Exhibit 29.1 The original Nielsen Code, 1931.
“The price of light is less than the cost of darkness”. — Arthur
C. Nielsen.
Adversity in the form of
the Great Depression inspired the creation of what became the largest market
research agency. The A. C. Nielsen Company which conducted performance surveys
of industrial equipment nearly went bankrupt at the onset of the Depression.
The company’s founder Arthur Nielsen Sr., turning to a business proposition
relatively immune to business cycles and war, created the Nielsen Food and Drug
Index, a research service that recorded the retail flow of grocery and drug
brands by ongoing audits of a sample of stores. A first of its kind, this
retail tracking service provided manufacturers an estimate of their product
sales and share of the market.
The science of tracking sales through retail
outlets has since become the established methodology for the measurement of the
sales of goods to consumers. Building on this success, Arthur Nielsen and his
team went on to develop the science for measuring radio and television audiences
for advertisers.
Among his many contributions to the field of market
research, Nielsen left behind a code of conduct called
The Nielsen Code (Exhibit 29.1).
Enduring and timeless, the eight precepts in this code that dates back
to 1931, form the guiding principles for a market research agency.
According to David Calhoun, Nielsen’s Executive Chairman, 2013,
the code remains “a cornerstone of our brand, and it guides and inspires our
employees around the world.”
