Mystery Product coMPetition!

Scan NewsApril - May 2009

Department /Variety

Retail

Internet Shopping /

Home Delivery

Liquor Shops

Health & Beauty / Chemists

SpecialtyPet

SpecialtyConvenience

Homescan: Tracking Australian purchases since 1986

Dear Panel Members,

Welcome to the April/May edition of Scan News! If you’ve noticed anything funny going on at home or at work just remember it may be an April Fools prank! Did you know that in 1989 a UFO landed on a highway outside of London?! Well, that’s not exactly true - it turned out to be an elaborate stunt pulled by Richard Branson! Your April Fool’s trick may not be as grand, but don’t pass up your opportunity to have a laugh with friends!

In this edition we promise not to pull any pranks, instead we announce our first win-ners of the Mystery Product Competition – see below to find out how you can win! We also pass on some words of wisdom from current members with tips on scanning.

With Mother’s Day approaching, the team at Homescan have been thinking about all the fantastic women out there, so we’ve decided to give you the chance to nominate a special woman in your life for the title of “Homescan Superwoman of the Year”! See page 3 for details.

We also explore two major historical events that occurred in April – the discovery of the North Pole, and the sinking of the Titanic – read on to find out more about these fascinating events.

Happy Scanning! The Homescan Team

From everyone at Homescan we hope you have a “Hoppy” Easter!

According to Chinese astrology, 2009 is the year of the what? See page 4 for the answer!

Last edition we announced this brand new competition, where simply scanning all of your shopping, gives you a chance to WIN one of 10, $100 Gift Vouchers, each month!

Every month, the team at Homescan will be selecting a “Mystery Product”. If you scan this product anytime during that month you will AUTOMATICALLY be placed in the draw to win!

In the February the Mystery Product was “Non-prescription Medicine”.

Congratulations to the following winners, who have all won themselves a $100 Target gift voucher! (March’s product and winners will be announced in the next edition of Scan News.)

We can’t tell you what this month’s product will be, so for your best chance to win remember to scan ALL of your shopping purchases.

Diane, of Bateau Bay, NSWHugh of Turramurra, NSW

Elizabeth of Frankston, VICJenny of Capalaba, QLDPamela of Modbury, SA

Gary of Whyalla, SAJulie of Morley, WAFelicity of St James, WAIan of Mingenew, WAMichael of Lake Heights, NSW

Did you know that you should scan non-prescription medicines? Remember to scan what you purchase from Chemists, Supermarkets, Convenience stores, and where ever else non prescription medicines are sold. (Note – you do not need to scan prescription medicines).

February’s Mystery Product was:

no

n-Prescription Medicine

Scanning TipSLast edition we asked you to send in your scanning tips. We’ve had some fantastic entries. Winners will be announced next edition, but below are just some of the tips that we’ve received. We hope they’re of some help to you!

Remembering to Scan: We have our scanner next to our phone/answering machine and we always check for messages when we come home so having the scanner next to the machine reminds us if we have bought anything to scan it before we do anything else.

John of Holland Park, QLD.

My eight and a half month old baby loves the beeping noise of the scanner. So I sit him in the kitchen with me in his highchair as I’m scanning. He loves it! His little giggle and smile is what makes me remember to scan all of my shopping.

Brooke of Coombabah, QLD.

Tricky Barcodes:

If there is a particular barcode which won’t scan, I don’t waste time trying to scan more than once or twice. I just key the number in.

Ruth of Coffs Harbour, NSW

Make scanning quicker and easier:

I unpack as many groceries as I can onto to my kitchen bench making sure I keep together all the items which were in each bag.

I scan from the top of my docket down, so as you scan, all the items which were in one bag are usually one

after the other on the docket.

Saves trying to look through all the bags to find each item.

Terresa of Alice River, QLD.

Fast Fact: April 6, 1896 - After a break of 1500 years,

the first Olympics of the modern era was held in Athens,

Greece.

AnzAc DAy

25th April

Anzac Day, a public holiday

in Australia and New Zealand,

commemorates the landing at Gallipoli in 1915 of the two countries’ fighting

men, during World War I. It is a day to remember those who fought and died in war, and to hope for world peace.

neW ZeALAnd HoMescAn

Here is an insight into the camaraderie between the Homescan Teams in Australia and New Zealand. Just like the AnZAcs did, we are working side by side to manage Homescan panels in both Australia and New Zealand.

The New Zealand Homescan Panel originally started in Auckland in 1996, the panel now includes 2200 households nationwide.

Both Australia and New Zealand Homescan panels are demographically representative nationwide and are supported by a dedicated Helpline Team. Our Helpline has always been an important part of our Homescan operations, and in the beginning

New Zealand’s helpline consisted of only one person! Now we have a team of people working extended hours six days a week to assist you, our panel members, with whatever query you may have. Both panels scan groceries and use the Barcode Guide if necessary and contribute to data collection for the Asia Pacific region. We ensure a bi-monthly newsletter is sent out offering great competitions and include interesting articles for our panel members to read.

Our procedures are streamlined between New Zealand and Australia for consistency of data collection. Our Homescan Teams even compete against each other for the Get Active Title (We take up the challenge of Get Moving once a year and form teams and do over 12kms per person of activities every week).

