History
Ferro has always upheld a tradition of renewal. Harold Ferro, who founded the company in the 1950’s under the name of Bureau Ferro, was also one of the founders or market research in the Netherlands. He was a mathematician and economist and his contribution as a mathematician was significant to quantitative aspects, introducing the Chi-square test to the Netherlands. Furthermore, he adopted ‘new and innovative’ insights from Freudian psychotherapy. In doing so, he was an important advocate of the psychological approach. In the 60’s and 70’s he wrote a number of standard works, including “Foundations for Market Research”. Harold Ferro died unexpectedly in 1976. His company was taken over by Hans Ruelle.
Under Hans Ruelle management, Ferro moved further into the direction of qualitative research. He and Maarten Kleijne once again upheld Ferro’s tradition of renewal. In the 1970’s they introduced ‘experiential research’: a form of research in which consumer’s experiences formed the centre point. In those days, this was a completely new paradigm. Hans insisted upon working on a small scale. In accordance with his philosophy, the company only ‘grew’ to a small extent. In the 1990’s, Ferro had two fulltime researchers.
In 1998, the company was taken over by the current owner, Jochum Stienstra. Its name changed from Bureau Ferro to Ferro Marketing - and Communication Research. Jochum wanted to continue in the tradition of renewal, and searched for the growth that was necessary to create enough room for renewal. Ferro has grown considerably since 1998, and its size has made it possible to spend time and money on innovation. Amongst other things, this has led to the development of our own online tool, MindWeb, and to the explorative MindSense, and the development of the Narrative Method, which has been developed for market research in collaboration with Professor Dave Snowden. (Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Snowden)
Since October 2009 we have taken on a new name: Ferro Explore! With this new name, Ferro wishes to express the explorative nature of our services. It is also an appeal to each and every one of us not to get stuck in a routine, but to stay fresh and never stop thinking. It is only by allowing oneself to think outside the boundaries, that one is able to be effective in marketing and policies.
Quality
At Ferro Explore! we systematically work on quality improvement. We are ISO-certified and a member of both the Market Research Association and the Research Quality Control Group. The Research Quality Control Group is a group consisting of leading research companies, all of which meet the requirements of the highest ISO standards, especially established for market research companies: ISO 20252/2006. Ferro Explore! has been certified since 2008.
The staff members of Ferro Explore! are active members within our branch. Judith van Male is a member of the editorial board of Clou, Wieke van der Borg is a board member of Smart and Jochum Stienstra is the national representative for ESOMAR. Furthermore, the Ferro Explore! researchers frequently publish articles for ESOMAR congresses, in Clou and in other forums.
