MRSNZ Newsletter - Q2-2012 by Research Association NZ

The newsletter of the Market Research Society of New Zealand

InterVIEW

Cover story: Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the best way to commemorate 50 years of the MRSNZ?

Q2 2012

Fiftieth Anniversary Special Issue

Not to be missed! Staking a Claim When stakeholder research works

Fellows speak out about AMRO merger The words that changed us: 50 years of books

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

t is with great pleasure that we bring you this special fiftieth anniversary issue of InterVIEW. Our theme on this occasion is one of celebration. Celebration of success, for the 50 years that have gone by… and inspiration for the new breed of researchers - those who will driving our industry in the next 50 years. We bring you the outcome of the MRSNZ timeline project, an initiative that started at the 50th AGM. In a huge collaborative effort from members and ex members, we have captured our industry journey over the years. If you feel anything is still missing, let us know and we’ll incorporate it to the timeline. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Be sure to check out the top stories this quarter… For the first time, we had the coming together of researchers and Members of Parliament. We look at the controversial issue of clients looking to ban focus groups and and we take a quick glance at Google’s new survey tool. Ian Binnie then talks to us about the evergrowing presence of stakeholder research and its importance in measuring organisational success. For those who missed the special night, we carry on with the 50 year theme with the timeline project and share stories from a few special members of the MRSNZ. We are privileged to have had them shape our industry. Ron Stroeven gives us his take on what it was

Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

like to be a researcher in the good old days and Duncan Stuart provides his recommendation on books that shaped the last 50 years of market research. Last April I attended the second worldwide Market Research Technology Conference in Las Vegas. It made me think about the coming 50 years for our industry and the huge challenges we have ahead. There were some big companies presenting papers that you would have never seen on a research conference two years ago: IBM, Accenture, Google and Facebook are big names with big plans for the research arena … and they don’t shy away from being revolutionary. They are moving our cheese, and by the time we get our act together and decide how the industry will deal with these new players, a big portion of our research funds may have slipped through our fingers.We need to embrace change and even drive it… or we will get left behind. Last but not least, we are looking forward to the MR Effectiveness Awards night on August 24th. We have a record number of entries, so excitement is starting to build up. It promises to be a great night, so don’t miss it! Also coming soon is Lee Ryan’s ESOMAR awardwinning presentation. Patricio Pagani President of the MRSNZ

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WE OFFER THE FOLLOWING A competitive salary and benefits. The opportunity to work on New Zealand’s biggest, blue-chip clients. A fast growing agency with unlimited future potential. Working with a fantastic, dynamic and experienced team. If you are interested in joining us please send your CV and a cover email telling us why you are right for the position to work@theresearchagency.com For more about us visit our website www.thereserachagency.com

Publisher: Market Research Society of New Zealand The dedicated team which produced this newsletter includes: Sue Cardwell Wing Zheng Ritesh Bisoi Des Kiernan Karin Curran Claire Lloyd Images are copyright to their owners and should not be copied without permission. Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

InterVIEW is published four times a year by an enthusiastic sub-committee of the MRSNZ committee. The views expressed are not those of the MRSNZ. We welcome your input. Visit us:

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Part of leadership is accepting that people will hate you.

” IAN BINNIE,

STAKEHOLDER RESEARCH GURU

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Make sure you don’t miss ‘Stakeholder Research’ P12. Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

Using Research Now helps you focus on life’s other important projects. Whatever your research project, we’ll take care of everything for you. So you have time for other important things, like planing your presentation or your next big adventure. Our clients agree; ‘On the front foot the whole way through. I knew I could rely on Research Now to do everything in their power.’

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InterVIEW Save the Date

New joiners

10 16

Letters Movers & Shakers

24 Points 30of View

A Word with the President Patricio Pagani

Q2 2012

Fiftieth Anniversary Special Issue

Pollsters & Politicians Clients Ban Focus Groups David Farrar

Jonathan Dodd Jon Carapiet

03 08 09 Stakeholder Research

Matt Benson Debbie Sheehan

Ian Binnie

The Timeline Project Pull Out & Keep Timeline Sue Cardwell

Sue Cardwell

12 13 18 20 Rolling with the Punches Project Butterfly Reviewed Ron Stroeven

Ritesh Bisoi

22 28 Books that Shaped 50 Years

Who’s Who in MR

Duncan Stuart

Kris Mayo

16 16

50 Years: Here Is Our Story

Get yourself a cuppa and a comfy chair. Go on. You deserve it. Here in the InterVIEW team, we know how much you like curling up with a great magazine. So with the 50th Anniversary we thought, “What better opportunity to make that print edition we’ve been talking about?” You could even treat yourself to a chocolate biscuit without getting crumbs in the keyboard.

Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

Top stories this quarter POLLSTERS, PUNDITS & POLITICIANS GATHER By David Farrar, author of Kiwiblog.co.nz

Around 70 people attended the inaugural New Zealand Political Polling Forum at Parliament on Wednesday 9 May 2012. An initiative of AMRO, supported by MRSNZ, the forum brought together researchers, Members of Parliament, media, political scientists and other interested persons. The most amusing question was from an MP asking why a 75 year old constituent of his had been told they were not wanted for a poll, once they gave their age. They were reassured that there is no conspiracy to prevent senior

citizens from being polled, but that the more likely reason was the poll had already fulfilled its quota of people in that age group. The MP looked most relieved. This did lead to a brief discussion of the appropriate weighting for polls by age, specifically whether it should be on the adult population or the enrolled population. Elderly New Zealanders are far more likely to be enrolled and vote than younger New Zealanders. This could be a factor in why New Zealand First support has been generally under-represented in the polls. One of the most pertinent points came from political scientist Jon Johansson who

said that all too often reports of polls focus on the gap between National and Labour, rather than the gap between the likely centre-right and centre-left blocs which are far closer. There was considerable agreement with this point. Murray Campbell talked of some of his overseas polling experience including an exit poll they did in the Philippines which was treated by most media as more reliable than the official election result itself. I was half waiting for someone to suggest we save the cost of elections and just have our Parliament elected on the basis of the average of the final polls in November! Read more on www.mrsnz.org.nz. â&#x2013;

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

CLIENTS BAN FOCUS GROUPS “Say No to Focus Groups!” by Jonathan Dodd of Ipsos “Say no to focus groups!” said the headline on the memo. Well, anyone can write a catchy headline, but what differentiated this one was its origin: from a senior consumer planner in one of the world’s largest FMCG companies; and its audience: all the market research companies used by said company. Naturally, the memo sparked off some pretty quick responses from within our market research world – the general consensus was that the headline needed a rewrite: “Say no to BAD focus groups”.

we ask questions and make sure that the focus groups that we are commissioned to undertake tick the following boxes: Are they to be run by credible researchers? Have the researchers been well-briefed and is the client happy with the planned structure and content of the groups? Is the client happy with the respondent selection criteria? Is the client allowing the researchers the thinking time they’ll need at the conclusion of the groups?

What can be done to reduce the incidence of ‘bad focus groups’? Two things come to mind:

Are the client and their colleagues going to make an effort to watch at least some of the groups live?

The first is to ensure that

Is the client open to being

challenged and surprised by what they learn? The second key thing to consider is whether focus groups are even the most appropriate method for our clients to use at all. Researchers have been promoting the use of alternative techniques for years, but still experience clients ringing them up and asking for “a couple of focus groups” rather than asking for advice on the best method for the job. Remember, sometimes focus groups are STILL the best option for our clients! This is an excerpt of the full article, originally published in Supermarket News in April 2012.View Jonathan’s complete article at http://www.ipsos. co.nz/Newsletter-April-2012-Say-No/

“Say Yes to Human Contact” by Jon Carapiet of Colmar Brunton Focus groups have become so established in the minds of clients and the wider public that clients may even automatically ask for “groups” when they need nothing of the sort, and the public may hear in the media of ‘focus groups’ seemingly driving the moodswings of political parties and government. That may or may not be the case, and perhaps it is a case of familiarity breeding contempt that has led to the comment to abandon them. But despite the many new channels now available to us as market researchers, Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

which allow us to engage with people in different ways and at different times, the focus group continues to have a place. I would suggest that the core power of the focus group is the essential humanity of the engagement. Strip away the one-way mirrors, videolinks, projective techniques, moderately nice food, and moderately uncomfortable seats, and it comes down to people in a room. Te tangata, te tangata, te tangata. With all the technology in the world,

there is something uniquely compelling about face-to-face human connection that is lost in the process of mediation through the machine. With all the challenges of focus groups, and with my full agreement that it’s ok to say no to bad focus groups, we risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater if we take the suggestion against focus groups to heart. Rather than saying ‘no to focus groups’, perhaps we should reposition the debate and “Say Yes to Human Contact.” ■

