Kantar

Kantar is a large European data analytics and technology consulting firm. In this article, we’ll dive into the inner workings of Kantar to share key insights related to careers, salary, culture, interviews, and much more.

Whether you’re just beginning to learn about the firm or seriously considering a career with Kantar, this article will help. Let’s get into it.

Table of Contents:

1. Kantar Key Stats
2. Kantar History
3. Kantar Careers
4. Kantar Practice Areas
5. Kantar Industries
6. Kantar Consulting Locations
7. Kantar Career Path
8. Exit Opportunities
9. Notable Alumni
10. Target Schools
11. Diversity Programs
12. Kantar Culture
13. Kantar Consulting Interviews
14. Kantar Consulting Salary

Kantar Key Stats

• Kantar Website: https://www.kantar.com/
• Kantar Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
• Kantar Number of Employees: 25,000
• Kantar Number of Locations: 90 Markets
• Kantar Chief Executive: Chris Jansen
• Kantar Revenue: ~$4B

Kantar History

Let’s begin by discussing Kantar’s history. If you pursue a role at the firm, knowledge of its past will serve you well in interviews. Although you won’t be asked direct questions about the firm’s history, demonstrating a base-level understanding can help win some points.

The Kantar Group was founded in 1993 as the Market Research, Insight, and Consultancy division of WPP, a large global communications and branding agency. In 2019, WPP sold a 60% majority stake to Bain Capital Private Equity. Kantar continues to grow, with 19 acquisitions in the past several years.

The Kantar Group has grown to over 25,000 employees in over 90 markets worldwide. The firm is considered by many to be the top data analytics consulting firm in the industry, with annual revenues around $4 billion.

Kantar Careers

Kantar careers all involve building expertise in data analytics and technology to help organizations understand and influence human behavior. Kantar believes in the importance of culture, inclusiveness, and inspiration. To this end, the firm offers a variety of training programs, learning tools, in-house platforms, and training initiatives for all employees.

Kantar Practice Areas

Although much of what Kantar does can be considered consulting, its business model veers off into a number of diverse practice areas.

• • Advertising, Media, and PR
  • Audience Measurement
  • Analytics
  • Brand Growth
  • Consulting
  • Consumer and Shopper
  • Customer Experience Management
  • Innovation
  • Policy and Society
  • Research Services
  • Sustainability

Within the consulting practice, Kantar covers four key capabilities:

• • Brand Purpose and Positioning: focused on helping clients understand the market and clientele. Create and develop a brand whose purpose and impact targets consumers.
  • Human and Cultural Insight: explores the roots of human truth and cultural tensions, helping clients tie their brand’s purpose and culture with the local culture. Analyze clients’ brands and generate visual content.
  • Organizational Performance: develop an efficient organization for a brand and focus on a digital-first world; provide personalized learning to clients when necessary; analyze and measure a client’s capabilities and impact of learning.
  • Sales Performance Platform: develop differentiated solutions for sales; increase revenues and trade spend efficiency for clients’ brands; deliver the version of success that best works for a brand.

Kantar Industries

Kantar industries are diverse. The company competes in almost every industry you can imagine, with perhaps Manufacturing and Distribution as notable exceptions.

• • Automotive & Mobility
  • Consumer Packaged Goods
  • Energy & Utilities
  • Fashion, Beauty & Luxury
  • Finance
  • Government & Public Sector
  • Health
  • Hospitality, Leisure & Travel
  • Life Sciences
  • Media
  • Retail
  • Sports & Leisure
  • Technology & Telecoms

Kantar Consulting Locations

As a multi-billion dollar company, Kantar Consulting locations can be found in almost 100 markets worldwide.

• • Africa and the Middle East: Egypt, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Nigeria, Senegal.
  • Asia Pacific: Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Japan, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Chinese Mainland, India, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Uzbekistan.
  • Europe: Austria, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Finland, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Denmark, France, Hungary, Latvia, Norway, Russia, Sweden.
  • North America: Canada, United States of America.
  • Latin America: Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama, Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Perú, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Uruguay.

Kantar Career Path

Kantar offers a little something for everyone. Roles along the Kantar career path can be internal in nature or on the external client-facing side (see below). With over a thousand entry-level career opportunities, finding the right area to launch a career is a possibility for almost any background.

