The association's bigger players - MindShare, Starcom and ZenithMedia - opted to stick with NMR following a media subcommittee ballot held last month.
However, the majority of agencies - 14 media and creative agencies - threw their support behind the three-year-old admanGo. They were Bates, BBDO, Carat, Dentsu, DY&R, Euro RSCG, FCB, J. Walter Thompson, Lowe, Universal McCann, OMD, Ogilvy & Mather, Saatchi & Saatchi and TBWA.
Over the past year, NMR supplied competitive advertising expenditure data (Adex), while admanGo tracked creative executions (Adbank). Prior to that Neilsen had a virtual lock on the market.
However for 2003, 4As agencies wanted to go with one research house instead of two in a cost-savings drive, but because of irreconcilable differences, the association's collective bargaining process broke down.
Starcom Hong Kong general manager, Mabel Leung, said: "We have developed a number of proprietary tools with Nielsen and we also have to make sure that we are comparing apples with apples on a regional basis."
MindShare regional research director, Annette Nazaroff, added: "For us to support admanGo could put us in a vulnerable position because the company has only been in the market for a few years.
"So the risk we could place on ourselves and our clients isn't justified."
MediaCom regional research director and 4As media subcommittee chairman, Adrian King, said the majority voted for the newcomer for a number of reasons.
"During the pitch, it demonstrated that its technology and processes are considerable. It hasn't really been supplying adspend figures in the past - a point that detractors focus on - but it does have three years' worth of data and it does have the capability to supply real time data to agencies."
However, any talk of Nielsen being dropped by the 4As was discounted as nonsense by NMR Asia-Pacific executive director, Mark Grunert.
"What we have is not a side deal or a private arrangement. It was a split decision and we have the larger agencies in terms of billings supporting us," he said.
But King disagreed, saying that a three-year contract had been drafted between the Hong Kong 4As and admanGo. "That's not a point of contention," King said.
He also described the new competition as a "good thing which will only raise standards" on research for the industry.
- Additional reporting by Christy Liu.
