July 16, 2009 —The Germany-based company GfK GeoMarketing is releasing an English version of its new geomarketing solution RegioGraph 2009 in August 2009. The software has a wide range of applications for sales, marketing, expansion and controlling divisions of internationally active companies from all branches of trade. In addition to maps and GfK data, RegioGraph 2009 includes a unique geocoding feature for locating addresses at the street level for 22 European countries.

RegioGraph 2009 allows users to analyze and visualize their customers, target groups and potential on up-to-date digital maps, supplemented with market data such as GfK Purchasing Power. One highlight of the new version of RegioGraph is the option to visualize address data at the street level. In addition, RegioGraph 2009 also has expanded sales territory planning features including zone calculation. The geomarketing software application also has a faster and easier-to-use interface thanks to optimally formatted background maps similar in appearance to Google Maps. GfK GeoMarketing will release the English version of RegioGraph for international customers at the beginning of August. Thanks to maps for 240 countries available from GfK GeoMarketing, RegioGraph 2009 gives globally active companies comprehensive support for their expansion, sales, marketing and controlling activities.

"With RegioGraph 2009, users have everything they need to navigate these difficult economic times and make more informed sales, marketing, controlling and expansion decisions across all of their markets, worldwide," explains Doris Hardt-Beischl, GfK GeoMarketing's head of sales. "All of this is available in trademark GfK quality and at an unbeatable value-for-money."

Visualize customer locations at the street level with the geocoder

RegioGraph 2009's new geocoder makes it possible to visualize customers, employees and branch locations at the level of street segments. Companies can import an unlimited number of addresses from more than 22 European countries into the software and then visualize this data on digital maps at the street level. RegioGraph 2009 is currently the only geomarketing solution on the market featuring a geocoder for micromarketing activities that does not entail additional costs or restrict the number of addresses that users can import.

An Import Wizard guides users through the quick and easy process of importing and visualizing street addresses. Incorrectly entered addresses can be successfully positioned on the map thanks to an integrated correction tool. Users can also locate and zoom into addresses by entering them directly into the "Go to" field on the toolbar.

Sales territory planning with RegioGraph Planning 2009

While the ability to plan territories based on accessibility was already a highlight of the previous version of RegioGraph, this feature has now evolved further. The new version of RegioGraph allows users to create a comprehensive sales network based on its accessibility (via existing transportation links) to their business locations. An additional sales territory planning feature is the ability to calculate substitutes for external sales force regions. For example, should a sales representative leave the team, RegioGraph 2009 can recommend how best to assign this representative's sales area to the team members responsible for adjacent regions. Existing customer-representative assignments can also be automatically taken into account in order to avoid reassigning key accounts when optimizing or planning new sales territories.

Plan catchment areas and exploit untapped potential

RegioGraph 2009 users can create distance and time zones around their locations and integrate data on potential, such as numbers of inhabitants and purchasing power. This makes it easy to determine the potential in specific locations and identify any possible cannibalization effects. The new RegioGraph 2009 allows users to generate their own user-defined territories from these calculated time and distance zones, adding sophistication to their expansion and branch network planning.

RegioGraph 2009 comes with maps, street maps and GfK data on potential

RegioGraph 2009 includes all Tele Atlas street maps for a European country of choice. These maps allow users to orient themselves more precisely and provide an even better cartographic basis for accessibility calculations. RegioGraph 2009 also includes up-to-date administrative, postcode and topographic maps for a European country of choice. In addition to the maps, RegioGraph includes up-to-date data on purchasing power as well as numbers of inhabitants and households.

RegioGraph 2009 is available in both English and German and in two versions – RegioGraph Analysis and RegioGraph Planning – costing from €998. The English version will be released in August.

Contents of RegioGraph 2009

* German version includes maps and data for Germany, Austria and Switzerland
** If available