TNS Launches 'Early Warning' Ad Measure

In the UK, TNS has launched a tool that claims to provide clients with an 'early warning' of rival ad campaigns, and which it says 'bridges the gap' between ad pre-testing and tracking.

The new Mercury system uses a media intelligence system to alert the team the day after an ad launches on air. This new ad is immediately tested by TNS's online panel of 130,000 respondents, who are assigned ads at random during a seven-day interviewing period.

Feedback from the panel enables users to respond to competitor ads or make changes to their own creative, based on this early consumer response.

Clients subscribe for a period of time, during which, all ads that debut in a particular sector or competitor group are automatically tested. Results are 'banked' for other subscribers to purchase, enabling benchmarking comparisons with named ads and brands.

'By testing and then comparing against ads that have already aired, advertisers get really meaningful benchmarks - not just some anonymous norm,' explained Paul Baker, Project Director for TNS Mercury. 'The tool draws on measures around motivation and emotional response, which we know are key to the future of ad research. Our aim is for Mercury to become the industry standard.'

TNS has spent 18 months developing the tool, and has already funded the testing of more than 200 ads for its database.

Web site: www.tnsglobal.com .