Market analysis survey Biogoraphy
China’s manufacturing prowess has left many of the country’s trading partners wondering exactly what they can sell the Chinese in return. But there are a few industries the West is still much better at, among them consumer market research. And it’s an industry that, in China, is suddenly in demand.
With its booming middle class, China has become one of the fastest-growing markets for major global polling and data analysis firms. The demand for data about China’s increasingly acquisitive consumers has surged among multinational as well as domestic companies, and Chinese research practices are scrambling to keep up. Western specialists, including Canadians, are filling in the gaps, quietly becoming experts in Chinese tastes in everything from packaged groceries to luxury brands.
The reason China has been outsourcing some of its market research is simple, says Norman Baillie-David, vice-president of the Ottawa office of TNS, a research firm based in London, U.K., that has seen double-digit growth in China in recent years. “It’s the fact that in the Communist system, public opinion wasn’t valued until recently,” he says.
TNS—which employs Canadian staff—is looking to expand its branches in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and has opened offices dedicated to political and social research in South Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia. There is an exchange of knowledge taking place, he says, between westerners well-schooled in the art of public opinion and Asians with a better understanding of cultural nuances and local realities. “There are many Chinese expats who have studied in Europe bringing that expertise back,” he says.
Vancouver-based global consumer research company Vision Critical is following suit. Launched in 2000 by Andrew Reid, son of renowned pollster Angus Reid, Vision Critical opened its Asian headquarters in Hong Kong earlier this year and plans to have a branch in mainland China by the year’s end. The company, which builds websites and other online platforms that brands use to glean feedback from customers, maintains digital communities for Asian firms such as airline Cathay Pacific, media company Haymarket and Singapore-based telecom SingTel.
The marketplace is wide open. The number of Internet users in China rose to 538 million earlier this year, and the country’s retail sales grew 14.4% in the third quarter, nearly double the overall rate of GDP growth. While China’s political system remains undemocratic—its imminent once-a-decade leadership handover won’t require public input—its plugged-in populace is increasingly making its voice heard in various ways.
“Obviously, public opinion [in China] has been different from consumer sentiment,” says Reid. “But this ability to ask and find out why customers do what they do and say what they say is important for any brand.”
China’s manufacturing prowess has left many of the country’s trading partners wondering exactly what they can sell the Chinese in return. But there are a few industries the West is still much better at, among them consumer market research. And it’s an industry that, in China, is suddenly in demand.
With its booming middle class, China has become one of the fastest-growing markets for major global polling and data analysis firms. The demand for data about China’s increasingly acquisitive consumers has surged among multinational as well as domestic companies, and Chinese research practices are scrambling to keep up. Western specialists, including Canadians, are filling in the gaps, quietly becoming experts in Chinese tastes in everything from packaged groceries to luxury brands.
The reason China has been outsourcing some of its market research is simple, says Norman Baillie-David, vice-president of the Ottawa office of TNS, a research firm based in London, U.K., that has seen double-digit growth in China in recent years. “It’s the fact that in the Communist system, public opinion wasn’t valued until recently,” he says.
TNS—which employs Canadian staff—is looking to expand its branches in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and has opened offices dedicated to political and social research in South Korea, Vietnam and Cambodia. There is an exchange of knowledge taking place, he says, between westerners well-schooled in the art of public opinion and Asians with a better understanding of cultural nuances and local realities. “There are many Chinese expats who have studied in Europe bringing that expertise back,” he says.
Vancouver-based global consumer research company Vision Critical is following suit. Launched in 2000 by Andrew Reid, son of renowned pollster Angus Reid, Vision Critical opened its Asian headquarters in Hong Kong earlier this year and plans to have a branch in mainland China by the year’s end. The company, which builds websites and other online platforms that brands use to glean feedback from customers, maintains digital communities for Asian firms such as airline Cathay Pacific, media company Haymarket and Singapore-based telecom SingTel.
The marketplace is wide open. The number of Internet users in China rose to 538 million earlier this year, and the country’s retail sales grew 14.4% in the third quarter, nearly double the overall rate of GDP growth. While China’s political system remains undemocratic—its imminent once-a-decade leadership handover won’t require public input—its plugged-in populace is increasingly making its voice heard in various ways.
“Obviously, public opinion [in China] has been different from consumer sentiment,” says Reid. “But this ability to ask and find out why customers do what they do and say what they say is important for any brand.”
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