The Nielsen Company recently announced the launch of Global Track Consumer, the latest application from its Global Services unit to be delivered through Nielsen's Answers technology.

Ranked as the first industry application to enable multiple-country and consistent analysis of consumer purchase behaviour, Global Track Consumer uses panel-purchasing information, which has been consolidated across different countries.

Through Nielsen's reporting capabilities, Global Track Consumer will deliver executive summaries, dashboards and graphic reports electronically, updated regularly and delivered to a user's desktop in formats that are easy to use and distribute within a client's organisation.

Commenting on the new application, Piyush Mathur, Managing Director of ACNielsen, MENAP said: 'The Global Track Consumer is greatly beneficial to understanding consumer behaviour across countries to provide marketers with a continuous view of purchase behaviour across borders. Integrating consumer panel information into a Global Track reporting format is the next step to provide our clients with further insight. The familiar interface of the Answers environment, combined with Global Track's rich multi-country information helps provide clarity for all levels of users.'

Data elements such as market penetration, purchase frequency and sales per shopping occasion are mapped in a single consistent view. This ensures that the information is aligned at the headquarter levels to provide an accurate representation of consumer behaviour within and across countries.

The industry leading Answers environment delivers report templates that allow users to quickly find the information they need for managing their day-to-day business issues. The templates can be accessed through report thumbnail images or via links highlighting logical business questions.

Available to all clients of Global Services, Global Track Consumer will incorporate consumer purchase behaviour from any of the countries in which Nielsen collects consumer panel data.

As part of its efforts to create an integrated and streamlined global organisation, VNU, the world’s leading market research provider, has undertaken a significant re-branding initiative and changed its name to The Nielsen Company.

In the UAE, VNU is the parent company of ACNielsen, Bases, Spectra, Nielsen NetRatings, Nielsen Media Research, TD Linx and Claritas. The re-branding initiative will not affect the brand names of any of the subsidiary companies.

In addition, the company will be undertaking steps to include the introduction of a new corporate website (www.nielsen.com) and graphic identity. The new identity will be rolled out progressively by all Nielsen businesses during 2007.

Commenting on this initiative, Piyush Mathur, Managing Director of ACNielsen MENAP region said: “Nielsen is one of the great names in the information-services industry. For more than 75 years, the Nielsen brand has stood for the highest standards of integrity, quality, independence and objectivity. The Nielsen name is a source of pride for everyone in our organisation and it is now the name under which we will go to market.”

Mathur said that given the company’s increased focus on marketing and media information services, Nielsen is a name that clearly suggests the company’s position and role in the marketplace. “We are focused more intently than ever on the delivery of truly integrated marketing and media services to facilitate the client’s growth opportunities. We are uniquely positioned to provide clients with a complete understanding of consumer behaviour with new insights into where their markets are headed and with high-value solutions to their business. We will be working closely together to deliver revolutionary products and services that bring clarity to today’s complex markets.”

“Nielsen will be the primary name and branding to be adopted in every part of our business. That said, there is no question that the existing identities or brands such as ACNielsen, Nielsen Media Research, Spectra, Homescan, BASES, Claritas and many others, including their respective underlying product brands, plus our business media and editorial identities have tremendous meaning and equality in the marketplace. As we implement our new branding, we will protect and enhance our equity and link it appropriately to the governing Nielsen brand,” concluded Mathur.

In a significant step aimed at enhancing the ability of businesses and organisations to make decisions related to customer segmentation, ACNielsen, a leading market research company, today unveiled a bespoke device called the Living Standards Measurement (LSM) classification system.

The new system goes beyond reflecting the affluence of people to include vital information on their living standards and lifestyles.

Commenting on the new system, Arun Joshi, Regional Head of ACNielsen, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa for Knowledge Management and Client Development, said: 'Whilst it is important for a marketeer to know who his customers are, what matters more is 'what they have' and 'what they do'. From a business perspective, the bottom-line is the way customers live and spend their money, not just how wealthy they are'.

'The birth of LSM classification was triggered by this requirement. LSM is a term that was originally coined by the World Bank and used to explore ways of improving the type and quality of household data collected by government statistical offices in developing countries.

'The new classification system developed by ACNielsen for the Middle East and North Africa region is an appropriate adaptation of what was followed in the World Bank study and is the result of intensive research and development,' he explained.

LSM was developed by a specialist team at ACNielsen led by Joshi and is meant to replace the current practice of socio-economic classification that has been followed for several decades. Although it has been an acceptable method, it is a system that relies strongly on a single-dimensional approach. With occupation being the key criterion to determine the economic status and hence the business potential of a customer, this method does not always offer the complete picture.

Elaborating on the importance of the system, Joshi added: 'Getting to know their customers, as well as targeting the right segments, has become an ever-growing challenge for businesses and media planners. To help them with profiling and grouping consumers, it has become imperative that they are equipped with a device that is of relevance in current times, simple to operate and most importantly, pliable enough to update swiftly.

'The new segmentation system classifies people across a total of eighteen classes, and is based on data related to a multitude of dimensions reflecting a wide spectrum of living standards and the diversity across the region,' he concluded.

Enthused about the launch of this new system, Piyush Mathur, Regional Managing Director of ACNielsen, Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan said: 'A key benefit of the LSM System, over the socio-economic system is that the marketing manager will now be able to use one common system to segment their customers across countries. The new LSM system will be introduced in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Morocco, and Egypt.'

'Introduction in these four countries forms the initial phase of this new initiative from ACNielsen', added Mathur, and highlighted their plans for the future, 'Over the next two years, we will extend the new LSM classification system to the rural part of the region as well as other countries in the Gulf and beyond'.