• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 22, 2011

Two leading media research companies, GfK MRI and comScore, have partnered to create a new database that combines print readership with online activity and other types of media consumption.

It helps media buyers and planners compare the impact of these various channels more easily in a "single, unified database."

The new combined database, called comScore-MRI Fusion, draws on key assets from both partners. GfK-MRI is contributing data from its annual Survey of the American Consumer, which canvasses over 25,000 American adults about a wide range of media and consumer habits, covering over 6,000 products in a total of 550 categories.

For its part, comScore is contributing online site visitation data from its Media Metrix service.

By combining information, the new database offers unduplicated, cross-platform audience measurement for a more precise picture of actual audience reach, including attitudinal and demographic audience profiles and information on product usage.

This, in turn, will give advertisers and publishers competitive intelligence about cross-channel media consumption patterns for their own users, as well as those of their competitors.

Steve Dennen, vice president of business development for comScore, states that "comScore-MRI Fusion bridges the gap between online and offline media consumption and helps provide a more holistic view of how audiences are reached in a multimedia environment." Dennen adds that the data will "optimize their marketing mix."

This is only the most recent data fusion project undertaken by GfK MRI in partnership with another media research company.

In 2007, for example, GfK MRI and Nielsen unveiled Nielsen TV/GfK MRI Data Fusion, combining data from GfK MRI's Survey of the American Consumer with data from Nielsen's National People Meter. The data fusion combines over 20,000 live-plus-seven-day program ratings from Nielsen's National People Meter with thousands of data points from GfK MRI's Survey of the American Consumer.