• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, December 7, 2006

In another advance for place-based media, Dutch media measurement and information giant VNU is developing a device to measure in-store media, the company announced Wednesday. In partnership with the In-Store Marketing Institute, VNU says the device will boost the credibility of in-store media in the eyes of marketers. Although the system will measure a range of media including radio, "shelf talkers," digital signs, and other display, the news is a boon for in-store video advertising systems in particular, which have proliferated in 2006.

The system, to be developed by a new division of VNU called Nielsen In-Store, is grounded in research conducted earlier this year by the In-Store Marketing Institute along with a consortium of major manufacturers including 3M, Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, Miller, and Procter & Gamble. The goal of the project was development of a currency for measuring in-store reach. The group also included major retailers like Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Walgreens. According to the In-Store Marketing Institute, in-store media garnered a total $18.6 billion of spending in 2005.

Nielsen In-Store is a component of another new Nielsen service called NielsenConnect, recently launched to give clients a holistic, global view of the effects of many different kinds of media. NielsenConnect is headed by Madison Avenue veteran Jon Mandel, who is tasked with coordinating the multiple data streams collected by different Nielsen properties and synthesizing them in a meaningful way. The importance of NielsenConnect to VNU is evident in the company's organizational chart, which has Mandel reporting directly to VNU chief executive David Calhoun.

"What we're going to be doing [at NielsenConnect] is trying to find out whether we can not only tell people whether their TV show, movie or new line extension played in Peoria, but whether it will play in Peoria," according to Mandel. "We're going to have the ability to use the best research resources in the business to allow clients to make decisions and take actions that anticipate what comes next."

Meanwhile, George Wishart, global managing director of Nielsen In-Store, described its mission: "The new information we provide for retailers and manufacturers will help them work more effectively to improve the shopping experience for consumers. We also will provide the advertising, media and retail industries with a new currency standard that can increase the efficiency of the media buying and selling process."