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MORES: A Story of True Grit, 1976 to 1992
By: Ms. Fidela Zaballa
As early as the 1960s, the research industry in the Philippines felt the need for an organization that will unite the different research agencies toward common goals – the continued professionalization of the industry, cooperation among research organizations, the upholding of the highest standards of research and business ethics. The industry b then was well past the fledgling state of the 1960s, when Robot Statistics was the first and only independent marketing research organization; by the mid-seventies, many agencies were already in business and a number of others were being set up, demand for research services was on the increase, and research techniques were getting more and more sophisticated. A lot of far-seeing practitioners began to worry about the dangers of cut-throat competition and its consequent adverse effects on the quality of research work. The idea of a national association of the Philippine research agencies to be patterned after foreign models like the European Society of Marketing Research and Australian Marketing Organization thus found fertile ground.
So on September 26, 1975, three intrepid, avid souls got together at the Philippine Plaza Restaurant in Makati to discuss the formation of a research professional group. Francisco “Ike” Lopez of the Research Group, Rosario “Pichon” Henares of Asia Research Organization and Fidela “Sally” Zaballa of Feedback, Inc., agreed to test the concept first through a working committee to find out whether rival research agencies, stiffly engaged in a highly competitive business, can work harmoniously in the pursuit of a higher goal.
Ten (10) diehards, all from the research agencies - Virgilio Atienza, INRA; Carmencita Esteban, PSRC; Olivia Ferry, IMS Phils.; Rosario Henares, ARO; Francisco , The Research Group; Amado Malvar, Unisearch; Alquimeddes Morales, SGV; Rodolfo Purugganan, EDF; Patricia Tiongson, Makati Psychological Testing Center; and Fidela Zaballa, Feedback, Inc., met, discussed, debated and agreed on the Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws, Code of Ethics, Committee functions and program of activities. The group members took turns hosting their meetings.
With initial birth pangs over, it became apparent to the group that limiting its membership only to research suppliers was a myopic and ultimately counterproductive policy. Without the support and cooperation of other sectors intimately linked to market research work, chiefly the research users themselves, media, academe, and research-oriented government agencies, MORES would find achieving its goals hard-going. Thu, when the Securities and Exchange Commission finally approved the MORES Constitution and By-Laws, membership was made open to research agencies, corporate users with well-defined research departments and/or which are large users of research, professors/teachers of marketing or marketing research, and heads of institutions involved in social, economic, or government research.
The first years of MORES were fraught with difficulties. It had no permanent office, not even a typewriter, or a piece of furniture. It had to be temporarily housed with its part-time Executive Secretary, Jopy Torrijos, or with its President, Sally Zaballa. Expenses of the association were borne personally by the individual members or their companies. The founding members had to work long and hard to give MORES its proper place in the sun.
Finally, after to years, MORES, an acronym for “Marketing & Opinion Research Society of the Philippines” (a name suggested by Rudy Puruggannan) was formally founded on September 22, 1977. Rosario Chew of Consumer Pulse joined MORES as the eleventh founding member.
The preamble that opens its Constitution reflects the high enthusiasm and ideals of the super 11: “We practitioners of marketing and opinion research in the Philippines, in our sincere desire to serve our country and our people, through the conscientious exercise of our profession and firm belief that this lofty purpose can only be achieved thru a concerted effort and cooperation among members of our profession, do constitute ourselves into a national association of practitioners…”
From then on, there was no looking back for the Society. This year, a total of fifty (50) organizations proudly call themselves members of the MORES family, among them well-known entities like San Miguel Corporation, Ayala Corporation, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, Colgate-Palmolive, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, J. Walter Thompson, McCann Erickson, PRC, Ace Compton and Hemisphere-Leo Burnett. Not bad for an association that began with only 11 hardy souls!