Jenny Chan 陳詠欣
Sep 17, 2013

Former Nielsen executives start consultancy to address 'servicing gap'

GREATER CHINA - Former Nielsen colleagues Jeff Stewart and Christophe Cazes have co-founded a market information consultancy, Asia Market Development (AMD), to offer an alternative approach to the "inflexible solutions by larger global firms that aren’t designed for the demand and speed of this market".

Former Nielsen executives start consultancy to address 'servicing gap'

AMD was co-founded in early July as an employee-owned partnership, and is officially launching today with corporate offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The company targets clients in the luxury goods, FMCG, information technology, and health and wellness sectors.

Stewart told Campaign Asia-Pacific that AMD is positioned in the middle of companies such as TNS, Ipsos, Nielsen, and McKinsey.

"It's not a research agency," he said. "It's not a traditional business consultancy, but a data-based market information firm that's able to integrate business-performance data, media-audit data, retail-audit data, consumption data, economic data—and translate them to actionable insights and recommendations."

Stewart and Cazes view themselves as "marketing information experts who complimented each other through a unique combination of talents and strengths". Both shared the belief that an essential gap existed in the Greater China marketplace in terms of timely information to allow clients to react in a more efficient and effective manner.

"Global research solutions are not adapted or scalable for China, especially in tracking and monitoring that leads to better ROI," Stewart said. "We have an understanding from the IMC perspective to drive business results via optimisation of communication planning."

AMD intends to fill this gap by providing made-for-Greater-China solutions, such as what it calls the 'China Pulse', which is similar to Nielsen's quarterly consumer confidence survey that also measures the degree of optimism that people feel about the overall state of the economy and their personal financial situation.

Claiming it to be a representative sample of China, the differentiator of the 'China Pulse', according to Stewart, will be that it is more specific about certain industries or product categories. "We're still working on the framework now, but the first wave will be out before the end of this year," he added.

Stewart previously served as managing director at Nielsen Consumer Research and BASES Greater China, while Cazes led one of Nielsen’s largest accounts (Unilever) in Northeast Asia. AMD's other partner on board is Yvonne Shen, who was most recently in charge of the development of the media ROI tracking system at L’Oreal APAC.

Having received capital investment from US-based Huntington Capital, AMD plans to recruit up to six partners and 35 employees by December. A three-year plan is also in place to develop in-house research technology with possible acquisitions if needed. AMD currently partners with data providers like Cido, CNCData, Research Panel Asia, and Lin Consulting.

Source:
Campaign Asia

Related Articles

Just Published

7 hours ago

Agency Report Card 2024: Ogilvy

Ogilvy APAC celebrated a strong creative year in 2024, clinching top regional honours at Cannes Lions. Yet operational headwinds, particularly in China, tested its resilience and reshaped its growth strategy.

7 hours ago

Campaign Global Agency of the Year Awards 2024: ...

Ogilvy and UM win global network of the year awards for creative and media respectively, while Special agency in New Zealand earns Asia-Pacific network of the year.

9 hours ago

Apple Watch’s heart story strikes a chord in Japan

Apple’s new Japan campaign tells the real-life story of a heavy metal fan whose Apple Watch alerts help detect a life-threatening heart condition just in time.

9 hours ago

2025 Cannes Contenders: RGA creatives weigh in

A ubiquitous surname, a sexually transmitted infection, the printing of memories and an animal god that helps gamers might all bring fame glory to campaigns in Cannes next week.