Kirsten Riolo.
Nielsen has named Kirsten Riolo as head of consumer insights for Australia and New Zealand, leading the company’s newly established Custom Research Division across the Pacific region.
Riolo will oversee Nielsen’s primary research projects, managing all aspects from methodological development and costing to implementation and delivery. She will work closely with a team of researchers across the region, dedicated to providing custom and multi-client reports, which deliver insights to help refine marketing, communication and product strategies.
Nielsen’s Custom Research and Media Analytics division will provide qualitative and quantitative surveys designed to segment target audiences based on demographic and behavioural variables, supporting content, product and media planning optimisation.
It will provide communication effectiveness studies, assessing audience appreciation, comprehension, and engagement with marketing materials and creative assets; performance measurement of awareness, brand image, and purchase intent indicators in relation to competitive activity and media planning; and brand positioning analysis to understand shifts in consumer needs and competitor perception.
The division will also provide custom and multi-client reports that track the evolution of specific markets; purchase process reconstruction, mapping the customer journey from initial need identification to purchase, including key information sources, purchase drivers, barriers, and channels used; and customer satisfaction analysis, evaluating consumer experiences throughout all stages of the purchase process.
Nielsen’s Pacific commercial executive director for agencies and advertisers, Lucas Carreras, said Riolo's extensive background, spanning B2B and B2C in marketing and research, across both supplier and client-side roles, makes her the ideal leader for this new division.
"Her expertise will be instrumental in strengthening Nielsen’s ability to provide deep, data-driven insights to clients, especially in an increasingly AI-driven market, which needs quality insights in order to deliver quality outcomes," he said.
Riolo said this is an exciting opportunity to lead a team focused on delivering tailored research solutions to meet the specific needs of the sector and the region.
"From consultancy on the most suitable methodologies, to integration of analysis with existing databases and Nielsen’s broader solutions, we’ll be delivering actionable insights, validated metrics, and ultimately, solutions, which will help clients optimise the effectiveness and efficiency of their investments," she said.
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