ALAIN TESSIER

TESSIER--Alain Joseph.

Media research pioneer Alain Joseph Tessier, co-founder of Mediamark Research Inc., passed away August 26, 2018 at the age of 85. Alain succeeded in beating lung cancer, but succumbed to complications from COPD, according to his wife Merle (Sprinzen) Tessier. He was predeceased by his brothers Gaston, John and Louis and sisters Pauline and Carmen. Youngest brother Tim survives. Alain's first wife, Rosemari Jean (Snodgrass) Tessier, predeceased him in 2007. Together they had three children (Timothee (deceased 1999), Denise and Danielle) and seven grandchildren (Renee, Rebecca, Marguerite, Kaela, Colleen, Zoe and Benjamin). After Rosemari's death, and after more than twenty years as colleagues and friends, Alain and Merle kindled a romance. They were married on September 12, 2010 Alain's career started in the production department of the Chicago Tribune, continued at the American Research Bureau and then VP, Director of Client Services, for the Target Group Index. But it is his role as co-founder of Mediamark Research Inc.--known widely as MRI--where Alain made his greatest and most lasting contribution to media research. Along with his great friend, Timothy Joyce, Alain challenged an existing magazine and newspaper audience ratings service and even supplant that service. Starting from a Manhattan hotel suite in the late '70s, Alain and Timothy built a thriving business and, along the way, succeeded in establishing a new gold standard for measuring magazine readership in the US. Almost 40 years after its initial offering, MRI continues to adhere to the rigorous research standards demanded by Timothy and Alain through what is now known as GfK MRI.