Now Hiring - Senior Manager

Senior Manager
Global Operation Team| Metro Manila, Philippines

Research Panel Asia (RPA) is now hiring a senior manager of our global operation team in Manila, Philippines. Would you like to join our global and diverse work environment and make momentum together?

Why Join Us?
Without a doubt, Asia is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. It is very exciting to work in an emerging market with our motivated and talented staff.
At RPA, we value individuality and diversity. We hold every person's opinions in high regard and believe in the power of having unique individuals strive for a common goal. We not only work together but also grow together.


Job Responsibilities:
• Plan and implement RPA’s operation strategy
• Build and improve RPA’s operation platform to manage global research projects
• Lead, train, and motivate the team to achieve higher goals
• Work closely with Sales and Product Development teams

Characteristics:
• Has passion and persistence to achieve a high business goal
• Willing to work with a small team and build something from scratch
• Has a strong leadership and communication skills
• Is sincere and open minded
• Is able to work in a team

Qualifications:
• Bachelor degree or higher
• At least 5 years of working experience and 2 years of managerial experience.
• Intermediate or higher English verbal and written communication skills
• Good organizational and time management skills

Benefit and Welfare
Working Visa, Medical insurance, Paid vacation, Transportation allowance, and so on.

Preferred:
• Experience in Marketing Research industry


For inquiry, send an email to; contact@researchpanelasia.com

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What Exactly Happened in the Japanese MR Industry after Tohoku Earthquake?

Since the massive earthquake struck Japan on March 11, 2011, we have been asked by many of our clients about the situation in Japan market. What are the issues when running research projects in Japan now? How has the response rate changed after the disaster? How would the whole situation affect Japanese consumers in a long run? Regardless of those concerns, we'd say that things are settled enough to run surveys in Japan and we don't see any serious problem with our currently running Japan projects so far.

What exactly happened in the Japanese Marketing Research industry after the Tohoku earthquake?

After the tragedy occurred on March 11th, JMRA (Japan Marketing Research Association) and the registered marketing research firms in Japan have decided to put all projects on hold in respect to the affected area and the victims. Meanwhile we got hold of how and exactly where this disaster affected our panelists.

On March 15th, RPA re-started sending survey invites to our Japanese panel, but we decided to exclude the 7 major damaged prefectures, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata, Fukushima, and Ibaraki. This was at the same time in accordance with the official determination of JMRA.

With regards to the current situation, since April 8th, we have re-started sampling in those 7 prefectures as well, however still excluding most damaged cities such as Kesennuma and Rikuzentakata city.

How are the recent response rates and are there any issues when running projects now in Japan?

Since we re-started sampling on March 15th, we’ve run projects in all B2C, B2B, Medical, and Ailment categories. The response rate of our panelists did drop compared to normal level at around 5% for a few weeks, especially in the Tohoku region. However, as of April 29th, the response has picked up to the pre-earthquake level and we don't see any critical issues at least in terms of online sampling in Japan.

How is it going to affect Japanese consumers in a long run?

Based on a recent research on Japanese consumer behavior after the disaster, it seems there has been no massive negative or positive change in terms of consumer spending level. On the other hand, people are concerned about the aftermath of the quake and Tsunami and the still unsolved problem of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant accident. It is still unclear how the Japanese market would be affected by this disaster, and we would need to keep our eyes on the market.

As we are communicating with clients, there are many companies that would like to run surveys in Japan but don't know if it's "okay" to do so. As mentioned above, our panel response rate has been back to the normal level and we are running project in Japan without any negative feedback. However, we do understand each project is different in terms of project specs, quotas, fieldwork period and so forth. If you are considering running projects in Japan in the near future, please do not hesitate to consult with us. Our dedicated Japanese staffs are more than happy to support you and provide local market insight.

For any inquiry, please contact us at contact@researchpanelasia.com.

We are looking forward to serving you.

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Re-start Sampling in Tohoku Region

Since a massive earthquake hit Tohoku region, Northeast of Japan on March 11, 2011, we have suspended sending invites to our respondents who live in the following regions.

