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31 March 2005
Hollywood, FL
ACNielsen today announced the launch of two new consumer insights services powered by the extensive global expansion of its Homescan® consumer panel business. The new services focus on new product introductions and out-of-home consumption, areas of key importance to the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry.
The announcement was made during Consumer 360, the CPG industry’s preeminent educational and networking conference. Consumer 360 is hosted by ACNielsen and Spectra, businesses of VNU.
Currently at 91,500 households, the U.S. Homescan consumer panel is in the midst of a two-year MegaPanel expansion that will grow the panel to 125,000 households by the end of this year, resulting in the launch of numerous specialty panels, a new retailer equity measurement service, and improved sales measurement within fast-growing retail channels such as dollar stores, warehouse clubs stores, and pet specialty stores.
The latest service launched by ACNielsen’s U.S. Homescan business is New Product Alert, which gives CPG manufacturers the opportunity to survey buyers of their new products shortly after purchase. The online service quickly identifies buyers of new products, and then sends them brief surveys about their motivations for purchase and satisfaction.
In Europe, ACNielsen is expanding its Homescan consumer panel from approximately 45,000 to 70,000 households in the key markets of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The company is also expanding its consumer panel footprint in Asia Pacific and Latin America.
“We very much welcome ACNielsen’s plans to expand their panel size in Europe,” said Alek Bielicki, global syndicated and trade research director at Reckitt Benckiser. “Having retail and consumer panel data in one place is simply more efficient and allows us to make better decisions more quickly.”
As part of European the expansion, ACNielsen will launch an I-Scan™ Impulse individual panel in the region. Already successfully deployed in several markets in the Asia Pacific region and tested in the U.S., I-Scan panel members use patented pocket-sized scanners to record impulse and other on-the-go purchases outside the home.
ACNielsen CEO Steve Schmidt said, “Consumer insight is what fuels our clients’ success. That’s why we’re making unprecedented investments to expand the number of households measured by our panels, grow the number of markets in which we operate panels, and launch new panel-based consumer insight services. The combined panel capabilities of ACNielsen, Nielsen Media Research, Nielsen//NetRatings and BASES clearly make VNU ‘the global panel company,’ and the only one able to offer this many critical views of consumer purchasing and media consumption behavior worldwide.”
Operating in 24 countries, and with plans to expand further, the ACNielsen Homescan consumer panel is the CPG industry’s leading consumer panel, providing insights into what types of households buy specific CPG categories or brands, how often and where they shop, their use of coupons, and a host of other facts and insights, including attitudinal and product usage information. In most countries, panel members use patented in-home scanners to record their purchases of UPC-coded products and then download the information to ACNielsen for analysis. In other countries, a diary methodology is utilized.
VNU’s panel expertise extends across many of its marketing and media information businesses. Nielsen Media Research, in the U.S. and through partnerships outside the U.S., operates TV ratings panels that cover nearly 100,000 households in 46 countries, representing some 75% of global television advertising spending. Another VNU business, Nielsen//NetRatings, tracks 70 percent of the world’s Internet usage by measuring the online behavior of more than 600,000 people across 16 countries, while another unit, BASES, the leader in new-product forecasting, operates e-Panels with more than 150,000 individuals to gauge response to new-product concepts.
About ACNielsen
ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world's leading marketing information provider. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the unit provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behavior. Clients rely on ACNielsen's market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns.
About VNU
VNU is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media measurement and information (Nielsen Media Research) and business information (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Computing, Intermediair). VNU is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands and New York, USA. The company employs 38,000 people. Total revenues amounted to EUR 3.8 billion in 2004. VNU is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam (ASE: VNU) stock exchange. For more information, please visit the VNU website at www.vnu.com.
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