MRI-Simmons, Engagement Labs Partner to Help Brands, Agencies Harness the Power of Word-of-Mouth

MRI-Simmons, the leading provider of insights on the American consumer, today announced a partnership with Engagement Labs to reveal links between in-person consumer conversations and specific media audiences, segments, and product owner groups. The insights generated by this new partnership allow marketers to activate their offline brand advocates and influencers and “seed” new conversations based on key messaging.

The MRI/TotalSocial fusion combines Engagement Labs’ TotalSocial platform – a proprietary database of offline social data – with MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer® -- the definitive, ongoing study of US consumers that captures in-depth information on media choices, attitudes, and consumption of products and services in nearly 600 categories.

By leveraging in-person discussions, the new MRI/TotalSocial fusion allows

• agencies to plan media that are most likely to spark brand or category conversations
• media owners to sell advertising based on the word-of-mouth influence of their properties
• marketers to examine conversation trends among consumer segments, such as product owners and users

Clients can use the fusion to

• identify demographic segments that are already talking about a brand
• target media audiences that are more inclined to talk about a certain category
• encourage positive messages among talkers more likely to have word-of-mouth influence

“We are thrilled to be partnering with an innovative company such as Engagement Labs in bringing the power of word-of-mouth into the media mix,” said Maureen Doherty, Vice President for Partnerships at MRI-Simmons. “As brands and agencies seek greater control over their plans, and growing reach for their messages, this fusion makes word-of-mouth not only relevant, but actionable. Together, these data sets deliver a unique, real-world tool for unlocking a powerful – but often unreachable – element of branding.”

“Our partnership with MRI allows us to collaborate with an industry leader to create and take to market the first and only offering that empowers marketers to direct their paid ad messages to those media and target consumers that are best able to amplify their messages through their real-world social networks,” said Ed Keller, CEO of Engagement Labs.

About MRI-Simmons

MRI-Simmons is the leading provider of insights on the American consumer. With thousands of attitudinal and behavioral data points, gathered through ongoing surveys and passive measurement, MRI-Simmons empowers advertisers, agencies and media companies with deeper insights into the “why” behind consumer behavior.

MRI-Simmons combines best-practice survey methodologies with an innovative technology platform and advanced data visualizations. MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer® is the industry standard for magazine audience ratings. In parallel, the company has been at the forefront of innovation, significantly accelerating the time to insights for brand builders, strategists, planners and sales regardless of their data acumen.

Launched as a joint venture in 2019, MRI-Simmons is co-owned by GfK and SymphonyAI Group, with GfK as the majority partner. To learn more, visit https://simmonsresearch.com, or follow @MRI-Simmons on Twitter.

About Engagement Labs

Engagement Labs (TSXV: EL) (OTCQB: ELBSF) is an industry-leading data and analytics firm that provides social intelligence for Fortune 500 brands and companies. The Company’s TotalSocial® platform focuses on the entire social ecosystem by combining powerful online (social media) and offline (word-of-mouth) data with predictive analytics. Engagement Labs has a proprietary ten-year database of unique brand, industry and competitive intelligence, matched with its cutting-edge predictive analytics that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal the social metrics that increase marketing ROI and top line revenue for its diverse group of clients. To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.

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