Print Media South Africa (PMSA) has thrown a lifeline to the cash-strapped South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF), agreeing to fund a R2.5 million shortfall.
For some time it has been rumoured that SAARF, responsible for media products and brand research, is on the brink of collapse due to shortfalls in funding. Allegations levelled by Tim Bester, director of Target Group Index, an international marketing research company in South Africa, have helped take the polish off a decidedly grubby public image.
“The vicious cycle that has been evident over the years of SAARF’s existence lends credibility to the lack of an economic imperative, no matter how hard the SAARF board attempts to be frugal,” Bester recently said.
“As long as there is no cost check or, if the mandate is unclear, then these pressures to measure more, and yet more, will always be there,” he added.
SAARF chairman Howard Gabriels however contends that funding issues have been grossly exaggerated. Costs for this year’s All Media and Products Survey (AMPS) were increased due to SAARF’s decision to add another contractor on top of their long-standing relationship with marketing information company AC Nielsen.
“We needed another contractor who can compete with equal skills. In the short term we are paying more but in the long-term it is a more competitive contribution to the industry, which people don’t appreciate,” Gabriels said.
SAARF chief executive Paul Haupt explains: “With two suppliers, you can compare results, you can see problems and you have a built-in quality check.
“If there’s a problem with one, you are able to get the other to step in and assist. There is no negotiating strength with one supplier,” said Haupt.
The chief roadblock on the road to healthy funding was Print Media South Africa’s (PMSA) decision three years ago to cut their contribution.
Based on last year’s budget, SAARF had a total annual budget of R60 million, of which R11.5 million went to RAMS (Radio Audience Measurement Survey), R21.8 million went to TAMS (Television Audience Measurement Survey) and R13.2 went to AMPS. The print media paid between R7 million and R8 million, despite new titles being added to the survey.
“In all the media types, media owners are willing to contribute more – TV, radio and outdoor – to media research because they see the value,” said Gabriels. “Print is the opposite and has cut its contribution by more than half.”
That was true until last week, when SAARF and PMSA reached a settlement in which PMSA would fund the R2.5 million shortfall SAARF needed for this year’s budget.
PMSA President Connie Molusi confirmed the agreement, saying the organisation looked forward to a “mutually beneficial relationship” with SAARF.
“Yes, indeed it is true that a funding gap arose out of the splitting of the contract to two suppliers, and that new titles were added to the survey, but also the sample size was increased,” Molusi said.
“PMSA had never taken a decision to willy nilly cut its contribution to SAARF, we arrived at the position three years ago because our view was that the costs were spiralling out of control without a discernable benefit.
“We agreed on a base cost which was incorporated into the master agreement among stakeholders, and we were quite happy with the outcome.”
SAARF’s Haupt said the extra money would create opportunities for skills development.
“R2.5 Million on a total budget of R60 Million is a small part of our budget but it’s still a sizable amount of money and we are very thankful that the PMSA has agreed to come up with the necessary funding.
“This was an important decision by the industry because it will lead to an increase of skills in the field of media audience measurement which will eventually benefit all users of media audience research. It is, however, a decision that entails an added investment by the industry for a future return,” said Haupt.
According to SAARF, there is absolutely nothing standing in the way of future AMPS surveys. There are certainly people in the industry who freely express admiration for SAARF and the model of free AMPS.
In The Media on February 1st, Jos Kuper of Kuper Research was quoted as saying “Buddhist philosophy talks about the ‘interconnectedness of all things’ and AMPS appears to be getting there too. The other delight, of course, is that it is free to all AMPS users. This is an exciting facility that allows a fairly holistic view of the marketplace, which should prove enormously useful to advertisers and marketers in 2006.”