John Smurthwaite

John Smurthwaite is the ESOMAR Ambassador for the Asia Pacific region which covers 18 countries from NZ in the south to Mongolia in the north, Philippines in the east and Pakistan in the west. John took on this role after retiring from KANTAR in 2016.

The role of Ambassador is to work closely with all the ESOMAR representatives in the region as well as link up with the national associations to support your needs in the region. In normal times, John manages ESOMAR Best of Series events as well as assisting in the many ESOMAR events in APAC.

 John is based in Malaysia and is currently the President of the Marketing Research Society of Malaysia.

 John began his research agency career with an Australian company in Melbourne called Frank Small and Associates which was later acquired by Sofres/TNS/KANTAR and continued working with the acquiring companies John transferred to Malaysia in 1977 and then to Hong Kong in 1981 to begin developing Frank Small and Associates throughout  the region developing offices in Philippines, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and India. John managed the APAC region as TNS CEO/Chairman for many years until his retirement. 

John is a member of ESOMAR  advisory panels and committees such as on Global Market Research and Pricing reports as well as the Association Executive and Representative committees.