Google Alert Survey Monkeys – No, No,That’s Not What I Meant

By Horst Feldhaeuser, Head of Client Services at Potentiate, Sydney & past MRSNZ President Actually, the news that Google is now offering a survey tool in the US is quite exciting for some, but less so for others. Rather than panicking, Leonard Murphy from GreenBook for example sees lots of positives for sample providers, full service agencies, quallies and niche providers. There is currently a healthy debate and discussion on several research blogs and LinkedIn groups, so here’s an overview and SWOT analysis based on these comments. Overall we see Google’s entry into the MR world as more of an opportunity than a threat. Many of the comments come from very smart people across the globe, but what do we expect to happen in New Zealand and Australia? Well, for a starter, Google is still only operating its survey tool in the US,

but we know how quickly that could change. And with the number of DIY options already available in our markets, this is certainly no time to be complacent. So yes, there may be even more projects that we lose to DIY and maybe Google in the future, simply because they are cheaper and faster – even if we think that some of them are poorly designed. Market research as we have known it has already lost its monopoly on data sourcing and it won’t get any better. However, the GreenBook Research Industry Report (GRIT) also reports that “clients are coming back to them (research providers) to manage projects they had been conducting inhouse using services like Zoomerang. They still want data quickly and

cheaply, but they also want the confidence of knowing they are working with ‘a real researcher’... It’s important to deliver the best insights using the best methodologies and data gathering approaches that time and money will allow.” In the long run, it won’t matter where the data comes from – the more the better. But we as professional market researchers need to learn to position our value in what we do with it, not where it comes from! It’s about expertise vs. information gathering. And who knows, maybe some of these new market research users, who enter the market via DIY options, will one day need “real” market researchers.

Consider the travel industry and how Weaknesses (of this offer) it has changed • Interrupts consumers as they’re trying to access something else; dramatically over • Doesn’t engender great survey engagement or honesty; the past 10-15 years. • Reach and response rate of target audience / survey sample - to whom is “web content” a valuable incentive to complete surveys? In the past almost • Survey bias as incentive is access to publishers’ own content; all information • Representativeness of sample - weighting biased data on demos; gathering and • Validity of replies based on limited and potentially poorly designed bookings went questions; through travel • Limitations to the bite size survey approach and inability to compare agents and tour answers, which data fusion cannot solve - most of current surveys need to operators. Now have all the questions asked of the same respondent so we can do relevant we find our own analysis on the data set; • Pricing not that different from panels if calculated on a longer targeted information, flights survey; and hotels when it’s • No ability to set standard survey workflow logic (e.g. skips or branching). easy to do and suits us; but when it’s a bit more complicated Opportunities (for the industry) we still might go to the • Strong appeal for very, very targeted marketing; specialists. • Define ourselves based on insights not on data collection – clients (more

Strengths (of this offer) • Google has almost total reach and precision targeting; • Very easy to gather actionable insights on the fly - good for a quick read; • Simple and cost-effective tool for businesses who would not have otherwise conduct market research, i.e. bringing in business previously “too small” for most research suppliers; • Geo profiling interesting for local businesses; • Automated outputs, including graphing and analytics.

• • • • •

often than not) don’t want data, they want strategy and insights - we are the experts for this; The more data the better, the value lies in what we do with it, not where it comes from - this is where the big opportunity for Market Researchers resides; Testing tool for various quant polls, modules and techniques; We simply add the Google toolkit to ours, but we sell solutions anchored in insights; What a fantastic opportunity for Research – hitting cost, quality and speed drivers; Helps us to start thinking about the future of our industry and embracing the opportunities these new developments create for us all.

Threats (for the industry) • Current clients doing DIY research; • This is Google MR Version 1 how far will they push this? • Google will not stop at single questions, nor will they limit market coverage to the US.

All this of course is just my opinion (and that of some great people in the industry), so what do you think? Add your views to the MRSNZ LinkedIn discussion.

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

[july]

6pm

Lee Ryan's The value of 'Yes, and...' for Market Research - the role of improv in the emerging new world of innovation practice. Winner of the Best Presentation at ESOMAR Asia Pacific.

Auckland, Tamaki Yacht Club

RSVP to secretary@mrsnz. org.nz by 28 June

Who will win the Quiz Night?

AMSRS Webinar: Rating scales - design and analysis Your computer

5pm*

To register, go to AMSRS website: www.amsrs.com.au

NZ Marketing Association: 2012 Brainy Breakfast with speakers delivering content from across the digital marketing spectrum covering everything from social media to digital devices and including case studies and real life examples. Repeats on 26 Sept.

Save the Date [june]

Research Now and MRSNZ Quiz Night, hosted by Quiz Master Stephen Moore.

5:30pm Wellington, The Thistle Inn, 3 Mulgrave St, Thorndon

Enter teams of 4 or 5, alternatively we’ll create teams of individuals. RSVP to secretary@mrsnz.org.nz today and enjoy a night of drinks, nibbles.

29 9pm 10pm*

MRS UK Webinar: Mobile for Research by Scott Dodgson and Paula Juson, Directors, Research, Insight, Consulting, SKOPOS market insight. Your computer

MRS Members $15 + GST, Non-MRS Members $20 + GST (includes 2 drinks and nibbles)

Nonmembers of MRS UK £55.00 + VAT, Members of MRS UK £45.00 + VAT

7am 9am

MRS Members $50 + GST, Non-MRS Members $75 + GST (includes nibbles, cash bar) Non-AMSRS member AU$ 77 pp (Inc. GST), AMSRS Member AUD$55 (Inc. GST) Organisation & individual members $70, Nonmembers $95.

Auckland, Crowne Plaza, 128 Albert Street, CBD, Ballroom 1 & 2

For more information contact the Educate team on jennifer@marketing.org.nz or 0800 347 328. Or register at www.marketing.org.nz

[august]

6pm 12am

2012 MRSNZ Market Research Effectiveness Awards

Auckland, Hilton Hotel

Watch your inbox to hear about updates.

$160 + GST per ticket or $1440 + GST for a table of 10.

* NZ time Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

Points of View

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m e fro ith r o w e nd mteract g a a m n e i Dam umers dns they can be uacting rch ons zatio ond he As c organi r resea ever c a tick t owing the eholde ol, howrch as ion foll age t stak able to f resea no ac to dam s and u h l o t a i va kind se w tenti l rsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; eye ure this exerci the po eholde n in fut box it has in stak peratio nt nde er e from tation ir co-o p e g , Ind t Mana repu ce the n a h c hee Proje redu arch. S e e i b res Deb

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ese a rch Stakeholder R

Ignore at your peril!

There appears to be a rev ival in stakeholder research and an awakening of sorts. The need for bro ader accountability and the desir e to align and leverage critical relation ships is driving this. Sometimes stakeholder au diences are too narrowly defined or no t defined at all and that the objectives of the relationship are often not cle ar. Our simple message would be understand before you measure. Matt Benson, Managing Dir ector of Public Affairs, Ipsos NZ

InterVIEW InterVIEW Quarter 22 2012 InterVIEW|||Quarter February

Stakeholder research by Ian Binnie

Has anyone else noticed an increase in the number of public-sector stakeholder research projects recently? I have an answer, although it is not very exciting: most government departments require Statement of Intent reports, and increasingly these include a measurement of stakeholder satisfaction. Perhaps I am an idealist but I also detect a degree of optimism that stakeholder research can be used to improve organisational

between a couple of floors on an elevator ride, you’re in trouble. A quick answer to the Elevator question might be “to fill in some data for an SOI report”. But hopefully the collective research community can see that it is in our long-term interests to look beyond this. Ideally our client’s answer would be “to improve the way we do business, and make a difference to our stakeholders’ lives”.

“Part of leadership is accepting that some people will hate you”

performance. Despite this, I often get the feeling that clients view stakeholder research a bit like ‘doing good deeds’, they sometimes enter the exercise somewhat grudgingly. Below I share some thoughts about how to add value to your client’s brief, as well as revealing some common themes emerging from public-sector stakeholder research in New Zealand.

WHY ARE CLIENTS DOING THIS? There is a business principal somewhat loosely known as ‘the Elevator Test’. If you can’t explain your purpose for doing this research

Not all clients like the idea, but I think stakeholder research should act as a catalyst for cultural change. To help clients get into this mindset, an inventive researcher might probe with questions like: “who are the key audiences for this project, and what is their level of internal buy-in?”, “what is foremost in your decision-makers’ agenda at this time?”, and most importantly “when armed with the results, what would you ideally like to see change?”. By asking these questions we can encourage our clients to start thinking about the outcomes of the research, which will in turn, guide your project and provide actionable results.

