New Asian Panels Launched

Full service agency InterfaceASIA has announced the launch of new online panels in India, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

InterfaceASIA was established in 1993 as the US arm of Tokyo-based market-research agency Interface In Design (IID), and has its US base in Torrance, California.

The company has existing panels in Japan, China and Korea, offering both consumer and business-to-business respondents, with a particular focus on the medical/physician market. It is also known for expertise in the automotive sector and for usability testing and product design research.

The new Indian panel launches with 23,600 consumers, a business-to-business panel of 2,600 and a medical panel of 3,200; the Taiwanese panel has 153,000 members on the consumer panel and 31,000 on the business-to-business panel and the Hong Kong panel has 21,500 consumers, including proprietary and partner panels.

The firm's US Operations President Tom Kojima comments: 'We are really excited to launch these new panels in three important markets. At a time when many developed countries are experiencing a challenging economy, our clients are interested in understanding what business potential exists in some of the developing markets in Asia.'

InterfaceAsia says it is particularly excited by the Indian launch, as unlike many panels in the country it uses fresh contacts and collects detailed attributes for each panelist. According to Kojima: 'we believe we have developed one of the most sophisticated and reliable online panels in India. Until now offline research techniques such as face-toface interviewing have been the primary research methodology for market research in India.' The company will ensure its demographic composition is nationally representative and that it continues to expand.

The company conducts research in Japan and across Asia Pacific for companies based in the US and Europe and coordinates projects for Japanese firms worldwide. It is online at www.interfaceasia.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.