It will provide brands with greater understanding of marketing partnership activities in terms of how and why they influence people, how they should be measured and how to optimise performance.

It incorporates the latest thinking in neuroscience and behavioural psychology. The evaluation service will bring all relevant data together to assess the entirety of the marketing partnership campaign and provide insights to maximise the results of this type of communications.

Ian Thompson, managing director, PACL, said: “Brands are spending around $50bn per year on marketing partnerships but we’re still seeing evaluation focus on output measures that rarely correlate with brand or business performance or the use of flawed and outdated market research methodologies.”

Jamie Robertson, senior director, Ipsos Connect UK, added: “We’re looking forward to working with brands to help them to effectively benchmark the performance of their activities using the most innovative research techniques at our disposal. With so much being spent on these activities, can brands really afford not to be sure they’re getting the best bang for their buck?”