Benard Okasi Interview

Benard Okasi is GeoPoll’s Director of Research, and oversees GeoPoll’s research team and data outputs. Below is an abbreviated version of a conversation he had with Roxana Elliott, VP Marketing, about his background in research and how the industry is shifting to mobile methods.

Roxana Elliott: Thanks for joining me! Can you start by telling me a bit about your background and where you worked before GeoPoll?

Benard Okasi: Prior to GeoPoll I was at Synovate, a research company that operates in multiple countries – I started there in 2011 and it was later acquired by Ipsos in 2012. At Ipsos I worked in different positions, moving from a research assistant up to a senior research executive. My role was mainly business development, project management and providing insights to clients through reports with actionable insights. Towards the end of 2014, my main focus was on Coca Cola account, and I was placed at Coke as an implant for a year where my main role was to support the client on the projects that were executed by Ipsos for Coke in the then CEWA business unit team.

RE: Why did you first come to GeoPoll and how long have you been here?

BO: While working at Ipsos, the CEO of GeoPoll gave a presentation to research firms in Nairobi about mobile research and where the future of data collection is heading, which is self-completion surveys through mobile, and GeoPoll is here to help bridge the gap. I was curious about the new way GeoPoll was doing data collection through mobile and not having researchers need to go out and collect data in person. I have now been at GeoPoll for 5 years, I first started as a research executive working on data and client support, then managing our partnership relationships with other research agencies, and now leading the research team.

RE: Can you tell me more about the research team and what your responsibilities are?

BO:The research team now is made up of 15 staff, within which we have a data processing team, data analysts, and media analysts. The data processing team does data cleaning, processing and data quality checks. Our data analysts deal with complex analysis of data – for example if clients need significance testing. The media data team looks at audience measurement data and generates actionable insights for our clients. Most of our team members have a research background and have studied statistics hence able to look into data from a statistical point of view and provide complex analysis when required.

RE: What excites you about working for GeoPoll?

BO: What excites me is the team energy and synergy to support clients – when you look at the speed at which we complete projects, with the combined efforts of different departments, we can deliver projects within 2-3 days or a week. We are also able to sit in a central office and collect data in over 50 countries, which shows what the future is in remote data collection. I love the combined effort of the team, and if there are issues in a project we sit down as a team and come up with solutions and the way forward without delays.

RE: How does what we offer at GeoPoll compare to traditional methods in your experience?

BO: If clients go for traditional research, you can only use past data or say old data to inform on their decisions, and what we’ve found at GeoPoll is that most clients want real time information. With mobile research, we can get a set questions from client today and be able to give clients results tomorrow. GeoPoll plays a key role in delivering quality, timely and cost-effective results to clients.

RE: Have you seen a resistance of people moving to mobile research?

There are tracker projects that have been running using traditional research for a long time targeting general population and because mobile data collection only targets a mobile owned population, some clients are resistant to changing the methodology. But markets are changing quickly as mobile penetration has grown over the years – in Kenya I think mobile penetration is over 90%, so that tells you that the people we are targeting through mobile and the information they give us won’t be different from what we would get through traditional (face to face) research. I think that mobile data collection is the future, and the future is here.

RE: Are there any new products you are working on within the research team?

As we continue to drive real-time data delivery to clients, we have made improvements in our systems, including the creation of dashboards which enable us to have more automated systems so we can deliver to clients even quickly. Clients can go directly to a dashboard and pull data and do extra analysis as soon as it’s collected. This innovation around our deliverables will help clients make decisions right away. For some of our larger clients, our team has been able to work on projects in over 30 countries at once, and we’ve created automated processes to deliver quality data regularly for them which has led us to improve our processes over time.

RE: What do you like outside of work?

I love meeting with friends and driving around, and spend most of my time with my family.

RE: Finally, what do you think it takes to be successful in a researcher?

You need to be open-minded and flexible to succeed, and must put the client first in everything you do. Teamwork plays a key role towards the success of any organization or any team so if teams work together you can achieve anything.

The post Benard Okasi on GeoPoll’s Research Processes appeared first on GeoPoll.

Our Survey Panels in Tanzania
Our ratings insights in Tanzania are collected from 2,000 respondents across the country via mobile surveys and in accordance with international standards and guidelines on use of mobile phones as a means of research data collection. As the leading provider of overnight ratings for TV and radio in Africa, we pride ourselves on offering best-in-class quality, impartiality and speed in all of our work. As a result, multinational firms, local organizations and implementing partners rely on GeoPoll‘s market research insights to make decisions—whether results verify success or identify areas of improvement.

Quarterly KGMM Top Stations Report
KGMM can be used by any industry stakeholder who subscribes to the service, be it a media owner, brand, or agency. We are solely responsible for designing the methodology, validating and releasing the results. GeoPoll respondents are randomly selected to join our panels and provide their direct voice about their views and preferences. On an annual basis, GeoPoll conducts establishment surveys to confirm the top stations in each country and performs other routine methodology improvements. GeoPoll station lists and methodology are fixed and non-negotiable. They are then set in the GeoPoll Technical Methodology Report which is available upon request by the industry.
                                         Figure 1 A breakdown of our KGMM product methodology

PAMRO & ESOMAR Membership
We currently are, and have been a member of Pan African Media Research Organization (PAMRO) since the launch of our KGMM product and we abide by best practices and guidelines of conducting media research in Africa as set out by PAMRO. We are also members of European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR), an international membership organisation for data and research professionals.  We accordingly abide by the highest professional standards and guidelines in market  and mobile research (pdf).

Our Market Research Services Compliance

• Mobile Accord’s GeoPoll market research services are in full compliance with 12 articles of the International Chamber of Commerce – ICC/ESOMAR Code.  Research is defined as, “the systematic gathering and interpretation of information about individuals and organisations. It uses the statistical and analytical methods and techniques of the applied social, behavioral and data sciences to generate insights and support decision-making by providers of goods and services, governments, non-profit organisations and the general public.”
• The code has been signed by more than 60 associations since its inception in 1948 and spans more than 50 countries.
• The ESOMAR code stipulates standards of “ethical and professional conduct designed to maintain public confident in research” to which members must abide. The three fundamental principles are:
  1. Researchers must be transparent with subjects about the purpose of the research
  2. Personal data about the respondents must be protected from unauthorized use
  3. Researchers must be ethical and do no harm to subjects and do no harm to the reputation of market research

                                              Figure 2 A step by step process on how KGMM panels are formed

GeoPoll adheres to all three fundamental principles. We conform to the best-in-class and industry-leading methodology to provide consistent, reliable, fast and affordable data. We firmly and proudly stand by our methodologies and our data and we are happy to discuss these subjects with any person or party at any time.

For any queries and/or clarification, feel free to email us on marketing(at)geopoll(dot)com

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