The Homescan teams in Australia and New Zealand work together to run their panels, sharing their resources and friendship to achieve a common goal.

Homescan superwoman of the year competition

We have created this competition to honour all great women out there. Here is your chance to shout out a big thankyou to a great woman in your life.

Tell us in 100 words or less why the woman you know should be named “Homescan Superwoman” of the year.

Simply send us know the following:• The superwoman’s name. • How you know this superwoman. This woman can be a housemate, partner,

mother, grandmother or daughter. However the woman needs to be living within your household.

• Why she is the Homescan Superwoman of the Year.

Once you have your answers to the ‘Homescan Superwoman of the Year‘ competition, send your entry to:

Homescan.Helpline.au@nielsen.com with the subject line “Homescan Superwoman of the Year”. One competition entry per household.

The Homescan Superwoman of the Year will receive a $1000 Prouds Jewellery voucher. 10 Runners-Up will each receive a $100 Target gift voucher.

Remember- Entries close 1st June 2009, so get your entry in for your chance to WIN!

Unlike the South Pole which is located on land, the North Pole is located on ever shifting ice in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. This makes it impractical to construct any permanent accommodation like what can be found at the South Pole. So the North Pole in uninhabited, except of course for Santa Claus and his helpers.

At the North Pole, the Sun is permanently above the horizon during the summer months and permanently below the horizon during the winter months.

Despite the freezing conditions, polar bears, artic foxes, and some birds call the North Pole home.

Under international law, no country currently owns the North Pole. There is also no time zone allocated to the North Pole. Visitors can use any time zone they wish, however most chose to use the time zone of the country they traveled from.

north pole April in history

On the 21st of April, 1908, the first person, an American

explorer, Frederick Albert Cook, claimed he had reached

the North Pole. However, his claim is controversial,

as he was unable to provide any convincing proof of this

achievement.

HAPPy MotHer’s dAy For tHe 10tH oF MAy!

DiD

you

know

April/May Message Finders’ competition

Win one of 25 $200 target Vouchers!

The April/May Message Finders Competition starts on the 5th of April! To enter the draw all you need to do is write down the answer to the weekly message, received on your scanner

each Monday. At the end of May send your answers to Homescan.Helpline.au@nielsen.com. You will then be in the draw to WIN!

If you don’t receive your weekly message, your scanner hasn’t sent us your shopping information. To ensure you still receive your points contact the helpline!

PAneL PoLL resuLtsLast Scan News we asked you:

Do you exercise more in summer, than in winter months?YES: 42% nO: 58%

See the ‘Our Members’ section of the Homescan website for this edition’s panel poll and have YOUR say!

Answer from page 1: 2009 is the year of the Ox

according to Chinese astrology! It is thought to be the sign of prosperity through fortitude

and hard work.

titAnic On April 10th 1912 the Titanic set sail from Southampton with 2201 passengers and crew, four days later the Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank at 2:20am on April 15. 1490 people died and 711 survived. This tragedy occurred 96 years ago on the Sunday night, shortly before midnight 14 April 1912.

The youngest survivor, Miss Dean was nine weeks old when she was lifted into a lifeboat in a sack is now the disasters only remaining survivor. Miss Elizabeth Gladys Dean, better known as Millvina, was born on 2 February 1912 and is now 97 years old. Miss Dean set sail with her mother, father and elder brother as they were emigrating to Wichita, Kansas where her father hoped to open a tobacconist shop. Miss Dean, her mother and brother were all rescued. Sadly her father perished. To date Miss Dean still receives letters from all over the world from wellwishes who are fascinated by the Titanic story and she strives to answer them all. Her favourite pastimes are gardening and reading. She is in a wheelchair now and can’t garden but she has a lot of her plants on the big window. Miss Dean is a remarkable 97 year old woman.

interesting Facts about the Titanic• TwodogswereamongtheTitanicsurvivors

• ThefirsttoleavetheTitanicwerewomenandchildren

• Itwasdesignedtobe‘unsinkable’

• Ithad4elevators

• Itsank2hoursand40minutesafter hitting the iceberg

• Ithadonly1178lifeboatspacesfor the 2201 passengers on board

• Itwas6timesthesizeof the statue of Liberty

• ThemovieTitanic won 11 Oscars and was release in 1997

• ThemovieTitanic is based on fictional people

Homescan: Tracking Australian purchases since 1986

HOmEScan SurvEYS!As part of Homescan, you may receive email surveys – asking about your views and thoughts on a range of topics.

They’re a great way for you to earn even more points towards your Homescan tally!

Remember to advise Homescan of any changes in your email address. It’s also important to keep us updated of any changes in your household – e.g. If someone moves out of your household, you move house, or go on holidays.

Just send the helpline a quick email to let us know. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

coMPetition Winners! In order to fill the newsletter with more interesting articles and competitions,

competition winners will now be published online.

Check out the “Our Members” section of our website to see if you’re one of 30 Chaotic Carols & What’s in a Picture Competition Winners: Winners of $100 gift vouchers!

contact UsPO Box 130 North Ryde, NSW 1670 • Freecall: 1800 022 045 Email: Homescan.Helpline.au@nielsen.com

Website: http://homescan.acnielsen.com.au • Part of The Nielsen Company 35 008 417 874