WPP Firms Combine for Consumer Behavior Panel

In New York, WPP-owned sister firms Millward Brown and data integration / analytics specialist Kantar Shopcom have partnered to create a single-source panel combining consumer attitudes with actual purchase behaviors.

Led by CEO Katie Casavant, Kantar Shopcom uses its database of more than 231 million US consumers' offline and online purchases to measure the real impact of media across a range of platforms on consumer attitudes and retail purchase behavior.

The combined panel will offer US marketers access to data defining how shifts in brand equity result in changes in actual purchase behaviors. Data can also be used to diagnose the reasons why a brand's actual sales may not be in line with expectations.

Millward Brown's Global CEO Eileen Campbell says the size of the combined panel allows 'even the smallest of brands to truly understand their consumers at a granular level.' Data from the new panel will help drive enhancements for a number of Millward Brown's solutions and for its digital practice Dynamic Logic, including brand tracking, copy testing, cross-media and digital ad measurement. Shopcom data will also be linked to Kantar Media (TV viewing), Compete (online behavior) and other media panels.

Web sites: www.millwardbrown.com and www.kantarshopcom.com .