--Syndicated Electronic Delivery System in Beta Testing--

NEW YORK, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI) is beta testing a new syndicated product that will dramatically improve the quality of magazine data for marketing mix modeling, which uses sales and marketing information to determine the impact of media allocation and promotional tactics on sales.

Earlier this year, MRI engaged Sequent Partners, a leading brand and media metrics consultancy, to help identify the reason why magazines have traditionally been poorly represented in marketing mix models. After speaking with marketers, modelers and agencies, Sequent Partners determined that modelers need magazine inputs with a higher degree of variability and granularity if they are to more fully and fairly value the print medium.

"Marketing mix models can't fully measure the ROI of advertising without accurate weekly market-level audience data, a situation that has disadvantaged all media but television," said Jim Spaeth, Founding Partner of Sequent Partners. "Through its Audience Accumulation Study, Issue Specific Readership Study and Market-by-Market Study, MRI now has the data modelers need to more accurately estimate magazines' value to advertisers. MRI is the only research company to produce this type of granular magazine information. However, relatively few modelers are fully aware of the existence of all these data...and virtually none have been systematically including them in current models."

According to a 2008 ANA Accountability Study, 60-70% of advertisers use marketing mix models for allocating media budgets, so it's clear that by strengthening these models MRI is contributing to an important capability upon which many companies rely.

"MRI's R&D work on marketing mix modeling has resulted in a win-win for both us and the industry," said Kathi Love, President & CEO of MRI. "Audience Accumulation, Issue Specific and Market-by-Market can, collectively, level the playing field vis-a-vis other media in these models. Our new deliverable will not only make these data available to modelers, it will make them extremely easy to accurately input into proprietary systems. MRI offered our Audience Accumulation Study free to the industry several years ago; we now intend to make this new system available to modelers and advertisers at the lowest possible cost to ensure this resource can be widely used."

"Several recent research papers have reinforced that magazine inputs into marketing mix models need to be comparable to those of other media for marketers to get the most accurate modeling results," said Nina Link President & CEO, Magazine Publishers of America (MPA). "MPA's discussions with the ad community have indicated that making it easier to produce appropriate magazine inputs will encourage best practices, and MRI's new product addresses that opportunity."

MRI's as-yet-unnamed software deliverable is expected to be out of beta and into the marketplace in the first quarter of 2010.

About MRI...

Founded in 1979, MRI interviews approximately 26,000 U.S. adults in their homes each year, asking about their use of media, their consumption of products and their lifestyles and attitudes. Because these interviews are structured as an area probability study, the results are projectable to the entire U.S. adult population.

MRI is the country's leading provider of magazine audience and multimedia research data. The company releases data from its Survey of the American Consumer (adults 18+) twice yearly, in the spring and fall. MRI data have become the basic media-planning currency for the majority of the media plans that are created each year by national advertisers and their agencies.

MRI Starch, a leader in providing marketing intelligence of print advertising effectiveness, is a division of MRI.

MRI is part of GfK Group, Nuremberg, Germany. The GfK Group is the No. 4 market research organization worldwide. Its activities cover the three business sectors of Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. The Group has 115 companies covering more than 100 countries. Of a total of approximately 10,000 employees, more than 80% are based outside Germany.

For more information, please visit http://www.mediamark.com/.

SOURCE Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI)

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