SAARF’s Role in Media Audience
Research
(Discussion Document)
Presentation to AGM
4 May 2006
Introduction
"The wireless music box has no
imaginable commercial value.
Who would pay for a message sent to
nobody in particular?"
• David Sarnoff's associates in response to his
urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.
The recent history
• PMSA September 2002 – Discontent in Spring
• A summit of all stakeholders took place on 31 October
2002 and mandated a working group, chaired by John
Little, to review the functioning of MIT and the
deliverables of its beneficiaries:
– SAARF
– ASA
– FOCST
• The working group decided to conduct its work through
five task teams
• The working group reported back to a summit held on 20
August 2003
The recent history
• Project Team 1 Industry Research (Convener: Mike Nussey)
– Establish the research needs of the industry, optimal research methodology and
cost/value benefits
• Project Team 2 Self Regulation (Convener: John Little)
– Review the industry’s self regulatory needs and cost implications
• Project Team 3 Other beneficiaries (Convener: Howard Gabriels)
– Evaluate the need to support financially any other industry organisations
• Project Team 4 Funding model (Convener: Brian Potinger)
– Develop an appropriate funding model and consider the merits of an
industry forum
• Project Team 5 Governance (Convener: Howard Gabriels)
– Establish agreed governance principles for beneficiary bodies and develop a
migration strategy from MIT to the new funding model/institution
The recent history
•
Project Team One – the members
Nina de Klerk
Howard Gabriels
Nick Holdsworth
Les Holley
Ross Jennings
Ludi Koekemoer
Anina Maree
Brian McMillan
Mike Nussey
Thomas Oosthuizen
Tracy Stafford
Brenda Wortley
ACA
MFSA
PMSA
OHMSA
MFSA
ACA
SABC
etv
AMF
Independent
NAB
AMF
The recent history
• We looked at 63 surveys in 51 countries
• Joint Industry Committees
38
60,3%
• Research companies
18
28.6%
7
11.1%
63
100.0%
• Media Owners
• We agreed the merits of joint industry research taking into account
different requirements.
• We should preserve technical experience and learnings that have
been gained by SAARF over the years.
The recent history
• Principles That Guided Our Thinking:
– The principle of a centralized, industry-wide clearing
house to manage, run and mediate industry research
requirements was agreed.
– Allowing for a common base survey with individual
media types/client data linked on in a modular way
(omnibus concept).
– All modules must be designed so that fusion between
modules can take place.
– High level involvement by senior members
representing key stakeholders is a prerequisite.
The recent history
Marketers
Agencies
TV
Print
Radio
Outdoor
Cinema
Other media/
stakeholder
Assessment of Requirements
Commonalities/differences
What is extensively used
Negotiation
Marketers and
media owners
Base Survey
Demos/Coverage/Profile/National Sample
TV
Common
Portion
Modular surveys by medium/stakeholder
1) What the media owners and clients agree should
be included in the common fee
2) What stakeholders/companies pay for themselves –
outside of the common fee
Radio
Print
Outdoor
Cinema
Common
Common
Common
Common
Portion
Portion
Portion
Portion
Marketers
Common
Portion
Media
Owner
Portion
Media
Owner
Portion
Individual
Company
Portion
Media
Owner
Portion
Media
Owner
Portion
Media
Owner
Portion
Industry Structure
MASTER AGREEMENT
All Stakeholders
INDUSTY WIDE FORUM STAKEHOLDERS
(AMO Stakeholders)
PMSA
ALL
PRINT
(PMSA)
ACA
AMF
MFSA
Cinemark
NAB
OHMSA
LEVY COLLECTION AGENCY
MFSA / ACA / AMF / AMO STAKEHOLDERS
BENEFICIARY ORGNAISATIONS
SAARF / ASA
OPA
SABC
SAARF’s mandate
• The main object of the Company is:
• To provide tools for targeting and segmentation of
markets as well as to establish, commission and manage
comprehensive, valid, reliable, continuous media
audience and product usage research, surveys,
investigations and reports, that provide comparable
multi-media and multi-product/brand usage information
that reflect the totality and complexity of the South
African society.
–
SAARF MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION ADOPTED IN 2004
SAARF’s mandate
• SAARF is an independent authority, acting
as the custodian of the currency on which
we buy and sell media and advertising
space and a clearinghouse for industry
research.
Objectives of SAARF
•
Facilitating, co-ordinating and determining the joint industry research needs
of its stakeholders.
•
To ensure that these needs are met within the limitations of the funding
available for this activity.
•
To keep track of local and international developments, ensuring that new
approaches are explored and developed, and that the necessary joint
industry research programs, which accurately reflect South African society,
are implemented, managed, and monitored.
•
To provide tools for targeting and segmentation of markets.
•
To establish, commission and manage comprehensive, valid, reliable,
continuous media audience and product usage research, surveys,
investigations and reports, that provide comparable multi-media and multiproduct/brand usage information that reflect the totality and complexity of
the South African society.
Objectives of SAARF
•
To co-ordinate joint industry research amongst the advertising, marketing and media
industries.
•
To investigate any research techniques whether in practice or proposed and to
establish the degree of validity and reliability of the results obtained thereby; to seek
improved methods in media audience and product usage research and to provide
improved tools for targeting and segmentation of markets
•
To act as a liaison between the advertising, marketing and media industry and
universities, government and other official bodies involved in any form of education or
research related to media audience, demographic and product usage research as
well as tools for targeting and segmentation of markets.
•
To arrange seminars and courses directly or indirectly sponsored by the South African
Advertising Research Foundation on any or all aspects of advertising, media or
market research as well as tools for targeting and segmentation of markets.
•
To act as mouthpiece of the industry on matters pertaining to media audience and
product usage research as well as tools for targeting and segmentation of markets.
Objectives of SAARF
•
To promote and maintain fair, reasonable and proper standards of media
audience and product usage research as well as for tools for targeting and
segmentation of markets.
•
To maintain and augment a library containing information concerning media
audience, product usage, and related research as well as on tools for
targeting and segmentation of markets, and to make it accessible to
members, students and the general public.
•
To do all such other acts, including the publication in print or electronic
format, of books, memoranda, journals, magazines, circulars, reports and
any documents or databases as the South African Advertising Research
Foundation may consider expedient to promote the interests of members.
•
Likewise to do all things and carry on any activity related, connected or
associated with any of the above objects and purposes.
•
To finance the operations of the Company by engaging in any lawful activity
which may generate funding for the Company.
Guiding Principles of LCA
• Principle 1:
– Beneficiaries Of The LCA Should Be Organizations Serving The
Whole Industry.
• Principle 2:
– The Boards Of The Beneficiary Bodies Must Decide What The
Industry’s Needs Are In Their Areas Of Expertise
• Principle 3:
– Close Cooperation Must Exist Between The LCA And The Boards
Of Beneficiary Organizations
• Principle 4:
– The method of funding must be fair towards all stakeholders
The governance issue
• Following on the recommendations of the Industry Working Group,
the SAARF Board appointed a SAARF Governance Task Team
• This Task Team met 6 times over a period of about 4 months before
it made its final report to the Board.
• Some of the important points that came out of these deliberations
were:
– The importance of the SAARF surveys for target marketing.
– Access to the currency mustn’t be limited. SAARF must protect the
currency but must give access to anyone who needs it.
– The analogy that the Reserve Bank does not allow anyone to print
money but everyone must have access to printed money was
mentioned.
The governance issue
• Subjects addressed by SAARF Governance
Task Team
–
–
–
–
–
–
The Functions, Structure and Functioning of SAARF
Size and composition of SAARF Board
Sub-committees of the SAARF Board
Drafting of a new Memorandum of Association
Drafting of new Articles of Association
Dispute Resolution (included in the articles of
association)
– The possibility of changing the name of SAARF
– Representation of SAARF Board members on Boards
of Funding organizations
The governance issue
•
The new Memorandum of Association as well as the new Articles of
Association of SAARF were adopted on May 2004, giving SAARF a
fresh new mandate and clarifying its future direction.
