Hipólito “Polo” Murillo is the CEO and founding father of Axios Intelligence, a market analysis company primarily based in El Salvador. Polo has been efficiently operating Axios for the previous 20 years, main the corporate in pioneering CATI methodology in El Salvador. Dave Lovo of Echo Market Analysis sat down with Polo to speak about Axios and market analysis in El Salvador broadly.
Inform us about Axios Intelligence. What does Axios do finest?
Polo: “Our firm has all types of shoppers, it has industrial and industrial shoppers, we work loads with actual property growth, and we work loads with firms and worldwide establishments, such because the American Embassy, the State Division, the World Financial institution, and so forth… I might say that probably, though we do industrial research, marketing campaign analysis, and shopper product research, maybe the 2 areas the place we’re strongest are actual property growth and public opinion research.”
The place does Axios match into the bigger market analysis financial system in El Salvador?
Polo: “In El Salvador, the analysis enterprise is split into completely different tiers. And you’ve got the highest tier of firms, those that make investments probably the most in analysis, industrial firms or multinational firms. For instance, phone firms, shopper firms, shopper merchandise, and comparable firms.
Most of those firms rent native workplaces which can be half of a bigger community. So, these are sometimes firms which can be primarily based within the area, however they belong to worldwide networks, or they’ve their very own community that covers all of Central America and in some instances somewhat little bit of the Caribbean and so forth.
So, we don’t compete with them as a result of we don’t have the community, we have now correspondents, however we don’t personal it. One other tier inside industrial analysis is native or regional firms, regionally we’re speaking about El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, which do rent firms like us which have a footprint extra oriented to native or speedy regional presence.
So we work in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador with out a lot downside. A few of these firms that haven’t any relationship with massive networks rent us. We compete on the prime with a few of these networks that additionally serve them, however we additionally compete on the backside with different smaller firms.
After which we have now the final tier, which is probably the most aggressive and the most affordable, made up of smaller firms, fully nationwide. And you’ve got lots of freelancers, lots of people who simply do focus teams, individuals who labored earlier than in different analysis firms, however they do research ad-hoc for them. After which, there are a number of niches that come out of this industrial scheme.
For instance, an enormous area of interest is governmental or NGO analysis or overseas establishments. So, we take part with overseas establishments, however not with the native authorities. So, we, for instance, have a few initiatives with USAID, we have now initiatives with the embassy, we have now initiatives with…
We’ve got finished initiatives, however we don’t have any proper now, with the World Financial institution and so forth. And there may be one other area of interest, for instance, which was large at one time and now it’s large, however for a special variety of causes. We’re now not working in that, which is the political area of interest. So, public opinion, and politics, are different niches.
However we haven’t labored in that space for a few years. After which there are different niches particular to sure industries which have very particular wants. So, for instance, in the true property growth business, all the businesses are native, they’re comparatively massive initiatives, and their wants are extremely particular. So, I imagine that we’re probably the most important provider of research for native actual property growth, we work with all the massive builders, and they’re advert hoc research as much as particular research of several types of actual property growth intelligence.”
What are the primary challenges with conducting market analysis in El Salvador?
Polo: “In El Salvador, previously, probably the most significant issue we had was the safety danger of doing face-to-face surveys. Let’s say a consumer requested for a nationally consultant survey, there have been massive areas of the nation the place the pollsters couldn’t enter for safety causes.
At this time, that’s a lot improved, however there’s nonetheless a little bit of an issue as a result of even at typical, middle-class ranges, many individuals stay in residential neighborhoods with restricted entry, or gated communities, so for face-to-face that makes it tough, proper? As a result of earlier than, the one downside we had in that realm was with the very excessive socioeconomic lessons. Now it’s trickled down, and it’s a way more generalized factor to have, to stay in communities which can be fully gated.
Within the case of CATI, larger socioeconomic lessons are underrepresented. So, we don’t have a lot response from individuals of a comparatively excessive socioeconomic class or earnings stage. This causes us issues, for instance, with shoppers who’re growing actual property buildings or flats price 200 thousand {dollars} or extra as a result of their clients are the identical individuals who don’t reply surveys.
These surveys can’t be obtained via on-line panels both, as a result of databases are fairly restricted in El Salvador. Databases in El Salvador are primarily comprised of the center socioeconomic strata, so there may be not a lot information on the decrease socioeconomic strata, not to mention the higher socioeconomic strata.
One other significant issue is the shortage of professionalism within the insights business within the nation. First, there may be probably not a market analysis profession path right here. The individuals who come to market analysis on this nation, a lot of them don’t actually have a fundamental statistical background. I imply, I’ve had discussions with colleagues the place they only didn’t perceive the distinction between a consultant pattern and a comfort pattern, which is fundamental.
The consumer doesn’t know both, so the consumer goes and hires the most affordable or the one who speaks the most effective as a result of they haven’t any method of differentiating between somebody who is aware of their stuff and somebody who doesn’t. Purchasers can undergo suggestions from different shoppers, however there may be nothing structural. In order that’s an issue.
The opposite factor is that it’s very tough to do B2B research in El Salvador. That’s, when the consumer is an organization that makes a product to be offered to different firms, and they should communicate on to the individuals who purchase their product, except the consumer offers us the contacts and helps us contact these individuals, it’s virtually inconceivable.
El Salvador wants significantly better information at a macro stage. As for the information that we have now, I labored in america earlier than, so I do know what publicly obtainable information in america on several types of issues seems like. For instance, if I needed to know the way a lot industrial area is accessible and empty in San Francisco proper now, with two clicks I might discover it. In El Salvador that may be inconceivable.
“…we should attempt to transfer from being information suppliers to being information analysts and promoting the evaluation, or the worth added, moderately than promoting the methodology.”
In El Salvador, there is no such thing as a details about the worth of firms; all firms are non-public; there is no such thing as a details about a lot of macroeconomic elements, and there’s no dependable, aggregated details about virtually something.”
We’ve talked loads about challenges in the present day. What is likely to be the suitable strategy to transfer ahead from this level within the business?
Polo: “I believe one of the necessary points that we have been speaking about at ESOMAR Mexico is that we should attempt to transfer from being information suppliers to being information analysts and promoting the evaluation, or the worth added, moderately than promoting the methodology. So proper now, we have now within the pipeline a few merchandise extra oriented in direction of producing information moderately than in direction of promoting any particular methodology.
To ensure that all firms to outlive, we’re going to must go somewhat bit that method; that’s, we’re going to must search for our niches, and we’re going to must attempt to promote merchandise that provide extra – that provide you with a constant, recurring return. We have to orient in direction of merchandise that aren’t solely worthwhile but additionally sustainable.”