Aomori Prefecture

Iwate Prefecture

Miyagi Prefecture

Akita Prefecture

Yamagata Prefecture

Fukushima Prefecture

Ibaraki Prefecture 


However, thanks to support from all over the world and  many dedicated volunteers working in this devastated area, things are getting stabilized day by day.  Today, we'd like to announce that we have re-started sampling respondents who live in Tohoku regions..


It's a tough time and the situation is very complicated. But if you are considering to run any Japan project soon, please do not hesitate to contact us directly. Our local staffs will assist you with the projects.

You can either contact us at contact@researchpanelasia.com or send a quote at quote@researchpanelasia.com

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Approach the kids market correctly - Running online research in Asia : 4

< Unstoppable lowering birthrate, aging society >
< Popularization of much higher education >
< "Parachute kids" booming - tween aged kids to start studying abroad >

These are some keywords relating to the children market and its real trend in the three now developed, main countries of Asia - Japan, China, South Korea.

Seeing various research conducted by our clients that seems to catch this wave and opposed to that, well, to be frank those that are "not following" this reality as well, we realize how the scene and situation in Asia is still an incomprehensible market especially in this category of kids and teens.

To be specific the major categories we see demand in this age group are definitely entertainment and education. While there are increasing amount of direct kids surveys and kids/parent pair surveys from our global clients, we strongly encourage to consider the following points.


1. Please make sure to clarify that the survey is for children, not the intial recipient. This note tends to be skipped, but remember that we are not able to send out directly to the kids, and by lack of the note our clients encounter massive amount of inintended screen outs.

2. Please expect there would be drop outs due to passing on from parents to kids. This cannot be helped as this method is the closest we could get to to approach kids on online surveys.

3. Please make sure to have the questionnaire translated into child-friendly language manner. For instance in Japanese, there are roughly two types of letters - Kanji(complicated Chinese characters) and hiragana/katanakana(simple syllabary characters). Kids start to learn Kanji from elementary school so do factor this into account.


According to our past feedback from various clients, we are very confident with our kids/teen survey data quality, however we'd really need our clients to work together in order to maintain the accuaracy.

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Announcement in regards to the re-start of sampling in Japan

Thank you very much for all your support and understanding to the difficult situation on-going in Japan.

We'd like to announce that we will re-start sending invites to our Japanese panel from today - Tuesday, March 15th JST.

However, for the mainly afflicted areas as follows we will refrain from sending out any invitations until we are able to confirm that the situation is settled down to normal. This is in accordance with the official determination of the national research association.

• Aomori Prefecture
• Iwate Prefecture
• Miyagi Prefecture
• Akita Prefecture
• Yamagata Prefecture
• Fukushima Prefecture
• Ibaraki Prefecture

For concerns or questions on any point with this arrangement, please do not hesitate to contact us directly.
Again we truly appreciate your continuous consideration given and to the understanding. 

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Second announcement due to the earthquake disaster in Japan

It has been three days since the massive earthquake hit the Tohoku region of Japan, however yet now, Japan is still facing threat of aftershocks and other secondary disasters caused by them.

Considering the situation, we have decided to hold from sending any invitation to our panelists in Japan today, Monday, March 14. Future policies of survey delivers will be determined among the marketing research industry of Japan, and we will make sure to send out an update for anything moving forward.

Our pricing and project management in the Philippines are operating as usual (24H for pricing/ 9AM-9PM JST for PM) and there will be no negative impact on the projects of other Asian countries we cover.

If you have any concerns or questions on any point, please do not hesitate to contact us directly.


Thank you so much for your understanding, and we truly hope things will settle down soon to focus in recovering of Japan.

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Announcement due to the earthquake disaster in Japan

As been reported, a massive earthquake hit the Tohoku region of Japan on Friday, March 11th afternoon local time. As of now yet, the whole country including the Tokyo metropolitan area is under threat of continuous aftershocks and Tsunami caused by them.

However first we would like our clients and partners to know that we have confirmed the safety of all our staffs now based in our Tokyo Headquarter office.

We are still trying to get a handle of the situation, but in regards to the assumed impact to our services, we do need to make it clear that there is a very high possibility of delaying in progress of any projects now in field or those scheduled to be launched soon. In respect to our panelists and considering the situation, we will be holding from sending out any new survey invitations at least for the weekend, and for the policies from next Monday we will be determining according to the circumstances.

