June 2005 GMI Newsletter

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Rob Monster named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year

Rob Monster, CEO of GMI, has won the Ernst & Young 2005 Entrepreneur Of The Year award for the Pacific Northwest region, in the Technology & Software category.

This award, established by professional services firm Ernst & Young LLP in 1988, "embraces the entrepreneurial spirit and determination necessary to achieve success," according to Steve Young, E&Y Principal. An independent panel of local business, academic, and community leaders selects the winners based on vision, leadership and the ability to grow the successful businesses that sustain our economy.

Described as the Academy Awards of Entrepreneurship, the gala event in Seattle was hosted by hilarious local television personality, Jon Curley. Sponsors Ernst & Young presented video and sound footage of all honorees to a crowd of nearly 1,000. GMI's representatives from GMI's Senior Management Team and Board of Directors, their spouses and significant others attended the event.

"Winning this award, and representing the U.S. Northwest states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, is a great honor for me and for our company,” said Rob Monster. Past winners include Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com and Howard Schultz of Starbucks. "This kind of recognition raises GMI's profile, allowing us to attract more great people, and to build enthusiasm among prospective investors. We've also forged some important new relationships through the process," adds Rob.

GMI will now compete with winners from 31 regions for the national award, which will be presented at a black-tie gala in Palm Springs in November. National award winners from 35 countries compete for the E&Y global award.

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Superior sample without spending more

GMI delivers the highest integrity sample and we're ready to prove it.

GMI's superior sampling methodologies provide the only true representative sample available in over 20 countries. What's more, GMI is competitive on almost any project, both domestic and international.

Top 5 qualifiers you should ask any sample provider before you buy:

• How are panelists incentivized? (Lotteries and contests just don't work.)
• Can the vendor provide representative sample balanced on age, gender, region, ethnicity, and race? Is it weighted back to income?
• How do you recruit? (Strictly using online recruiting won't offset the Internet skew.)
• Are global respondents recruited in their native language?
• How will the company complete your project if their sample falls short of quotas?

GMI Poll has generated a wealth of timely data on a variety of subjects, from consumer use of electronics and cell phones, to global opinions of government and nation brand image. As a benefit to our licensees, we'll make the full dataset of any of these studies available to you. It's an invaluable resource when you're researching an industry for a new-client pitch. Click here to browse the library.

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Anholt Nation Brands Index Q2 Report to be released in August

The Anholt Nation Brands Index Q1 Report, released in late May, produced revealing results. Sweden outranked all other nations based on six key verticals: brands/products, culture, governance, investment/immigration, people, and tourism. The United States came in at fourth place (tied with Germany), due to low rankings in the culture and governance verticals. The results were quickly covered by global media outlets from the Financial Times to the BBC.

The Anholt Nation Brands Index Q2 Report, to be released in late July, promises to be equally engaging. Drawing upon the GMI Global Panels' reach of 5 million global consumers, 25 countries will now be ranked, up from 11 in the Q1 report. The Q2 Report will also include a special section: Is a consumer's perception of a nation's brand affected by traveling to an Anholt Nation Brands Index nation? How does this impact Brand America in light of recent global anti-American sentiment?

Nation brands expert, Simon Anholt, will provide penetrating insights into these questions and more…stay tuned!

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Larry Schack to join GMI as VP of Global Client Services

In our continuing drive to emerge as the preferred provider of software, panel and data collection services to the global market research industry, GMI has consolidated leadership of the worldwide Client Services team under Larry Schack. In a newly-created role as Vice President of Global Client Services, Larry will join GMI August 1 leading the company's Client Services efforts in the US, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Greater China, and Japan.

Larry brings great talent, skills and experience to his new role with GMI.
While at Microsoft, he directed and supervised worldwide market research projects, driving strategy and implementation plans that addressed competitive challenges, crises, and global announcements. Prior to joining GMI, Larry established and headed up the Seattle office of Penn, Schoen and Berland - a strategy consulting, communications and market research firm within the WPP Group - focusing especially on Microsoft.

Rob Monster, GMI CEO, comments: "This change is about deeper integration and sharpening the focus of Client Services in coordination with Global Sales and Marketing to win customers, drive satisfaction and grow the business. Larry will continue building on the great momentum we have achieved so far in 2005 in order to further strengthen our partnerships with customers and emerge as the preferred supplier to the industry.

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Mark Houston appointed as GMI's first Chief Marketing Officer

Mark Houston, formerly GMI Vice President, Marketing, was appointed as GMI's new Chief Marketing Officer. "It's been very exciting to be part of the astronomical growth and to drive marketing and sales initiatives to make GMI the industry leader in software and service solutions. While I am proud of my accomplishments over the past three years, I am even more excited about the huge opportunities for GMI that lie ahead," comments Mark.

Mark Houston brings to bear upon his CMO duties an extensive range of experience. He has developed top-rated national and international marketing programs. His most prominent accomplishment was the introduction of kiwifruit to America while serving as President and CEO of the California Kiwifruit Commission. This management, marketing, and branding success is used by Ivy League textbooks as a case study in innovative marketing.

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Net-MR tip of the month

Did you know?

Have you ever read about an innovative survey technique that you wanted to try, but weren't sure how to implement? Chances are, we've already programmed it into Net-MR. There's so much we can do to make surveys more effective and engaging. So every month we're going to bring you a new technique, just to get your creative juices flowing.

Net-MR Tip #1: Did you know that Net-MR's survey authoring tool allows you to split the respondent's view into different frames?

