We’ve made no secret of the technology transformation we are fueling at Nielsen Global Connect—both through our internal operations and the innovative solutions we are delivering to our retailer and consumer packaged goods (CPG) clients.
Enhanced by our work with robotic tech leader UiPath, our operational processes have become much more efficient. We have reinforced our focus on consumer loyalty through our acquisition of loyalty analytics solution provider Precima. Our image recognition and data science teams have increased the accuracy of our receipt decoding technology—leveraging natural language processing (NLP) and supervised machine learning to identify key fields and model details on a receipt—and our collaboration with the University of Oxford reflects our commitment to accelerating image recognition of store products. Through the Nielsen Connect Partner Network, the industry’s largest open ecosystem of solution providers for retailers and manufacturers in the CPG industry, we continue to work with tech-driven, AI-powered innovators to enhance client collaboration and success.
Of course, the cloud is at the bedrock of our transformation and business focus, underpinned by our ongoing relationship with Microsoft.
Most CIOs and CTOs know that the future (and present) of business is in the cloud, but getting to a powerful cloud-based environment isn’t a simple drag-and-drop process. In fact, the transition to tomorrow’s technology from existing legacy infrastructures is an immense challenge for an array of heritage retailer and CPG companies. Until they make that transition, however, most aspects of their businesses, ranging from connecting with omnichannel consumers to adjusting product development on the fly, will be cumbersome and inefficient.
Today, having a cloud-based environment is table stakes for any organization dealing in data engineering and artificial intelligence (AI), today’s DNA for rapid product innovation and differentiation. But there’s more than one way to architect and leverage cloud infrastructures, and Nielsen Global Connect is focused on helping clients navigate the myriad routes out there to identify the ones that make the most sense for today’s business needs.
Powered by our strategic alliance with Microsoft, we’re shaping a smarter market for the retail and CPG industry through the capability of the Nielsen Connect platform, hosted on the Microsoft Azure public cloud platform. The Nielsen Connect platform is already driving real-time collaboration, increased speed to market and faster results for top retailer and manufacturer clients in the U.S. We are building on the momentum of our collaboration, as we continue to migrate our retail and CPG dataset onto Microsoft Azure to help clients more quickly identify, predict and activate growth opportunities within an open data environment. Fueled by breakthrough AI and machine learning (ML) services built on Microsoft Azure, we are creating the next generation of applications that extend beyond measurement toward prediction and activation.
“Nielsen Global Connect has defined measurement of the retail and consumer packaged goods landscape,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Business. “Our strong partnership, centered around Azure and the Nielsen Connect platform, empowers us to fuel our mutual vision of an open and connected data universe.”
John Tavolieri, Chief Product and Technology Officer of Nielsen Global Connect, adds, “We believe in open platforms and partnerships with the most sought-after leaders in technology research and development. Our continued investment in our alliance with Microsoft reflects the momentum of the Connect platform in-market, and our steadfast belief in the power of Azure to drive our business and our mutual clients to greater levels of predictive and actionable insights.”
Trust underpins tech, and data that can be trusted is essential, as we have the most complete and trusted view into what consumers buy. Our clients view us as the central data and analytics hub to help them keep pace. With an open, collaborative and tech-forward landscape, only Nielsen is upgrading the methods of old to drive retailers and brands forward—with cloud-based technology as the foundation.
