ACNielsen Set to Deliver First Insights from Significantly Expanded Homescan Consumer Panel.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -- Phase I of MegaPanel Initiative Launched; Expanded Panel Spawns New Retailer Shopper Equity and New Product Alert Services

ACNielsen today announced that it has completed the first phase of an aggressive expansion of its U.S. Homescan(R) consumer panel, bringing the panel size up to an industry-leading 91,500 households and further cementing its position as the richest source of consumer insights in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry.

As part of its Homescan(R) MegaPanel initiative, ACNielsen expanded the size of its Homescan panel from 61,500 households, with a second phase set to increase the size of the panel to 125,000 households by the end of 2005.

To date, almost 50 companies (consumer product manufacturers and retailers) have signed on as clients of the Homescan MegaPanel, with the first insights scheduled to be delivered next month.

The expanded panel will allow for the development of specialty panels consisting of households with babies, households with teens, and others, all of which will help clients better serve specific niches and identify new ones. The MegaPanel will also allow for improved sales measurement within fast-growing retail channels such as mass merchandisers, dollar stores, warehouse clubs stores, and pet specialty stores.

According to Ed Gawronski, Miller Brewing Company Vice President of Market and Business Insights, "The MegaPanel's increased coverage of key demographic groups will significantly improve our understanding of the beer consumer."

With the expanded panel now in operation, ACNielsen is introducing Shopper Trends, a retailer equity segmentation service that quantifies the impact of shoppers' attitudes on their loyalty to specific chains and stores, thus enabling retailers to better capitalize on their marketing programs, find new ways to attract more consumers and maximize their sales opportunities.

Shopper Trends applies Winning Brands(R), ACNielsen's globally recognized brand-equity segmentation service, to retailer equity and links it to the Homescan panel. The segmentation can be performed by region, local market, or retailer-defined trade area to provide a much deeper understanding of how factors such as a retailer's price, quality and selection affect shopper loyalty.

According to Giant Eagle Director of Merchandising Systems Diane Roberts, "We recognize the value and impact Homescan has on understanding our customers. With Homescan information used as part of our category management process, we have a true picture of our customers and their shopping behavior. Without it, that picture is incomplete."

Other new Homescan services made possible by the MegaPanel include:

--New Product Alert, which will provide new insights into the motivation behind consumer purchases of new products and an early indication of a brand's potential for success;

--Expanded insights into the rapidly growing African-American population;

--The Shopper Optimizer model, developed with the ACNielsen Centers of Excellence advanced modeling and analytics group, which helps determine the best product assortment using new measures such as cumulative penetration and sales concentration;

--New local markets (now totaling 29) and retailer trading areas (165).

The Homescan MegaPanel is also enabling more effective integrated solutions offered by other VNU-owned marketing information and media measurement companies, including:

--Enhanced consumer segmentation and targeting services through Spectra;

--More detailed loyalty segmentation and share of wallet analysis through Spectra;

--Improved new product evaluation and planning through BASES;

--New insights into where brand or category buyers may be reached online and the effectiveness of online media campaigns through an expanded Homescan Online panel, developed with Nielsen//NetRatings.

Robert Tomei, general manager and executive vice president, ACNielsen U.S. Homescan, said the MegaPanel will offer unparalleled new insights into consumer attitudes and behavior. "Enabled by the expansion of the Homescan panel, we will be able to provide our clients with a broader and deeper view of consumer behavior and a better understanding of the effectiveness of their marketing and sales programs on that behavior."

The ACNielsen Homescan consumer panel is the CPG industry's preeminent 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 other promotions, and a host of other facts and insights, including attitudinal and product usage information. First launched in 1989 with 15,000 households, panel members use patented in-home scanners to record their purchases of UPC-coded products and then download the information to ACNielsen for analysis.

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.

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