Chris.sherlock (talk | contribs) Undid revision 945992772 by Tony1 (talk) misleading summary Tony, you literally just rolled me back Tag: Undo |
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| other_names = |
| other_names = |
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| honorific_suffix = |
| honorific_suffix = |
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| birth_date = {{Birth date |
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|06|08|df=y}}<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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| birth_place = New Sawley, [[Derbyshire]], England<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
| birth_place = New Sawley, [[Derbyshire]], England<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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| death_date = {{Death date and age |
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1978|12|09|1908|06|08|df=y}}<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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| death_place = [[Palm Beach, New South Wales]], Australia<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
| death_place = [[Palm Beach, New South Wales]], Australia<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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| death_cause = Cancer<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
| death_cause = Cancer<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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| resting_place = |
| resting_place = |
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| nationality = Australian |
| nationality = [[Australian]] |
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| occupation = [[Market researcher]]<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
| occupation = [[Market researcher]]<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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| education = Zerko Business College<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
| education = Zerko Business College<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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| father = Walter Bertrand Ashby<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
| father = Walter Bertrand Ashby<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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| mother = Bertha Ashby, |
| mother = Bertha Ashby, {{nee|Powell}}<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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| spouse = John Stuart Lucy<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
| spouse = John Stuart Lucy<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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| family = |
| family = |
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'''Sylvia Rose Ashby''' ( |
'''Sylvia Rose Ashby''' ({{date|1908-06-08}} – {{date|1978-12-09}}) was an Australian [[market researcher]] and founder of the Ashby Research Service. A pioneer in the field, she was the first woman market researcher in Australia and the United Kingdom, and the first person to ever conduct an Australia-wide public opinion poll. Mentored by two of the finest market researchers of the day, she used her experience to great effect and steadily grew her business over time. During the [[Second World War]] her company experienced hardships due to a general public suspicious of inquisitive representatives polling public sentiment about the war and Prime Minister, along with a general reluctance amongst companies to spend money on market research which they found to be unnecessary in a time of rationing. Nevertheless, she came to the attention of Sir [[Keith Murdoch]] who offered her the opportunity to setup Australia's first public opinion research subsidiary. When Sir [[Frank Packer]] made a counter offer she accepted and made Ashby Research Services a subsidiary of [[Australian Consolidated Press]]. |
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Ashby employed mainly women to survey housewives, who she considered to have great purchasing power despite her view that most housewives were timid and shy creatures beholden to their husbands. After the war she continued innovative research, establishing the Ashby Consumer Panel in which households maintained regular diaries which she used to gather continuous market research data. Towards the end of her life, Sir Frank Packer sold her back her company for the same price as he purchased it, before ailing health caused Ashby to sell her company to Beacon Research Co. Pty Ltd. |
Ashby employed mainly women to survey housewives, who she considered to have great purchasing power despite her view that most housewives were timid and shy creatures beholden to their husbands. After the war she continued innovative research, establishing the Ashby Consumer Panel in which households maintained regular diaries which she used to gather continuous market research data. Towards the end of her life, Sir Frank Packer sold her back her company for the same price as he purchased it, before ailing health caused Ashby to sell her company to Beacon Research Co. Pty Ltd. |
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Ashby was born on |
Ashby was born on {{date|1908-06-08}} at New Sawley in [[Derbyshire]], [[England]] to brickmaker Walter Bertrand Ashby and his wife Bertha, {{nee|Powell}}, as their fourth child.<ref name="austdictbio"/> The family migrated to [[Hawthorn, Victoria|Hawthorn]], [[Melbourne]] when Ashby was five, and she was educated in Auburn, Hawthorn and Camberwell state schools.<ref name="austdictbio"/><ref name="dict-sydney"/> |
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==Early career== |
==Early career== |
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In 1923 Ashby commenced training for two years at a business college run by [[Frederick Zerko]],<ref name="austdictbio"/> after which she landed a secretarial job at [[J. Walter Thompson |
In 1923 Ashby commenced training for two years at a business college run by [[Frederick Zerko]],<ref name="austdictbio"/> after which she landed a secretarial job at [[J. Walter Thompson|J. Walter Thompson Australia Pty Ltd]] (colloquially known as JWT).<ref name="popcaanz"/> When the company lost the [[General Motors]] account due to the [[Great Depression]], the company downsized considerably and Ashby was moved to the Sydney office. There she started work in the market research and psychology departments under [[Rudolph Simmat]],<ref name="popcaanz"/> and by 1933 was working as [[Bill McNair|William McNair]]'s assistant.<ref name="dict-sydney"/> Both Simmat and Mcnair gave her valuable experiences and mentoring in market research — Simmat authored one of the first studies into market research in Australia,<ref name="popcaanz"/> and Mcnair later formed the McNair Survey Pty Ltd company which undertook major television and radio audience ratings surveys.<ref name="dict-sydney"/> In 1933 she resigned and moved to London,<ref name="women-in-sport"/> where she worked first for the [[London Press Exchange]], and then for the Charles W. Hobson agency.<ref name="crawford-p6"/> Though the ''[[Australian Dictionary of Biography]]'' notes that "she spent much time reorganizing his library",<ref name="austdictbio"/> Ashby herself noted she found the contacts invaluable and the experience highly rewarding<ref name="dictsyd-via-mcnair"/> — particularly in that it taught her "to be always on the look-out for ideas for campaigns".<ref name="popcaanz-via-corresp"/> Whilst in London she attended conferences and seminars in Europe and North America.<ref name="crawford-p6"/> During this time she spent some time working with the German [[Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda|Ministry for Propaganda]] doing research into improving relations between Britain and Germany, though when it was leaked to the public sentiment was such that it was quickly dropped.<ref name="daily-examiner-1939"/> |
