The latest service launched by ACNielsen's US Homescan business is New Product Alert, which gives CPG manufacturers the opportunity to survey buyers of their new products shortly after purchase. The online service quickly identifies buyers of new products, and then sends them brief surveys about their motivations for purchase and satisfaction.

Currently at 91,500 households, the US Homescan consumer panel is undergoing a two-year MegaPanel expansion that will grow the panel to 125,000 households by the end of this year, enabling the launch of numerous specialty panels, a new retailer equity measurement service, and improved sales measurement within fast-growing retail channels such as dollar stores, warehouse clubs stores, and pet specialty stores.

"Today's retailing market is more complex than ever, driven by diverse, demanding and unpredictable consumers, and making it more difficult for retailers and manufacturers to do business," ACNielsen Asia Pacific President Bienvenido Niles said.

Consumer insight is what fuels our clients' success. That's why we are making unprecedented investments in expanding the number of households measured by our panels, grow the number of markets in which we operate them, and launch new panel-based consumer insight services. The combined panel capabilities of ACNielsen, Nielsen Media Research, Nielsen//NetRatings and BASES clearly make VNU, the global panel company,and the only one able to offer this many critical views of consumer purchasing and media consumption behaviour worldwide.

In Asia Pacific, ACNielsen Consumer Panel Services are now available in nine markets, representing tens of millions of consumers with a total panel size exceeding 20,000 households. Homescan panels track households purchases through all retail channels across a wide range of fast moving consumer products, enabling sales dynamics such as penetration, buying rates, frequency, inter purchase intervals, repeat buying and brand switching patterns etc at marketers?fingertips. Thailand is the latest consumer panel market, with the launch of Homescan, the first scanning-based panel of its kind in the country. In addition to Homescan, ACNielsen has also introduced I-Scan ?where panel members use patented pocket-sized scanners to record impulse and other on-the-go purchases outside the home, with the first being ACNielsen | I-Scan Impulse in Hong Kong (launched in 2003) and ACNielsen | I-Scan Beauty in Korea (launched in 2004).

"Asia's fast moving lifestyle has placed greater emphasis on convenience products and out of home consumption, making the convenience sector one of the fastest growing sectors in recent years,' Mr Niles added. The introduction of I-Scan provides insights into individual consumers' purchase dynamics in this context."

In addition to Asia Pacific, ACNielsen is also expanding its consumer panel footprint in Europe and Latin America.

In Europe, ACNielsen is expanding its Homescan consumer panel from approximately 45,000 to 70,000 households in the key markets of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal. As part of European the expansion, ACNielsen will launch an I-Scan Impulse panel in the region.

Operating in 24 countries, and with plans to expand further, the ACNielsen Homescan consumer panel is the CPG industry's leading consumer panel, providing insights into what types of households buy specific CPG categories or brands, how often and where they shop, their use of coupons, and a host of other facts and insights, including attitudinal and product usage information. In most countries, panel members use patented in-home scanners to record their purchases of UPC-coded products and then download the information to ACNielsen for analysis. In other countries, a diary methodology is utilised. It enables more effective integrated solutions offered by other VNU-owned marketing information and media measurement companies.

VNU's panel expertise extends across many of its marketing and media information businesses. Nielsen Media Research, in the U.S. and through partnerships outside the U.S., operates TV ratings panels that cover nearly 100,000 households in 46 countries, representing some 75% of global television advertising spending. Another VNU business, Nielsen//NetRatings, tracks 70 percent of the world's Internet usage by measuring the online behaviour of more than 600,000 people across 16 countries, while another unit, BASES, the leader in new-product forecasting, operates e-Panels with more than 150,000 individuals to gauge response to new-product concepts.

About ACNielsen

ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world's leading marketing information provider. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the unit provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behaviour. Clients rely on ACNielsen's market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns.

About VNU

VNU is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognised brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media measurement and information (Nielsen Media Research) and business information (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Computing, Intermediair). VNU is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands and New York, USA. The company employs 38,000 people. Total revenues amounted to EUR 3.8 billion in 2004. VNU is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam (ASE: VNU) stock exchange. For more information, please visit the VNU website at www.vnu.com.