“Stakeholder research should act as a catalyst for cultural change” Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

WHAT QUESTIONS SHOULD I INCLUDE?

research in the public sector.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to doing stakeholder research. I recommend keeping a few basics in mind:

 STAFF Most public sector stakeholder research puts staff firmly in the limelight. Staff are the ‘shop front’, the first and last thing that most stakeholders remember. Stakeholders want to be listened to and have two-way dialogue on critical matters. Compared with customer satisfaction research, factors such as timeliness, ease of contact and courtesy appear to be somewhat less important to stakeholders.

• Include some common measures that apply to all stakeholder interactions. • Ask stakeholders what their ‘ideal’ organisation would look like, and what that would imply. • Insert some useful analytical questions such as touchpoints used by stakeholders and channel preference.

A common complaint from stakeholders in the current environment is the constant churn of staff. Most are looking for identifiable relationships and an accessible ‘road-map’ of the organisation. From the stakeholder’s perspective, finding the right person is sometimes like trying to find a hospital ward - unless they have been there before it is daunting.

• Expect a lot of ‘don’t knows’ to your questions. This can be a finding, and a communication opportunity, in itself. • Most importantly, capture qualitative information either through open ended questions (a minimum approach) or in-depth interviews (a better approach). This is where the most profound insights come from. But beware. Some of the juiciest nuggets you’ll find this way cannot be published because they are too revealing! Your aim is to include some of the deeper structural, procedural and people issues that stakeholders face when dealing with your client’s organisation. Below, I include some of the common themes we have encountered when conducting stakeholder

 COMMUNICATION

“Most public sector stakeholder research puts staff firmly in the limelight”

Stepping out from the ivory tower and looking back is the starting point for targeting communications: • Some government departments struggle to articulate their core purpose to stakeholders. But stakeholders are looking for clearly articulated goals and roles. • Often stakeholders tell us that government departments have real, or

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

perceived, contradictions in their role – for example, providing a particular sector with advice, while regulating it at the same time. Government departments probably cannot change their role, but they can be transparent about it and reassure stakeholders about how it works. • Increased visibility almost always generates positive results. A central agency we have worked with recently found that running a series of road shows, seminars and forums went down very well with stakeholders. Not only did it increase the visibility of senior staff outside of Wellington (the organisation’s HQ), stakeholders learned that the organisation had a voice and an interesting point-of-view.

 LEADERSHIP Part of leadership is accepting that some people will hate you. If you didn’t make decisions or articulate your opinion, you would be viewed as weak and leave yourself open to the threat of negative perceptions generated by the media and others. Negative interactions with stakeholders are part of life, but organisations should still: • Involve stakeholders through consultation, and ideally collaboration. • Be transparent about the parameters which have been set.

Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

• Show flexibility within those parameters. • If all else fails, continue to communicate and create a perception that at least things are improving! Often we see a pattern where senior leadership are committed to improving interactions with stakeholders but this doesn’t filter down. Leaders should be aware that stakeholders are surprisingly adept at picking apart differences within an organisation.

About the author

“Increased visibility almost always generates positive results” Remember that stakeholders are waiting for your client to undertake this type of exercise. Doing it well will generate good-will and identify some quick-wins. It may be more challenging to make long term differences to people and processes but hearing from stakeholders is an important step in transformation. ■

Ian Binnie – Group Account Director, Colmar Brunton Ian has worked in the field of public policy research for fourteen years. Prior to joining Colmar Brunton, Ian worked for BMRB, one of the largest providers of public policy research in the UK. His experience spans a range of policy areas including health, benefits and welfare, culture, education, culture, crime and victimisation, and public sector communication campaign evaluation.

welcometonew mrsnzmembers The Society is delighted to say hello to a bunch of new members this quarter. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re among our new members, make sure you come and introduce yourself at our next event. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking forward to meeting you. If you know of anyone who would like to become a member of the MRSNZ then please direct them to our membership information on the website: http://www.mrsnz.org.nz/wawcs0146302/idDetails=167/Membership-Information.html Full: Jade Phillips, Senior Manager Nielsen | Clara Ng, Senior Client Service Executive Nielsen | Mandy Dwyer, Market Instights Telecom | Gina Rossi, Qualitative Specialist Independent consultant | Clare Hall-Taylor, Director HTC Sportsworld | Carlo Magni, International Research Manager Fast Forward Strategy & Planning | Jane Watson, Research Executive Fast Forward Strategy & Planning | Joanne Tovee, Operations Manager Perceptive | Matthew Gerrie, Account Manager Colmar Brunton | Sabrina Qi, Research Analyst Auckland Transport Associate: Annelise Mobberley, Research Executive Market Pulse International | Alesha Buckwell, Client Executive Colmar Brunton | Melanie Edmonds, Research Executive Focus Research | Campbell Grieve, Research Assistant Focus Research Affiliate: Jane Addington, Administrator The Research Agency Company: Angus & Associates

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

The 50th AGM kicked off in Auckland at the Tamaki Yacht Club, followed by a fascinating evening filled with celebrations and reminiscing about our early days. The roast took us back to the good old days, and we captured our story with a special MRSNZ timeline. The celebrations moved to Wellington, with the President attending the event, which was a unique experience with the gathering of new and old faces. The festivities in Auckland and Wellington gave us a chance to not only celebrate the past 50 years, but also look ahead to our future, which will be led by a new generation of researchers. Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

The

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

Timeline Project The MRSNZ is giving you the chance to participate individual companies. It’s by no means a complete in building a history of market research in New and exclusive history, but we hope you’ll enjoy having a timeline poster which you can pull out Zealand. Our 50th Anniversary Timeline Project is a of the magazine and keep (if you’re reading the collaborative timeline for people to record paper edition of the magazine). The next step is to provide the timeline via our website. This will, we hope, conserve a set of Those at the 50th Anniversary Parties in Auckland memories of how our industry has grown, which and Wellington kicked off the timeline by creating people can browse and explore. a huge paper timeline (pictured). Participants Everyone is welcome to - and encouraged to added their comments and photos to the timeline, particpate in the Timeline Project. Send us your milestone moments, or just your thoughts on what sharing some of their favourite memories. The Timeline Project has continued with the poster we’re doing. their memories and key moments in MR in New Zealand.

overleaf, which includes what you’ve told us We look forward to hearing from you. are the milestones for market research and for Some of the new memories made at the Auckland 50th Anniversary Party

Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

100 years ago New Zealand’s first surveys done by Dept of Labour 80 years ago First media measurement done by radio broadcasters 70 years ago Earliest commercial research done within manufacturers a 55 years ago Earliest NZ political po

1910 Dept of Labour conducted first Family Budget Survey 1919 Newly created Office of Statistics sent out household Account Books to survey househ and advertising. J Inglis Wright ad agency created the Research Bureau 1946 Sunlight Soap in Wellington registered its market research subsidiary Be Wellington 1956 James Belich became manager of the Consumer Research Bureau, bringing a political and social slant to market research in New Zeala by Wayne Sari of Public Opinion & Gallup Polls 1959 Ilott Advertising started up a research unit run by Fergus Reid. It became Market Research Ltd and Beck 1959 Miles Maxted founded the independent National Research Bureau in Auckland 1959 Survey Research opened the first test rooms for prel informal meetings of market research practitioners were instigated by Dave Butler of Survey Research in Wellington. Some other founding members: R Ba Government Statistician, Fergus Reid of Market Research NZ. 1962 First public meeting of the Market Research Society of New Zealand, attended by 11 First female market research account director, Sabina Owen, appointed by Carlton Carruthers du Chateau & King 1963 First Auckland branch meeting currency: budget $500,000 1965 Auckland branch of the MRSNZ hosted an International Marketing Seminar with three international speakers 1968 J respondents for fractions of seconds, was used by J Paul Heylen to assess the recognisability of advertisers 1970 NZ researchers becoming skilled at se commercial contract research – which upset the private sector 1970 National Business Review first published 1970 Heylen Centre of Marketing opene petrol, leading to more telephone interviewing 1972 MRSNZ in Wellington tried to reform unsophisticated poll reporting with a press kit and a seminar a union, picketing major employers 1974 ‘A young tearaway,’ Dick Brunton, joined AC Nielsen, then later Survey Research 1975 Market Research New Z international speaker attended by over 100 people 1976 Auckland branch of the MRSNZ launched a major seminar, with an international speaker on se but oil price shocks caused conflict. The Survey Research Company completed the biggest methodology test New Zealand, conducting parallel face-to-face Auckland 1981 AGB/McNair provided the first online ratings data service to ad agencies 1981 Colmar Brunton created the first computer-based inter Code of Practice, thanks to Dave Butler and Fergus Reid 1981 Colmar Brunton founded in Auckland by Dick Brunton and Pauline Colmar 1982 Ex-Mass was $9m 1983 CM Research founded by Jamie Hall and Chris Bourke from the dissolution of the Reckitt & Coleman research department itself establish companies to serve the needs of MR practitioners and maintain standards 1984 ‘Beyond 1984’ MRSNZ conference at the Chateau 1984 ACNielsen m bought by Robert Maxwell 1986 MDD Research was founded by ex-Heylen directors Bruce Feigler and Margaret Joseph 1986 Hester Cooper at Co 1987 David O’Neill and RIchard Todd came back to New Zealand and formed OTR, soon owned by AGB/McNair 1987 ‘The Power of Branding’ MRSN Bevan 1988 Lots of privatisation and deregulation happening in New Zealand 1988 WPP group bought Ogilvy & Mather and with it Research Interna by Wendy Palmer and Ants Hurdley 1990 Australian research firm Roy Morgan opened for business in New Zealand 1990 Colmar Brunton spun off th and Anthony Franklin 1990 Centre for Applied Business Research launched in serviced offices in Wellington 1991 People-meter technology for measur Research moved into Morrison Kent Building on the Terrace, Wellington 1992 Management buy-outs happened in AGB/McNair and SRG (both from glob

