ACNielsen Opens RFID Learning Lab; Company Prepares for the Future, Serves as Resource for Clients.

Business Editors

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 2004

ACNielsen U.S., an operating unit of ACNielsen, a VNU business, today announced that it has opened a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology learning lab at its Schaumburg, Ill., office.

The announcement was made here during the annual Consumer 360 Conference hosted by ACNielsen, Spectra, and other business units of VNU Marketing Information. Conference attendees can visit ACNielsen's on-site RFID Learning Center to see a live demonstration of how the technology works.

With RFID technology, retailers and manufacturers hope to gain new efficiencies in managing their products throughout the supply chain using microchips on RFID tags that are attached to pallets, cases and potentially specific products. Many believe the technology will eventually replace bar codes.

According to Ted Fichuk, senior vice president, Retail Measurement Services, ACNielsen Global Marketing, "RFID technology has the potential to bring many positive changes to our industry. We're taking a proactive stance, making sure we'll be ready to process information generated by the technology should it gain widespread acceptance. We also want to serve as a source of information about the technology for our clients."

According to Scott Medford, vice president, Business Development, Intermec, one of the primary RFID technology suppliers and a partner in both ACNielsen's Schaumburg Learning Lab and the Consumer 360 conference Learning Center, "As a leader in the marketing information industry, ACNielsen has positioned itself to be to be at the forefront of RFID technology. We are pleased to be providing a complete set of RFID hardware, software and integration support for the ACNielsen demos and look forward to working with the company as it learns more about the technology and its potential applications to the consumer packaged goods industry."

RFID technology is being tested by numerous industries to help track everything from airline baggage to cattle. Several major consumer packaged goods retailers and the U.S. Department of Defense have issued mandates to their vendors, requiring that all product pallets and cases bound for their distribution centers be RFID tagged within the next one to three years.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Auto-ID Center has been the driver of this technology over the past three years and will continue to enhance RFID with Auto-ID Centers in six different regions around the world. The Center's former executive director and co-founder, Kevin Ashton, is a keynote speaker at this year's Consumer 360 conference. As of November 2003, the commercialization of RFID has been turned over to EPCglobal, a joint venture between the Uniform Code Council and EAN International.

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.

Note to Editors: Look for this press release and other ACNielsen news on the Internet at http://acnielsen.com/news.