Simon Wagner
Groups Account Manager, Roy Morgan Research
Written by Joshua O’Sullivan on 2008-10-17
What do you see happening in the next five years in the market research industry?
Everywhere the trends are towards true single source measurement and increasing use of online surveys. By single source we mean by getting to know one persons full media habits, rather than fusing different surveys of media habits together. The Apollo Project in the US is an example of a highly expensive failed attempt at single source. Roy Morgan Single Source in Australia is a successful example which we’ve been running for many years. The Census gets information on a few things from everyone, where Roy Morgan Single Source gets a huge amount of information from a large representative sample of Australians and correctly weights them to the whole population. When you can connect people’s demographics, geography, media habits, purchase behaviour and hopes, wishes and aspirations, you have an enormously powerful strategic marketing tool.
What types of methods does Roy Morgan Research use to collect their data?
We use various methodologies depending on the media but the majority of the media consumption figures from our single source database is collected by using a face to face methodology followed by a self-completion diary. These are collected by an interviewer who knocks door to door in allocated suburbs on Saturdays and Sundays – when most Australians are at home. We also use some telephone surveying, but we vary our methodology depending on the media we are collecting.
What are the biggest challenges you and Roy Morgan Research face as a member of the Brisbane media community?
Roy Morgan tends to remain neutral as we are not associated with any media platform. In addition to readership of newspapers and magazines, we measure television, radio and cinema, as well as websites, outdoor measurements, new media (internet activities), readership of addressed and unaddressed mail and word of mouth measures. The challenge for us is to stay abreast of new media while not abandoning the old and to continue to be the pre-eminent consumer insights platform. Research on its own is insufficient; it needs to be able to be accessed with ease in different ways to suit the individual purpose. And it must produce actionable outcomes of commercial value. That is why we are wedded to the single source concept – target audience definition, what they do, where they do it, how you can reach them through the media they consume.
What has enabled Roy Morgan Research to stand up and compete with large international market research firms such as AC Nielson who have bought out many smaller Australian research firms?
Our single source product is recognised throughout the world as one of the best, so having the best product, is the way we compete. With our single source survey we can successfully compete and outperform even large international market research companies. We also employ passionate people who truly believe in the product which is conveyed to our clients who subscribe to our data. Also maintaining our media independence has become really important in producing high quality, non-biased data.
How would you rate the performance of Brisbane-based media organisations in comparison to other national and international media hubs?
I haven’t had too much experience with solely Brisbane based media organisations but of the handful that I have dealt with they are all highly competitive and far more client driven than their national and international counterparts. Here in our Brisbane office, we deal primarily with national and international players, who wait for market research firms to approach them, rather than the smaller localised players who try and establish a relationship with their market research firms. Because of the nature of our single source product, it is quite expensive and therefore many localised businesses cannot afford our data as large corporations can, however in saying this, we do have specific prices for localised media companies. Not having the advantages of national and international media hubs, localised media services have been forced to strive harder in order to maintain their competitive edge.
How has new media such as the Internet and mobile communications revolutionised your workplace?
We do far more electronically now than ever, including surveying, data provision and communication. Email remains a mixed blessing, speeding things up and drowning us with ‘stuff’. For example you come back after your day off and you got 30 or 40 emails there waiting for you to go through – so it does swamp you but it’s all the tidal wave of change we’re all swimming in. Also the Internet has in fact revolutionised the way we do business, as online surveying is becoming more and more an option as more people become Internet savvy. Unfortunately, it still suffers from skewed representation of the population as a whole and needs to be treated with caution. Some major marketing failures in the US have been attributed to the poor representativeness of online studies.
What are the most important/valuable skills that graduates can bring to your industry?
We look for curiosity, the relentless pursuit of answers to questions that matter, the ability to think laterally and outside the box, the wish to do things well, a capacity for the big picture which does not ignore the detail, intelligence, numeracy, a sense of humour, perspective, optimism and the ability to hit the ground running. When we take on graduates we want them to be able to be working for us as soon as possible, rather than having to be taught all of the basics again.