with Ian Brown and Russell McVeigh succeeded in getting the Bill amended, thanks to a good track record of self-regulation according to the Code of Prac as shareholders 1992 Ann Holway (later to be MRSNZ President) began as freelance qualitative researcher and started a trend in this area 1992 Res John Utting and Stephen Mills 1994 The Heylen Research Centre went into liquidation 1994 AC Nielsen bought AGB/McNair 1994 Business Research Research Group, and AGB Operations (Pacific) 1994 Focus Research founded and NeedScope developed 1994 Insight Research opened Sydney Offi Cinta Research established by Fiona Hudson – a specialist rural research firm. Pioneers use of a network of home-based interviewers 1995 Psychodynami to Frank Small and Associates Australia followed by extension of license throughout Asia Pacific 1996 R Cubed founded 1996 Fast Forward Research Leeming and Caroline Moser 1996 Focus Research licensed NeedScope to IIC Japan 1997 AMRO launched IQS 1997 Stuart Jeffcoat formed Mob and NeedScope license to Intersearch USA 1997 NeedScope International incorporated as international wing of Focus Research 1997 Phoenix moved a Spectrum, McNair and ACNielsen rebranded to ‘ACNielsen’ one company indivisible – New Zealand’s largest market research company 1998 Taylor Ne office 1999 The 1990s saw more new entrants than any previous decade 2000 Market Research Effectiveness Awards began 2000 Business Researc Colmar Brunton awarded 5 MRSNZ market effectiveness awards 2001 ACNielsen global merged with VNU 2001 MRSNZ Conference staged in TeP International, created 2002 R Cubed became Conversa Global 2002 Phoenix, with RedSheriff, won and ran programme to establish measurement sta introduced Fellowship – first fellow, Duncan Stuart 2003 MRSNZ Conference staged in Bay of Islands 2003 Nexus Planning & Research founded by Rich Picture 2004 Coca-Cola contracted Infotools services in 50 countries (now 85 countries) 2004 Big Picture moved to Parnell and set up specialist Insight to become a member of the global Millward Brown research network 2005 George St – a specialist fieldwork only company set up to service Big Pictu Research Centre name changed to Research New Zealand 2006 VNU acquired by a consortium of six private equity firms; David L. Calhoun became Cha expanded to conduct recruitment and venue management New Zealand wide, as well as to provide business and list recruitment 2007 TNS New Zealand Dowden and Mark Johnson 2007 Research Solutions became part of international agency Synovate & gains Wellington office. 2007 Colmar Brunton be historic brand 2007 The Research Agency, a boutique market research consultancy, founded by Andrew Lewis & Amber Coulter 2007 New shareholder the first and only carbonNZero market research company in New Zealand 2009 The Research Agency nominated for an Excellence Award by the World in Kingsland, with 3 group and viewing rooms 2009 Prime Research Ltd conducted its first sensory recruitment and venue provision 2009 Market Pulse Workplace Environment in New Zealand 2010 The Research Agency awarded 29th Fastest Growing New Zealand Company at the Deloitte Fast50 20 Zealand 2011 Infotools relocated head office to Takapuna, employing over 140 staff 2011 MRSNZ ‘Rising Up and Standing Tall’ Conference held in finalists in Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 TNS merged with Research International 2012 Synovate merged with Ipsos to become the worl part of UMR Group 2012 Market Pulse acquired Ignite Research 2012 26 years later, five of the original founding members of staff are still with Phoe

37 years ago MR companies now independent of ad agencies

33 years a Shift from face-to-face to telephone interviewing began, along with computerised metho

and ad agencies

olling done

New Zealand Market Research

50 years ago First meeting of the MRSNZ

A Timeline

48 years ago Auckland branch of the MRSNZ set up

hold expenditure 1931 New Zealand Broadcasting Board conducted large scale listenership survey 1946 Most research was associated with media eacon Research, soon renamed the Survey Research Company. They arguably conducted the first national surveys 1953 NZ ACNielsen office opened in and. He later became Mayor of Wellington and was knighted 1952 McNair research opened for business 1957 Probably the first political polling done d kick-started a trend for other agencies to run research services, in-house including agencies of the day Charles Haines, as well as Goldberg and Dormer liminary product screening and advertising pre-testing 1961 Probably the first omnibus surveys conducted by Research Marketing Services 1961 First aker of British Petroleum, James Belich and Ian Brown of the Consumer Research Bureau, R Cowdrey of the Egg Marketing Board, Steve Kuzmicich, Deputy 15 people 1963 Research houses were having data processing problems. New Zealand Data began experimenting with SAP computer processing 1963 g of the MRSNZ 1964 Research International founded 1965 Most expensive NZ government research to date conducted about the change to decimal J Paul Heylen commenced business on Parnell Rise 1968 Regular published political polling began 1969 The tachistoscope, which exposes a picture to ensory evaluation 1970 The university-based Massey Market Research Centre was established. An initial focus on methodology was extended to include ed Wellington office 1971 Pharmaceutical research specialists IMS opened for business in New Zealand 1972 Car-less days were introduced to save 1973 Universal Product Codes introduced in supermarkets, allowing electronic scanning 1973 Colour TV arrived in NZ 1973 Interviewers tried to form Zealand, the last of the big ad agency research organisations, went independent 1975 The Auckland branch of the MRSNZ held a major seminar with an egmentation, attended by over 100 people 1978 First national MRSNZ conference held at Massey University 1979 Most interviewing was face-to-face and telephone interviewing until they could shift completely onto a telephone omnibus 1980 Australian and New Zealand MRSs held a joint conference in rviewing system - a precursor to CATI 1981 Spectrum founded by Philippa Wiggins, Richard Todd and Ron Latham 1981 The MRSNZ introduced a new sey Market Research Centre, Ross McComish opens McComish Research 1982 NZ market research employed 245 FTEs and 1685 PTEs. Industry turnover hed in 1957. They introduce the first continuous tracking service in NZ 1984 Association of Market Research Organisations was formed with an initial 10 merged with Dunn & Bradstreet 1985 Global communications empires began buying up ad agencies and market research companies. AGB/McNair was olmar Brunton advanced sensory evaluation techniques 1986 Phoenix Research founded by ex Heylen directors, David Fougere and Jeanette du Plooy NZ conference at Wairakei 1987 Colmar Brunton opened a Wellington office 1987 Insight Research founded by John Utting, Mike Williams and Peter ational 1989 Research International NZ launched Cognitive Response Analysis, a local product that was rolled out globally 1989 Market Pulse formed heir fieldwork arm into Consumer Link, the first independent fieldwork facility in New Zealand 1990 Infotools founded by Ron Stroeven, ex MD of McNair ring TV viewership first used by AGB/McNair 1991 Infotools signed global contract with BAT, servicing 100 countries 1991 Centre for Applied Business bal AGB owners) 1992 Privacy legislation was proposed to regulate marketers which would have been a brake on much market research activity. AMRO

