Up-to-date maps are essential to successful geomarketing – the spatial analysis of company and market data. In response to this need, GfK GeoMarketing has just released its 2009/2010 Europe Map Edition with coverage of 42 European countries.

Each year, many European countries – particularly those in Central and Eastern Europe – make significant changes to their administrative and postcode boundaries. GfK GeoMarketing has researched these changes, which number in the thousands. The result is the new GfK Europe Map Edition, which includes more than 1,000 digital maps that provide comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of 42 European countries. The thematically organized maps depict the latest status of Europe’s postcode and administrative boundaries in addition to topographic details.

“Up-to-date maps are indispensible when it comes to geomarketing,” explains Klaus Dittmann, head of GfK GeoMarketing’s cartography division. “Otherwise, information on locations and customers cannot be correctly imported into the maps. This is why GfK GeoMarketing updates its European maps every year, which requires an enormous amount of research and expertise.”

The new Europe Map Edition incorporates numerous changes and updates to its predecessor. Noteworthy here are the completely re-digitized administrative and postcode boundaries for Estonia, Hungary and Portugal. The new maps also reflect the regional reforms implemented throughout Europe over the preceding year. These include, among others, the introduction of four-digit postcodes in Albania and the reduction of the number of Greenland’s municipalities from 18 to 4.

“The importance of using accurate, recently updated maps for business planning purposes cannot be overemphasized,” says Dittmann. “Outdated maps result in wasted resources and inefficient operations.”

Also depicted are the many changes to the number and boundaries of postcodes in various European countries. For example, Lithuania has undergone 1,370 postcode name and boundary changes, with 400 completely new postcodes. Poland has once again implemented numerous reforms, adding 49 postcodes and eliminating 77, among other changes. Italy has also reformed its postal system – traditionally, 14 of the country’s largest cities each had a single postcode. These cities have now been divided into multiple postcode regions, the boundaries of which are illustrated in the new Europe Map Edition. A close look at these many changes is a reminder that one of the key challenges for competitive map providers is researching and rendering cartographic elements subject to frequent change.

One of the highlights of the 2009/2010 update is the ultra-fine rendering of all of Europe’s coastlines, from Adana to Murmansk. This makes it possible to more precisely analyze and visualize market and company data throughout Europe. GfK GeoMarketing is the sole provider of postcode maps for some CEE countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as Albania, which only recently instituted a postcode system. While postcode maps for other European countries are available from local providers, GfK GeoMarketing’s maps distinguish themselves from others by offering a gapless, overlap-free fit with the borders of neighboring countries. This gives companies and organizations with multi-national operations a distinct advantage.

The applications of the maps contained in the GfK Europe Map Edition 2009/2010 are numerous, ranging from optimizing sales and delivery regions to planning expansions and analyzing catchment areas of branch locations. Up-to-date maps are necessary for accurately incorporating company and market data into geomarketing software applications and then performing precision analyses. Outdated maps often result in data that cannot be correctly associated, leading to errors in analyses and gaps in coverage.

Maps in *.lay format (GfK GeoMarketing’s own RegioGraph map format) contain comprehensive Tele Atlas street maps, including infrastructure data for almost all countries. The data on infrastructure is indispensable for companies wishing to carry out Europe-wide logistical planning. This data aids planning by automatically taking into account natural barriers such as rivers and mountains, as well as traffic flow and customer accessibility. With the new Europe Map Edition and RegioGraph’s professional sales territory planning functions, companies can create an optimally structured and easily accessible Europe-wide logistics network that can be extended across multiple national boundaries.

Like all of the digital maps provided by GfK GeoMarketing, the new GfK Europe Map Edition is available in all standard digital map formats and integrates seamlessly with the company’s worldwide map collection. Comprehensive coverage, gapless and overlap-free boundaries, national and local place-name attributions and infinite zoom capability comprise the map edition’s key quality features.

The Europe Map Edition 2009/2010 allows users to keep a finger on the pulse of Europe’s ever-shifting postcode and administrative boundaries. Further insights can be obtained by enhancing the European maps with data on regional market potential such as the number of inhabitants per postcode area or municipality. The maps thus comprise an ideal basis for planning logistics networks and analyzing potential for postal organizations.