Unilever to Utilize ''Where-to-Buy'' IRI Product Locator on Unileverusa.com and Various Brand Web Sites

24/05/06 Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), the leading global provider of enterprise market information solutions for the consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and healthcare industries, today announced that Unilever will leverage IRI expertise in new product launch optimization by adding to its various brand web sites in the United States the unique IRI Product Locator(TM), a web-based tool that helps consumers easily identify stores in their local area that carry a desired Unilever product.

In its ongoing efforts to help manufacturers improve retail performance capabilities, IRI introduced Product Locator to allow CPG manufacturers to gain a competitive advantage by creatively utilizing the internet to understand and answer the "where-to-buy" question for consumers.

Product Locator employs weekly store-level IRI InfoScan(R) point-of-sale (POS) data. Visitors to Unilever's web sites simply enter the product name and the preferred zip code into the Product Locator dialog box and get an up-to-date list of retail outlets that carry the product in order of closest proximity, along with distance quantification. By providing consumers with the capability of locating new and hard-to-find items in their neighborhood stores, manufacturers like Unilever greatly benefit during the critical first 26 weeks of the product launch.

"The Product Locator demonstrates our commitment to providing excellent customer service - we're always looking for ways to add vitality to life," stated Linnea Johnson, director, Consumer Services, Unilever United States. "This unique service being provided on our many branded web sites will enable consumers to search and find that one, or more of the 3,000 items, Unilever has in our product portfolio. We anticipate the tool will be especially valuable for our niche items or the items in limited distribution."

The Product Locator is being utilized on the following Unilever web sites: Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Brummel and Brown, Caress, Country Crock, Cup a Soup, Degree, Dove, Finesse, Good-Humor/Breyers, Hellmann's Homebasics, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Knorr, Lawry's, Lever 2000, Lipton Tea, Ponds, Promise, Qtips, Ragu, Recipe Secrets, Skippy, Slim Fast, Snuggle, Soup Secrets, Suave, Take Control, Thermasilk, Vaseline, Wish-Bone, Western, Wisk, and Unilever USA.

"The 'where-to-buy' issue can be a frustrating problem for consumers looking for a specific item," added IRI President and Chief Executive Officer Scott W. Klein. "This unique tool leverages the comprehensive IRI InfoScan census-level database to provide a quick and easy solution for the Unilever consumer. This is an exciting business opportunity to help Unilever increase consumer satisfaction and loyalty and support their new product introduction success."