ctice 1992 Centre for Applied Business Research re-launched as Business Research Centre with Ken Fink-Jensen, Emanuel Kalafatelis and Charles Sullivan search Solutions founded by Debra Hall & Judy Longdill in Debra’s Pakuranga garage 1992 Insight Research split from Insight Group and now owned by h Centre moved to a new office building above Kirkcaldies in Wellington 1994 ACNielsen acquired Survey Research Group (Asia/Pacific) - including MRL fice and rebranded as UMR Insight 1995 Life Memberships introduced and the first are Ian Brown, Fergus Reid, Dave Butler and Steve Kuzmicich 1995 ic research became more popular with examples including Heylen’s Implicit model, Censydiam and Needscope 1995 Focus Research licensed NeedScope h opened for business 1996 Kudos Organisational Dynamics formed 1996 Reid Research founded 1996 Prime Research Recruit founded by Liane bius Research 1997 Voyage of Discovery MRSNZ Conference at Chateau. 110 attend 1997 NFO acquired CM Research 1997 Sofres acquired FSA and expanded to set up in-house call centre in Mt Eden 1997 Phoenix was first New Zealand research agency to fully voice record CATI 1998 NZ-MRL, elson merged with Sofres and NSI signed a global licence agreement with TNS 1998 Market Pulse formed Australian company operating from Sydney ch Centre established a 40 seat call centre at 190 Lambton Quay 2000 Market Pulse South East Asia operations commenced from Thailand office 2001 Papa, Wellington 2001 Big Picture founded by Richard Bourke out of a two bedroom home in Orakei 2001 Market Pulse fieldwork subsidiary, Infield andards of internet use in New Zealand for a consortium of over 20 parties, comprising all major ISPs, publishers, and internet advertisers 2003 MRSNZ hard Dunbar 2003 Infotools won the Inaugural UK MR Technology Effectiveness Award 2003 TNS acquired NFO 2003 Carl Cato-Symonds joined Big facility 2004 Joint Venture between Focus Research and TNS 2005 Research Solutions hired a full time MD, Ian Mills 2005 Colmar Brunton acquired ure and other clients 2005 Insight Research rebranded as UMR Research 2005 Market Pulse operations commenced in Latin America 2006 Business airman Chief Executive Officer 2006 Prime Research Recruit bought by Winifred Henderson and Prime Research Ltd founded 2006 Prime Research Ltd merged with Conversa Global 2007 MRSNZ Conference held in Rotorua 2007 Research New Zealand gained shareholders Corrine de Bonnaire, Anne ecame a FlyBuys participant, gaining access to its huge consumer database 2007 VNU became The Nielsen Company, integrating the businesses under the rs bought into UMR Research 2008 BusinessWeek ranked Nielsen as the 15th most influential company in the world 2008 The Research Agency became Association of Market Research 2009 MRSNZ ‘Making our Mark’ Conference held in Pokeno 2009 Prime moved from Remuera into large new premises e celebrated 20th anniversary 2010 Synovate won the Supreme award at the MREAs. 2010 The Research Agency’s offices awarded Best Office and 010 Nathan Farmer became Big Picture’s third partner 2010 Prime Research Ltd became the largest independent recruitment and venue provider in New Auckland. Highest attendance ever 2011 Connon Bray joined The Research Agency as Partner 2011 Amber & Andrew of the Research Agency were ld’s third largest market research firm 2012 Prime’s Winifred Henderson appointed first female Vice Chair of AMRO 2012 Berlin office established as enix Research 2012 MRSNZ turns 50

ago ods

28 years ago AMRO formed

20 years ago Many new entrants, indsutry growing fast

12 years ago Market Research Effectiveness Awards began

This year

The Society turns 50

Infotoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Ron Stroeven

R lls with the Punches How data processing used to work (or not work)

Low priority

projects under the belt it came time to process At the 50th Anniversary Party in Auckland, Roz the National Readership Survey. This comprised Calder talked about market research having low a sample of 5,000 and each questionnaire priority in processing. When I joined McNair comprised 5 cards - so that was 25,000 cards Surveys in 1977 (later to become AGB McNair, plus about 1,000 cards for the analysis program. and finally part of Nielsen) the data processing There were 2,000 cards in a box and so that was was done by our parent company in Australia 13 boxes of cards. and our priority was somewhere after Tasmania. Data entry girls I was assigned the task of taking up the processing in NZ and was introduced to the business realities and undesirable features of punch cards. After getting to know SAP (Survey Analysis Program) at the IBM bureau and a few

We employed several data punch bureaus to do all the data punching. The data entry girls hated punching the questionnaires because they were so slow to punch, and worse, they had to punch them twice as they had to be verified.

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

(But some of the punch girls were quite cute.) As DP manager I spent a great deal of time driving around the city carrying questionnaires and cards. It was doing this that I discovered the first undesirable feature of punch cards when I dropped one of the boxes!

were assigned one run a day. But the program would take several attempts to compile and therefore several runs were going to be needed. The operators soon got sick of repeatedly feeding 26,000 cards through the hopper.

Then I noticed a few of the data cards coming up as ‘invalid’ and I would need to duplicate them Now the punch cards comprised 80 columns onto new cards. And as I fixed them for the next with a character of data, letter or digit, in run, there would be more that were invalid the each column. Each number had its space in the next time. I had discovered the next undesirable column and letters were a combination of two feature of punch cards and that is that the card punches. But we know that one of the quirks of reader would wear them out! survey data is multiple response questions. IBM When the operators asked in exasperation had come up with a clever way of dealing with how many more times they were going to have these on the punch cards with multi-punching. to feed in the 26,000 cards I told them of the The format was known as column binary and it meant that you could have multiple digits predicament. The solution in the end proposed punched into one column. That was great until by one of the boffins was to put the data onto a I discovered the second undesirable feature. It tape and delete the invalid records. Luckily there was possible for a respondent to answer ‘yes’ weren’t too many. for every response option. In that case all the Inspiration numbers in the column were punched into In due course I thought that there must be a holes. It was as if the cards were perforated and better way. Indeed I loved the analysis part so could easily tear apart! but was not that interested in the operational One run per day mechanics of collecting or processing data. So Finally all 26,000 cards were punched and so I in part, punch cards helped inspire me to start a took them to the bureau for processing. We market research technology company. ■ Perforation!

Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

Letters about an A We Need a Better Forum for Dialogue

Spencer Willis judging from comments in his letter in the last InterVIEW newsletter is clearly frustrated at the lack of response from MRSNZ members to AMRO and Rob Bree’s letter published in the November 2011 issue. At the risk of sticking my neck out, here’s what I have to say...I was hugely surprised (actually disappointed) the editor and MRSNZ committee published that letter with no comment, effectively in my mind, endorsing AMRO and Rob Bree’s views. The Fellows discussed issues arising from a potential merger in November and that input was passed onto the committee. While I understand the committee is working through a process around all of this; it’s extraordinary the committee to-date has made no substantial comment to members. The committee doesn’t have to agree on / control process before engaging members - that’s a very old and outdated model. An active, vibrant and successful MR industry encourages dialogue. I urge the committee to bring dialogue and discussion on pros and cons out into the open so all members can contribute.

These are my concerns on a potential merger:

• MRSNZ and AMRO have quite different goals and objectives as MRSNZ represents the interests of individual professionals whereas AMRO represents the interests of companies. There will be times when each organisation’s interests collide (and this has happened at times over the years). • MR industry resources are stretched so a better model is needed. Yet it must address the interests of all members, not only the big MR companies, ie: small firms, independent researchers, MR managers in the private and public sectors, and companies beyond Auckland. • A better model should recognise the roles of each organisation and their different objectives. A good framework is required that allows any conflicts to be addressed independently, between individual professionals and company interests.

Other industry bodies are discussing mergers. Australia MR industry is debating this. Canada has implemented it, whereas UK has decided Debra Hall has initiated a debate via LinkedIn and against it. It would be useful for the committee to share pros and cons with all members so when it suggests the lack of response shows members don’t care. I believe there has been little response comes to voting we make an informed choice. from members because the committee is not I believe it would make a big difference if the encouraging discussion. This might suit those committee gets dialogue going in simple, diverse who wish for a speedy merger. Yet surely the and multiple ways. Letters don’t suit everyone role of the committee is to include, engage and and nor does LinkedIn. Also being identified or encourage input across all members? The lack of sticking one’s neck out may not work for some response to-date is I believe a collective failure on members - make it easier for people to talk the part of both the committee and the Fellows openly. Spread this discussion around and in the (myself included) to fully engage members in process it might spark lively dialogue and interest having a say on the future of their profession in our future. and the MR industry. It is our job to support and Jesvier Kaur - FMRSNZ encourage people to care. E: jesvier@qzone.co.nz InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

