Consumer goods analysts Nielsen and IRI have formed a joint venture to process consumer purchase data from a common set of households.

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The venture, owned 50-50, will be established using the existing Nielsen household sample and data acquisition infrastructure and will start during the first quarter of 2010.


Under the agreement, Nielsen receives 100% of the targeted 100,000-plus households and IRI has access to 86%, with the right to acquire up to 100% after two years.


The venture will be governed by a board, equally represented by IRI and Nielsen officers and an independent chief executive officer to be recruited from outside both companies.


“Now more than ever, Nielsen will be able to quickly and aggressively build unique and actionable consumer and shopper insights for our clients,” said Nielsen consumer North America president and CEO John Lewis. “The joint venture panel will serve as a critical insights foundation, and Nielsen will integrate its assets and our clients’ assets like never before as we seek even bigger client business breakthroughs.”

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In addition, IRI’s RxPulse Patient Panel will be replaced by a new panel recruited by the joint venture and will be designed to maintain the continuity of IRI’s current RxPulse panel. Nielsen will have access to the Rx household data and will continue to be the sole provider of its Hispanic specialty panel.


“We have an aggressive innovation agenda focused on delivering superior consumer and shopper insights to our clients,” said IRI president and CEO John Freeland. “This joint venture is yet another step in furthering that focus and enables IRI to concentrate on the consumer panel innovations that really matter: increased speed to insight via new technologies, deeper and broader insights covering a full 360° view of the consumer, and new automated analytics to accurately predict changing shopper attitudes and behaviours.”


Currently Nielsen and IRI operate separate panels. As part of the joint venture, both will continue to sell and service consumer panel data to their respective clients, under their respective brand names – Nielsen Homescan and IRI Consumer Network – from the common data source.

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