Unilever and a number of industry partners have announced the creation of an open platform to combine their market research forces in addressing key global development and sustainability challenges: www.paragonpartnerships.com.

Paragon Partnerships formed

Unilever and a number of industry partners have announced the creation of an open platform to combine their market research forces in addressing key global development and sustainability challenges: www.paragonpartnerships.com.

With the United Nations Global Goals agreed and in motion, industry, governments and individuals can all play their part in contributing to the 17 point plan which aims to end poverty, combat climate change and fight injustice and inequality, Unilever said, noting that, with no one single body or organisation able to find a solution to all of these challenges, Paragon has been created to be a single information source together with research bodies and industry.

Launching in April - May this year, the vision for Paragon is to generate and provide access to quality insights on the issues that the world is facing which will help governments, academics and NGOs around the world. All insights hosted on the site will be linked to the Global Goals for Sustainable Development and will be available for Paragon partners to formulate fact-based programmes.

Partners signed-up for launch include PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Kantar, Nielsen, Metrixlab, GfK, Flamingo, Save The Children, The Market Research Society (MRS), Esomar and Sapient Nitro.

“In a rapidly-changing world, we cannot operate in silos,” said Stan Sthanunathan, ‎Senior Vice President, Consumer & Market Insights, Unilever. “The past year has set the precedent with highly ambitious goals and frameworks created to address the global sustainability and development challenges that we all face.”

“It is time to accelerate efforts to move towards achieving these goals and Paragon will allow us to share learning, data and insight, and encourages other businesses and industries to address these critical challenges affecting us all. By building a network of partners and working together, we can look for solutions which have greater scale and impact globally to address development and societal challenges.”

“This year MRS, now in its 70th year, is celebrating a core value of the market research sector: helping people talk to power,” said Jane Frost CBE, CEO of MRS. “Unilever’s Paragon partnership, which we are delighted to support, is an excellent practical example of the way that ethically sourced research can be used for good, giving more people a voice and more organisations a chance to listen.”