AMRO-MRS merger A response to Jesvier’s letter fro

m the Patricio Pagani, MRSNZ pre

Conspiracy theories are the epitom e of disinformation. If you say something often enough people will start to believe it — especially if the source is credible. I have huge respect for Jesvier, and I always appreciate her candid feedback. That is precise ly why, as head of the MRS committee, I want to clar ify that there is no ‘behind-the-doors’ plan to discour age input from members about a topic as important as a potential merger of our organisation with ano ther one. On the contrary, as we outlined at the AGM, the committee is working on a full rese arch plan to consult members. The program will start wit h desk research about what similar organisations in other countries have been doing, and continue with a qualitative exploration of what MRS means and does for their members before deciding whether or not we need to vote for or against any merge option s. Yes, the committee has been having private meetings … because that is what we were elec ted to do. To represent our members where it wou ldn’t be efficient to consult them individually, and put a proper case

Big Companies’ Inte

sident

together before organising an official consultation. If the government asked the questio n to the public: ‘Should we lower the personal tax by 10%?’, what do you think the odds would be of getting anything but 100% positive votes? However, peo ple may want to know where the funds are going to come from before saying yes to the tax reduction. Ask ing whether members are for or against the mer ger, without the relevant context, would be equally flawed. We feel it is our duty, as elected rep resentatives of the research community, to rise to the cha llenge, run the research program, inform our mem bers about the pros and cons of both alternatives and onl y then, put the matter to a vote. We are doing this to the best of our abilities and knowledge, within the time constraints that a non-paid body has. We hold the interests of our members very close to our hearts. And that I am very sure of. Patricio Pagani, MRSNZ president

sts Don’t Coincide Dear Ed, with MRS Members ’ Interests It seems that the issu amongst these. How e of a merger betwee ever we must remem n ber the MRS and AMRO that the larger resear is mooted and creatin ch companies are dr g iv en some backroom disc by the interests of sh ussions by “concern areholders in foreig ed n individuals”. As a fo co untries and we cann rmer AMRO rep for ot expect their intere a sts couple of companies to coincide with the (albeit brief!) and fo MRS members on al rmer even a majority l (or President of the MRS ) of issues. For this re I just wanted to chip ason in alone I cannot my viewpoint (as of su pport the merger. 11th May 2012). I re serve My openness the right to change to persuasion (chang my mind sometime ing my in the mind) shou future without warni ld be taken as an invita ng! tion to the I agree that the two supporters to show organisations share w ha t is “b ro ke n” in the a lot of similar interest current structure an s and close working d how the merger w on it. ill fix these issues is essent ial. I include “sugging ”, privacy issues and co Yours sincerely, ntinuing education, Richard Dunbar FM Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW RSNZ

Let’s just get on with it

From my very early days as a researcher, and research company owner, it has been a source of bemusement to me that we, the market research community, feel the need to have (and to fund) not one but two industry bodies – MRSNZ, the society of professional (and individual) market researchers, and AMRO, the association of the companies that employ many of those individual researchers. I am old enough to recall the bad old days, when AMRO was genuinely a boys’ club of the big guys… indeed, I was told to come back and apply again when I had sufficient revenue on my books to prove I was a real company! But times change, and with them, the needs of our profession and our industry. These days, AMRO welcomes all businesses engaged in market research, the big, the small and the ugly…. and has, I believe, made company membership of MRSNZ one of the criteria for belonging to AMRO! So what’s the issue then, about bringing the two organisations together? As market researchers, we tend to often enter the profession through one of the perhaps bigger companies, and then as we get more senior, take one of three routes, ending up either client side, or in “big company” management or on our own doing individual consulting (or in very small companies). While we hopefully remain a member of MRSNZ whatever the route, inevitably the average researcher’s experience of AMRO (past and present) is limited to the few who become sufficiently senior within their companies to be exposed to the organisation. In choosing to work for themselves, the individual consultants and small company owners have often taken a very deliberate decision to reject the big company part of the industry, and may therefore be the most anxious about a potential coming together of MRSNZ and AMRO.

However, the reality is that what we currently have is costly, inefficient and relatively ineffective (though it has to be said that the volunteers in both organisations devote huge time and effort to doing the best they can, with often limited resources in funding and especially in available time). At their core, both organisations want to make market research a strong, desirable and effective force in driving New Zealand social and business success. To do that, we need a

body which delivers on a wide range of fronts, including…

• professional development and inspiration for our people, • realistic and robust standards of ethical practice, supporting self-regulation of our industry,

• a strong and effective lobbying voice to the regulators to protect our right to operate,

• and promotion of the profession in a way that generates the respect of general public (to ensure continued participation, but also to make market research a desirable choice for graduates). This is no small task, and inevitably, those who choose to join and pay their membership fees end up funding the outcomes that benefit the whole profession and industry, including those who stay outside the “club”. But either way, the idea of having two clubs is just ridiculous…

Let’s not get hooked up in an argument about who is taking over whom, or where the power lies. In both organisations, the power currently lies with the employing companies, who pay both their AMRO fees, and the membership fees of their employees to MRSNZ. Hand on heart, how many of you who are currently subsidised by your employer can truly say you would remain a member if your company stopped paying your fees? This should not be about a takeover, and in my view it shouldn’t even be about doing what most of the members want – it should be about doing what is best for all of us (and a vote in which only a miniscule proportion of members take part, and even fewer of those are fully informed) is not the way to achieve that. Let’s just get on with it – let’s discuss not whether this should happen, but rather how to achieve the best outcome, a new body representing all of us, with subgroups for different specific interests, including when necessary, an “employers” group… having all the money in one pot will make it easier to resource, and give us a stronger voice with which to speak for the market research profession, and the value that we add to business and to the country. Debra Hall, FMRSNZ

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

Did you know? The star letter in each InterVIEW wins a prize. And even more importantly, a small amount of kudos from your colleagues.

Star letter!

Letters a bout other ma tters

The Yin and Yang of Researchers Dear Ed,

I write this letter as a thought starter...

I did it. Some 18 months ago. And some of our other members have done it also. Some make it back. Some don't. Some quite like it there... when they make the jump to the dark side – the client side. But regardless of the ‘side’ we are on, we're all equally passionate about research and bringing the voice of the customer to the table. That voice needs to be clear and inspiring to drive business decisions, and as Mark Finnegan put it at Conference last year, we want our research to be "Giving clients the confidence to act". So how do we as researchers ensure we are engaging with the business? Do we really understand the issues and challenges they face commercially? And how do we seize the opportunities which exist to really make a difference? While facing many similar challenges as our agency counterparts, life on the ‘dark side’

is a little different and does provide another perspective - something I've only really gained an appreciation of since experiencing it myself. And while relatively small in number on our membership base, there are a number of client side researchers within the MRSNZ network. So I raise the question is there a further opportunity to work with those members who are 'client-side' to perhaps better understand some of the challenges and issues which are faced in the 'client world' and support the position of our industry?

We want our research industry to inspire clients to action and drive business decisions. So how can we utilise our wider network of researchers to potentially better understand and engage with clients? For its seeing our passion, hard work and insight generation translate into real action which brings us the most reward. Dawn Munro Senior Market Researcher, Telecom

Making the MRSNZ relevant to res

earch users

The team here at InterVIEW loved Dawn’s ‘thought starter’ letter. Some of the best successes of the MRSNZ happen when researchers and research users exchan ge ideas. This worked well at the 2011 MRSNZ Conference . We’re keen to make the MRSNZ a com munity which both agency side and client side researchers find valuable. We’d love your thoughts on the best way to do that: share your comments via our LinkedIn discussion: http://www .linkedin.com/groups/ MRSNZ-Network-3971139. Thanks to Dawn for raising the top ic. A $50 voucher for Nosh is winging it’s way to you. Ed. Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

Recent events Project Butterfly: an inspiring evening with Daniel Berkal

A new way of thinking - Project Butterfly brought together an extensive audience in Auckland and Wellington. A deeply insightful and thought provoking bit of research that challenged the conventional. What did attendees say about it?

“I found the aspect of ‘speed date’ interviewing interesting” “Stimulating and engaging, Daniel’s style allowed for a depth of discussion!” “It struck me that what we need to do is have social butterflies to engage on behalf of our brands” “I left the presentation wanting more, a great opportunity to be inspired!”

