Unlocking the power of precision: How Ifop Group uses AI to boost market research impact

From data gaps to deeper insights

The challenge

Even with its decades-long expertise and global reach, Ifop Group — one of the world’s leading market research firms — faced a familiar constraint: getting reliable data from small, hard-to-reach segments. Whether for luxury buyers, policymakers, or niche B2B audiences, fielding enough respondents often meant added cost, time, or compromise.

And that slowed down the insight.

The turning point

In early 2023, Ifop became Fairgen’s first design partner, a bold move that would help shape the future of synthetic data in research.

Together, they co-developed DataBoost AI, a white-labeled version of Fairgen’s synthetic boosting engine, tailored to meet Ifop’s gold-standard methodology. What began with hands-on collaboration and iteration quickly evolved into an industrialized, scalable solution; one that could now boost small segments in under two hours and deliver results fit for immediate statistical testing.

“Fairgen helps us conduct analyses that were previously impossible — or too long or too expensive. Now, our clients benefit from faster, more precise insights.”

— Thomas Duhard, Head of Data Projects, Ifop

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The outcome

Since launch, Ifop has delivered over 325 boosts using DataBoost AI, and counting. These boosts have supported segmentation, U&As, satisfaction studies, image tracking, and even political polling, across industries like:

• Luxury & beauty
• Transportation & construction
• Food services
• Media
• Government & local authorities

With 90% of boosts targeting sub-segments and 10% used to complete difficult quotas, Ifop teams are now able to run faster, sharper studies with much higher value. In fact:

• Project value has grown significantly due to deeper scoping
• Delivery timelines were cut by over 80%, compared to traditional fieldwork
• Most clients demanded more AI boosts within 6 months, a clear signal of impact

Making AI a standard

Today, DataBoost AI is a core part of Ifop’s offer. Integrated seamlessly with Fairgen’s infrastructure, boosts can be launched in parallel, with files ready for immediate analysis by Ifop’s data processing team, no additional cleaning required.

Beyond boosting, Ifop also runs an average of 5 data quality checks per week through Fairgen’s DataCheck tool, a critical move in an era of rising concern over online panel reliability.

“Partnering with Fairgen ensures we stay at the forefront of what’s possible with AI in our industry,” noted Thomas.

Ifop has since presented its AI-augmented methodology at ESOMAR, SYNTEC, and beyond, showing the research world how generative AI, when paired with strong methodology, can unlock more meaningful, more inclusive insights.

Why it matters

The future of research belongs to those who can move fast without cutting corners.

With Fairgen, Ifop isn’t just keeping up.

They’re shaping what’s next.

Curious about synthetic boosting?

Let’s talk.