CHICAGO – June 30, 2004 – Information Resources, Inc.’s Healthcare Solutions Group and HealthFocus International, a division of Irwin Broh & Associates, Inc. today announced a strategic relationship and the immediate availability of the HealthTracker Service™, a new syndicated service to help consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers and retailers continually monitor and understand the impact of health and wellness trends in attitudes and awareness on consumer behaviors.
The HealthTracker Service combines IRI’s industry-leading market content, consumer household panel information, and advanced analytics capabilities, with advanced attitudinal segmentation tools and proprietary data sources from HealthFocus International, to provide a unique proactive tool that monitors changes in the health and wellness marketplace. Knowledge generated by the HealthTracker Service can be used to support multiple business decisions including risk management, public health policy, marketing priorities, new product development, and brand management directives.
“The health and wellness marketplace is rapidly evolving with the introductions of new food products, new diets and eating programs, and America’s increased involvement in their own healthcare,” said Scott W. Klein, President and Chief Executive Officer of IRI. “To effectively manage these changes, the CPG and Healthcare industries need real-time insight and the ability to make fact-based decisions driven by highly accurate market data. IRI’s relationship with HealthFocus International and the HealthTracker Service combines the unique strengths of two leading organizations to provide a sophisticated set of information our clients have been seeking to better manage their businesses and meet consumer demand.”
Subscribers of the HealthTracker Service will be better able to address a variety of business issues in order to:
- Maintain a leading edge in understanding trends in consumer attitudes toward health and wellness and their impact on consumer behavior.
- Make meaningful contributions toward improving public health through diet and lifestyle choices.
- Understand the hot issues of the day in a proactive manner with respect to health and nutrition.
- Increase understanding of the appeal of specific brands or categories to different consumer segments.
- Better understand which consumer targets are impacted when category or brand dynamics change.
- Assess shifts in attitudes impacting category and brand sales.
“Understanding consumers and their attitudes on health and wellness trends is essential for today’s CPG manufacturers and retailers,” said Linda Gilbert, President and Founder of HealthFocus International. “We are very pleased to be working with IRI to deliver the critical information to help clients plan, develop, and deliver products that reflect what the marketplace is seeking.”
The HealthTracker Service is available now. For more information, call Bob Doyle of IRI at (312) 474-2510 or Linda Gilbert of HealthFocus International at (404) 422-6372.
About Healthcare Solutions from IRI
IRI’s Healthcare Solutions Group provides pharmaceutical, healthcare, and consumer goods companies, as well as retailers, with consumer intelligence, targeting, and analytic services for the healthcare marketplace. The group was formulated in response to the increasing need to understand consumer insights and decisions related to prescription (Rx) and over-the-counter (OTC) purchasing behaviors, attitudes, and preferences. The Healthcare Solutions Group offers a complete suite of retail tracking, consumer panel and analytic-driven products and services under the RxPulse™ brand to help its clients monitor, comprehend, and compete within the rapidly evolving healthcare space.
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.
About HealthFocus International
HealthFocus International is a consumer marketing research and consulting firm specializing in consumer health & nutrition trends. With 20 years of experience working with the most successful food, beverage and supplement brand marketers and business leaders, HealthFocus International is an authoritative resource for companies who need to understand consumer attitudes and behavior toward health and nutrition choices.
The HealthFocus Trend Survey is the longest running health and nutrition trend survey conducted in the USA. It identifies current issues for consumers with respect to health and nutrition, tracks changes in these priorities, and provides direction on where consumers are headed in their thinking about health and nutrition choices. The learnings from this survey have provided the foundation for the HealthFocus Consumer Segmentation and Positioning Benefit Platforms. These tools are used by the leading marketers in targeting consumers and positioning health and nutrition products. These tools were developed to help marketers understand consumer motivations for making healthy choices, the sense of control they feel they have as a result of these choices, and the higher level emotional and lifestyle benefits that make for compelling communications for consumers. More information is available at www.healthfocus.com.