The history of Gallup Nordic

Gallup Nordic Aktiebolag, under the trade name Svenska Gallupinstitutet, is the majority owner of Novus.

Svenska Gallupinstitutet was founded in 1942 and is Sweden’s oldest research company. It was established by Sven O. Blomquist, who had contact with George Gallup and received results from his surveys. Svenska Gallupinstitutet is one of the world’s oldest Gallup companies outside the U.S., where George Gallup founded his own company, Gallup. George granted the right to use his name to individuals in various countries, allowing them to establish local Gallup companies. This could be one of the reasons why Gallup has become synonymous with reliable opinion polls. In many countries, it has even become a verb, describing the methods required to conduct trustworthy public opinion research.

The CEO at its founding in 1942 was Sten Hultgren, but it was difficult to build a profitable business. By 1953, the company had been acquired by Lennart Åkerhjelm, and the last voter barometer was published in 1954. A.C. Nielsen purchased the operational business, but Svenska Gallupinstitutet was given to the Social Democratic Party as payment for a debt. The company remained largely dormant until Alf Sjöström discovered it and had the opportunity to acquire it.

Alf had recently left his position as Deputy CEO at Sifo, and under his ownership, Svenska Gallupinstitutet gained new life, working with TV4 and Expressen to publish, among other things, monthly voter barometers. Svenska Gallupinstitutet grew rapidly under Alf’s ownership and once again became one of Sweden’s most reliable research companies. However, in 2004, TNS, which was systematically acquiring Gallup companies around the world, knocked on the door, and Alf saw no other option but to sell the company. He then founded Novus, which published its first voter barometer in 2006, again in collaboration with TV4.

Under TNS ownership, public Gallup surveys disappeared from Sweden once again. TNS later merged with Kantar as part of an international restructuring deal. Through this deal, they fully divested from Svenska Gallupinstitutet and Gallup surveys in Sweden. Alf Sjöström once again had the opportunity to acquire Svenska Gallupinstitutet, which is now called Gallup Nordic, though Svenska Gallupinstitutet remains a registered trade name. However, Gallup Nordic did not immediately resume public operations, as Alf tragically passed away shortly after the acquisition, and rebuilding Novus became the primary focus for Torbjörn Sjöström.

In 2024, through a merger between Gallup Nordic and Novus’ parent company ALS (Alf and Lena Sjöström) Invest, Gallup Nordic once again found a clear context, serving as the parent company to Sweden’s most recognized research firm: Novus.

Gallup Nordic has been the member company of Gallup International in Sweden since 2022, though much of the work is conducted under the Novus brand.

Torbjörn Sjöström is the Chairman of Gallup Nordic and the CEO of Novus. He is also a board member of Gallup International.

Gallup Nordic has two registered trademarks:

Logo trademark:

Gallup Monitor, a registered trademark in the field of opinion surveys.

These trademarks can be used by both Novus and the majority owner, Gallup Nordic.