IRI links with TiVo to measure impact of DVRs

Chicago-based Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) is now offering a measurement service designed to measure ad effectiveness among households using digital video recorders (DVRs). The new IRI BehaviorScan DVR Service will enable national advertisers to quantify the impact of DVR technology adoption on ad effectiveness and, ultimately, brand and category sales. The service was developed in close cooperation with TiVo, Inc. and is supported by a consortium of national advertisers in the CPG industry. Through the agreement, IRI will provide TiVo DVRs to its BehaviorScan household panelists who choose to participate in the program and obtain viewership data licensed from TiVo to deliver insight into the rapidly evolving media world.

The service uses the BehaviorScan in-market testing service to analyze the purchasing behavior of households who subscribe to the TiVo service compared to households without the TiVo service, in the same market. IRI will place the TiVo units in a portion of their existing panelists’ homes who have agreed to allow TiVo to track their exact viewing behavior in order to form the basis for comparison. For more information visit www.infores.com .

Database covers U.S. hospitals, doctors

The new 2005 United States Healthcare Database includes information on more than 7,000 hospitals, 25,000 nursing homes and 400,000 doctors. Each record is indexed by such features as name, address, phone and fax. The database is available in Excel format on CD-ROM. The data can be selected by state or other criteria such as type of practice. It can be used on an unlimited basis.

This database covers over 250,000 key personnel and facility contacts. Information includes senior managers at each facility (including purchasing, IT, nursing, etc.) along with mailing address, direct-dial phone numbers and fax numbers. It also includes updated information on hospital ownership, beds, employees, admissions, discharges and specialized services. For more information call 416-765-0028.

Service provides ratings for online radio

New York-based firms Arbitron Inc. and comScore Media Metrix have introduced a new service designed to provide traditional broadcast ratings for the online radio industry. America Online’s AOL Radio Network, Yahoo!’s LAUNCHcast, and Microsoft’s MSN Radio and Windowsmedia.com have signed on as charter subscribers for the new service. The service, which is named comScore Arbitron Online Radio Ratings, is the result of collaboration between Arbitron and comScore Media Metrix. The data will be released monthly.

The comScore Arbitron Online Radio Ratings service is based on a subset of approximately 200,000 U.S. participants within the comScore global consumer panel. Using proprietary technology, comScore captures the online behavior of these panelists, including online radio listening behavior. The service will provide customers with average quarter-hour and cume audience estimates for traditional broadcast dayparts and demographics. This allows online radio to be planned and bought using the same metrics as those used by traditional radio. For more information visit www.arbitron.com .

Perseus updates SurveySolutions/EFM

Perseus Development Corporation, a Braintree , Mass. , research software firm, has released Perseus SurveySolutions/EFM (Enterprise Feedback Management) 1.1, the latest version of its Web-based survey application. SurveySolutions/EFM allows enterprise managers to centrally manage and control the survey practices of their organization by applying content approvals and controls throughout the entire survey process in a secure, shared environment. In addition, users can produce surveys, collaborate on survey projects, and get the results they need without having to rely on IT resources. New features include: a step-by-step questionnaire designer, improved usability, increased deployment flexibility, expanded report types, and enhanced invitation designer. For more information visit www.perseus.com .

New tool lets users bookmark focus group videos

FocusVision Worldwide, Inc., Stamford , Conn. , has launched VideoMarker CD Recording. During focus group sessions, back room observers can make video bookmarks of key moments or quotes, and then receive a CD from the facility when the sessions end. The CD includes the session video and all the marks made by all observers. It also includes the VideoMarker Editor software which allows users to review the video, make additional marks, and create video clips for placement in e-mails or PowerPoint slides. VideoMarker CD Recording will be available in the following facility networks in the first quarter of 2005: Schlesinger Associates, Focus Pointe, Delve, Fieldwork Inc., and GroupNet. For more information visit www.focusvision.com .

Doane studies Asian soybean rust

Doane Marketing Research, St. Louis , has conducted a shared-cost study entitled: Defending Against Asian Soybean Rust. The research objectives were to measure soybean growers’ awareness of Asian soybean rust in the United States and determine defensive steps growers were taking to prevent this disease in their 2005 crop.

The USDA confirmed on November 10, 2004 that Asian rust had appeared on leaf samples taken from two Louisiana StateUniversity test plots. This was the first reported incidence of Asian rust in the U.S. The study will offer insight into how soybean growers are reacting to this news and how they plan to defend against Asian rust. In early December 2004, Doane conducted a telephone survey of 750 growers in an 11-state area that grew a minimum of 250 acres of soybeans in 2004. For more information visit www.doanemr.com .

Online panel of physicians doubles

EQuesta, the online division of London-based Fieldwork International, has announced that its panel of European physicians has doubled in size over the past year to 19,000 and is currently growing at a rate of 2,000 physicians per month. Working in partnership with its U.S. partner panel, it now offers an international service to clients on both sides of the Atlantic . During the first nine months of 2004, eQuesta conducted nearly 12,000 interviews online with physicians, primarily in Europe - double the number completed during 2003. For more information visit www.fieldworkinternational.com .

German firm offers new ad testing product

MediaAnalyzer Software & Research GmbH, a German market research company, is offering a new research tool to the U.S. market. The product, called AttentionTracking, lets clients test advertising for visual impact, and is designed to help improve advertising effectiveness and ROI. AttentionTracking can both pre-test and copytest advertising media. Because it is online-based, the method can test any number of respondents in any number of places. It uses a respondent’s PC and its mouse as a pointing-device to track their attention and their gaze when looking at an image. MediaAnalyzer offers AttentionTracking as a full-service product or as a licensed product to brands, to market research companies, to ad agencies, and to publishers. For more information visit www.mediaanalyzer.com .

ESRI releases ArcGIS9

ArcGIS Business Analyst desktop software, with enhanced functionality and a variety of data, is now available for the ArcGIS 9 platform from Redlands, Calif.-based ESRI. ArcGIS 9 includes a new geoprocessing framework for modeling and scripting, new spatial statistics tools, improvements to annotation and labeling, improved raster support, and global positioning system support. Data in this release of ArcGIS Business Analyst includes Community Tapestry from ESRI Business Information Solutions (ESRI BIS). Tapestry is a segmentation system that provides a description of America ’s neighborhoods by classifying them into 65 segments based on their socioeconomic and demographic compositions. In addition to Tapestry, ArcGIS Business Analyst is shipped with a library of business data from infoUSA; the

Dynamap/Transportation street
etwork from Geographic Data Technology, Inc.; ESRI BIS demographic data; census boundaries; designated market area boundaries; National Research Bureau shopping center data; zip code boundaries; and a set of basemap data for comprehensive analyses. For more information visit www.esri.com/businessanalyst .

New facilities

Observation Baltimore has added a new suite to its focus group facility. It is designed for multi-configurations, such as a doctor’s office, living room, store, etc. The focus suite offers a secure observation room. The suite offers audio, video and DVD recording. The conference room holds 10 participants and a moderator. The bi-level observation room accommodates eight clients. With the addition of the second suite, the clients now have a choice of two suites. The first suite has larger rooms, with the second suite offering a more intimate, casual setting. For more information contact Jessica Pruitt at 410-332-0400.

Briefly

Oslo-based research software company FIRM has released a new version of its Confirmit program. Confirmit 9.0 includes a new interface; a random data generator enabling automated testing of questionnaires; a real-time script checker for on-the-fly script validation; block randomization of questions to avoid respondent bias; and Reportal BitStream for online tabulation on high volume of responses. For more information visit www.confirmit.com.