MKT 352 - Marketing Principles and Policies

Vivvix contains a vast array of data on advertising spending since 1995. Expenditure information includes millions of brands and products across television, radio, magazine, newspaper, internet and outdoor channels. The database allows you to select the variables of interest and download a report with the data you need. 

• NOTE: Our licensing agreement with Vivvix limits us to only 3 concurrent users at one time. Allow yourself plenty of time before your assignment is due to work with this program, in case you cannot access it at any given time due to the user limit. Make sure to close out of the program when you are done to ensure others can use it. 

Accessing the Report Builder

The main unique value of Vivvix is the ability to create custom reports. To access the custom reports, select "explore" and then "create new report":

Using Vivvix often takes a bit of trial and error, but once you master the basics you should be able to navigate through the database successfully. Below is a video created by the University of Alabama Libraries on using Vivvix:

• Media and Market selection: Be intentional when picking your media types and markets, since errors at this stage will prevent you from generating your report. If you select "total US" as your only market and attempt to select local media options, you will get an error message.
• Use the "Drill" feature: This can help you find competitors to a specific brand or product you're looking at, and narrow by category if you're overwhelmed with search results. When using the Drill feature, select the drop-down arrow next to it to navigate through the different categories. In the example below, I searched for pet food as a category. Then:

1.  I selected "dog food"
2. I clicked "drill to" in order to see my drilling options
3. I selected brand to see other brands in the category of "dog food." This will bring up the list of other brands that I can add to my report.

• Consider your download formats: Once you've completed your report, you can download it either as a PDF or a CSV file. Although the PDF is easy to read, if you anticipate needing to re-format your data at any point, make sure you also download the CSV so you can edit it in Excel. 
• Format your layout last: Vivvix allows you to move through and complete each of the report generation tabs in any order. I find filling out the layout tab (presented as your first option) after I've completed the rest of my report selections works better. That way I already know exactly what I'm selecting and looking for, rather than trying to match my selections to my layout.