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==Formation of the Ashby Research Service== |
==Formation of the Ashby Research Service== |
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==Second World War== |
==Second World War== |
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By 1939 Britain had declared war on Germany. The [[Second World War]] caused major issues for a marketing research company that undertook direct interviews |
By 1939 Britain had declared war on Germany. The [[Second World War]] caused major issues for a marketing research company that undertook direct interviews — quite a few of Ashby's researchers were reported by citizens suspicious of those asking questions during a time of war, and consequently they were detained by police. At one point Ashby herself was detained for questioning over several hours by the police, who accused her of "disloyalty" and threatened her with arrest if she did not stop surveying popular opinion on the war and the [[Australian Prime Minister|Prime Minister]].<ref name="crawford-via-ashby"/> Furthermore, rationing meant that firms were less concerned with marketing efforts as the availability of goods became more scarce and consumers were more likely to buy what they could find.<ref name="dict-sydney"/> Despite this, she largely ignored the threats of the authorities and continued to conduct surveys on topics such as conscription, the war effort and war psychology.<ref name="dictsydney-via-ashbyrecords"/> |
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Ashby hired John Stuart Lucy, a journalist from New Zealand, to help with her business. She later married him in 1939. Lucy was to later form a rival research firm, but this did not seem to cause any problems in the marriage |
Ashby hired John Stuart Lucy, a journalist from New Zealand, to help with her business. She later married him in 1939. Lucy was to later form a rival research firm, but this did not seem to cause any problems in the marriage — Ashby told ''[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]]'' that "we're rivals only in business. My husband completely approves of my career."<ref name="the-argus-1953"/> She gave birth to a daughter, Susan, in 1940 and a son, Richard, in 1943.<ref name="the-argus-1953"/> Despite her previously expressed views on the capabilities of married women at work, the ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' notes that "busy and ambitious as she was, Sylvia did not neglect her two children. On weekends her time was devoted to them; school holidays were enjoyed together, sometimes at 'the farm', her husband's property at Narrabeen. At home there was always a maid or housekeeper; Susan was sent to Frensham and Richard to Geelong Church of England Grammar School."<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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Her wartime polling gained the attention of Sir [[Keith Murdoch]], who not only ran the ''[[Herald & Weekly Times]]'' but was also briefly Director-General of Information for the [[Government of Australia|Australian government]] in 1940. Murdoch commissioned Ashby to run research into the war effort, and Ashby ran the first-ever Australia-wide public opinion survey.<ref name="austdictbio"/> Murdoch later invited her to join him in establishing a public opinion subsidiary. Sir [[Frank Packer]], rival proprietor of [[Australian Consolidated Press]] (ACP), got wind of the offer however, and put in a counter offer to make the Ashby Research Service a subsidiary of ACP. As Ashby had done work for the ''Australian Women's Weekly'' before the war, she chose to accept Packer's offer over Murdoch's.<ref name="crawford-p9"/> Murdoch then approached [[Roy Morgan Research|Roy Morgan]] to conduct opinion polling, and he organised the Australian Gallop Poll. From 1942 to 1944 the Ashby Research Service was renamed to the Daily Telegraph Research Bureau, but was renamed back to the Ashby Research Service after the war ended.<ref name="dict-sydney"/> |
Her wartime polling gained the attention of Sir [[Keith Murdoch]], who not only ran the ''[[Herald & Weekly Times]]'' but was also briefly Director-General of Information for the [[Government of Australia|Australian government]] in 1940. Murdoch commissioned Ashby to run research into the war effort, and Ashby ran the first-ever Australia-wide public opinion survey.<ref name="austdictbio"/> Murdoch later invited her to join him in establishing a public opinion subsidiary. Sir [[Frank Packer]], rival proprietor of [[Australian Consolidated Press]] (ACP), got wind of the offer however, and put in a counter offer to make the Ashby Research Service a subsidiary of ACP. As Ashby had done work for the ''Australian Women's Weekly'' before the war, she chose to accept Packer's offer over Murdoch's.<ref name="crawford-p9"/> Murdoch then approached [[Roy Morgan Research|Roy Morgan]] to conduct opinion polling, and he organised the Australian Gallop Poll. From 1942 to 1944 the Ashby Research Service was renamed to the Daily Telegraph Research Bureau, but was renamed back to the Ashby Research Service after the war ended.<ref name="dict-sydney"/> |
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==Post-war== |
==Post-war== |
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After the Second World War ended, the Ashby Research Service saw a resurgence in business |
After the Second World War ended, the Ashby Research Service saw a resurgence in business — work carried out in 1945 included 14 surveys for clients and 30 surveys for ACP, whereas in 1946 the business carried out 30 surveys for clients and 42 surveys for ACP.<ref name="postwar-surveys"/> The war had shown Ashby that revenue could be affected by external events however, and so she decided to conduct ongoing research surveys alongside her commissioned research work. To this end in 1945 she established the Ashby Consumer Panel as a trial in NSW, which she later rolled out Australia wide in 1947. The panel directly polled households through diaries about their buying habits. Householders would return from shopping and record their purchases and observations directly into an Ashby Consumer Purchase Record. By 1964 the Ashby Research Service boasted in an advertisement that they had day-to-day records regularly kept by 6,165 households (which they stated comprised 18,192 individuals). To maintain quality they had 237 regular employees who inspected the logs, which were then sampled for checking by supervisors for quality control. The advert asserted that it was "the largest survey-group permanently employed in the South Hemisphere".<ref name="newspaper-news-advert"/> Households were not paid but received a subscription to ''The Women's Weekly''.<ref name="dict-sydney"/> |
