By Adam Wakefield

Following a widespread invitation from the Marketing Association of South Africa – MA(SA); the Advertising Media Forum – AMF; and the Association for Communication and Advertising – ACA, marketers, advertisers, media buyers, and other interested parties gathered at the Johannesburg Country Club in Woodmead to hear about the new marketing research survey set to replace the defunct AMPS survey.

A way forward for marketers, agencies and media planners

Over 100 people sat and listened as veteran media planner Gordon Muller presided over the meeting. Following a brief introduction, he asked acting South African Audience Research Foundation (SAARF) CEO Johann Korster to take attendees through the new research initiative.

“SAARF has always been an industry body that has looked after a wide array of interests. It was difficult to keep those interests together. Over time, there were some turbulent times but, at the end of the day, it led to media owners resigning [from SAARF] from 2013,” Koster said.

Media owners that left SAARF have since decided to do their own currency research, such as the Establishment Survey (expected to roll out by the end of March) but, according to Koster, such research still left vital knowledge gaps that AMPS used to fill.

Following a wide consultation process about whether a replacement for AMPS is needed, who should run the new research initiative, and what marketers and agencies wanted from such an initiative, the following values and principles emerged:

  • It must be independent, transparent, and audited;
  • It must be innovative, with new methods and technologies used;
  • It must be cooperative and collaborative;
  • It must foster training and development; and
  • It must establish independent benchmark research, with continuous monitoring and audits.

The feedback SAARF received indicated that marketers and agencies wanted the new research initiative to use the same categories as AMPS, among other facets, with which they were familiar. Ultimately, Koster said, “The plan is to deliver an AMPS-type product that the marketers and agencies said they want.”

The new initiative will be a three-phase approach, with phase one being a hub survey including demographics, intermedia, brands, and segmentation. This survey will replace AMPS.

Phase two will address the lag problem AMPS suffered from. Previously insights gathered would be out of date by the time they hit the market.

To combat this, to give insight into consumers’ behaviour and brand interaction, enhanced media behaviour and in-depth consumer behaviour, questions are added to the hub survey. This will give additional insights into consumer behaviour and brand interaction. This will also include a day-in-the-life diary drawn from the core research sample, behavioural, and consumption insights by tracking daily routine, and consumption patterns.

Phase three will be an integrated consumer panel, which will track shifts in behaviour and new trends. Sourced from the core research sample, it will provide a quick and focused survey to offer a snapshot in time of behaviour and interaction with product categories and specific brands.

It can also be made available to marketers for bespoke research.  

The benefits of a new AMPS-type initiative

Koster told meeting attendees that the benefits of the proposed initiative will be the existence of a single integrated view of the marketplace; it does not require a change of target market definitions, as LSMs will be available, and it will be independent from vested commercial interests.

There is always a need for enterprises to do their own individual research, and a new AMPS-type survey will offer a credible starting point.

“It’s been quite a slog to get here but the alternative was doing nothing,” Koster said.

“It’s now time to make a decision. I hope we make the right decision”.

The cost and funding the new initiative

After Koster, MA(SA) CEO Greg Garden explained how much the proposed research would cost in a worst case scenario, and how it will be funded.  

Annually, the first phase of the new research will cost, at worst, R35-million, with the entire value offering totalling R55-million. Garden stressed that this was a top-end estimate, and believes the research can be delivered at a lower cost.

“The new research requires a new funding model. We did seriously consider the option of a new levy system but, frankly, it is not feasible,” Garden said.

Instead, it is proposed that the new research be funded through a subscription model. This means it would be voluntary,[SD2]  with participation being the subscriber’s choice.

“This is a huge study that requires vast infrastructure, over a minimum of a five year period, possibly three. That sustainability element needs to be built-in right up front,” Garden said.

“Reports can only be available to those that subscribe to it.”

The subscription fee will be based on no higher than 0.5%, or possibly less, of a subscriber’s annual ad spend, with the investment being paid back through improved targeting and efficacy of their media investment.

The subscription window for the new initiative is now open, with potential subscribers having approximately four weeks to decide whether they are interested in getting on board.

Following that four-week period, a final decision will be made whether to go ahead with the proposed new research, or scrap the project if the desired subscriber level, being approximately 75, is not reached.

Concerns were expressed, following the presentation, such as how non-agency organisations could also participate and receive the research, how the new research would co-exist with the Establishment Survey and other available research, and how media buyers could get involved.

In response, attendees were told much of the detail of the new initiative would be looked at in far greater depth, including issues raised at the meeting, once it was known that enough subscribers would be on board to make it the new research sustainable.   

For more information, visit www.saarf.co.za.

The Establishment Survey loomed large in discussions in Woodmead. Read our story, Times Media backs the new core Establishment Survey, for more.