NPD Group Adds GfK MRI Data to BrandLink

In the US, retail information firm The NPD Group has added data from consumer and media research specialist GfK MRI to its BrandLink tool, to help users predict the likelihood that a celebrity will resonate with fans of specific brands.

The tool taps into data gathered by NPD from more 60,000 consumers every year regarding their celebrity, music, sports, sports team, movie, and gaming preferences, as well as hundreds of brands across categories. BrandLink now combines this with GfK MRI's detailed view of consumers' media choices, lifestyles, attitudes, and usage of almost 6,000 products in 550 categories. Users can now connect to thousands of brands, thousands of media and entertainment properties, and the individual fans of thousands of specific celebrities and sports teams.

Andy Arthur, SVP of Data Integration at GfK MRI, says the upgraded BrandLink provides a 'game-changing' solution for anyone involved in making celebrity investments. Barbara Zack, VP at The NPD Group, adds: 'Other services either rely on social media scraping, which has one set of inherent biases, or on household purchases, which are a weak surrogate for the brand purchasing habits of individual fans. With BrandLink, advertisers can finally evaluate a celebrity's audience on the basis of a brand target, not just a demographic target'.

Web sites: www.npd.com and www.gfkmri.com .