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As it was important to maintain credibility and relevancy, the Ashby Research Service maintained a Statistical library and employed statisticians. During the post-war baby-boomer boom and relaxed immigration policies that encouraged workers from Europe encouraged Ashby's service to employ workers who spoke a variety of European languages to ensure the consistency and accuracy of their data collection amongst the influx of "New Australians".<ref name="crawford-p13"/> She also regularly requested new equipment from Packer, including an electric calculator and a punching machine.<ref name="popcaanz"/> |
As it was important to maintain credibility and relevancy, the Ashby Research Service maintained a Statistical library and employed statisticians. During the post-war baby-boomer boom and relaxed immigration policies that encouraged workers from Europe encouraged Ashby's service to employ workers who spoke a variety of European languages to ensure the consistency and accuracy of their data collection amongst the influx of "New Australians".<ref name="crawford-p13"/> She also regularly requested new equipment from Packer, including an electric calculator and a punching machine.<ref name="popcaanz"/> |
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Her travels impressed upon her that her work was first class and they were ahead of the rest of the world. ''The Argus'' reported that during her 1953 overseas trip "she tried to find a woman counterpart, 'But without success, I'm afraid. It seems I'm quite unique.'".<ref name="the-argus-1953"/> On a 1958 business trip she was unimpressed with the work of [[Johnson & Johnson]]'s consumer panels and that the Alfred Politz Research Inc., a leading market research company based in [[Manhattan]], did not do audits and "do not provide anything resembling a standardised service".<ref name="crawford-p17"/> |
Her travels impressed upon her that her work was first class and they were ahead of the rest of the world. ''The Argus'' reported that during her 1953 overseas trip "she tried to find a woman counterpart, 'But without success, I'm afraid. It seems I'm quite unique.'".<ref name="the-argus-1953"/> On a 1958 business trip she was unimpressed with the work of [[Johnson & Johnson]]'s consumer panels and that the Alfred Politz Research Inc., a leading market research company based in [[Manhattan]], did not do audits and "do not provide anything resembling a standardised service".<ref name="crawford-p17"/> |
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As the success of the Ashby Research Service grew, so too did their competition. They found their profits decreasing between 1965 to 1966, and in 1968 the firm recorded a loss. This caused ACP to demand a full audit, but Ashby put together a strident defence pointing out that it was the only time in the subsidiary's history that their expenditure exceeded their revenue. She was able to point to a particularly problematic client and the costs of using a computer. Ashby found, to her frustration, that her subsidiary was being under- |
As the success of the Ashby Research Service grew, so too did their competition. They found their profits decreasing between 1965 to 1966, and in 1968 the firm recorded a loss. This caused ACP to demand a full audit, but Ashby put together a strident defence pointing out that it was the only time in the subsidiary's history that their expenditure exceeded their revenue. She was able to point to a particularly problematic client and the costs of using a computer. Ashby found, to her frustration, that her subsidiary was being under-utilised by ACP and regularly wrote to Packer to suggest ways of using her services.<ref name="crawford-p18-19"/> |
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==Australian Research Service buy-back and death== |
==Australian Research Service buy-back and death== |
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In 1974, both Packer and Ashby were looking to retire. In a magnanimous gesture to Ashby, Packer sold the Ashby Research Service back to her for the same amount that he had paid for it in 1941 |
In 1974, both Packer and Ashby were looking to retire. In a magnanimous gesture to Ashby, Packer sold the Ashby Research Service back to her for the same amount that he had paid for it in 1941 — $2,800.<ref name="crawford-p21"/> Ashby, who was by this time becoming very ill, sold the business to Beacon Research Co. Pty Ltd.<ref name="austdictbio"/> As her health continued to fail, she became confined to a wheelchair, before finally dying of cancer on {{date|1978-09-09}} at [[Palm Beach, New South Wales]] and was cremated.<ref name="austdictbio"/> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{reflist|refs= |
{{reflist|refs= |
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<ref name="austdictbio">{{cite AuDB |first=Goot |last=Murray |title=Ashby, Sylvia Rose (1908–1978) |volume=13 |year=1993 |id2=ashby-sylvia-rose-9390 |access-date= |
<ref name="austdictbio">{{cite AuDB |first=Goot |last=Murray |author-link= |title=Ashby, Sylvia Rose (1908–1978) |volume=13 |edition= |year=1993 |id2=ashby-sylvia-rose-9390 |access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref> |
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<ref name="eldest-sister">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146726311|work=[[Table Talk (magazine)|Table Talk]]|department=Family Notices|title= |
<ref name="eldest-sister">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146726311|work=[[Table Talk (magazine)|Table Talk]]|department=Family Notices|title=Wentworth—Ashby|publication-place=Melbourne|date={{date|1929-03-14}}|p=64}}</ref> |
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<ref name="dict-sydney">{{cite web | url= http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/ashby_research_service | title = Ashby Research Service | author = Crawford, Robert | |
<ref name="dict-sydney">{{cite web | url= http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/ashby_research_service | title = Ashby Research Service | author = Crawford, Robert | date = 2018 | work = [[Dictionary of Sydney]] | publisher = Dictionary of Sydney Trust | accessdate = 12 Mar 2020}}</ref> |
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<ref name="children">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224429958|format=image|publication-place=Melbourne|work=Weekly Times|title=Miss Sylvia Ashby|date= |
<ref name="children">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224429958|format=image|publication-place=Melbourne|work=Weekly Times|title=Miss Sylvia Ashby|date={{date|1946-07-03}}|p=26}}</ref> |
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<ref name="popcaanz">{{citation|url=http://popcaanz.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/BUSINESS_Riley-2016_Sylvia-Ashby.pdf|title=Peer Reviewed Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ)|publisher=Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand|publication-place=Sydney|date= |
