Agreement On Key Industry Action

Delegates meeting in Geneva this week at the Third Market Research Leaders Summit (Releas) have decided to support a new worldwide initiative to represent the market research industry at the legislative level in all major world markets to promote laws that protect consumer privacy while assuring the freedom to perform market and opinion research.

The leaders also decided to strengthen the added value of market research to businesses through a global online platform to share best practices and help create metrics to measure the Return On Investment of market research and marketing. In addition, the leaders gathering in Geneva have taken measures to empower market researchers working on the client side, by intensifying their partnership with their counterparts in market research agencies.

'Creating worldwide presence at the legislative level is a major step ahead for the market research industry, which is in increasing demand, but also experiences increasing pressure from legislative proposals aimed at limiting the freedom of businesses to contact consumers or use consumer data,' Larry Mock, President of CMOR and one of the initiators of the new Global Legislative Initiative (GLI), said.

'One of the main tasks of the Global Legislative Initiative is to inform lawmakers and the public about the distinctions between market research, which has a scientific basis and a strong track-record of guaranteeing confidentiality of data and consumer's privacy, and other activities,' Mario van Hamersveld, director general of ESOMAR, added.

Leaders of market research providers have committed to additional funding of the Global Legislative Initiative, on top of current investments. The plan involves investments of up to 3.5 to 4 million dollars covering the first three years of operations. Leaders will review the GLI's accomplishments on a year-to-year basis.

Establishing the Global Legislative Initiative is a step-by-step process. Its European office, run by the Research Alliance, was already set up last year in Brussels. In the North American market, GLI since 2002 has been represented by the North American Survey Research Alliance (NASRA), covering legislative efforts in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. GLI efforts will be set up in Asia and Latin America in 2004.

Other steps taken at the third and last RELEAS market research leaders summit include:

• Establishment of the Global Research Online Workshop (GROW), an online platform for market research professionals to share best practices confidentially, provide benchmarking tools sustaining the measurement of ROI of market research and to collect trend data and case stories.
  
• Initiatives to strengthen the position of market researchers operating on the demand side of the industry will be taken, including high level meetings, such as the 'Managing Research for Profit Forum' scheduled for May 2003 in Brussels, aimed at demonstrating and improving the return on investment of market research.

The industry will set up a World Industry Network, a flexible platform to continue the successful dialogue of leaders of both providers and market research clients that started with the RELEAS process in 2001. ARF and ESOMAR/EFAMRO will organize industry leaders gatherings once every two years, as well as meetings of representatives of market research associations, which will also take place every other year, enabling the industry to discuss trends and issues at a worldwide level on an annual basis.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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