Direct Mail, Newspaper Ads Take 'Control' Away From Nielsen

Nielsen has grown accustomed to fierce opposition whenever it makes changes to its TV ratings system, the basis of America's $60 billion TV advertising marketplace. But the pressure that has been mounting over Nielsen's decision to begin using people meters to measure ratings in New York starting this week has been unprecedented even by Nielsen standards. It also has been influenced by a sophisticated and highly targeted marketing effort orchestrated by a little known communications agency that has been using a combination of public relations, lobbying and even paid advertising campaigns to great effect. Now a new advertising effort - a direct mail campaign urging New Yorkers not to cooperate with Nielsen - has the TV researcher calling foul and even alluding to legal action.

"We have evidence, that someone unknown to us, is sending postcards into the New York market urging people not to cooperate with Nielsen's TV measurement if they are asked," Nielsen Senior Vice President-Communications Jack Loftus confirmed on Friday. "Nielsen is taking appropriate action."

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While Nielsen may not yet know the source of that direct mail initiative, Loftus said it ironically could exacerbate the very problem that has some Nielsen critics up in arms over its switch to people meters: an under-representative sample that is biased against certain types of viewers - according to the critics - blacks and Hispanics.

"This is the very thing that we cautioned the market against when the organized, public campaign began to discredit Nielsen," said Loftus. "The very people whom the organizers claim are undercounted by Nielsen are now being urged not to participate in Nielsen sample research."

Much of that campaign has been organized by BrandSphere, a New York-based marketing communications agency that has been behind "Don't Count Us Out," a public advocacy effort that has helped marshal considerable resistance to Nielsen's New York people meter plan, which in recent weeks has received high-profile pleas from influential members of the House and Senate, New York state legislators, city councilmen, a major TV station broadcast group, and, as of Friday, the National Association of Broadcasters. Alleging that Nielsen's new people meter sample in New York under-represents minority viewers, which would lead to devastating economic consequences for minority-oriented programming, those groups have all called on Nielsen to delay the people meter rollout until the dispute can be resolved.

Nielsen, which claims the New York people meter sample is representative and has been thoroughly tested, is moving ahead with the switch on Thursday.

BrandSphere appears to be pulling out all stops for the Don't Count Us Out effort, including an extensive newspaper advertising campaign featuring ads in both English and Spanish.

"It's your remote. Don't let Nielsen have control," reads the headline on one of the English-language versions. "If Nielsen is the ballot box for viewers, then shouldn't every viewer count," reads another. A BrandSphere spokeswoman contacted by MediaDailyNews said the ads were created and placed by an outside agency, but could not confirm those details by presstime.

The irony of this approach, is that Nielsen has also run ads in key markets aimed at encouraging greater cooperation among minorities - especially blacks and Hispanics - to participate in its sample. Nielsen's ad campaign was created by WING Latino, with media buys handled by MediaCom.

Most of the Don't Count Us Out efforts have been focused on a letter writing campaign aimed at Nielsen CEO Susan Whiting, who has been under acute pressure to review the New York people meter rollout.

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