10:20 a.m., Oct. 31, 2008----About 200 people gathered at Arsht Hall on the University of Delaware's Wilmington campus for a lecture by James D. (Dave) Power III, founder of J.D. Power and Associates, a global marketing information services firm, and his son, James D. (Jamey) Power IV, the firm's senior vice president and strategic adviser.

THIS STORY

E-mail

Print

Twitter

“Growing up in a family business, literally starting up on the kitchen table, really showed me the importance of entrepreneurship,” Jamey Power said during a presentation that described the formation and subsequent sale of the company to the McGraw-Hill Companies in 2005.

The lecture, "Building J.D. Power and Associates: From Kitchen Table to a Global Brand Dedicated to Listening to the Voice of the Customer," and a networking reception, were organized by James O'Neill, professor of economics and director of the Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship in UD's Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.

Dave Power worked for Ford Motor Co. in Michigan and a subsidiary of a major advertising agency in Detroit before he moved to California to start the company that bears his name.

The company's first client was McCulloch Corp., a chainsaw manufacturer whose general manager initially warned Dave Power of the danger of starting a new venture. The company's initial list of clients grew to include Ampex Consumer Products Group, U.S. Borax, Carnation, Toyota and MSI Data Systems.

J.D. Power and Associates drew national attention in 1973 when The Wall Street Journal reported Mazda's rotary engine problems, based on data from one of the firm's first independently funded surveys.

“That gave us credibility with the press, we were in a number of newspapers, magazines and even on television, and I just can't believe how well we communicated what we were doing,” Dave Power said. “From that day on we have used the press to deliver our message to the top management of the companies on customer satisfaction.”

The key to the company's reputation is the transparency of the information, which is “not dressed up to look pretty,” said Jamey Power.

The company vaulted ahead once again in 1984, when Subaru became the first to advertise its J.D. Power rankings by running a commercial during Super Bowl XVIII. The advertisement referred to Subaru's ranking in the 1983 U.S. Automotive Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Study. Subaru advertised that it was “second only to Mercedes in customer satisfaction.”

After that first mention during the Super Bowl broadcast, J.D. Power started licensing any mention of its name in advertisements at the rate of $375 for 10 months of use. Since then, more than 350,000 television commercials and more than 7 billion print advertising impressions refer to J.D. Power awards annually. The licensing fee is now between $50,000 and $200,000.

The company, headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., has expanded its practice areas to include travel, telecom, homebuilders, health care practice and retail banking. Its operations have spread to Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Article by Martin Mbugua
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson