Christine Crowe of CC International is one of the best known recruiters of researchers for the Australian industry, although you’ll also find CC International advertising a number of Asian positions on MrWeb. Here Christine argues the case for Australia’s links to Asia (for a different assessment or emphasis, see pasrts of Derek Leddie’s article, Land of Opportunity) and also talks about the MR jobs market in Asia itself.
Australia’s Asian Links
Australia is an excellent gateway for research into Asia. European, US and UK market research professionals find that Australia is sophisticated in research terms and uses the latest research tools and techniques - and the culture and market research practices are often similar to those used in their own countries.
Allied to this however, Australians often have a good understanding of Asian cultures. There are a lot of Asian speaking residents, and many teams of senior executives include people of Asian origins - and it is important for an agency to have native speaking people for the countries in which they do research. For example, an agency in Melbourne, Newton Wayman and Chong has a multi-lingual division which conducts surveys throughout Asia by telephone.
Australia may be a good few hours’ flight from much of Asia, but an Aussie market research agency also has the advantage of similar time zones to Asian countries.
Therefore, if handled properly, a project making use of Australia as a gateway can succeed, although researchers doing so would benefit from experience as some project types / parts of projects are more appropriate for this than others. For example, quantitative research and report writing where there is a strong empathy for Asia is accessible in Australia and is ideal for pilot testing a project, whereas for qualitative research it’s appropriate to use local moderators.
Opportunities in Asia
There are always opportunities for Market Researchers throughout Asia, particularly with large global brands who need experienced insights managers who can communicate easily with their headquarters. They need to understand the company's global market research and insights practices and disseminate these to the local business units. Mostly these companies are searching for growth opportunities and the Insights Manager would customise and implement insights methodologies and teach local sales and marketing teams on how to use insights to make fact based marketing decisions and develop business plans.
Market Research is growing throughout Asia, particularly since the downturn in the economy. Market Research agencies have an increasing demand for qualified professional market researchers who can adapt quickly into an Asian culture. Highest in demand are those people who can promote and develop new business. Also those individuals with strong advanced statistical and modelling skills. Quantitative researchers are our greatest need but we are always interested in strong qualitative researchers who can train local moderators and manage regional projects.
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