Most people know Nielsen as the TV ratings company. In reality,
however, Nielsen is a multiplatform market research company that has
constantly been evolving since 1923. Its goal is to measure and track
a wide range of consumer activity in order to establish a 360-degree
view of individuals and market segments. To accomplish this, Nielsen
has to follow consumers wherever they may be—watching TV, online,
in their homes, or in stores. How does Nielsen track all this activity?
The veteran research firm has established effective methods of
recording consumer activity, from retail scanner data to household
panels to monitoring social networks. As data are captured, they are
transferred to a Nielsen data warehouse, where they are matched to
the right individual and added to the terabytes of information Nielsen
already possesses. Through data sorting and analytics, Nielsen cuts
through billions of daily transactions to deliver clear consumer
insights to clients.
After viewing the video featuring Nielsen, answer the following
questions:
4-15 what is Nielsen’s expertise?
4-16 providing a real-world example, describe how Nielsen might
discover a consumer insight.
4-17 What kinds of partnerships might Nielsen need to form with other
companies in order to accomplish its goals?
Company Case——–Campbell Soup Company:
Watching what you eat
You might think that a well-known, veteran consumer products
company like the Campbell Soup Company has it made. After all, when
people think of soup, they think of Campbell’s. In the $5 billion U.S.
soup market, Campbell dominates with a 44 percent share. Selling
products under such an iconic brand name should be a snap. But if you
ask Denise Morrison, CEO of Campbell, she’ll tell you a different story.
Just a few years ago, when Morrison took over as head of the world’s
oldest and best-known soup company, she faced a big challenge—
reverse the declining market share of a 145-year-old brand in a mature,
low-growth, and fickle market characterized by shifting consumer
preferences, ever– expanding tastes, and little tolerance for price
increases. Turning things around would require revitalizing the
company’s brands in a way that would attract new customers without
alienating the faithful who had been buying Campbell products for
decades.
Morrison had a plan. A core element of that plan was to maintain a
laser-like focus on consumers. “The consumer is our boss,”
Morrison said. “[Maintaining a customer focus] requires a clear, Up–to–
the-minute understanding of consumers in order to create more
relevant products.” Morrison’s plan involved transforming the
traditional stagnant culture of a corporate dinosaur into one that
embraces creativity and flexibility. But it also involved employing
innovative methods that would allow brand managers and product
developers to establish the customer understanding that was so
desperately needed. In other words, marketing research at the
Campbell Soup Company was about to change.
Reading Consumers’ Minds Soup is a well-accepted product found in
just about everyone’s pantry in the United States. However, not long
ago, Campbell researchers discovered that marketing soups presents
unique problems. People don’t covet soup. Sure, a steaming bowl of
savory soup really hits the spot after coming in out of a bitingly cold
rain. But soup is not a top-of-mind meal or snack choice, and it’s
typically a prelude to a more interesting main course. The bottom
line—consumers don’t really think much about soup, making
meaningful marketing research difficult.
For years, Campbell researchers relied on good old paper–and-pencil
surveys and traditional interviews to gain consumer insights for
making ads, labels and packaging, and the products themselves more
effective. But Campbell’s experience with such marketing research
showed that traditional methods failed to capture important
subconscious thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that consumers
experience when shopping for soup.
So instead, to get closer to what was really going on inside
consumers’ hearts and minds, Campbell researchers began employing
state-of-the-art neuroscience methods. They outfitted shoppers with
special vests that measured skin-moisture levels, heart rates, depth
and pace of breathing, and postures.
Sensors tracked eye movements and pupil width. Then, to aid
interpretation, such biometric data was combined with interviews and
videos that captured each shopper’s experiences.