<ref name="popcaanz">{{citation|url=http://popcaanz.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/BUSINESS_Riley-2016_Sylvia-Ashby.pdf|title=Peer Reviewed Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ)|publisher=Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand|publication-place=Sydney|date={{date|2016-06-29}}|pp=31-43|isbn=978-0-473-38284-1|first=Margot|last=Riley|editor-first=Paul|editor-last=Mountfort}}</ref> |
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<ref name="daily-examiner-1939"> {{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article191658695|work=The Daily Examiner|publication-place=Grafton|title=Public Relations: Germany and Britain – scheme which fell through, Sydney business woman's part|date= |
<ref name="daily-examiner-1939"> {{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article191658695|work=The Daily Examiner|publication-place=Grafton|title=Public Relations: Germany and Britain – scheme which fell through, Sydney business woman's part|date={{date|1939-09-09}}|p=4}}</ref> |
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<ref name="women-in-sport">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246678043 |
<ref name="women-in-sport">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246678043|publisher=[[Australian Consolidated Press]]|publication-place=Sydney|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|department=Women In Sport|title=Long athletic season ahead|date={{date|1934-10-30}}|p=16}}</ref> |
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<ref name="crawford-p6">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|p=6|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date= |
<ref name="crawford-p6">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|p=6|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date={{date|2019-10-19}}}}</ref> |
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<ref name="dictsyd-via-mcnair">{{cite web | url= http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/ashby_research_service | title = Ashby Research Service | author = Crawford, Robert | |
<ref name="dictsyd-via-mcnair">{{cite web | url= http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/ashby_research_service | title = Ashby Research Service | author = Crawford, Robert | date = 2018 | work = [[Dictionary of Sydney]] | publisher = Dictionary of Sydney Trust | accessdate = 12 Mar 2020}}; referencing {{cite book|first=Sylvia|last=Ashby|chapter=The Twenties and Thirties|title=Some Reflections on the First Fifty Years of Market Research in Australia 1928-1978|editor-first=W.A.|editor-last=McNair|publication-place=Sydney|publisher=Market Research Society of Australia, NSW Division|year=1979|pp=8-9}}</ref> |
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<ref name="dictsydney-via-ashbyrecords">{{cite web | url= http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/ashby_research_service | title = Ashby Research Service | author = Crawford, Robert | |
<ref name="dictsydney-via-ashbyrecords">{{cite web | url= http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/ashby_research_service | title = Ashby Research Service | author = Crawford, Robert | date = 2018 | work = [[Dictionary of Sydney]] | publisher = Dictionary of Sydney Trust | accessdate = 12 Mar 2020}}; referencing 'War Effort', 'Conscription, 1941', '2nd Conscription Survey, February 1942', 'War Psychology, September 1942', 'Election Survey, May 1943', 'Wartime and Political Knowledge, December 1942', Box 78, Ashby Research Service records, c1937-c1972 MLMSS 8907, [[Mitchell Library]], [[State Library of New South Wales]]</ref> |
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<ref name="popcaanz-via-corresp">{{citation|url=http://popcaanz.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/BUSINESS_Riley-2016_Sylvia-Ashby.pdf|title=Peer Reviewed Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ)|publisher=Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand|publication-place=Sydney|date= |
<ref name="popcaanz-via-corresp">{{citation|url=http://popcaanz.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/BUSINESS_Riley-2016_Sylvia-Ashby.pdf|title=Peer Reviewed Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ)|publisher=Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand|publication-place=Sydney|date={{date|2016-06-29}}|p=34|isbn=978-0-473-38284-1|first=Margot|last=Riley|editor-first=Paul|editor-last=Mountfort}}; citing [[Mitchell Library]] Correspondence files, MLMSS 8907.</ref> |
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<ref name="routledge">{{cite book|title=The Routledge Companion to Marketing History|chapter=More than froth and bubble: Marketing in Australia |
<ref name="routledge">{{cite book|title=The Routledge Companion to Marketing History|chapter=More than froth and bubble: Marketing in Australia 1788-1969|first=Robert|last=Crawford|editor1-first=D. G. Brian|editor1-last=Jones|editor2-first=Mark|editor2-last=Tadajewski|publisher=Routledge|isbn= 9780415714181|doi= 10.4324/9781315882857|year=2016}}; citing {{cite book|first=Sylvia|last=Ashby|chapter=The Twenties and Thirties|title=Some Reflections on the First Fifty Years of Market Research in Australia 1928-1978|editor-first=W.A.|editor-last=McNair|publication-place=Sydney|publisher=Market Research Society of Australia, NSW Division|year=1979|pp=8-9}}</ref> |
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<ref name="billashby">[[State Library of New South Wales]], MLMSS 8907, Box 70, 'Letter from W. Ashby to S. Ashby,' |
<ref name="billashby">[[State Library of New South Wales]], MLMSS 8907, Box 70, 'Letter from W. Ashby to S. Ashby,' {{date|1960-10-24}}</ref> |
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<ref name="smh-1937">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17359298|work=The Sydney Morning Herald |
<ref name="smh-1937">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17359298|publisher=Fairfax|publication-place=Sydney|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=These women have unusual occupations: shipboard wireless and market research, inducing people to travel|date={{date|1937-04-13}}|p=4}}</ref> |
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<ref name="smh-1938">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17538480|work=The Sydney Morning Herald |
<ref name="smh-1938">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17538480|publisher=Fairfax|publication-place=Sydney|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=Women will talk to women: How market research works, good shoppers wanted|date={{date|1938-11-17}}|p=22}}</ref> |
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<ref name="crawford-p8">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|p=8|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date= |
<ref name="crawford-p8">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|p=8|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date={{date|2019-10-19}}}}</ref> |
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<ref name="womens-weekly-1961">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51185968|work=[[Australian Women's Weekly]]|title=Worth Reporting|date= |
