Chicago – September 2, 2004 - Information Resources, Inc., the leading provider of content, analytic services and Business Performance Management (BPM) solutions to the consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and healthcare industries, today announced that IRI and Ocean Spray, the nation's number-one brand of canned and bottled juice drinks, have renewed their longstanding business relationship and expanded its scope to include IRI’s Consumer Network™ Household Panel Service. Ocean Spray will be utilizing IRI’s CPGNetwork™ Business Information Portal to gain customized views of market information and analytics to speed their reaction time to market trends that emerge. This new commitment also signals IRI’s leadership in providing Panel services, as every one of IRI’s top 50 customers is now subscribing to IRI’s expanding Consumer Panel solution.
Under the new multi-year term, IRI will serve as Ocean Spray’s exclusive supplier of syndicated marketplace tracking information for all core mass outlets, including the Convenience Store channel. IRI will also provide Ocean Spray with advanced analytics and detailed consumer behavior insights through IRI’s 75,000 member Consumer Network Household Panel. The consumer panel information was previously provided by another supplier.
“We are very pleased to have a single source partner in IRI for sales tracking, advanced analytics, and consumer panel insights to address the full spectrum of our market research needs,” said Stu Gallagher, Chief Marketing Officer, Ocean Spray. “Throughout our relationship, IRI has routinely delivered strong innovation, high quality insights, and solid overall value. We look forward to continuing this mutually-beneficial relationship to drive further growth at Ocean Spray.”
With this renewal, IRI delivers:
- New and deeper understanding of consumer behaviors and motivations using IRI’s Consumer Network Household Panel
Increased speed to insight for enhanced fact-based decision making using IRI’s Web-based CPGNetwork Business Information Portal
- Improved data mining, analytic, and presentation capabilities through IRI’s Plus Suite of Software Services
- More granular consumer insights for both strategic and tactical planning purposes in the Convenience Store channel using IRI’s InfoScan® Services
- Ability to improve category, retailer and store-specific performance
“It is very rewarding to renew and expand our relationship with Ocean Spray and to continue delivering the superior levels of quality, coverage, and insights they have come to depend on us for,” commented Scott W. Klein, President and CEO of IRI. “This win not only validates our market-leading panel offerings and strategy, but is also representative of a trend in which IRI continues to capture Panel business. We are extremely pleased with the success and acceptance this portion of our business is continuing to garner.”
About Ocean Spray
With gross sales of $1.28 billion in fiscal 2002, Ocean Spray is a 73-year-old agricultural cooperative owned by some 800 cranberry growers in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and other parts of Canada, as well as 126 grapefruit growers from the Indian River region of Florida. Ocean Spray, which ranks among the top 50 food and beverage companies in the U.S., employs some 2,000 people internationally.
About Information Resources, Inc.
Information Resources, Inc. is a leading global provider of market content, analytic services and Business Performance Management (BPM) solutions to the CPG, retail and healthcare industries. IRI's clients include the leading CPG, retail, and healthcare companies in the world. IRI's market content and analytic services provide these companies with market and consumer insights. IRI's BPM solutions uniquely combine its breakthrough enterprise analytics software, market content and analytic models to provide a total view of the market and to enable maximum business performance across marketing, sales and operations. IRI's solutions enable the consumer-driven real-time CPG and retail enterprise. More information is available at www.infores.com.