TRA, Inc. and dunnhumbyUSA Study Measures Impact of In-Store Marketing Tactics with Television Advertising Using Single-Source, Household Level Data

Groundbreaking Study Provides Marketers With Platform to Optimize Marketing Mix for Maximum Sales Response

NEW YORK & CINCINNATI--()--TRA, Inc., a leading media and market research company that helps companies increase TV advertising effectiveness and influence product sales by matching anonymous television tuning data with consumer purchasing behavior data, and dunnhumbyUSA, a global leader in building brand value for consumer goods and retail companies, today released the results of a study that demonstrates a methodology for optimizing the mix of television advertising and in-store marketing using single-source, household level data. The groundbreaking TRA/dunnhumbyUSA research was presented Monday, March 26th at the Advertising Research Foundation’s (ARF) Re:think Conference in New York.

A methodology for optimizing product price, in-store marketing and television advertising together and measuring how they work in tandem never previously existed. “The TRA/dunnhumbyUSA study shows how the three main drivers of positive brand purchase work together on the household level,” noted TRA’s Chief Research Officer, Bill Harvey. “This research dispels some common industry myths and illustrates how household level analysis can be leveraged by marketers to maximize sales and optimize a media spend that is both repeatable and predictable.”

Leveraging the dunnhumbyUSA database of the anonymous household level purchase behavior data from 60 million households across the United States that is matched to second-by-second measurement of TV viewing habits from more than 2 million set-top box households provided by TRA, the TRA/dunnhumbyUSA study focused on heavily advertised consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands that average upwards of $20 million in television advertising within the categories of toothpaste, yogurt, and cereal. While marketing mix modeling analyzes the market average level, this analysis was performed at the household level and involved approximately 2,500 retail stores.

Among the TRA/dunnhumbyUSA findings presented to ARF audiences:

  • TV advertising does not soften impact of price discounting
    It has been commonly believed that TV and a temporary price reduction should not be used at the same time because TV reduces the impact of discounting. The TRA/dunnhumbyUSA study found that to be an inaccurate assumption. In six case studies, approximately 50% of all households exposed to TV were also impacted by the temporary price reduction and exhibited higher sales increase than the remaining 50%, reached only by TV. The study also found temporary price reduction to be a significant driver overall with an 11.83% average further sales lift over what only TV achieved.
  • Using all in-store marketing tactics with TV simultaneously maximizes brand sales
    Using TV in combination with a temporary price reduction (TPR), feature and display simultaneously maximizes sales response. The study found a combined average of more than eleven times the sales effect of TV alone.

“Marketers, media planners and researchers have sought to understand the relationship between in-store marketing tactics and television advertising for many years and the TRA/dunnhumbyUSA study is a game-changer for the industry moving forward,” said Matthew Keylock, Senior Vice President, New Business Development & Partnerships, dunnhumbyUSA. “This type of household-level analysis allows us to understand under what conditions and for which product categories there is a positive synergy between tactics. Further, it allows us to understand how different consumer groups respond to these levers which will significantly help to optimize campaigns and overall marketing ROI.”

About TRA, Inc.
TRA, Inc. (www.traglobal.com) is a media marketing and analytics software company whose products help advertisers, agencies and television networks improve advertising targeting, accountability and return on media investment. TRA’s web-based Media TRAnalytics® platform matches the TV advertising households actually receive with the products the same households actually buy, enabling TRA’s clients to find “The Right Audience®” while providing an unmatched level of transparency, measurement, media planning/selling and improved ROI. Licensed users of the Media TRAnalytics® platform include 4 of the top 10 advertisers, 45 of the top 100 brands, as well as the top agencies and networks. TRA’s investors include Intel Capital, Kodiak Venture Partners and Arbitron. TRA is certified under ISO 27001, the information security management system standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) designed to ensure security controls for protecting information assets. TRA owns U.S. Patent No. 7,729,940, entitled “Analyzing Return on Investment of Advertising Campaigns by Matching Multiple Data Sources”; U.S. Patent No. 8,000,993, U.S. Patent No. 8,060,398 and U.S. Patent No. 8,112,301, all entitled “Using Consumer Purchase Behavior for Television Targeting”).

About dunnhumbyUSA:
dunnhumby is the leader in personalizing the world’s experience of retailers and brands. Analyzing data from over 350 million people in 28 countries, we help companies put customers at the center of every decision. We use our insight to improve customers’ experience of stores and communications to earn their lifetime loyalty. Our work with some of the world’s biggest retailers and brands has demonstrated that companies which deliver value to customers through personalization become and stay their customers’ first choice. This strategic approach to putting the customer first in business improves our clients’ like-for-like sales and profit margins – or, put simply, their brand value. dunnhumbyUSA is a joint venture of The Kroger Company and London-based dunnhumby. Employing more than 1,900 people in 30 offices in Europe, Asia and the Americas, dunnhumby serves a prestigious list of companies including The Kroger Co., Tesco, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kimberly-Clark, Macy’s, Panera Bread Company, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble. dunnhumby also includes the word of mouth marketing experts BzzAgent and price optimization company KSS Retail. For more information, visit www.dunnhumby.com.

Contacts

For TRA, Inc.
Meghan Newton or Bennett Kleinberg, 212-576-2700
mnewton@goodmanmedia.com
bkleinberg@goodmanmedia.com
or
For dunnhumbyUSA
Ann Keeling or Suzanne Blackburn, 513-381-3248
ann@cristofolikeeling.com
suzanne@cristofolikeeling.com

Release Summary

TRA, Inc. and dunnhumbyUSA released groundbreaking research on optimizing the mix of television advertising, price and in-store marketing tactics using household level data.

Contacts

For TRA, Inc.
Meghan Newton or Bennett Kleinberg, 212-576-2700
mnewton@goodmanmedia.com
bkleinberg@goodmanmedia.com
or
For dunnhumbyUSA
Ann Keeling or Suzanne Blackburn, 513-381-3248
ann@cristofolikeeling.com
suzanne@cristofolikeeling.com