<ref name="womens-weekly-1961">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51185968|work=[[Australian Women's Weekly]]|title=Worth Reporting|date={{date|1961-11-01}}|p=14}}</ref> |
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<ref name="crawford-via-ashby">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|pp= |
<ref name="crawford-via-ashby">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|pp=8–9|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date={{date|2019-10-19}}}}; citing {{cite book|title=Some Reflections on the First Fifty Years of Market Research in Australia 1928–1978|publisher=Market Research Society of Australia, NSW Division|publication-place=Sydney|first=Sylvia|last=Ashby|year=1978|p=27|editor1-first=William A.|editor1-last=McNair|editor2-first=M. E. C.|editor2-last=Larbalestier}}</ref> |
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<ref name="crawford-p9">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|p=9|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date= |
<ref name="crawford-p9">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|p=9|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date={{date|2019-10-19}}}}</ref> |
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<ref name="ashby-vote-proposal">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247996919|work=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]] |
<ref name="ashby-vote-proposal">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247996919|publisher=[[Australian Consolidated Press]]|publication-place=Sydney|work=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]]|department=Opinion|title=Women shouldn't forget they possess a vote|first=Sylvia|last=Ashby|date={{date|1942-07-14}}|p=4}}</ref> |
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<ref name="unmarried-women-views">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247397385 |
<ref name="unmarried-women-views">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247397385|publisher=Australian Consolidated Press|publication-place=Sydney|work=The Daily Telegraph Home Magazine|title=Business Jobs for Women — But not Married Ones|first=John|last=Marsh|date={{date|1938-01-31}}|p=3}}</ref> |
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<ref name="postwar-surveys">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|pp= |
<ref name="postwar-surveys">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|pp=8–10|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date={{date|2019-10-19}}}}; citing [[Mitchell Library]], [[State Library of NSW]], MLMSS 8907, Box 55, 'Balance for 12 months ending 31 December 1945'.</ref> |
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<ref name="newspaper-news-advert">{{cite news|title=Ashby Consumer Panel|department=Advert|work=Newspaper News|p=3|date= |
<ref name="newspaper-news-advert">{{cite news|title=Ashby Consumer Panel|department=Advert|work=Newspaper News|p=3|date={{date|1964-12-11}}}}</ref> |
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<ref name="crawford-p13">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|p=13|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date= |
<ref name="crawford-p13">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|p=13|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date={{date|2019-10-19}}}}</ref> |
||
<ref name="letter-packer-overseas-travel">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|p=16|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date= |
<ref name="letter-packer-overseas-travel">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|p=16|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date={{date|2019-10-19}}}}; citing [[Mitchell Library]], [[State Library of NSW]], MLMSS 8907, Box 57, 'Letter from S. Ashby to F. Packer, 4 June 1953'</ref> |
||
<ref name="crawford-p17">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|pp= |
<ref name="crawford-p17">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|pp=16-17|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date={{date|2019-10-19}}}}; citing [[Mitchell Library]], [[State Library of NSW]], MLMSS 8907, Box 41, 'Miss Ashby's Notes re Visit to USA 1958', {{date|1958-06-30}} & MLMSS 8907, Box 41, 'Miss Ashby's Notes re Visit to USA 1958', {{date|1958-06-02}}</ref> |
||
<ref name="the-argus-1953">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23303201|publication-place=Melbourne|work=The Argus|department=Daily Women's Section|title=She has no duplicate|date= |
<ref name="the-argus-1953">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23303201|publication-place=Melbourne|work=The Argus|department=Daily Women's Section|title=She has no duplicate|date={{date|1953-12-22}}|p=9}}</ref> |
||
<ref name="crawford-p18-19">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|pp= |
<ref name="crawford-p18-19">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|pp=18-19|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date={{date|2019-10-19}}}}</ref> |
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<ref name="crawford-p21">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|pp=21|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date= |
<ref name="crawford-p21">{{citation|title= A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research|pp=21|work=Australian Economic History Review|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd|doi=10.1111/aehr.12183|issn=00048992|first=Robert|last=Crawford|date={{date|2019-10-19}}}}</ref> |
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}} |
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Revision as of 11:49, 17 March 2020
Sylvia Ashby | |
---|---|
Born | Sylvia Rose Ashby 8 June 1908[1] New Sawley, Derbyshire, England[1] |
Died | 9 December 1978[1] Palm Beach, New South Wales, Australia[1] | (aged 70)
Cause of death | Cancer[1] |
Nationality | Australian |
Education | Zerko Business College[1] |
Occupation | Market researcher[1] |
Spouse | John Stuart Lucy[1] |
Children | Susan Laverty Richard[2] |
Parents | |
Relatives | Bertha Joan Prior (eldest sister)[3] William Bertrand Ashby (brother)[4] |
Sylvia Rose Ashby (8 June 1908 – 9 December 1978) was an Australian market researcher and founder of the Ashby Research Service. A pioneer in the field, she was the first woman market researcher in Australia and the United Kingdom, and the first person to ever conduct an Australia-wide public opinion poll. Mentored by two of the finest market researchers of the day, she used her experience to great effect and steadily grew her business over time. During the Second World War her company experienced hardships due to a general public suspicious of inquisitive representatives polling public sentiment about the war and Prime Minister, along with a general reluctance amongst companies to spend money on market research which they found to be unnecessary in a time of rationing. Nevertheless, she came to the attention of Sir Keith Murdoch who offered her the opportunity to setup Australia's first public opinion research subsidiary. When Sir Frank Packer made a counter offer she accepted and made Ashby Research Services a subsidiary of Australian Consolidated Press.
