A year since the demise of the All Media Products Survey (Amps), the Marketing Association of SA (Masa) is pinning its hopes on a newly developed survey, which is currently sitting with senior figures in the sector and awaiting their input.
But it has an arch-rival, called the Establishment Survey, which is being punted by the broadcast and print sectors.
Masa CEO Greg Garden says once feedback is collated, the Marketing Industry Research Initiative will be put out to tender, and he hopes questionnaires will be in the field early next year.
Garden says while Amps was a world-class body of research that provided crucial consumer data to brands and agencies, its demise was hastened by the resignation of media owners, who were key funders, and the subsequent creation of the Establishment Survey. Garden believes this research "cannot reasonably act as a replacement for Amps as its objectives are focused more on media owner requirements of measuring multimedia behaviour for media planning purposes".
He also believes being funded by media owners makes it neither independent nor neutral.
Other than media categories, Garden says products, brands and category dynamics are not measured in the Establishment Survey.
However, those behind this survey say they are willing to engage and collaborate with Masa and others spearheading the competing initiative.
Clare O’Neil from the Broadcast Research Council told industry website Media Online that the Establishment Survey has a robust sample of 25,000, which is representative of the SA population.
Peter Langschmidt, from the Publisher Research Council, told Media Online it would be madness to have two competing surveys.
Garden is adamant marketers need to "take a lead" in this space and that two town hall meetings in the sector have met with positive response.
According to a poll run by Masa, more than 60% of marketers see an industry body as the best vehicle to represent research interests, and 80% are willing to contribute to joint industry research.
Garden believes another advantage is that the Masa survey gives a single integrated view of the marketplace, which does not require a change of target-market definition.
It seems success will ultimately come down to funding. The Establishment Survey will reportedly cost participants about R11m/year. Funds for the Marketing Industry Research Initiative will be collected from participating marketers by way of contributions based on subscribers’ annual advertising spend. Subscriptions will be calculated using a three-tier approach:
- 0.5% of annual ad spend up to R250m with a minimum contribution of R35,000;
- 0.4% of annual ad spend between R250m and R500m; and
- 0.3% of annual ad spend of more than R500m, with overall subscription capped at a maximum of R2.5m per subscriber.
Garden says this model is based on best global practice, and about 50 subscribers will it make it a viable proposition.
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