Our pricing team and project management team in Manila, Philippines will be operating from Monday as usual, and we'd like to assure that there will be no negative impact to the projects of other Asian countries we cover (including our proprietary panel in China and South Korea). 

Whenever we have further update in the situation of Japan, we will make sure to announce again. For any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us directly.

We truly appreciate all your kind consideration given and thank you for your understanding.

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LifeStyle Index - Instant Access to Chinese and Japanese Consumer Data

Though the Asian market is indeed one of the fastest growing markets in the world, it seems that only few researchers know what is actually going on in this unique region in terms of market insight. Therefore, it is always nice and helpful to have Asian partners who can provide you with vast local insight and market know-how. However, when you prepare a proposal and need those insights right away, it is often difficult to work with the partners on the other side of the globe mostly due to the difference in time zones, among other factors.


To solve this issue, Research Panel Asia (RPA) has released “LifeStyle Index,” an ASP service which in no time, allows its users to access, pull out, and analyze the data of consumers in Japan and China – the top two Asian markets. It enables users to have 24/7 data access on the consuming attitude, preference, and purchase behavior of the Japanese and Chinese consumers. In addition, it also lets its users to conduct a comparative research between these two countries. It is truly a helpful service, especially if you have projects in the Asian market.


LifeStyle Index, with its broad range of perspectives and useful functions, provides the research results on the lifestyle of Chinese and Japanese consumers. It is based on the results of RPA’s original surveys which were run using its proprietary panels. It contains the data of Chinese consumers located in the main cities (Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou) with over 180 attributes, as well as newly released Japanese date with over 240 attributes. Additionally, LifeStyle Index allows users to create segments of consumers based on their target specifications, and make a comparison between these multiple segments. Simply put, it gives users a quick insight and valid market data to support your proposal in no time.


Currently, RPA is offering a 30-days free trial plan of the LifeStyle Index. Please sign up here to access your online consumer database of the fastest growing market.



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Watch out with the details - Running online research in Asia : 3

When it comes to respondent attitudes or sensitivity towards the survey structure, it's difficult to say what the difference is in between the countries. However from the actual project management perspective, recently we've seen some examples that may need some consideration when running projects in Asia.


- Order of the survey questions.

Specifically in projects run by clients in NA and Europe, we sometimes see the general profiling questions mixed up with the main questions. We do get the point that this will lead to gathering somewhat the "real" data, but from our experience this has actually led to respondents' complaints and confusion asking if it's an error, not that it will encourage severe drop outs but to leave them with questions and suspicion towards international surveys.


- Surveys that require downloading of files.

Maybe it's a needless to say point for some researchers, but considering the sensitivity towards online secruity of Asian respondents, this is something clients do need to be aware. Response rate assumption obviously needs to be confirmed with the panel supplier, and to prevent as much as possible for this to lower, we would need to assure no harm for the respondents in a transparent manner.


This is how detail-oriented panelists can be, and knowing it or not will change the results of projects, in both long & short term perspective.

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We are your Around-the-Clock Partner!

Without a doubt, Asia is one of the fastest growing regions in the world.
But because of the time difference, working with Asian partners can be sometimes troublesome. Imagine that you send an email to your partner in Japan at 10am EST, but chances are very low that they get back to you immediately because it's 12 o'clock midnight there. We are very aware that for almost all global companies, time difference is one of their biggest concerns.


Research Panel Asia (RPA) has taken this issue seriously and we are now earnestly working on solving this. April 2010, RPA has established an operation center in Manila, Philippines to support our clients around the clock. Currently, our pricing team operates 24 hours on weekdays. We are now aiming to expand our project management coverage as well. The first step is to officially cover all seven days a week by mid 2011.


To give a quick overview about RPA's operation center, it is based in Ortigas, the second largest business district in Manila, and is currently under operation with 12 operators. Having English as their second language, they are able to understand easily the clients' requests and inquiries and so are able to respond quickly and coherently. For us, client-satisfaction is the top priority hence we work very hard to offer the service more than expected for the clients. Being results-driven and having many fresh ideas, RPA's operation center continuously seeks better ways to improve the daily operation to meet our clients' needs.

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