Nielsen Picks BlackBerry for World Cup Tracker

Nielsen is to track South African consumers' lifestyle habits and engagement during the imminent World Cup, using BlackBerry devices. Participants will compile mobile diaries including photos and captions, giving a detailed picture of their movements and interaction with the tournament.

The firm's Life360 service asks participants a series of questions about their attitudes, opinions and motivations, and delivers consumer insights and market intelligence around purchasing, media and entertainment, technology adoption and time use.

For more than four weeks during the World Cup, Nielsen will follow a panel of 440 individuals aged 16+ in Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria and Cape Town - the four key tournament cities in South Africa.

Using BlackBerry devices provided to each participant, the firm will survey them several times a day to find out where, when and how often they are engaging with the World Cup across various media platforms, live events and other activities, also testing their awareness of World Cup-related advertising.

At each survey 'check in' participants will also describe their 'mood' at the moment, take a photo of where they are and what they're doing, and caption it. Nielsen says these daily photos will provide 'an extraordinary glimpse' into how South Africa is living and watching the World Cup.

'Never before has there been such an opportunity to capture this level of insight around consumers' activity and exposure to a major global sporting event,' says Karen Benezra, VP and Executive Director at Life360. 'Ultimately, by linking survey respondents' motivations and attitudes during the tournament to their feelings about brands or actual purchase behavior, we can help marketers uncover the why behind the buy.'

Web site: www.nielsen.com .