Media research biggies Nielsen and GfK MRI this afternoon announced they each acquired a 25% stake in the Media Behavior Institute (MBI), which for the past couple of years has been marketing
cross-media research services in the U.S. based on Europe's popular TouchPoints method. The deal represents the first time that GfK MRI and Nielsen have invested in the same company, though Nielsen
has a long history of being in media research joint ventures with its competitors.
MBI said it plans to equip 2,000 U.S. consumers with smartphones containing a special app to record media use
every half-hour throughout the day, along with information such as who they're with, what they're doing, where they are and the moods and emotions they're experiencing while consuming media.
MBI said the data can be used to target purchasers of specific product categories and brands since respondents are drawn from a sample of consumers who have recently participated in GfK MRI's annual
"Survey of the American Consumer," which collects information on consumers' use of more than 6,500 brands across 550 categories.