Tim Balbirnie, CEO, Synovate, Asia Pacific
“Today, market research is much of a participant in the marketing discipline, rather than merely a supplier. We analyse and place numbers in business context. We help clients to analyse and use data to continually improve their businesses.”
Synovate is a market research arm of global communications specialist Aegis Group. Perceiving the importance of research to ensure business growth, the agency works towards developing new services in the field – both through combined interactions and by blue-sky thinking. The otherwise simpler field of research today witnesses substantial competition.
Over a conversation with Noor Fathima Warsia of exchange4media, Tim Balbirnie, CEO, Synovate, Asia Pacific, speaks on the growth of the field and the future course of Synovate.
Q. On a general note, you have been largely associated with market research over the past 20 years. How have you seen the field develop?
Historically, and in some cases, not so long ago, research companies were essentially what we call ‘field and tab’ operations. We provided straight data to our clients but not much of analysis.
Today, market research is more of a participant in the marketing discipline, rather than being merely a supplier. We analyse and place numbers in business context. We help clients to analyse and use data to continually improve their businesses.
The methodology changes in the last 20 years have been significant too. We’ve moved from the once dominant face-to-face research. Synovate was one of the first companies to recognise the potential of CATI (computer-aided telephone interviewing) research and has invested a great deal in this in recent years. This gets faster and more accurate results for clients. In fact, we have just brought this CATI technology to India - one of the first, if not the first, agencies to do so.
And now I can see this moving towards online research in some markets. This approach is already taking off in Japan.
Q. Research should ideally mean more than just data. As a research person, what are the factors othr than data that you put together to make this information worthwhile to the client?
To move beyond the data, Synovate is working more and more on client workshops, brainstorming and consulting. We are working to make our service more than a report. We want to help clients make their reports meaningful and help improve their marketing and business strategies. The bottomline is, well, the bottom line! We understand that everything revolves around business. Pretty graphs are not worth it unless they can be translated into actions that improve business. We are all about applying the theory of research to real life in the business world.
Q. As a research division, what is Synovate’s objective and promise to its clients?
There are two promises that you get when you work with Synovate. One, as our logo embodies, you’ll get ‘research reinvented’. By this we mean, we won’t necessarily reinvent the wheel for every project, but we will always look at all the ways of achieving something and recommend the best way to our client. And if the best way does not yet exist, then we'll invent it!
We pride ourselves on our curiosity. We hire people who are curious about the world and curious about clients' projects - and this brings in an extra perspective to our work.
Q. The methodology of research for various categories may differ depending on FMCGs, consumer goods or financial institutions. However, are there any basic rules that you apply for all?
The selection of the methodology is based on our clients' needs and objectives. This is the most important thing. For instance, if a client is into opinion polling, it needs a large and robust sample. If they are after more general information, other methods may be more appropriate. And if a client wants to analyse their market position to break into new areas, they may need our consulting arm, Synovate Business Consulting, to help them with the research, positioning and strategy.
Increasingly we find more and more of our clients appreciating our assistance with brainstorming workshops as a complement to the report. In the end, though, it all comes back to what the client needs.
Q. Could you highlight a few key points on changes in consumer behaviour that you’ve observed, especially in the Indian market, in the last few years?
Indian consumers know what they want. They are in tune with 'hot' products and services. They have higher expectations and higher quality standards. Today’s Indian consumer is often very educated and a much smarter consumer than he was a few years back. They have more choices. And this makes it even more challenging for marketers in India. It's much harder to merely 'sell' a product; marketers are more successful if they take a long-term view and build brands and relationships with consumers.
Q. Time and again marketers bring out the fact that India has become an important market now largely due to the young population. What kind of brands are likely to benefit from this changing market?
We have always viewed India as an important market. Of late, global giants like Wal-Mart, Tommy Hilfiger; a clutch of other formidable players from automotive, durable, luxury goods have included India in their global strategy. A lot of changes on the ground have triggered this.
India’s economuic growth has significantly led to a ‘boom in consumerism’. Increase in disposable incomes; consumer-friendly finance schemes – all have helped expand the market. New shopping formats are re-defining the market dynamics. Clearly, the consumer is spoilt for choice. There is an upswing in the service sector; automotives; clothes and apparels, luxury goods et al.
Q. Speaking on Synovate, what is the growth that the agency has registered?
Historically, we have always achieved double-digit growth in the Asia Pacific region. Even last year, with the impact of SARS and the uncertainty over the war in Iraq, this trend continued in the region. I am confident we will maintain these levels of growth in the foreseeable future
Q. How would you say Synovate differs from competing agencies?
We feel Synovate presents quite a unique proposition to our clients. We are a global agency. Though there are quite a number of global agencies, where we stand different is that we have no global headquarters as such. We are truly international. We have centres of excellence across the globe and this decentralisation allows us to work with clients whenever, in whatever way and wherever they require.
Indeed, we are not restricted by boundaries. For instance, a global team will sometimes manage, say, an MNC client based out of India. The other real advantage of our seamless structure is that knowledge sharing across markets is the norm within Synovate.
In addition, we are building our expertise and experience in industry sectors. At the moment, we have specialised and dedicated divisions for Healthcare and Automotive clients. And based on client demands, this kind of development will continue.
Q. Please share more about your current client portfolio?
We work across all industry sectors, from the packaged goods industries like FMCG, durables, etc., to automotive, healthcare, media and IT & telecom to name a few.
We do see some differences across the Asia Pacific markets. For instance, in markets like Hong Kong and Singapore, where many regional headquarters can be found, we tend to do a great deal of work with IT, telecom, finance, luxury goods and some FMCG clients.
In markets with large populations and growing economies like India and much of South-East Asia, our work is skewed towards FMCG clients, although a significant percentage covers other industries.
Q. There’s a common complaint by most media professionals that in India research does not get its due importance. What is your take on this?
When research companies were simply producing data, perhaps this was valid. Now we are doing so much more for clients - analysing, consulting, etc. I believe we are an increasingly vital part of marketing. The research industry needs to move towards this model across the world.
The way we are approaching this at Synovate is to work harder and better at understanding our clients’ needs and the analytics before we start a project. This understanding then carries all the way through the project and beyond. We are building our consultancy skills - investing in people that have both marketing and research backgrounds to drive this throughout the organisation.