Ashby employed mainly women to survey housewives, who she considered to have great purchasing power despite her view that most housewives were timid and shy creatures beholden to their husbands. After the war she continued innovative research, establishing the Ashby Consumer Panel in which households maintained regular diaries which she used to gather continuous market research data. Towards the end of her life, Sir Frank Packer sold her back her company for the same price as he purchased it, before ailing health caused Ashby to sell her company to Beacon Research Co. Pty Ltd.
Early life
Ashby was born on 8 June 1908 at New Sawley in Derbyshire, England to brickmaker Walter Bertrand Ashby and his wife Bertha, née Powell, as their fourth child.[1] The family migrated to Hawthorn, Melbourne when Ashby was five, and she was educated in Auburn, Hawthorn and Camberwell state schools.[1][5]
Early career
In 1923 Ashby commenced training for two years at a business college run by Frederick Zerko,[1] after which she landed a secretarial job at J. Walter Thompson Australia Pty Ltd (colloquially known as JWT).[6] When the company lost the General Motors account due to the Great Depression, the company downsized considerably and Ashby was moved to the Sydney office. There she started work in the market research and psychology departments under Rudolph Simmat,[6] and by 1933 was working as William McNair's assistant.[5] Both Simmat and Mcnair gave her valuable experiences and mentoring in market research — Simmat authored one of the first studies into market research in Australia,[6] and Mcnair later formed the McNair Survey Pty Ltd company which undertook major television and radio audience ratings surveys.[5] In 1933 she resigned and moved to London,[7] where she worked first for the London Press Exchange, and then for the Charles W. Hobson agency.[8] Though the Australian Dictionary of Biography notes that "she spent much time reorganizing his library",[1] Ashby herself noted she found the contacts invaluable and the experience highly rewarding[9] — particularly in that it taught her "to be always on the look-out for ideas for campaigns".[10] Whilst in London she attended conferences and seminars in Europe and North America.[8] During this time she spent some time working with the German Ministry for Propaganda doing research into improving relations between Britain and Germany, though when it was leaked to the public sentiment was such that it was quickly dropped.[11]
Formation of the Ashby Research Service
Ashby returned to Sydney in 1936 and started her own business, the Ashby Research Service. Although she almost immediately secured a contract with an advertising agency to conduct a three-month-long survey of Melbourne's leading evening newspaper The Argus,[5] she still found it a difficult start, and she later recounted that "business executives... appeared to know little and to care even less" about market research,[12] and this was further compounded by prevailing views of women at the time.[1] To counter this, Ashby became a tireless promoter of market research in a market that did not yet see the value of such research, let alone paying for it. In a profile for The Sydney Morning Herald she was described as "perhaps the only woman in Australia who has specialised in market research".[13] Ashby herself later declared that she was the only woman in the British Empire conducting an independent market research bureau.[11] Despite the challenges she was facing, she persevered and within five years she had a number of clients, including the Australian Gas Light Company, Pick-me-up Condiment Co. Ltd,[1] the National Bank of Australasia, Dunlop-Perdriau rubber goods, Bushells, the Australian Women's Weekly and a number of advertising agencies.[14]
Ashby's methodology was to mainly employ women who she believed were better and more conscientious investigators than men, were "much more patient with other women" and further felt that "women will talk to another woman more freely".[15] She preferred unmarried women however, as she believed that "a single woman is better able to concentrate solely upon the problem on hand [and] she has no home worries to distract her [and] she has more time to keep herself physically fit". Ashby essentially believed that unmarried women had "a singleness of purpose denied to the married woman".[16] She found focused interviews made directly to housewives the most effective approach to market research. In a later interview with Australian Women's Weekly, she showed two small wooden, jointed mannequins – one showing "Mrs. Right" and the other "Mrs. Wrong". Mrs. Right, she explained, "is erect, relaxed; the left arm (holding her bag and papers) is slightly to the rear; the right arm is forward; the head is slightly tilted – she is the epitome of confidence." Mrs. Wrong, however, "is a bundle of nerves; head downcast, bag clutched to her – the epitome of apologetic timidity." Those who displayed a lack of appropriate deportment, she maintained, would cause suspicion and sometimes hostility, and the interviewee would be unresponsive to questioning, leading to poor survey results.[17]
Second World War
By 1939 Britain had declared war on Germany. The Second World War caused major issues for a marketing research company that undertook direct interviews — quite a few of Ashby's researchers were reported by citizens suspicious of those asking questions during a time of war, and consequently they were detained by police. At one point Ashby herself was detained for questioning over several hours by the police, who accused her of "disloyalty" and threatened her with arrest if she did not stop surveying popular opinion on the war and the Prime Minister.[18] Furthermore, rationing meant that firms were less concerned with marketing efforts as the availability of goods became more scarce and consumers were more likely to buy what they could find.[5] Despite this, she largely ignored the threats of the authorities and continued to conduct surveys on topics such as conscription, the war effort and war psychology.[19]
Ashby hired John Stuart Lucy, a journalist from New Zealand, to help with her business. She later married him in 1939. Lucy was to later form a rival research firm, but this did not seem to cause any problems in the marriage — Ashby told The Argus that "we're rivals only in business. My husband completely approves of my career."[20] She gave birth to a daughter, Susan, in 1940 and a son, Richard, in 1943.[20] Despite her previously expressed views on the capabilities of married women at work, the Australian Dictionary of Biography notes that "busy and ambitious as she was, Sylvia did not neglect her two children. On weekends her time was devoted to them; school holidays were enjoyed together, sometimes at 'the farm', her husband's property at Narrabeen. At home there was always a maid or housekeeper; Susan was sent to Frensham and Richard to Geelong Church of England Grammar School."[1]
