Nielsen/MMRD collaboration to provide in-depth understanding of the Myanmar marketplace and consumer behaviour

YANGON, MYANMAR, 3 MARCH 2014 – Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE:NLSN), a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, and Myanmar Marketing Research & Development Co., Ltd (MMRD), the pioneer of research services in Myanmar with over 20 years of experience in the market, today announced a joint venture collaboration, effective 1 March 2014.

The joint venture entity, Nielsen MMRD, will see the two organizations combine their collective solutions to help companies which are established in Myanmar or have plans to enter the market to understand the unique market and consumer dynamics.

“With a population of over 56 million and the second largest land mass in ASEAN, Myanmar represents one of the last remaining untapped frontiers for our clients,” said Suresh Ramalingam, Nielsen’s Managing Director of Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar Cluster. “We are excited to begin this collaboration with MMRD, a highly-respected and well-established market research firm in Myanmar, and we look forward to working closely with the MMRD team to help our combined client base gain the deepest insight into Myanmar’s marketplace and consumers.”

“We are honoured to partner with Nielsen and view the joint venture arrangement as a pivotal opportunity to realise our vision to deliver wider international exposure to our clients while broadening the depth of our services,” said U Moe Kyaw, Senior Advisor, Nielsen MMRD. “We’ve seen a substantial increase in demand for insights on Myanmar, evidenced by the 88.5 percent net growth in market research reported by ESOMAR, and we are now much better-positioned to help our clients here and abroad to understand our unique marketplace.”

A LOOK AT CONSUMER AND MEDIA TRENDS IN MYANMAR

Population:

• According to Nielsen MMRD more than 56 million people currently live in Myanmar, with close to half of the population (47%) aged less than 24 years old.

Media usage:

• Television is the most heavily used media with around half of the population (50.7%) tuning in on a weekly basis, followed by radio (43.4% weekly penetration), journals (29.8%), newspapers (12.0%), magazines (7.6%) and cinema (2.7%).
• Internet usage remains low throughout the country with just four percent of consumers in Myanmar having access to the internet, and usage averaging 3.5 hours per week. Usage in metropolitan areas outweighs urban and rural areas, with average metropolitan internet usage at 16.4 percent compared to 7.8 percent and 0.7 percent in urban and rural areas respectively.

Advertising trends:

• The number of foreign brands advertising in Myanmar increased significantly in recent years off the back of an influx of foreign brands into the country, the launch of 24-hour television stations and the introduction of private newspapers. Local brands have followed suit, increasing their advertising spend in order to compete with new market entrants. In 2013 advertising investment by foreign brands in Myanmar was US$87.5 million, up from US$28.6 million in 2010. Over the same period local brands’ investment in advertising grew from US$28.4 million in 2010 to US$64.4 million in 2013.
• Between 2001 and 2013 overall advertising spend increased 13 times, from US$11.7 million to US$152 million, with the majority of growth experienced between 2010 and 2013, from US$57 million to US$152 million.
• The top five categories for advertising investment in 2013 across all media were toothbrushes and toothpaste, followed by coffee mix, shampoos and conditioners, facial-skin care products and mobile phone units and accessories. The top five brands included Colgate, Ovaltine, Signal, HTC and Sunsilk.

Key category trends:

• Coffee mixes and carbonated soft drinks feature among the largest and fastest growing categories in Myanmar. Between 2009 and 2013 the coffee mixes category grew by 104 percent to US$249 million (MMK245 billion) while carbonated soft drinks grew by 126 percent to US$161 million (MMK158 billion) during the same period.

“Recent political reforms coupled with a large, young population and healthy economic outlook make Myanmar a highly attractive market,” observes U Moe Kyaw. “The market is shifting rapidly, however, with burgeoning media usage and evolving purchasing behaviour. Staying abreast of changing consumer habits will be a critical success factor for local and multinational companies alike in the years ahead.”

About Nielsen

Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence and mobile measurement. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

About MMRD

MMRD was established in 1992 and was Myanmar’s first market research agency. It has 250 research professionals in 13 regional offices throughout the country, and has conducted over 400,000 door to door interviews and 3,000 qualitative research studies.

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CONTACTS:

International Media Relations: Deanie Sultana, deanie.sultana@nielsen.com, +61 431 483 176Myanmar Media Relations: Jessica Myint Thinn, jessica@mmrdrs.com, +95 9420 289 138