a welcoming and
comfortable feel when at work and so takes an edge off the first weeks.
Another way in which the company is easy to settle in to is through the welcoming
efforts of the team you are placed into. The New Business team take you out for a
welcome lunch which is a nice way to introduce yourself to the team and learn more
about what everyone does within the team.
Also there is a team meeting in which you will see an overview of the team performance
and also again will introduce yourself with a brief presentation about yourself which
may seem daunting but again helps you integrate yourself into the team.
Advice for Future Students
Ultimately Worldpanel is a great company to work for, the company is informal and
welcoming with friendly teams who are determined to help you develop your skills
through training and giving opportunities to further your sills.
To succeed within the role it is key that you are a friendly and team orientated worked
with a strong analytical logical mind with a background of maths and analysis work
although if you have an interest in working within Marketing it is a great stage to start
your career at.
The salary offered by Worldpanel is competitive and well-priced and suitable for London
in which costs of living is higher than other cities in the country.
The company offices are based in Hanger Lane which is zone 3 on the Central Line in the
Underground Network with also great transport links for buses and cars. The offices are
also a 10 minute walk from stops along the Piccadilly Line which offer roots to Central
London and West London.
Due to the strong transport links accommodation is not too difficult to source as the
Central Line has quick links to residential areas such as Shepard’s Bush, Ealing and
Acton. Hanger Lane also has numerous residential houses and so renting here is also an
option which gives a quick 5 minute walk to work.
The one drawback to accommodation at Worldpanel is that because of the limited
number of placement students at the company unless you want to rent a room locally
with strangers, it may be worth renting with friends who are also based in London for
their placements.
Local facilities are slightly limited at Worldpanel although locally there is a Sainsbury’s,
McDonalds and a local pub all of which are popular and offer the chance to go for a walk
during lunch breaks.
There is also a Pitch and Putt golf course and also a 7 and 5-a-side football grounds
which are used for activities outside of work such as the weekly football match (which is
a great way to meet different people around Worldpanel)
Essentially Worldpanel is a young and social company and so it is worth getting involved
in team activities and interacting with the wider teams. With the placement you get out
as much as you put in and hard work is rewarded and recognised.