Grant Storry Ipsos

Shannon Brown Curious Research

Debra Hall Business professional

Samantha Firsow Infotools

If you want to know more, tweet @Danielberkal #projectbutterfly. InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

Celebrating the Contribution of Market Research to New Zealand Society and Business Hilton Hotel, Auckland | 24 August, 2012

Starring You Opportunities for sponsorship now available

Contact: Claire Lloyd | secretary@mrsnz.org.nz | 021 139 2739 Generously sponsored by:

Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

Movers

AND

Shakers Market Research like herding CATI? ...then use the new Web CATI module from The Survey System! See how The Survey System offers you a great deal of power and functionality without breaking your budget. Gather your respondent data quickly using a combination of one or more mixed methods - telephone interviewing, online, in-person interviews, mail surveys - whichever is the best way to contact people. Download your trial copy from: www.hrs.co.nz/2956.aspx

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

Movers

AND

Shakers

litmus

prime

Ingrid McDuff has joined the Litmus team after recently returning from three years in Indonesia. Ingrid has a public health background with experience in both academic and public sector research and evaluation. She has worked on tobacco control and social marketing research in New Zealand as well as being experienced in stakeholder evaluations, adolescent health, housing, nutrition, and health inequality projects. Ingrid is thrilled to be based at Litmus headquarters after working remotely in the ‘Jakarta office’ and looks forward to working with the team face-to-face on upcoming projects with Government and local clients.

Prime Research welcomes Sheridan Willis, from Ocis who will be taking over Jessica Kolk’s role as Venue Co-ordinator when she goes on maternity leave later this year. Prime is sad to farewell Account Manager Anita Theunissen; we wish her all the best in her new ventures! We are also pleased to announce that Ariane Dalton has been promoted to Office Manager.

Ingrid has a Master of Public Health (First Class Honours) from the University of Auckland and a Bachelor of Health Sciences from the University of Auckland. She is currently working towards a Post-graduate Diploma in Development Studies from Massey University. Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

colmar brunton Colmar Brunton announces a number of additions to its team: Matthew Gerrie, Account Manager from the Wellington office, started on 27th February. Emily Harris, Project Manager - Consumer Link, joined us 19th March 2012 Hayley Horne, Tracking

Manager, is now the proud mum to Isla Jean Horne. Mickayla Miller has transferred from Consumer Link to cover for Hayley for the next 12 months as the Tracking Manager. Warren Marshall is the new Consumer Link Business Manager as of 14th May 2012 Katie Turner, Client Executive Quant, joined on 14th May 2012. Charlotte Brock, Client Executive Quant, joined on 14th May 2012. Celine Yockney, Qual Wellington, returned from parental leave on 7th May 2012. Anne Harris, Account Director Quant Wellington, joined on 7th May 2012. Divya Bhardwaj, Senior Data Analyst Data Services, joined on 14th May 2012.

Movers

AND

Shakers

the research agency The Research Agency is delighted to welcome both Julia Bode and Adrian Stone to the team in the role of Consultant.

ipsos At Ipsos we place special attention on incremental hiring, that is, hiring a complementary yet diverse set of skills to match with our varied projects and clients. It’s a bit like the Starship Enterprise in that way – we are prepared for any journey … as a team! We’d like to introduce two recent additions to our extremely capable and eclectic group: Louisa Wood & Tony Patrick. Louisa joined Ipsos as a Qualitative Director and

brings 15 years of experience developed over multiple continents (Europe, N. America and Australasia), involving thousands of hours with respondents, culminating in depth in FMCG, retail services and brand marketing. She is a true star and outstanding addition to Ipsos NZ to make an already fantastic qualitative research department that much more fantasticker! Tony also joined Ipsos as a Research Director and is the former Director at Research International for New Zealand and Australia. Over the past 17 years, he has partnered with many Asia-Pacific and Global companies with a focus on Brand and Communications and brand strategy. Tony has particular interest and background in leveraging the digital landscape for clients and adds this skill to the growing repertoire of Ipsos services. In addition to hiring creative and talented individuals to round out the team we also like to acknowledge, our colleagues when they have stepped up to the next level.

All the following individuals have been promoted: First up we have Nicola Legge, Research Director, a real sharp cookie and class act who strikes a great balance between client service, project management and intuitive researcher. She also seems to be able to produce more work than mere mortals with a standard 24 hour day. Congratulations Nicola! Debs Donaldson, Research Manager, whose firm but fair management style undergirds her penchant for bringing projects in on time and under budget. Way to go Debs! Simone Johnson & Jerome Humphrey, who both joined Ipsos in 2011 as researchers. Simone is extremely dependable in the trenches and cool under fire and has done a fantastic job picking up on researcher tools and processes after an early career change from teaching. Jerome, a former rock-nroller * literally * has stepped up to the plate leveraging his qualitative talents.You two rock! ■ InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

The Books that Shaped 50 Years of Market Research By Duncan Stuart Fmrsnz

We all have at least one. They are the books which changed how we see the world. For some of us, they are the books which drew us into our career, or our specialism. Others were the cool books to have on our coffee tables or dorm room shelves. Here, Duncan Stuart selects a book per decade during the history of market research in New Zealand. Do you agree with his choices? Tell us more on our LinkedIn discussion at www.linkedin.com/groups/MRSNZNetwork-3971139.

Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

...The appeal of this book is that it introduced a new form of social criticism that appealed to highbrow consumers with its juicy low-brow anecdotes

1950s - 1960s In 1957 social critic Vance Packard’s somewhat explosive paperback managed to hit a number of social hot buttons of the day simultaneously. Post War western society had experienced an unparalleled consumer boom and there was a latent unease about wasteful consumer spending. People were buying en masse, and never before in human history had the trend of conspicuous consumption reached so many millions of middle class people. These were the days when cars had fins, TV dinners were the rage, and we bought en masse - stuff we didn’t need. Second, the rise of television put into the public arena big questions about the role of advertising. All this was in the context of the Cold War during which deep-seated questions arose about the susceptibility of people to propaganda. After all, Hitler exterminated millions and Stalin had done the same through propaganda and persuasion. Were we consumers subject to the same pervasive powers? Though The Hidden Persuaders was first published in 1957 it continued to assert its magnetic pull for at least another decade. Part of the appeal of this book is that it introduced a new form of social criticism – a populist sociology that appealed to high-brow consumers with its juicy low-brow anecdotes. My favourite chapter is the one in which the manufacturer of potato peelers discovered through market research why the average household buys more than one peeler per year. The answer? We “lose” the peeler when we chuck the peelings into the garbage. His response? Give his peelers brown-coloured handles so we can lose many more! Cynical, revelatory – this was DISAGREE? the guidebook to how advertising and marketing Share your views on the works. It is still the hip playbook, fifty years later, most influential books of for shows like Mad Men. the past 50 years on our LinkedIn discussion:

http://www.Linkedin.Com/groups/mrsnznetwork-3971139.

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

1960s - 1970s

Marshall McLuhan is billed in Wired magazine as the patron saint of the internet. He published a string of books from the 1950s through to the 1970s, but none hit the mark quite like The Medium is the Massage from 1967. With designer Quentin Fiore, the two came up with a paperback that was part text and part experience – a presentation of a big idea. McLuhan’s genius was not just his ability to turn an insight into a bumper sticker. His idea that “the medium is the message” totally reframed the debate about the role of media. It isn’t the content of the medium that influences us – it is the medium itself that makes the impact. Thus, in a tour de force series of pages in the middle of the book, he argued that just as the car is an extension of the foot (letting us travel further) and the newspaper is the extension of the eye (letting us see things beyond our natural horizon), so too electronic media are the extension of the brain. He caused huge debate, in part due to his obscure, playful writing in which he was apt to quote James Joyce. But his ideas, if we strip them back to their fundamental truth, remain huge and remain true. McLuhan was a very influential thinker in an age when society was fragmenting and when satellites enabled us – as they did in 1967 – to see events happening live on the other side of our planet. McLuhan was the literate prophet we needed in the paradigm shift.

1970s – 1980s

Future Shock by Alvin Toffler was, for a while at least, the book you saw on every coffee table and in every dorm room. Toffler’s thesis was that the rate of change had Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

accelerated to the point where society itself was unable to easily handle the change. Like an aircraft that hits the speed of sound, our society was going through shockwaves capable of shaking our structure to the core – and leaving its passengers disorientated and dysfunctional. Toffler, who published the book in 1970, had been pondering how society (well, US society) was moving from an Industrial Society to a Super Industrial Society in which the pace of change would, by the turn of the millennium, overwhelm millions of people. It was a bleak outlook (it came out within a few months of the equally bleak IN THE YEAR 2525 single by Zager & Evans) and appealed to the general sense that with computerisation,Vietnam, Nixon, mass production, space exploration, plastic everything – somehow we were all headed to hell in a handbasket. One problem: nobody was in charge of this megatrend. It was running out of control. But Toffler’s thesis, while prone to exaggeration, also contained some very cool thinking that is worth re-examination. In his closing chapters devoted to how we might cope with Future Shock he presented some thoughtful observations about emergent strategies. These included strategies for ‘coping with tomorrow’ that included proposals for ‘personal stability zones’, counselling, half way houses, the creation of ‘enclaves of the past’ and ‘enclaves of the future’ and the deliberate reinvention of coping rituals. Somebody mention spa retreat? Or the role of energy drinks as a badge of how busy we are? There’s some nice thinking here.

