In South Africa, ACNielsen Media International will now be badged as Nielsen Media Research. The re-branding will cover all of South Africa's media research services, including the TAMS, AMPS/RAMS, and AdEx divisions. The new branding initiative will have no impact on the organization structures of the individual business units.
Michael P. Connors, chairman and CEO of VNU's Media Measurement and Information Group outlined a three-step branding initiative:
1. Nielsen Media Research in the U.S. will be united with ACNielsen Media International under the brand name Nielsen Media Research.
2. VNU's entertainment information businesses will be co-branded with the "Nielsen" name. None of these yet operate in South Africa.
3. A new Nielsen visual identity will be introduced.
Nielsen Media Research and ACNielsen were separately spun out of Dun & Bradstreet in 1996 with ACNielsen keeping the media research assets outside of North America. These now amount to operations in 40 countries with a mix of media research services, including television and radio audience measurement and advertising information services. Subsequently, Nielsen Media Research and later ACNielsen were acquired by VNU, creating the opportunity to re-unite the media research operations of the two 'Nielsen' companies.
"This represents a further step in the process of leveraging our technology, software and production systems on a global basis," said Connors, "thus assuring a global standard of quality measurement and services of superior value to clients. By uniting the people and businesses of Nielsen Media Research under a single worldwide brand, we will achieve the highest quality and value of existing products and create new products that will shape the media industry."
Six months in development, the branding initiative and accompanying visual identity program involved both internal and external research. Landor Associates, New York, the world's leading branding and design consultancy, worked with VNU executives throughout the entire project.
