NEWS13 July 2010
US— Anderson Analytics boss Tom Anderson has had his status as Esomar US representative revoked over his vocal opposition to the introduction of the ISO research process quality standard in the US market.
Anderson has been critical of the ISO via his blog and the Next Gen Market Research (NGMR) group he runs on business networking site Linkedin.
The criticism started following the publication of an article on the Research website reporting US trade body Casro’s decision to set up a body to audit and certify agencies in accordance with the international standard. The article was linked to on the NGMR group page, asking whether ISO would matter to US research buyers.
As reported in a follow-up article on Research: “Anderson’s initial response was to ridicule Casro’s move, suggesting that ISO certification was better suited to cement companies or fishmongers than MR agencies, and inviting people to post ISO-related jokes. Anderson called ISO ‘useless’, ‘insidious’ and ‘great stuff for killing innovation and the human spirit’. He went on to say that he would think less of a firm that boasted ISO accreditation than one that didn’t, given his experience of the firms that tout it as a benefit.”
However, his stance brought him into direct conflict with Esomar, which is a strong supporter and promoter of the ISO standards and maintains a working relationship with Casro.
According to a member communique circulated by Esomar (and posted on Anderson’s blog): “Esomar has monitored the situation closely and after reviewing feedback in the group, contacted Tom to express our concerns that the stated objective of his role as a representative, i.e. the promotion of international standards supported by Esomar and support of local associations, was seemingly in conflict with his arguments in the NGMR group. Our communication highlighted our support for Tom’s individual opinion and free speech, but requested that he, as a representative, respect long-standing relationships and commonly shared objectives.”
Those discussions ended, however, with the Esomar Council determining that Anderson’s “continued stance on this issue was not compatible with his role and obligations as an Esomar representative and as such has asked him to step down from his role as representative”.
“I am of course deeply disappointed with their decision,” said Anderson, announcing the news.
He will be replaced until December 2011, the end of his elected term, by Brainjuicer’s Susan Casserly Griffin, who had previously stood for election as representative.
Anderson was Esomar’s US East Coast representative. Its West Coast representative is Beth Uyenco, global research director at Microsoft.