•
But still it was not over:
•
The Governance task team also recommended that the full SAARF
Board must meet as soon as possible for a 1 day workshop to look at
future strategy
The SAARF Tender process
•
The SAARF Tender Committee worked on the following 5 Tenders:
– SAARF All Media and Products Survey (AMPS®)
– SAARF Products and Brands, Interests and Activities (Life Styles) Selfcompletion Survey
– SAARF Electronic Measurement of Outdoor Advertising Survey (SAARF OMS)
– SAARF Tender for Data Integration of two or more surveys by using fusion or
other techniques across all SAARF products such as AMPS, TAMS, RAMS,
SAARF OMS, etc.
– SAARF Radio Audience Measurement Survey (RAMS®)
•
Key objective of the tender committee was to spread the net in terms of
suppliers.
•
The tender committee decided to award the AMPS, RAMS and selfcompletion tenders jointly to Shonigani and African Response.
Summary of SAARF Research
YEAR
RAMS®
AMPS®
Comments
1999
4 Diaries
2 AMPS®
•
•
•
Strategy 2001 fully implemented (Except for psychograpics)
Plus Teen RAMS®
Plus Child AMPS® and RAMS®
2000
3 Diaries
2 AMPS®
•
•
Review of SAARF and all its products.
Preparatory work for change to 12 month rolling data for
AMPS® and RAMS® and expansion of TAMS® panel
2001
2 Diaries
2 AMPS®
•
•
•
FMCG done as a self-completion questionnaire
Only one 6-month diary during 2nd half of year in preparation
for the new improved RAMS® which was fully implemented
with the publication of results in August 2001
TAMS® panel modernised and enlarged
2002
2 Diaries
2 AMPS®
•6-monthly reporting on a rolling 12-month sample for both
AMPS® and RAMS® as the industry currency.
•TAMS® moving towards final level of 1 356 reporting homes with
the help of additional funding by the TV media owners.
•Outdoor pilot study.
•Introduction of SAARF Branded data as a user-pay service on
AMPS® 2002B.
2003
2 Diaries
2 AMPS ®
•Reduced sample for AMPS® and RAMS®
•Drastic shortening of AMPS® questionnaire
•Last Outdoor study using Copland model
•TAMS® at a final level of just over 1 300 reporting homes
Summary of SAARF Research
YEAR
2004
RAMS®
6 Diaries
AMPS®
1 AMPS®
Comments
•
•
•
•
Sample size for AMPS® 2004 survey approximately 12 000.
Currency still 12 month rolling data (AMPS 2003B plus
AMPS 2004)
AMPS® questionnaire similar to 2003B
RAMS® sample up to approximately 41 000 diaries due to
introduction of flooding
TAMS® at a final level of 1 356 reporting homes
Some of the achievements
•
Participation in the Transformation debate
•
Transformation of the Board of Directors
•
The award of the tender to Shonigani and African Response
•
The introduction of AMPS on the base research model
•
The introduction of the new RAMS reporting 6 times a year
•
The introduction of overnight ratings in TAMS
•
Participation in the outdoor pilot in South Africa and Chicago
•
Extending Branded AMPS and making it freely available
•
The growth of PAMRO and the development of JIC on the African continent
Way forward
•
We agreed the merits of joint industry research taking into account the
different requirements, of the advertising, marketing and media industries.
•
We need to preserve the technical experience and learnings that have been
gained by SAARF over the years and further strengthen local media
audience and products/brands research expertise.
•
The importance of SAARF surveys for target marketing is indisputable –
thus the provision of data and tools for targeting and segmentation of
markets must continue.
•
Access to multi-media and multi-product/brand currency by all SAARF
stakeholders must be unlimited.
•
SAARF’s most basic task is to give access to the currency to all
stakeholders.
Special thank you’s
•
Board of Directors
•
The stakeholders
–
–
–
–
–
–
•
The Marketers
PMSA
NAB (TV & Radio)
OHMSA
ACA
AMF
The Staff of SAARF