Nielsen to Launch Collaborative Product Placement Research Study

Nielsen to Launch Collaborative Product Placement Research Study

NEW YORK, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen Media Research and Nielsen Entertainment announced today the collaborative launch of an innovative research study which will, for the first time, provide an assessment of the factors impacting product placement effectiveness. At a time when there has been intense focus on ROI for advertising generally, the spotlight on brand integration has spawned several tracking and evaluation services. No one else however, has attempted to provide insight on the contributing factors of behavioral response on empirical findings.

The study's initial participants include: CBS/UPN Television Networks, Discovery Television, Magna Global, Mediacom, OMD, PHD, Sprint, The Weather Channel, and Zenith Optimedia.

Nielsen has been tracking the physical characteristics of product placement since the beginning of the 2003-2004 broadcast season. The objective of this extensive study is to look beyond the on-screen appearances and determine how the context of a placement's execution can impact consumer response. The relationship viewers have with a specific program, as well as their familiarity with the brand and product category featured, as related to the effectiveness of placements, will be analyzed in this research.

"Product placement has gained significant attention and investment in recent years," said Dave Harkness, SVP of strategy and alliances for the VNU Media Measurement and Information group. "This research study continues with Nielsen's commitment to provide our clients with quality information to make more effective business and marketing decisions."

Nielsen Entertainment has also been testing the effectiveness of product placement in television, and beginning in 2006 in film as well. "We expect the existing services from Nielsen combined with the results of our study to deliver findings that can lead to more actionable information which can be used to make brand integration a more measurable and effective selling tool," said Andy Wing, President and CEO, Nielsen Entertainment.

Steve Sternberg, EVP director of Audience Analysis at Magna Global said, "Numerous advertisers are increasing their commitments in the product integration arena, while there continues to be precious little industry research to guide executives with crucial business decisions. This study is an essential first step towards more advanced and customized research analyses in predicting the relative impact of differing levels and types of product integration. As a charter subscriber, we are excited to be involved from the onset of the research and provide valuable input into this important research."

"We're delighted to be partnering with Nielsen to study the science of product integration, and we are looking forward to applying what we learn to improve this developing sector of our business," noted Jo Ann Ross, President of CBS Television Network Sales.

About Nielsen Media Research

Nielsen Media Research is the world's leading provider of television audience measurement and advertising information services. In the United States, Nielsen's National People Meter service provides audience estimates for all national program sources, including broadcast networks, cable networks, Spanish language networks, and national syndicators. Local ratings estimates are produced for television stations, regional cable networks, MSOs, cable interconnects, and Spanish language stations in each of the 210 television markets in the U.S., including electronic metered service in 56 markets.

About Nielsen Entertainment

Nielsen Entertainment is the leading consulting and research partner to clients focused on Actionable Entertainment Intelligence in the film, television, home entertainment, music, interactive and book verticals and is comprised of the following businesses: National Research Group (NRG), EDI and EDI International, Television Services, SoundScan, Broadcast Data Systems, Music Control, VideoScan, Market Navigator, BookScan, BookData, and Interactive Entertainment, and utilizes the full portfolio of sister companies including Nielsen Media Research (television ratings) and Nielsen Net Ratings (internet usage) to deliver a whole media point of view.

Nielsen Media Research and Nielsen Entertainment are both part of VNU Media Measurement & Information, a global leader in information services for the media and entertainment industries. The group serves the information and marketing needs of television and radio broadcasters, advertisers, agencies, media planners, music companies, publishers, motion-picture studios, distributors and exhibitors, and the Internet industry. 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 stock exchange. For more information, please visit the VNU website at www.vnu.com

Source: Nielsen Media Research

CONTACT: Kerry Kielar, +1-646-654-8357, for Nielsen Media Research

Web site: http://www.nielsenmedia.com/
http://www.vnu.com/

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