TNS launches Mercury TV ad-tracking tool

by Tristan O'Carroll, mediaweek.co.uk 09-Oct-09, 10:25

LONDON - TNS, the WPP-owned research outfit, has launched a new ad tool that claims to give clients early warning of rival campaigns.

The tool, Mercury, tests new TV ads as they launch, enabling clients to take action on their own and competitors' campaigns.

The tool works on the principle that clients buy into the data that the system collects on the performance of both client and competitor ads.

Clients subscribe for a period of time, during which all ads that debut in a given sector or competitor-group are automatically tested.

Results are "banked" for other subscribers to purchase, enabling comparisons with named ads and brands. TNS has already funded the testing of more than 200 ads for its database.

Mercury uses a system to alert the team the day after an ad launches on air.

The new ad is immediately put into test with TNS' 130,000-strong online panel. Panellists are assigned ads at random during a seven-day interviewing period, enabling TNS to analyse the ad's effectiveness.

Paul Baker, project director for TNS Mercury, said: "The beauty of Mercury is that it is very fast, robust and low-cost. It lets users respond to competitor ads or make changes to their own creative quickly, based on early consumer response."