Ask Africa awarded TGI field contract

In South Africa, over 15000 respondents are interviewed annually, on their usage of 7000 brands in 550 categories, media consumption, lifestyles, and values. It is the most comprehensive study of its kind in the country, providing a solid platform on which to base decisions. This field contract is one of the top five continuous commercial research projects in SA.

“Awarding the contract to Ask Afrika is part of a plan to move to computer-assisted fieldwork, Internet interviewing and more technologically advanced scanning and data collection methodologies,” explains Barbara Cooke, director of TGI South Africa.

Ask Afrika will take over tracking from July 2008 onwards. Ask Afrika was selected due to its extensive field force, and high tech approach to data collection. “Our field force is enabled via computer-aided interviewing and digitally records all interviews for verification at a later stage,” says Grant Robertson, director at Ask Afrika.

The move to more electronic and computer assisted fieldwork will also allow TGI to develop its re-contact options so that clients can talk to consumers in an affordable and efficient manner. Ask Afrika uses a scientific probability sampling methods to select households in order to ensure accurate representation of the SA market.

The survey and the software platform provided to suppliers provides rich data on brand usage across most product categories - what do they buy and how often. It also provides insight into how South Africans live, their values which in turn, underlies consumer decision making. This is further enhanced by a detailed view of what publications they read, what channels they watch on TV and what stations they listen to on radio.