Her wartime polling gained the attention of Sir Keith Murdoch, who not only ran the Herald & Weekly Times but was also briefly Director-General of Information for the Australian government in 1940. Murdoch commissioned Ashby to run research into the war effort, and Ashby ran the first-ever Australia-wide public opinion survey.[1] Murdoch later invited her to join him in establishing a public opinion subsidiary. Sir Frank Packer, rival proprietor of Australian Consolidated Press (ACP), got wind of the offer however, and put in a counter offer to make the Ashby Research Service a subsidiary of ACP. As Ashby had done work for the Australian Women's Weekly before the war, she chose to accept Packer's offer over Murdoch's.[21] Murdoch then approached Roy Morgan to conduct opinion polling, and he organised the Australian Gallop Poll. From 1942 to 1944 the Ashby Research Service was renamed to the Daily Telegraph Research Bureau, but was renamed back to the Ashby Research Service after the war ended.[5]
Writing for The Daily Telegraph in her capacity as Director of the Daily Telegraph Research Bureau, Ashby caused a stir in July 1942 by proposing that the nation combine every two electorates and then subdivide them again into two electorates, to which women would elect a woman in one electorate, and men would elect a man in the second electorate. She felt this was necessary because "some of those who aspire to leadership unfortunately appear to have the habit of drawing upon themselves most unfavourable publicity, which distresses the average woman, who at heart (although her husband never guesses it) is a timid and shy creature, full of complexes, which cause her to withdraw into herself at the slightest sign of any thing in the nature of a public brawl." By allowing each citizen to only vote for their own gender, Ashby believed this would encourage a better class of female candidate and women would become more politically engaged.[22]
Post-war
After the Second World War ended, the Ashby Research Service saw a resurgence in business — work carried out in 1945 included 14 surveys for clients and 30 surveys for ACP, whereas in 1946 the business carried out 30 surveys for clients and 42 surveys for ACP.[23] The war had shown Ashby that revenue could be affected by external events however, and so she decided to conduct ongoing research surveys alongside her commissioned research work. To this end in 1945 she established the Ashby Consumer Panel as a trial in NSW, which she later rolled out Australia wide in 1947. The panel directly polled households through diaries about their buying habits. Householders would return from shopping and record their purchases and observations directly into an Ashby Consumer Purchase Record. By 1964 the Ashby Research Service boasted in an advertisement that they had day-to-day records regularly kept by 6,165 households (which they stated comprised 18,192 individuals). To maintain quality they had 237 regular employees who inspected the logs, which were then sampled for checking by supervisors for quality control. The advert asserted that it was "the largest survey-group permanently employed in the South Hemisphere".[24] Households were not paid but received a subscription to The Women's Weekly.[5]
As it was important to maintain credibility and relevancy, the Ashby Research Service maintained a Statistical library and employed statisticians. During the post-war baby-boomer boom and relaxed immigration policies that encouraged workers from Europe encouraged Ashby's service to employ workers who spoke a variety of European languages to ensure the consistency and accuracy of their data collection amongst the influx of "New Australians".[25] She also regularly requested new equipment from Packer, including an electric calculator and a punching machine.[6]
From between September to November 1953 Ashby undertook an overseas business trip to the United Kingdom and United States. This caused ructions with the notoriously tight-fisted Packer, who did not necessarily believe in the benefits of such a trip. In a letter to Packer in June 1953, she argued forcefully for the trip, writing to Packer that,
Mr Packer ... it is essential that we keep up with movements in the technique of Market Research, and it is also essential for our prestige that I go overseas. The twelve years in your employ is a long time to ‘stay put’ ... and when other Research people are constantly coming and going ... After ten years of most profitable operation, through lack of co-operation from Consolidated Press, the Ashby Research Service latterly has been hindered from progressing … Periodical overseas visits are essential to a Director of Market Research and this was discussed prior to the signing of my initial contract.[26]
Her travels impressed upon her that her work was first class and they were ahead of the rest of the world. The Argus reported that during her 1953 overseas trip "she tried to find a woman counterpart, 'But without success, I'm afraid. It seems I'm quite unique.'".[20] On a 1958 business trip she was unimpressed with the work of Johnson & Johnson's consumer panels and that the Alfred Politz Research Inc., a leading market research company based in Manhattan, did not do audits and "do not provide anything resembling a standardised service".[27]
As the success of the Ashby Research Service grew, so too did their competition. They found their profits decreasing between 1965 to 1966, and in 1968 the firm recorded a loss. This caused ACP to demand a full audit, but Ashby put together a strident defence pointing out that it was the only time in the subsidiary's history that their expenditure exceeded their revenue. She was able to point to a particularly problematic client and the costs of using a computer. Ashby found, to her frustration, that her subsidiary was being under-utilised by ACP and regularly wrote to Packer to suggest ways of using her services.[28]
Australian Research Service buy-back and death
In 1974, both Packer and Ashby were looking to retire. In a magnanimous gesture to Ashby, Packer sold the Ashby Research Service back to her for the same amount that he had paid for it in 1941 — $2,800.[29] Ashby, who was by this time becoming very ill, sold the business to Beacon Research Co. Pty Ltd.[1] As her health continued to fail, she became confined to a wheelchair, before finally dying of cancer on 9 September 1978 at Palm Beach, New South Wales and was cremated.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Murray, Goot (1993). "Ashby, Sylvia Rose (1908–1978)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 13. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
- ^ "Miss Sylvia Ashby" (image). Weekly Times. Melbourne. 3 July 1946. p. 26.