The Kantar career path can include roles in:

• • Business Development & Client Management: made up of advisors, consultants, and business development professionals.
  • Research: employees who perform quantitative and qualitative research. Good project management skills are critical.
  • Corporate Functions: employees work in different parts of the firm: finance, HR, marketing, legal, and administration.
  • Operations: employees forming part of the Global Operations Team work to ensure data is collected, cleaned, and readily available for the firm’s use. Employees are data experts, project managers, programmers, and processors; there are also opportunities for customer service careers.
  • Product Development: employees will work on product management strategies, develop and promote new products, and implement marketing and product plans to help clients grow.
  • Strategic Consulting: consultants work to understand the drivers of consumer, customer, and channel behavior while developing growth strategies for clients.
  • Technology: employees focus on designing, building, and developing technology. These roles are for those looking for careers in technology and data infrastructure, including but not limited to: architecture, engineering, application management, and more.
  • Analytics & Data Science: employees are mostly analytics experts and data scientists. Employees will grow their skills in analytics, data, technology, and artificial intelligence.
  • Health: consulting clients within the Healthcare industry develop pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and growth strategies.

If you’re looking to go into the consulting practice at Kantar, here is what that career path looks like:

Analyst > Senior Analyst > Consultant > Associate Director > Senior Director > Partner

Exit Opportunities

If/when you decide to leave Kantar, exit opportunities are plentiful. Employees gain expertise and skills in a variety of areas that will serve them well beyond their time at the firm. The most common exits: Consulting, Big Tech, industry, private equity, and venture capital.

Notable Alumni

With the firm’s decades-long continuous growth, many professionals have become part of the Kantar team and then moved on. Below is a small sample of Kantar notable alumni.

The first example is Beth Ann Kaminkow. She who moved on from being the CEO of Kantar to her current role running a large division of WPP as Global CEO at VMLY&R Commerce. Tay Ye, our next example, is someone who left much earlier in their career. He successfully parlayed a summer internship at Kantar into an analyst role at Accenture, a premier consulting firm.

Target Schools

Kantar focuses on schools with well-developed analytics and consulting departments. Since the firm has a wide variety of roles in different departments, all schools are considered when looking for candidates. Nevertheless, skills and experience matter the most on a Kantar resume.

Diversity Programs

The firm is working on walking the talk when it comes to diversity with the creation of a number of different DEI programs. The I&D Initiative is one such example. The firm also has a Global Allyship Program. However, employees say it’s not enough. Will management step up and take it seriously? Time will tell.

Kantar Culture

Most folks at Kantar have positive things to say about the culture and work environment, citing the fun, friendly, and collaborative atmosphere. It’s not all smiles though – some departments within the firm report an overly competitive, sometimes hostile environment. However, that’s bound to happen within a firm the size of Kantar.

Work-life balance varies by division and by project. If you’re in crunch time on a project, you might need to pull a few 70-hour weeks. That said, long weeks like that are rare. You’re generally expected to hit 50-60 hours weekly and management provides generous time off.

Opportunities for advancement are more readily available in client-facing roles. If that’s not you, you may be out of luck. Overall, culture at Kantar is a bit of a mixed bag depending on management within your practice area and department. You may get a great experience – or you may not. Fingers crossed!

Kantar Consulting Interviews

Now that you know more about the firm’s culture, it’s time to think about Kantar Consulting interviews. Although not a lengthy interview process, Kantar interviews are no walk in the park. The average interview process is roughly two weeks long.

Candidates can apply online, but should not do so before networking and gaining advocates inside the firm. The chances of getting an interview are much higher with a referral in hand. The first step of the process is usually a screening interview with a recruiter. You’ll be asked basic questions about your resume, background, experience, and skills. Prepare using our guidance for behavioral interviews. Candidates may also be asked to complete the Arctic Shores behavioral assessment, which measures the personality and cognitive traits of candidates.

Does Kantar’s interview process include case study interviews? There are many different career paths at Kantar, and many will not include a case interview. But, if you are applying for a consulting role, you will likely see a case interview. Get professional case prep help from our expert team.

Candidates normally go through one-on-one interview rounds with different executives at Kantar. Some candidates will also be invited to a group interview.

Kantar Consulting Salary

Kantar Consulting salaries vary depending on the role. On average, Consultants get paid $75,000/year (base salary). Higher-level roles make between $80K and $200K per year. See our full Consulting Salaries Report here.

Conclusion

Kantar Consulting is one of the top data analytics firms worldwide. If you are interested in breaking in, work with our expert resume editors to fine-tune your resume, highlighting your relevant skills and the impact you’ve created, before applying.

 

Additional Resources:

• Top 25 Consulting Firms
• Top 10 Boutique Consulting Firms in US
• Consulting Resume: Complete Guide
• Case Interview: Complete Prep Guide