NIELSEN LAUNCHES SPOTWATCH SERVICE IN VANCOUVER
By Adnews Staff
Nielsen Media Research of Markham, Ontario, has launched its SpotWatch service in the Vancouver market. The launch follows the debut of the service in the Toronto market last year. SpotWatch allows advertisers to trace commercial occurrences and link them to the Nielsen TV Ratings. According to Nielsen, subscribers to the service can analyze delivery achievements of televisions spots to uncover the tactical priorities of television media plans. SpotWatch data is gathered using a device called a Media Monitoring Site, which scans television stations in the city, records television programs digitally and stores them in a file library. Commercials that are repeated on television are matched to the file library using the device, identifying them each time they appear. "Using SpotWatch is like posting your competitor's media plan on your boardroom wall," said David Brethauer, vice-president, research director, The Media Company. When the service first launched in the Toronto market, Nielsen said it had leading advertisers offering the company more money to buy their advertising category exclusively, to keep their media plans out of their competitor's hands. Upgrades of the service in both markets include Ad*Views, a software that allows advertisers to download digitized spots and storyboards of commercials to their desktop computers. The software also warns advertisers if a new advertiser appears in the same market or category or if an advertiser increases advertising in a certain area.