A unique vantage point on global machinations

Meeting one of the 500 Great Asians of the early 21st century is, it has to be said, quite an honour. Not that Adrian Chedore is actually Asian. Still, what the Welsh global CEO of Synovate has achieved remains fairly rare — turning a homegrown Asian brand into one of the key players on the global market research scene.
Or so the myth has it, anyway. Chedore himself is at pains to point out that while the company he founded — Asia Market Intelligence — did eventually become Synovate, the addition of US player Market Facts into the equation should not be forgotten. The duo were acquired by Aegis before being merged with its other research ompanies and relaunched as Synovate in 2003.
Which is perhaps why Synovate, for better or even worse, is often viewed as a truly global company. Chedore, understandably, sees this as an advantage — noting that the company has no global head office. Perhaps this rootlessness in today’s shifting global world is one reason Synovate has been described as the jewel in the Aegis crown, at least by the company’s suitors, which are believed to include Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP.
“It’s very flattering,” admits Chedore. “I’d like to think there’s some truth to it but, to be fair to my sister companies, they are much bigger than us.”
Chedore’s position on the Aegis board gives him a unique vantage point into one of the more curious storylines of the past year: Havas chairman Vincent Bollore’s attempts — so far rebuffed — to take over Aegis. Chedore himself seems relatively sanguine about the whole affair, a nod perhaps to the upward force the speculation has exerted on Aegis’ stock price.
“(Bollore) has expressed an interest in finding a means to get Aegis Media and Havas to cooperate a bit more, but he’s never said they should merge. I think it is something that Aegis Media might want to explore,” says Chedore.
“I don’t find his interest threatening or destabilising. It’s a publicly traded stock and if someone wants to spend large amounts of money to acquire it, then so be it. Those with share options should be very grateful.”
Chedore is modest enough to admit that he never envisaged heading a global market research company when he founded AMI in 1991. Despite the globetrotting that his position demands, furthermore, he cuts a relatively down-to-earth figure even if — as it emerges — he does frequent the same London bar favoured by the Queen.
“Whatever the amount of time it is I spend with clients, it’s not enough,” points out Chedore. “My job is about spending time with staff and clients. Everything else is getting in the way.”
With this mind, Chedore has his sights set on bridging the gap between what his research house can realistically provide, with what clients want them to deliver. Even if this means turning down work.
“Sometimes with a client brief, much as we’d love to take the money, we know how this is going to turn out — it’s better to tell clients this and then redirect their research budget into something they need to do.”
And what exactly do clients need to do? Research houses are, it appears, increasingly being asked to predict the future.
“You need to use analytic tools that enable you to ask simple questions and then create models which will project that forward into simulators — that is very much the focus of all our development.
“We’re not trying to claim we have a crystal ball or see into the future,” he adds. “ If we found the miracle of predicting the future, we’d all be very rich.”