ACNielsen has radical plans for the future, says Julian Hunt
Ask anybody in grocery what they think of ACNielsen and chances are they will say: "Oh, they're those nice people who do a good job at providing us with data." That's the view of Eleni Nicholas, the market research organisation's area vice-president, UK and Ireland. And it's something she wants to change so that ACNielsen is seen increasingly as having "leading edge, business-savvy" people who can help deliver strategic solutions for their clients.
It sounds very grand, but this goes right to the heart of a major project to transform ACNielsen's business across Europe. "We want ACNielsen to grow and we should not be ashamed of that. But the only way we can be in healthy growth is to revolutionise the way we do business," says Nicholas.
That process has been under way since 1999, and started, naturally enough, with focus group research among retailers and manufacturers across the Continent to find out exactly what they wanted. From there, ACNielsen devised a new business model, which it tested last year and which it is now starting to roll out.
The new model isn't rocket science: essentially it requires ACNielsen to engage with all levels of a client's management to find out what they need and then redesign the service they get. There are no "one size fits all" solutions, says Nicholas, and that has meant major change for her organisation  both culturally and structurally.
"We are elevating the status of market research," adds Nicholas, "We don't want to be viewed as a sideline that can be cut."
In other words, while information can come cheap nowadays, she wants to show that real insight does not.
Nicholas adds: "Market research tends to be used as an historical tool. I don't think we are engaged enough or seen as being contributors to specific business issues. Instead people tend to use us to check how well they have done on market share. We are talking about raising this to another level. If a client needs to make £x through a piece of npd in x months, what can we do to help improve their chances of success? It could be providing an holistic or contextual picture of what's going on within the market for a manufacturer with a focus on a particular category. We have all that information and knowledge but have not been good at applying it in that way."
To turn that round, says Nicholas, ACNielsen is starting to revamp the way it delivers information. "Manufacturers and retailers do not want to know about databases or number crunching. They want to be able to get at the one number that is relevant to their particular problem  and fast."
Part of the solution comes through the internet, which is allowing ACNielsen's clients to tap into a new tool dubbed i-sights.
Put simply, this allows anybody in a retail or manufacturing organisation to ask a question that reflects the business issues they are facing  and get the right answer without having to wade through reams of data. It's an impressive tool, and has been developed as part of a redesign of the way ACNielsen processes and delivers data across Europe. And there's more to come.
Full impact in the UK due in 2004
While the front-end system is now being rolled out, work continues behind the scenes on systems that will make life even easier for client companies. Nicholas is reluctant to give details  if only because the full impact of this work will not be felt in the UK until 2004. But it revolves around harmonising codes throughout Europe so that companies can get information across geographies at the click of a mouse. That will be another massive breakthrough for a sector which is rapidly consolidating across the Continent.
All in all, it seems the "nice" people at ACNielsen are busily putting together some neat solutions for the industry. No wonder they are so keen to be seen as "business-savvy" folk as well.
{{ANALYSIS }}
Ask anybody in grocery what they think of ACNielsen and chances are they will say: "Oh, they're those nice people who do a good job at providing us with data." That's the view of Eleni Nicholas, the market research organisation's area vice-president, UK and Ireland. And it's something she wants to change so that ACNielsen is seen increasingly as having "leading edge, business-savvy" people who can help deliver strategic solutions for their clients.
It sounds very grand, but this goes right to the heart of a major project to transform ACNielsen's business across Europe. "We want ACNielsen to grow and we should not be ashamed of that. But the only way we can be in healthy growth is to revolutionise the way we do business," says Nicholas.
That process has been under way since 1999, and started, naturally enough, with focus group research among retailers and manufacturers across the Continent to find out exactly what they wanted. From there, ACNielsen devised a new business model, which it tested last year and which it is now starting to roll out.
The new model isn't rocket science: essentially it requires ACNielsen to engage with all levels of a client's management to find out what they need and then redesign the service they get. There are no "one size fits all" solutions, says Nicholas, and that has meant major change for her organisation  both culturally and structurally.
"We are elevating the status of market research," adds Nicholas, "We don't want to be viewed as a sideline that can be cut."
In other words, while information can come cheap nowadays, she wants to show that real insight does not.
Nicholas adds: "Market research tends to be used as an historical tool. I don't think we are engaged enough or seen as being contributors to specific business issues. Instead people tend to use us to check how well they have done on market share. We are talking about raising this to another level. If a client needs to make £x through a piece of npd in x months, what can we do to help improve their chances of success? It could be providing an holistic or contextual picture of what's going on within the market for a manufacturer with a focus on a particular category. We have all that information and knowledge but have not been good at applying it in that way."
To turn that round, says Nicholas, ACNielsen is starting to revamp the way it delivers information. "Manufacturers and retailers do not want to know about databases or number crunching. They want to be able to get at the one number that is relevant to their particular problem  and fast."
Part of the solution comes through the internet, which is allowing ACNielsen's clients to tap into a new tool dubbed i-sights.
Put simply, this allows anybody in a retail or manufacturing organisation to ask a question that reflects the business issues they are facing  and get the right answer without having to wade through reams of data. It's an impressive tool, and has been developed as part of a redesign of the way ACNielsen processes and delivers data across Europe. And there's more to come.
Full impact in the UK due in 2004
While the front-end system is now being rolled out, work continues behind the scenes on systems that will make life even easier for client companies. Nicholas is reluctant to give details  if only because the full impact of this work will not be felt in the UK until 2004. But it revolves around harmonising codes throughout Europe so that companies can get information across geographies at the click of a mouse. That will be another massive breakthrough for a sector which is rapidly consolidating across the Continent.
All in all, it seems the "nice" people at ACNielsen are busily putting together some neat solutions for the industry. No wonder they are so keen to be seen as "business-savvy" folk as well.
{{ANALYSIS }}
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