All European Markets in one Map Set
Thursday March 29th 2007
Filed Under GfK GeoMarketing
Waghäusel, March 29, 2007
All European Markets in one Map Set
Unique in scope and quality, the new Europe Map Set offers companies a current and detailed basis for all international activities. The map collection contains the more than 1,500 territorial changes in Europe since last year as well as many enhancements and new additions.
Unique scope with more than 1,000 maps
The Europe Map Set is the world’s most extensive collection of digital maps for postal codes and municipalities in Europe. The maps cover all postal and administrative districts of 39 Western and Eastern European countries, and Turkey. An extensive collection of topographical maps such as elevations, city points, roads and waterways are also included.
The maps contain names and official descriptions of all European countries – with international names and in many cases including special characters of the respective native language. This creates a standardized planning basis for companies who do business throughout Europe. Local names and spellings are extremely important in new markets and countries that are targeted for expansion. Especially when working with local partners, clear names help avoid misunderstandings and improve communication beyond language barriers.
Klaus Dittmann, head of the cartography department at GfK GeoMarketing, explains: “By fully covering the whole of Europe with standardized, high resolution, overlap-free territorial maps, GfK GeoMarketing can meet the needs of company’s sales, controlling and marketing departments. An increasing number of companies are choosing to plan strategies and sales territories across borders. With the European map sets, it is possible to combine standard maps to create customized solutions. For example, the standard postal code maps for Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary found in the Europe Map Set can be seamlessly combined to create a large customized sales territory map.”
More than 5,000 changes since 2003
Across Europe, several thousand municipal boundaries and postal code districts are changed each year. As currently seen in many Central and Eastern European countries, this occurs as part of municipal reforms, in order to make administration more efficient. Even the postal services adjust the division of their postal code areas to suit current postal transport volumes within a region.
In 2005 alone there were more than 1,500 changes across Europe to municipal boundaries and postal code districts. Since 2003, more than 5,000 changes have occurred. Companies should be using current maps, because, in a worst-case scenario, an outdated sales territory structure is a serious impediment to achieving optimal efficiency in sales.
Countries with especially many changes since 2005:
| Country | No. of changes | Kind of change |
| Spain | 67 | Mostly new and cancelled postal code areas |
| Austria | 51 | Mostly new and cancelled postal code areas |
| Switzerland | 92 | Many changes to municipality borders |
| Germany | 600 | New and cancelled postal code areas and municipalities |
| Italy | 128 | New municipality codes |
| Latvia | 172 | Mostly new and cancelled postal code areas |
| Croatia | 80 | Mostly new and cancelled postal code areas |
| Estonia | 195 | New and cancelled postal code areas and municipalities |
Latest Europe map set contains new and more detailed maps
The new Europe Map Set contains new additional maps each year. With this update, the focus was on fully covering all postal code areas of Scandinavia. The new scope features complete postal code maps for Finland, Sweden, Norway and also Belarus. Thus, it is now also possible to evaluate company data even for the smallest territorial units in these countries. As well, many topographical maps have been newly digitalized to include more detail than ever before. In many European countries, the level of detail is equivalent to a paper map scale of 1:10,000 in cities. An example: Finland’s maps, in one of the most comprehensive updates this year, now come with more than 15,000 lakes in the inland and also feature a very detailed coastline. Such precision enables companies to analyze and plan locations and sales territories much more efficiently.
| Country | What is new? |
| Norway | 3,065 4-digit postal code districts; new and more detailed topography |
| Sweden | Approximately 9,000 5-digit postal code districts; new topography |
| Finland | 3,034 5-digit postal code districts; new coastlines, lakes and waterways |
| Moldova | Approximately 1,250 4-digit postal code districts and 966 municipalities; new city points |
| Serbia-Montenegro | Now divided into two states |
| Lithuania | Approximately 15,500 5-digit postal codes; new and more detailed topography |
| Belarus | Approximately 3,900 6-digit postal codes; new topography |
Continent map set is a worthwhile bargain
The continent map set of Europe covers all countries and regional units without any gaps and offers consistent up-to-dateness and highest map quality for all countries. Individual maps fit each other seamlessly. Furthermore, it contains additional maps of European highways and other European infrastructure. The maps also fit the market data offered by GfK GeoMarketing perfectly. For companies that are active in several European countries, the Europe map set is very worthwhile: In comparison to purchasing single country sets, the investment pays off with the fourth country.
For further information on the Europe Map Set, please contact Ms. Friedlind Dürr, Tel. +49 (0)7254/ 983 -140, f.duerr@gfk-geomarketing.com.
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www.gfk-geomarketing.com/press/pdf_pr/europe06.pdf (ca. 50 KB)
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www.gfk-geomarketing.com/press/zip/Europe_PLZ2.zip (ca. 260 KB)
About GfK GeoMarketing
GfK GeoMarketing is one of the biggest providers of GeoMarketing services in Europe and has more than 100,000 users from all branches of trade. The business areas are:
- Consulting
- Market data
- Digital Maps
- RegioGraph and DISTRICT
GfK GeoMarketing was formed in 2006 by the merger of GfK MACON, GfK PRISMA and GfK Regionalforschung and is a part of the international GfK network. Currently, GfK is represented in 70 countries with over 130 subsidiaries and 7,800 employees. GfK is the world’s number 4 market research institute.
More information on GfK GeoMarketing:
http://www.gfk-geomarketing.com
Picture of the Month
Every month, we create a map illustrating a current issue.
To view our “Picture of the Month” collection, go to:
> www.gfk-geomarketing.com/press/newsworthy_pics.htm
(All pictures are for release. Please specify “Source: GfK GeoMarketing”.)
Please let us know if you want a map regarding a special topic. Or would you like to provide one of your colleagues with our “Picture of the Month”?
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The GfK GeoMarketing press newsletter is published by:
GfK GeoMarketing GmbH,
Germany
www.gfk-geomarketing.com
Press Information:
Cornelia Lichtner
Public Relations
GfK GeoMarketing GmbH
Tel. +49 (0)7254 / 983-270
Fax +49 (0)7254 / 983-290
c.lichtner@gfk-geomarketing.com
GfK GeoMarketing GmbH
Geschäftssitz Waghäusel
Management Board: Murat Ayranci, Raimund Ellrott, Olaf Petersen, Wolfram Scholz, Dr. Eberhard Stegner
Amtsgericht Mannheim, HRB 250872