That's right. You can show your respondent an image, a concept, an advertisement, a video or an audio clip in a separate frame adjacent to your survey questions. Allowing respondents to navigate a website, while participating in a survey is another great way to use Net-MR Split Screen capabilities.

Try a short demo of Split Screen Features

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Who's new at GMI

Larry Schack, Vice President, Global Client Services. (See full story above)

Marcio Boiajion, Sales Director, Sao Paulo. Since 1997, Marcio has served as the Executive Director ABEP (Associacao Brazileira de Empresas de Pesquisa) where he developed relationships with major market research companies, and created and implemented a database system to easily identify the frequent presence of respondents in discussion groups. Prior to ABEP, he was Partner/Manager for Confeccoes Kalila Ltda, and Sales Manger for Perfect Comercio e Technologia Ltda. He holds a degree in Mathematics from Sao Paulo University and pursued post-graduate studies in Data Processsing and Marketing.

Catarina Rocha, Associate Director, Latin America, Sao Paulo. Catarina will contribute her 15 years of experience in Web system analysis and development, data modeling, and building panels to her new position in Sao Paulo. She has served as data architect and consultant for ARO Sistemas, assigned to Brasil Telecom. At eCMetrics, a consumer knowledge and customer relationship services company in Sao Paulo, she helped build an online global community for Latin America and Iberia markets executing recruitment campaigns and managing panel projects. She holds a Masters in Computer Science and has published a number of papers on web-based information.

Juliano Lima, Associate Director of Sales, Sao Paulo. Juliano has more than 10 years of experience in IT working with companies in wholesale commerce, utilities, and finance. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese with an MBA, Sao Paulo/SP. He has served as Sales Representative in Brazil for Net IQ Corporation, Sales Engineer for Computer Associates of Brazil, and System Administrator for Platinum Technology.

Jashondra Crockett, Director of Operations, Los Angeles. A multi-talented executive with both domestic and international market research experience, Jashondra joins GMI from Nielsen Entertainment (a VNU Company) in Los Angeles where she was Manager of Data Processing responsible for complete in-sourcing of all Nielsen's Theatrical Ad Test projects. Previously she served as Global Manager for Production Services (US and UK – Survey and Samples Division) for SPSS and as Vice President, Director of Online Research for STARS (Survey Tabulations and Research Systems) for a market research data processing firm with offices in the U.S. and Mexico.

Charles Dai, Development Manager, IT Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Charles has a long background as a developer and then development team manger for such premier companies as Glenayre, Motorola, Kabira Technologies, and Faucon Wireless. Charles and his team will be responsible for ensuring GMI's development project are operating at maximum efficiency and working closely with GMI Release Management to ensure that code released to customers is of the highest quality.

Adam Rubens, Panel Recruitment Project Manager, Seattle. Adam joins GMI from Fisher Communications where he served as a Web Account Executive. Previously he was an Account Executive for Media West Advertising Sales. He holds a Communications degree from the University of Washington, and studied abroad in Rome.

Amy Tung, Project Manager, Seattle. With an international studies degree and a minor in Chinese from the University of Washington, Amy most recently served as Editor-in-Chief of the UW's US-China Trade Policy Recommendation. While completing her studies, she interned as Marketing Researcher for Intel in Bejing, China, as a Casework/Outreach Intern for U.S. Senator Patty Murray, and International Marketing/Trade Policy Intern for Bryan Christie, International Affairs Management.

Martin Zych, Project Manager, Seattle. While earning his business degree from the University of Washington, Martin has pursued a number of business ventures and projects including developing and testing a cell phone battery design (patent pending) and founded Ikonmedia, a web design company, at the age of 16. He also interned with the BiotechMonthly, analyzing the pharmaceutical industry. In his spare time he runs auto track racing events for the Spots Car Club of America.

Lee Adams, Marketing Assistant, Seattle. With experience in business development and proven people skills, Lee now brings his sales and leadership abilities to GMI. His background includes Development Assistant for Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and a Bachelor of Arts in International Business from Seattle Pacific University.

Larry Hu, Desktop Support Intern, Operations, Seattle. Most recently Computer Support Specialist for the University of Washington, with a long list of academic engineering awards, honors, and technical certifications, Larry Hu holds a Computer Science & Engineering degree from the University of Washington. He also has substantial experience in web hosting and online technologies.

Akiyo Yamazaki, AP/Staff Accountant, Seattle. Majoring in Accounting and consistently on the Dean's list, Akiyo recently earned his Business Administration degree from the University of Washington. Fluent in Japanese and English, his work experience includes Manager and Assistant Manager for Aeon East Japan Corporation and positions with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Travel Data, and Nihon Life Insurance, all in Tokyo.

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Best practices

Healthcare research: Multiple methods for multiple specialties

Targeting physicians using online methodologies
Traditionally, physician studies took weeks depending on the methodology and sampling size, with high costs due to survey complexity, the time and effort to recruit medical professionals, plus honorariums. Low response rates threatened survey validity. Now researchers are taking their surveys online, coupled with creative multi-mode recruitment methods that include phone-to-Web and fax-to-Web recruiting. This article, reprinted with permission from the June 2005 issue of Quirks, shows how online surveys of health care professionals – even surgeons, one of the most troublesome targets-- provide the flexibility to handle even the most complex surveys including piping, rating, ranking and randomization of attributes. What's more, combining online with traditional methods researchers are boosting rates, and shortening field times... More...

Net-MR offers the ideal platform for integrated, mixed-mode data collection and recruiting. To survey health care professionals, you can buy sample from GMI Global Panels or build your own proprietary sample using Net-MR panel management software.

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