ABSTRACT
The A.C. Nielsen Company (ACN) is a global market research company that provides market and media data. Nielsen is present in over 100 countries and has based its chief offices in New York and Diemen, The Netherlands. The original company dates back to the 1920s and has since then expanded its services, clients, and influence on a massive scale. Not only does Nielsen have insight into (media) consumers, their behavior and demographics, but ACN also offers strategic advice and specified analysis to advertising agencies, television broadcasters, program syndicators, and system operators. The company used to be divided into research giant ACNielsen and media research company Nielsen Media Research, yet it also included the Internet statistics service Nielsen//NetRatings, marketing service provider Claritas, and a series of small companies specialized in collecting and analyzing socio-demographic data. Since 2006, The Nielsen Company is owned by a consortium of private investors, called Valcon Acquisition Holding. Since this acquisition and until 2014, David L. Calhoun, a former vice-chairman of General Electric, was at the helm and responsible for the company’s surge in success over those years. The current CEO is company veteran Mitch Barns. Nielsen employs approximately 40,000 people worldwide and provides its services to clients from various industries, including NBCUniversal, The Coca-Cola Company, Twenty-First Century Fox Inc., and The Procter & Gamble Company.
