The move will challenge the service provided by local media monitoring firm, Rainmaker, from which Nielsen previously purchased monitoring data for its clients.
However, media agencies claim that the problem with Rainmaker was that its measurement criteria and the number of media outlets it monitored were subject to change. One inconsistency involved the company reducing its coverage of the magazine sector from 70 to 40 titles.
While hopeful that the new service would mean more accurate statistics, agencies said that they would need time to evaluate if the data is more reliable. MindShare Taiwan deputy general manager, Rebecca Yen, said: "We have expectations that as Nielsen is an international company that they would be able to provide a better quality of service." Yen said that the agency would especially be looking for consistency of criteria for reporting adspend data.
Susan Wang, ZenithOptimedia Taiwan general manager, said: "This is the time for the industry to choose a more capable and precise currency or industry standard for how we measure media spending."