Her real impact is that she made trend research sexy...

1980s – 1990s

The blockbuster book In Pursuit of Excellence was the book that put business academic Tom Peters on the map, but his lesser known Thriving on Chaos was by far the better book. In our nominations for the book for each decade that has been influential on market researchers, this is the dark horse. What Peters did here was help break the mould of business books which, with few exceptions (The Peter Principle from the 1970s was a great exception), were stuffy affairs that taught management in a manner befitting a military academy. Structures, reporting systems, hierarchies… Peters threw all that stuff out the window and positively celebrated a chaotic, dynamic environment. Future shock? Peters’ answer was to surf that wave of change, to hang ten, to improvise and pursue – with a passion – the dream of doing things better and better. It was a great book and came at a time when America Inc was losing its podium place as the world’s preeminent manufacturer. Top Down hasn’t worked at General Motors, Peters argued, but we can fight Toyota with our sheer energy and inventiveness. Remember that in the 1980s, the baby boom had just hit the management level – so this message was energising and, at least until the ‘87 crash, right on the money.

1990s – 2000

Faith Popcorn’s work The Popcorn Report: Faith Popcorn on the Future of Your Company, Your World, Your Life is, in my view, the weakest of any of the six contenders in this review. Popcorn (real name Plotkin) was very cool in her ability to convert her observational magpie-ism (she is attracted by shiny and interesting little trinkets of human behaviour) and package it up as deep human insight. The accuracy and depth of her insights are not the point. Her real impact is that she made trend research sexy. She took social research out of the ivory tower and onto the street. This has made her responsible for a whole raft of ad agency people dressing up as trend spotters, cool hunters and other future-meisters. Many of the trends were short-lived, or simply – as was her famous cocooning trend, disproved by hard data. But that didn’t diminish the fundamental attractiveness of this type of social anthropology. If later editions gave (without any apparent irony), “updates” to her earlier predictions, the author still reminded our profession that there’s a huge pool of data that doesn’t need surveys or groups. All it needs is the power of observation. And the power of packaging.

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

2000 – 2010

Gladwell’s little gem appeared in the year 2000 after early chapters appeared in New Yorker magazine. Almost adopting its own mantras, the book slowly gained momentum and eventually became lodged firmly in the New York Times best-seller list where it stayed for over a decade. What made the book new and exciting is that it focused on how things change and how ideas spread and how even little things – small items of happenchance – can make a huge difference to the contagion of those ideas. The genius of the book lies in Gladwell’s tendency to wrap every idea up in a wonderful story. It makes each concept quite sticky and hard to forget. In fact, his labelling of his ideas (stickiness being one) had an appealing simplicity. Why did this book succeed so spectacularly? One reason is that it gave us researchers a fresh viewpoint that was relevant to the age of the internet. Finally this decade, after decades of mass communications and mass marketing, we were returning to a more viral word-of-mouth culture and The Tipping Point was a reminder of how things work – which ironically was how things used to work in the age, say, of Paul Revere’s ride, or in the deliberately low-tech experimental constructs of Stanley (6-Degrees of Separation) Milgram.

2010 – 2020

An early contender for most influential book for market researchers in the current decade is Daniel Kahneman’s greatest hits package Thinking, Fast and Slow. It is a mighty tour de force of a book and marked like all the other nominees by an ego the size of a mediumsized nation. Kahneman has a Nobel prize and doesn’t let us forget the fact, even when he paints the glorious picture of his great academic friend Amos Tversky and their wonderful inspirational walks together – cooking up clever little psychological tests and experiments that unravelled how the human mind works in surprising ways. The book explores the effects of framing, of anchoring and other phenomena characteristic of our smart but also fast and lazy brains. Of immediate impact is this thinking on questionnaire design. But the real importance is around how the human brain handles decisions and uncertainty and why we make the choices we make. Time will tell whether this really has much influence on researchers. Much of the thinking here spans the decades from 1971, so by now one might expect behavioural economics to have had more traction with professional observers of the human condition. Perhaps it is appropriate, as Kahneman has taught us, to reframe the question. Will researchers be all that willing to be influenced by this book? That answer, is up to you.

Time will tell whether this really has much influence on researchers... Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

Innovations

Research Now mobilises smartphone capabilities with the acquisition of iPinion

“

There will be a dramatic increase in demand for research using mobile technology.

Research Now’s parent company, e-Rewards, has announced its acquisition of iPinion, a global leader in the mobile market research space. The alliance offers a range of products and services across the mobile platform, including quantitative surveys, geolocation-based targeting and mobile behavioural research. Research Now will immediately use iPinion’s capabilities in English-speaking markets, under the brand Research

Now Mobile™, bringing a full range of mobile competencies to clients across the globe. An enhanced version of the platform, with new capabilities, will be introduced in the third quarter and deployed in additional markets. Research Now’s Managing Director for Asia-Pacific, James Burge, said “With the exponential adoption rate of mobile devices resulting in over 47% New Zealanders owning

a smartphone device, we believe there will be a dramatic increase in demand for research using mobile technology. We invested a great deal of time selecting the right mobile partner. iPinion has the most extensive product portfolio to support and accelerate our mobile strategy. This acquisition increases our ability to provide our clients with the most innovative methods of collecting digital data.” ■

ink

Wellington CBD faciliation/meeting rooms for hire As researchers we know finding affordable, purpose-built qualitative facilitation and meeting rooms with client viewing facilities in Wellington CBD is a challenge. So we built our own suite of rooms to share with other market/social researchers, advertising agencies and independent consultants conducting focus groups, workshops, in-depth interviews and presentations. Our purpose-built suite on the corner of Manners and Victoria Streets offers:  Flexible seating options – boardroom, cafe-style or soft seating  Hostess and catering  Client viewing and recording facilities  Audio visual equipment, materials To make a booking, please email Janette@inknz.com or Sally@inknz.com.

   

Professional entrance 24 hours, 7 days a week access Convenient parking and public transport Affordable rates InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012

39 Friday night drinks? Meet me at: It depends… anywhere from the Green Man pub for a cheeky beer or bubbles.... to Vivo for a lovely wine! Where I’ll be wearing my new: Haven’t done any shopping recently (I’m trying to be good!) as all my money is going towards buying lights, and bathroom stuff (we are in the middle of renovating). And this weekend I’m planning on: Packing up my kitchen for another wall to be demolished!

Who’s who in MR: 60 seconds with Kris Mayo of Nielsen Kris is based in Wellington and has served on the MRSNZ committee between 20032005, and is also a current committee member for the second year in a row.

But first I’ll need to refuel at my favourite café: Maranui café, an old surf life-saving club. Mixture of retro fittings, really good food and great views of the coast (you can see surfers and kite surfers making the most of Wellington’s weather). Saturday evening. If my dreams came true there would be a gig by: Foo Fighters but I’ll settle for Uncle Monkey who is playing for us at a party this weekend. But if there’s nothing else doing I’ll probably just: Catch-up with friends for dinner and drinks. On my stereo/headphones right now is: The Black Keys The books I can’t put down are: Pretty much anything and everything - currently I am reading Game of Thrones. The TV show I take the phone off the hook for: Revenge or Homeland. The movie I’ve been dying to see: Avengers A non-cooking Monday night means takeaways from: Burger Wisconsin, it’s the closest. Or a splash-out Wednesday night restaurant would be: Boulcott Street Bistro. Most interesting thinker who has inspired me recently: Daniel Berkal – we got to hang out a bit and he has such an amazing zest for life! The MR innovation I’m most excited about: What comes next after panels? Best anecdote of my time in MR: Smiling is infectious :)

Quarter 2 2012 | InterVIEW

Lee Ryanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Value of

yes &

for Market Research

The role of improv in the emerging new world of innovation practice Lee Ryan, Raspberry Innovation Research & Strategy, Australia

5th July 2012 | 6.00pm

At Tamaki Yacht Club, Tamaki Drive, Auckland $50 pp MRSNZ members $75 pp Non-members

RSVP by 28th June

Winner: Best presentation at ESOMAR Asia Pacific

Businesses are increasingly using design thinking as their innovation platform. Theatre based improv consists of short scenes usually constructed from a predetermined game, structure, or idea. Improv or improvisation skills and principles can enable researchers to extend their domain expertise to support both ethnographic and ideation work. This presentation explores the benefits of improv, core principles, and how it can be applied in different research spheres from workshop design to storytelling. Every country has its own cultural imagination, and like kaleidoscope gems these sparkle with their own colours.

InterVIEW | Quarter 2 2012