• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, November 7, 2011

GroupM, the WPP umbrella media unit, has signed a deal with Kantar looking to use its data to determine the links between TV ad exposure and purchase decisions. The first aspect will examine behavior among Hispanic consumers.

The research will be developed by overlaying set-top-box data Kantar obtains from DirecTV users with research on purchase decisions from Kantar’s Shopcom arm.

GroupM, which includes Maxus, MEC, MediaCom and Mindshare, will license the data streams from Kantar as it looks to build what's known as a single-source research stream.

Hispanic audiences are becoming an increasing focus for advertisers, although Spanish-language networks such as Univision and Telemundo continue to argue that they receive a disproportionately low share of ad dollars.

GroupM hopes to explore which Spanish-language programs, networks and time periods offer ads that best ring cash registers, as well as other conundrums such as "contextual ad performance" and product placement effectiveness. Univision and Telemundo boast about their agility in integrating brands into programming. (Last year, Univision aired a novela, "Eva Luna," about an agency that won the Buick Regal account and two Chevy models were part of story lines.)

Kantar Chief Commercial Officer Bud Breheney stated that this marks the first exploration into “the relationship between Hispanic programming viewing and purchasing behavior."

The Kantar DirecTV database, which Nielsen also purchases from Kantar for its own product development, culls anonymous viewing data from 100,000 homes with DirecTV. It gauges live and DVR-enabled viewing behavior.

GroupM media chief Lyle Schwartz stated that GroupM agencies are "keenly interested in improving methods of collecting, measuring and interpreting" viewing data and the Kantar research will offer "insights on the role media plays in the consumer's path to purchase that will prove invaluable to our clients."