CBS and OMD Partner to Provide the Agency With Access to the Network's Television City Research Facility in Las Vegas

NEW YORK and LAS VEGAS, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- CBS Vision, the research division of CBS Corporation, and media agency OMD, an Omnicom Media Group company, today announced a new research partnership that will allow OMD's clients access to the CBS Television City research facility housed in the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

The new venture, which marries the capabilities of CBS Vision with one of the county's leading agencies, will be called Communications Lab@OMD.

CBS's Television City is a well-established research facility that incorporates traditional qualitative and quantitative methods like focus groups and surveys, as well as advanced bio-metric techniques such as eye tracking and brain scanning using NeuroFocus technology, in a transparent research environment. Located in one of the most popular tourist attractions in Las Vegas -- the MGM Grand Hotel -- the facility provides singular, organic access to more than 1.1 million visitors annually, representing a geographic, demographic and psychographic cross-section of the US consumer population. As a result, highly specific consumer samples can be easily recruited from a visitor population that has historically been highly inclined to participate in media, entertainment and advertising research efforts.

Packaging this singular combination of cutting-edge suite-of-services, ongoing and immediate audience access, and state-of-the art facility under the banner of the Communications Lab@OMD, OMD will be offering its clients comprehensive evaluation and analysis of multi-platform communications, encompassing both traditional and digital media, separately and in combination.

Techniques and technologies available to OMD clients through Communications Lab@OMD include:

• Cross media effectiveness testing, incorporating traditional TV and Print, and Digital platforms including Mobile, ITV and Gaming
• Determining effective levels of multi-media exposure
• Eye tracking to optimize digital, mobile and video game ad placements and sizing
• Brain scanning to explore the neuro-science of consumer response to advertising
• Ongoing evolution of new measurement techniques parallel to media innovation and the emergence of new technologies
  

"Beyond the state-of-the-art research capabilities, top flight professional recruiters and moderators, and a continuous, diverse sample pool, our Television City facility offers a benefit that is unique in the industry -- and invaluable to marketers," said David Poltrack, Chief Research Officer and President of CBS Vision. "Because we are an entertainment destination, marketers can see how consumers engage across media platforms in a mode that more closely resembles the way they engage with media in real life. The opportunities for enhanced insights for OMD clients, and shared learning between CBS Vision and OMD, are significant and exciting. We applaud OMD for being the first ad agency to take advantage of the research capabilities offered at Television City."

"We're proud to bring this outstanding and unprecedented research architecture -- enabled by the strong relationship between CBS and OMD --to our clients," said OMD CEO Alan Cohen. "With this partnership, our two organizations are driving a seismic shift in the media effectiveness research paradigm - from siloed and synthetic, to integrated and organic. Communications Lab@OMD represents the next evolution in media research - true, multi-platform engagement that gives marketers a higher level of insight into how their consumers interact with brands and messages across all media environments."

According to Cohen, client interest in Communications Lab@OMD, which will also offer significant cost savings compared with standard rates for comparable traditional research, has been rapid and robust, with Hershey's, McDonald's and Pepsi among the leading brands that have signed on as charter users.

Client research at Communications Lab@OMD will be overseen by OMD Research and Business Intelligence staff. Recruitment and technical operations at the facility will be provided by CBS Vision while all comprehensive client analysis and reporting will be performed by OMD. For focus group work, OMD Research will determine whether to use a CBS Vision moderator or a different moderator depending on the specifics of each project.

OMD estimates that clients will be utilizing the full suite of research services at the Communications Lab@OMD in early 2010.

ABOUT CBS VISION
CBS VISION, a CBS Corporation-owned research unit (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS), is designed to explore and offer insight on emerging technologies, media consumption patterns and advertising value in the media marketplace and to share that knowledge with all CBS Corporation divisions as well as outside clients and potential partners. The majority of the research conducted by the unit is done at CBS Television City, which is a state-of-the-art facility located in Las Vegas within the MGM Grand Hotel.

About OMD
With more than 140 offices in 80 countries, OMD is the largest and most innovative media communications specialist in the world, delivering breakthrough marketing strategies for many of the world's most successful and well-known brands. With its recently launched Ignition Factory intelligence arm, OMD is taking the combination of influence and insight to a whole new level, powering innovative ideas for today's increasingly complex, consumer-controlled media world. Named Most Creative Agency in the World by The Gunn Report for Media for four consecutive years, and 2008 Global Media Agency of the Year by Adweek, OMD is a unit of OmnicomMediaGroup, the media services division of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC)