CAREERS: Zenith's Koitka puts focus on research

<p>Zenith Media Hong Kong has appointed Jane Koitka as strategic </p><p>resources director, with the dual responsibility of enhancing the </p><p>quality of training programmes at the agency and encouraging the </p><p>research industry to keep pace with market needs. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The appointment comes at a time when clients are demanding much more </p><p>from their agencies in an effort to counter the impact of the global </p><p>slowdown. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At the same time, media agencies have been clamouring for research </p><p>houses to go beyond surveys which only yield demographic data. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Zenith's regional operations director, Roland Crouch, said: "We need to </p><p>try to push research to the next level because the research industry </p><p>currently conducts very similar surveys. There's not much psychographic </p><p>and consumer research which is what our clients want, given the </p><p>fragmentation of media." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Koitka said one of her key tasks would be to try "to push the (research) </p><p>industry in Hong Kong into the 21st century". She added: "There is a </p><p>large amount of research in the market, much of it duplicitous and </p><p>focused on demographics. We need to try to move the industry towards </p><p>understanding consumer motivations and return on investment for our </p><p>clients." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As an example, she said most of the research to date pointed to the fact </p><p>that television is the most effective advertising vehicle. "You can </p><p>reach a lot of people but given that there are so many other more </p><p>targeted media channels available, the wastage could be enormous. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Koitka was previously the business development director at Zenith </p><p>Australia where she set up a business development unit comprising </p><p>research, technology and human resources. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Her experience includes working on the media owner side of the business </p><p>- in radio and television - in addition to spending more than 10 years </p><p>with George Patterson Bates/Zenith Media in Australia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Koitka also established the Zenith Media College, which offers courses </p><p>on specific media skills to business development knowledge for the </p><p>agency's staff and clients. Its success was recognised by the Australian </p><p>Government, which awarded the college with an official accreditation - </p><p>the first accredited media programme in the world, recognised in </p><p>Australia as being equivalent to a university programme. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>She said that training is another area in the marketing communications </p><p>industry that could do with a much-needed boost in terms of methodology </p><p>and processes. The secret in building up talent lies in a combination of </p><p>training and coaching plus the application of knowledge, according to </p><p>Koitka. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>