ANALYSIS: Research - Rallying to single research cry. The subject of a single Asian research currency remains a contentious issue. Alfred Hille reports

<p>In an economic environment where every dollar counts, the call by </p><p>media agencies for a single pan-Asian research currency covering print </p><p>and television is finding an attentive audience among advertisers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Media agencies insist that the move towards a single piece of research </p><p>to replace the three main studies - ACNielsen's ATMS, AMI's PAX and </p><p>Ipsos Far East's ABRS - isn't simply self-serving. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Indeed, apart from making their lives simpler, it's advertisers and </p><p>media owners who have as much to gain from having a single </p><p>commonly-traded research currency. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Advertisers who happily splashed out on more than one study in boom </p><p>times are loathed to do the same in today's lean climate. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But it's the benefit to media owners which makes the single research </p><p>argument particularly compelling. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Sponsorship money from media owners - currently split among the three </p><p>big studies - can be pooled to fund one major study, based on a brief </p><p>drawn up with media agencies' input. And in line with industry practice, </p><p>research houses are then invited to pitch for the work. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Thereotically, if all goes to plan, this should ensure that the research </p><p>has more scope, depth and accuracy. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As MindShare's regional research director Annette Nazaroff puts it: </p><p>"Media owners would become more accountable as we would all be debating </p><p>from the same platform." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, the road to achieving a single source survey is likely to prove </p><p>to be a long and tortuous one as the different sides seek to protect </p><p>their own interests. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For obvious reasons, research houses, for one, are sceptical that one </p><p>big survey can replace the current large-scale studies, especially in a </p><p>region as diverse - culturally, linguistically and ethnically - as </p><p>Asia-Pacific. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Asia Market Intelligence (AMI) director, Miranda Cheung, says: "I don't </p><p>think it's possible to view Asia as home to a homogenous group of </p><p>people. Different markets have different priorities. In addition, media </p><p>owners and agencies have different needs that have to be addressed and </p><p>accounted for." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>She pointed to entertainment channels as having a broader audience base </p><p>compared with their news counterparts, which target a more upmarket </p><p>viewer. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"You can't have one survey for everyone because compromising on </p><p>priorities among the different parties would be extremely difficult." </p><p>Cheung acknowledges, however, that single source research might be </p><p>possible in sub-regions of similar demographics such as Hong Kong, </p><p>Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines or Korea and Japan. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>ACNielsen Media International China and Hong Kong executive director </p><p>Philip Rich said that ATMS, PAX and ABRS all started life serving </p><p>different purposes and those differences still exist. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For instance, ATMS targets the top 10 per cent of theAsian population in </p><p>major cities around the region, while PAX has a slightly broader focus </p><p>and ABRS examines the popularityand reach of regional print titles among </p><p>top business executives. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Every television channel or publication has a slightly different </p><p>target. That's where ATMS, PAX and ABRS demographic targets are </p><p>different. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"But these differences will likely continue because the separate surveys </p><p>are funded by media owners within a strong consultation process." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But Adrian King, MediaCom director of media research and strategic </p><p>planning, says the degree of difficulty in moving to a single currency </p><p>isn't as high as believed. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>King, who in the mid-1990s helped to set up the European Media and </p><p>Marketing Survey (EMS) as a single research currency, argues that ATMS, </p><p>ABRS and PAX are all generally trying to measure the media consumption </p><p>habits of an upmarket group of people within the Asian population. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"There is diversity but the point is that demographically they are </p><p>similar in that you can characterise them as young males who are </p><p>high-income earners. When you look at the top stratum of earners, the </p><p>demographics are reasonably tight," he says. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>King adds that Asia's diversity cannot be used as an excuse because the </p><p>EMS research is conducted across Europe, which is also home to a diverse </p><p>group of people, culture and language. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He stresses, however, that there are other studies in Europe such as </p><p>EBRS and Europe 2000, but claims that EMS is "the most comprehensive in </p><p>terms of brand volumetric data and media consumption data in the top 20 </p><p>per cent of income earners". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, it's feared that an Asian version of EMS would put a dent in </p><p>the profitability of some of the big pan-regional studies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But not all media agencies are in agreement with each other. Universal </p><p>McCann executive vice-president and regional director Allan Medforth </p><p>says: "It would be lovely to have a piece of single currency research </p><p>but it's fraught with dangers because everyone has different values and </p><p>purposes." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>BBC World's London-based head of research Jeremy Nye believes that there </p><p>is more of a consensus among media owners in Asia-Pacific than in </p><p>Europe. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, he stressed that disagreements were "often most intense between </p><p>companies with similar target audiences and interests". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>There is also debate over the survey's methodology. Some say it should </p><p>be face-to-face because researchers need about two hours to complete the </p><p>survey. MindShare's Nazaroff adds: "Keeping it interesting is the key, </p><p>including letting the respondents understand that he is taking part in </p><p>something important. The type of questions and the time required dictate </p><p>the methodology." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But others say this would be too costly. MediaCom's King advocates </p><p>telephone interviews to get media consumption data, followed by a </p><p>printed questionnaire to collect brand consumption data. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Face-to-face interviews are the best, because it gives the best </p><p>qualitative and quantitative data but we must look at the costs. It </p><p>might not be realistic." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Media owners, meanwhile, say that they would welcome a single research </p><p>currency. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Fiona Dance, Business Week regional research manager, says the different </p><p>studies conducted by the big research houses are a good source of </p><p>information about people and their media usage habits. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We use our subscriber base to conduct proprietary research and we are </p><p>always looking for other sources of information. But it would be nice if </p><p>we could get it from a single source," Dance says. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, given the downturn in the worldwide economy, costs are becoming </p><p>a more critical factor in determining which and how many surveys to </p><p>sponsor. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Most of the regional media owners said they would continue subscribing </p><p>to research as a demonstration of their accountability to their </p><p>advertisers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But while the print media may be satisfied with yearly surveys, regional </p><p>satellite and cable operators have a trickier balancing act to perform </p><p>because they also have ACNielsen and Taylor Nelsen Sofres (TNS) </p><p>peoplemeters as a purchase option. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Star's vice-president of corporate affairs and publicity Jannie Poon </p><p>says: "We will always place great importance on research whether our own </p><p>or through independent third parties, but cost reduction of expenditure </p><p>items is the order of the day right now." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>CNBC Asia's current strategy is to focus on data generated by </p><p>ACNielsen's peoplemeter panels. This was underlined two weeks ago when </p><p>ACNielsen announced it had signed CNBC to a three-year contract covering </p><p>eight Asian markets: Australia, Hong Kong, India, Korea, New Zealand, </p><p>the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>CNBC Asia general manager of marketing and communications, Miguel </p><p>Bernas, says the peoplemeters provide current data, which "media </p><p>planners look for and it's the type of data cable operators need to beat </p><p>their terrestrial competitors". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>BBC World has opted for a combination, but is only sticking with PAX </p><p>after asking for "improvements". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Nye says: "This has been done by stripping out unnecessary questions, </p><p>and beefing up the television section to include the length of viewing </p><p>by daypart for the previous day. The key data provided by PAX 2001 will </p><p>be similar to that collected in radio measurement - day-after </p><p>recall." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The BBC also uses peoplemeters, however, this option is reviewed </p><p>regularly because of cost. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>