- ^ "Wentworth—Ashby". Family Notices. Table Talk. Melbourne. 14 March 1929. p. 64.
- ^ State Library of New South Wales, MLMSS 8907, Box 70, 'Letter from W. Ashby to S. Ashby,' 24 October 1960
- ^ a b c d e f g Crawford, Robert (2018). "Ashby Research Service". Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d Riley, Margot (29 June 2016), Mountfort, Paul (ed.), Peer Reviewed Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ) (PDF), Sydney: Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand, pp. 31–43, ISBN 978-0-473-38284-1
- ^ "Long athletic season ahead". Women In Sport. The Daily Telegraph. Sydney: Australian Consolidated Press. 30 October 1934. p. 16.
- ^ a b Crawford, Robert (19 October 2019), "A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research", Australian Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, p. 6, doi:10.1111/aehr.12183, ISSN 0004-8992
- ^ Crawford, Robert (2018). "Ashby Research Service". Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust. Retrieved 12 March 2020.; referencing Ashby, Sylvia (1979). "The Twenties and Thirties". In McNair, W.A. (ed.). Some Reflections on the First Fifty Years of Market Research in Australia 1928-1978. Sydney: Market Research Society of Australia, NSW Division. pp. 8–9.
- ^ Riley, Margot (29 June 2016), Mountfort, Paul (ed.), Peer Reviewed Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ) (PDF), Sydney: Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand, p. 34, ISBN 978-0-473-38284-1; citing Mitchell Library Correspondence files, MLMSS 8907.
- ^ a b "Public Relations: Germany and Britain – scheme which fell through, Sydney business woman's part". The Daily Examiner. Grafton. 9 September 1939. p. 4.
- ^ Crawford, Robert (2016). "More than froth and bubble: Marketing in Australia 1788-1969". In Jones, D. G. Brian; Tadajewski, Mark (eds.). The Routledge Companion to Marketing History. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315882857. ISBN 9780415714181.; citing Ashby, Sylvia (1979). "The Twenties and Thirties". In McNair, W.A. (ed.). Some Reflections on the First Fifty Years of Market Research in Australia 1928-1978. Sydney: Market Research Society of Australia, NSW Division. pp. 8–9.
- ^ "These women have unusual occupations: shipboard wireless and market research, inducing people to travel". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney: Fairfax. 13 April 1937. p. 4.
- ^ Crawford, Robert (19 October 2019), "A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research", Australian Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, p. 8, doi:10.1111/aehr.12183, ISSN 0004-8992
- ^ "Women will talk to women: How market research works, good shoppers wanted". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney: Fairfax. 17 November 1938. p. 22.
- ^ Marsh, John (31 January 1938). "Business Jobs for Women — But not Married Ones". The Daily Telegraph Home Magazine. Sydney: Australian Consolidated Press. p. 3.
- ^ "Worth Reporting". Australian Women's Weekly. 1 November 1961. p. 14.
- ^ Crawford, Robert (19 October 2019), "A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research", Australian Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, pp. 8–9, doi:10.1111/aehr.12183, ISSN 0004-8992; citing Ashby, Sylvia (1978). McNair, William A.; Larbalestier, M. E. C. (eds.). Some Reflections on the First Fifty Years of Market Research in Australia 1928–1978. Sydney: Market Research Society of Australia, NSW Division. p. 27.
- ^ Crawford, Robert (2018). "Ashby Research Service". Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust. Retrieved 12 March 2020.; referencing 'War Effort', 'Conscription, 1941', '2nd Conscription Survey, February 1942', 'War Psychology, September 1942', 'Election Survey, May 1943', 'Wartime and Political Knowledge, December 1942', Box 78, Ashby Research Service records, c1937-c1972 MLMSS 8907, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
- ^ a b c "She has no duplicate". Daily Women's Section. The Argus. Melbourne. 22 December 1953. p. 9.
- ^ Crawford, Robert (19 October 2019), "A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research", Australian Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, p. 9, doi:10.1111/aehr.12183, ISSN 0004-8992
- ^ Ashby, Sylvia (14 July 1942). "Women shouldn't forget they possess a vote". Opinion. The Daily Telegraph. Sydney: Australian Consolidated Press. p. 4.
- ^ Crawford, Robert (19 October 2019), "A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research", Australian Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, pp. 8–10, doi:10.1111/aehr.12183, ISSN 0004-8992; citing Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, MLMSS 8907, Box 55, 'Balance for 12 months ending 31 December 1945'.
- ^ "Ashby Consumer Panel". Advert. Newspaper News. 11 December 1964. p. 3.
- ^ Crawford, Robert (19 October 2019), "A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research", Australian Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, p. 13, doi:10.1111/aehr.12183, ISSN 0004-8992
- ^ Crawford, Robert (19 October 2019), "A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research", Australian Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, p. 16, doi:10.1111/aehr.12183, ISSN 0004-8992; citing Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, MLMSS 8907, Box 57, 'Letter from S. Ashby to F. Packer, 4 June 1953'
- ^ Crawford, Robert (19 October 2019), "A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research", Australian Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, pp. 16–17, doi:10.1111/aehr.12183, ISSN 0004-8992; citing Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW, MLMSS 8907, Box 41, 'Miss Ashby's Notes re Visit to USA 1958', 30 June 1958 & MLMSS 8907, Box 41, 'Miss Ashby's Notes re Visit to USA 1958', 2 June 1958
- ^ Crawford, Robert (19 October 2019), "A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research", Australian Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, pp. 18–19, doi:10.1111/aehr.12183, ISSN 0004-8992
- ^ Crawford, Robert (19 October 2019), "A Matter of Trust: The Ashby Research Service and the Business of Market Research", Australian Economic History Review, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, p. 21, doi:10.1111/aehr.12183, ISSN 0004-8992