NMI and Nielsen Align to Provide Deeper Insight into the Green Marketplace

Nielsen Consumer Panel Classification Enables Connection between Consumers' Green Attitudes and Actual Purchase Behavior

Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), the leading market research and strategic consulting firm specializing in health, wellness and sustainability, and The Nielsen Company today announced an agreement to provide in-depth insights into NMI's Lifestyles Of Health And Sustainability (LOHAS) consumer segmentation model and expertise. The relationship provides consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers and retailers with a better and enhanced understanding into the $209 billion LOHAS market and the ability to make smarter "eco-decisions" about product development, positioning, pricing, communication and distribution to meet LOHAS consumers' needs.

Nielsen will incorporate NMI's proprietary segmentation model into its Homescan® Consumer Panel and Spectra BehaviorScapeTM Framework, enabling NMI and Nielsen to quantify LOHAS consumers' attitudes, psychographics, and behavioral patterns into their actual purchase behavior.

"Together, NMI and Nielsen offer an unparalleled level of ongoing insight into the LOHAS marketplace that no other company is able to provide," said Patti Marshman-Goldblatt, senior vice president, NMI. "For manufacturers and retailers, a key benefit of this relationship is the prospect of attaining and tracking greater ROI by identifying and targeting shoppers across the whole spectrum of LOHAS consumers and their varying degrees of eco-engagement."

NMI and Nielsen's relationship enables companies to identify opportunities for new brands and existing products, as well as understand which categories and brands are most relevant to the LOHAS consumer and measure the effectiveness of LOHAS-targeted products and promotions. Combined data is available for analysis now.

"Our collaboration provides CPG manufacturers and retailers with actionable insights, enabling them to intimately understand the LOHAS consumer, including where they live, where they shop and what they buy," said Tim Kregor, segmentation and targeting product leader, Nielsen Consumer Panel Services. "By working together, we can help companies develop meaningful eco-consumer strategies."

About LOHAS and NMI
LOHAS describes an integrated, rapidly growing $209 billion market for goods and services that appeals to consumers who have a meaningful sense of environmental and social responsibility and incorporates those values into their purchase decisions. NMI has quantified the LOHAS market and consumer since 2002, currently with six years of trended insight and data.

Using a proprietary algorithm, NMI's annual survey (LOHAS Consumer Trends DatabaseTM) segments U.S. consumers into one of five consumer groups: LOHAS, NATURALITES, DRIFTERS, CONVENTIONALS and UNCONCERNEDS. This allows companies to not only focus on the LOHAS consumer segment, but other opportunistic segments as well.

NMI is an international strategic consulting, market research, and business development company specializing in the health, wellness, and sustainable marketplace. Since 1990, NMI has provided unparalleled insight to hundreds of clients around the world. NMI is the only source for LOHAS data, currently available in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. For more information on NMI's proprietary research tools, customized research services, and insightful market reports, visit NMI's web site at www.NMIsolutions.com.

About The Nielsen Company

Nielsen's Homescan Consumer Panel is the industry's only multi-outlet panel that captures all consumer packaged goods information, as well as non-UPC coded random weight perishable products, across every type of purchase channel, providing valuable insights into consumer shopping behavior. Nielsen's Spectra BehaviorScape Framework creates a clear-eyed understanding of how Americans view health and wellness issues. By segmenting consumers into BehaviorStages and Lifesyles, based on urban density and affluence, Nielsen can accurately predict consumer behavior.

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit www.nielsen.com