Companies sign up to new mobile research body

The Mobile Marketing Research Association (MMRA) was set up by Jasper Lim, founder of the Merlien Institute and Mark Michelson, co-founder of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. It follows two mobile research conferences organised by the Merlien Institute in 2010 and 2011.

The MMRA describes itself as an “action-based” organisation and has set out a mission statement to provide “quality education and evangelise the mobile marketing research channel” to clients, researchers and participants.

The board of directors includes, among others, Nielsen associate director Justin Bailey, TNS’s global head of technology James Fergusson, BrainJuicer’s director of innovation technology AJ Johnson, Everyday Lives MD Siamack Salari, General Mills’s mobile research manager Andy Dybig and Revelation CEO Steve August.

Michelson will serve as executive director with Lim as director of development and events. They are joined on the management team by director of operations Sheila Gidley.

The association is looking for industry experts to take seats on committees focusing on professional standards and ethics, education and events; as well as recruiting members to form special interest groups covering technology developers, qual and quant mobile research, data mining and analysis. MMRA said its work on developing professional standards, ethics and education will begin at the Merlien Institute’s Market Research in the Mobile World Europe conference, to be held in the Netherlands in April.

Board member Michael Bare, president of global mystery shopping firm Bare International, said: “Whenever something powerful, exciting and complex emerges – such as marketing research via mobile devices – it creates huge excitement, but also potential confusion, initial pushback and legitimate questions. MMRA has come along at the perfect moment to establish guidelines and rules of engagement for this research to be implemented in a credible and respected way. MMRA gives us a framework from which to operate and a set of ethics to guide us.”