Next Steps for Multimedia Measurement Project

Arbitron and VNU have announced good progress with Project Apollo, which aims to co-ordinate their collection of multimedia exposure and purchase information. Over the past few weeks more advertisers have signed up, and the steering committee will meet for the second time in January to set the direction for next year's project pilot.

The Project is built around a panel, which will eventually consist of approximately 14,500 participants in 6,250 households, and is designed to develop a better understanding of the link between consumers' exposure to advertising on multiple media and their shopping and purchase behaviour.

Panel members will be asked to carry Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPM) - a small, cell phone-sized device - to record their exposure to electronic media sources including TV and radio shows as well as commercials broadcast on other media. Details of exposure to other media such as newspapers, magazines and circulars will be collected through additional online surveys, while purchase behaviour will be measured via ACNielsen's Homescan technology, which tracks packaged goods purchases, and by means of additional surveys.

The first meeting of the steering committee, held in October, brought together five major US advertisers. Discussions included how to share learning from the test pilot and how to measure return on investment for marketing efforts.

Linda Dupree, Senior VP, Portable People Meter/National Marketing Panel at Arbitron, says: 'By working together, marketers will be able to set a more effective direction for Project Apollo. They will be better able to link their behavioral-based marketing targets with the media decisions they make every day, yielding more effective media investments.'

The companies are online at www.vnu.com and www.arbitron.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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