GfK continues international expansion

Continuing its strategy of international expansion, GfK, an international market leader in market research, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with four of the country’s leading television broadcasters, Band TV, Record, RedeTV! and SBT to bring its 40 years of experience in Audience Measurement to the Brazilian market.

GfK’s offer will include broader sampling than what already exists in the country today, including viewers of terrestrial, cable and satellite television. Measurement is planned to be made by a cutting-edge and transparent system installed in approximately 6,000 panel households in Brazil.

The initial contract is planned to have a five-year timespan and a value of above US$100 million, with the potential to sell data to additional TV stations and media agencies and buyers.

Gerhard Hausruckinger, Management Board Member of GfK and responsible for the Consumer Choices sector, declared: “The partnership we are announcing in Brazil is a major strategic step for GfK that allows our TV Audience Measurement business to enter South America. Brazil offers huge potential, and we are delighted to have reached this Memorandum of Understanding with four leading national players to bring our expertise and experience to the Brazilian market. We expect the final agreement to be signed in the coming weeks.”

The innovative Audience Measurement service that GfK plans to implement in Brazil uses technology that considers not only live content, but also time-shifted content. It includes both real time ratings and overnight consolidated ratings as well as spot and advertisement monitoring.

The new service is expected to go live in 2015, covering the 15 largest cities in Brazil. GfK is one of the world’s largest research groups, with about 13,000 employees in more than 100 countries. In Brazil, the company has been present since 2002 in the area of market research, and employs about 300 people.