Nielsen Buys Digital Content Specialist Brandbank

Nielsen has announced the acquisition of Brandbank, which collects, manages and distributes FMCG product and brand image content, via digital means, for retail syndication across in-store, print promotional and e-commerce platforms.

The deal includes the integration of Brandbank teams across the UK, France and seven other European nations, plus China, Thailand and Malaysia. Nielsen is also talking to Brandbank clients in the US, Canada and Germany.

Brandbank, whose clients are multi-channel retailers and FMCG suppliers in the grocery, health and beauty sectors, helps them to create, optimise and distribute content for shopper marketing and category planning.

Nielsen Global President John J. Lewis says the buy 'marks an exciting advance in the company's digital evolution' and 'places Nielsen at the centre of the FMCG/retail demand chain and at the heart of retail'. He adds: 'These new digital capabilities will enrich our existing global product reference information and operational processes to drive greater analytic capabilities for our clients.'

The firms are online at www.brandbank.com and www.nielsen.com .