Will VNU’s Buyout Impact Public Relations?

Sorry to bug you with mainstream media news, but a tectonic shift is underway with the proposed $9.8 billion buyout of VNU.

Who’s VNU? If you’re in the U.S. or Europe, odds are good that you’ve interacted with one of their properties. VNU owns market researcher ACNielsen (who owns Nielsen Buzzmetrics), as well as more than 140 print publications, web sites and 150 trade shows.

It remains to be seen if shareholders will approve this offer. But no one spends $8.9 billion to preserve the status quo. Changes are afoot.

Hopefully these changes will inject new technology into our mainstream friends to make them better. As I said before, technology is changing the way we consume media. It’s even changing the way we promote it. There are plenty of untapped opportunities to enhance their value.

The buyout's impact on public relations, and VNU, remains to be seen. But look sharp and remember that change is good.

UPDATE: McClatchy's purchase of Knight-Ridder adds to the mainsteam media changes we need to consider. I've compiled a ton of links, and a few original thoughts, around many of the MSM changes, including the alarming issues facing print media. More to come.

tags | VNU | Nielsen Buzzmetrics | public relations | PR | media relations | media | advertising

Comments

[Ephraim Cohen]

You are right to point this out and suprisingly few PR and marketing blogs have done so.

However, given that the buyout is by private equity, there's a good chance it's more about spinoffs, closings and cash flow than about investing for the future. These situations often focus on getting the company cash healthy quickly and then selling or IPOing again. That often means little investment in the longer term future (i.e., technology).

[Max Kalehoff]

Hi Kevin,

You raise some good points. Since I am an employee and evangelist for Nielsen BuzzMetrics (who you noted is "owned by VNU", it's actually 50.01% ownership), please let me offer perspective:

For those who are wonderng...In the grand scheme of things, VNU's privatization will have little noticeable impact on us. Nielsen BuzzMetrics will continue to operate as an independent company, and our priorities will not change. The Nielsen family has been around for a half-century and remains the most trusted name in market research; we will continue to pursue aggressive synergies (it happened organically even before our marriage became official). Nielsen BuzzMetrics is only in the earliest stages of the burgeoning CGM measurement industry, which we created. We - Nielsen BuzzMetrics - are an investment in the future you describe above.

Enough corporate speak...personally, I haven't been this excited about coming to work since the very ambitious mid/late 1990s when I was an early employee of a company called Media Metrix (which eventually merged into comScore). Change is good, and this an awesome time to be in the marketing and media industry (especially the research/information end of it).

Cheers,
Max

[Kevin Dugan]

Max - Thanks for the insight and the update. It's my assumption and belief that change is good, particularly in this case. But I found it interesting, as Ephraim pointed out, that no one in the PR space was writing about this. VNU is a big company and I don't think enough folks in my neck of the woods appreciate how big.

As far as your recent news, GAME ON! It's exciting for the industry to have you and Pete under the Nielsen roof. We're looking forward to seeing what's next.