Word on the street – SMS Research shut down  

UPDATE: SMS Cash Catastrophe: State Contracts in Limbo

by Stan Fichtman, PoliticsHawaii.com

At a lunch with a friend who is connected to entities that do surveying, they mentioned to me that a highly regarded company in the marketing and survey industry had quietly, but quickly shut down.

When told who it was, this humble blogger almost fell off his chair – SMS Research.

“Are you kidding?” was the reaction to the news. Further discussion described someone who was the “last man out” who turned off the lights, as one of the sources.

“SMS Research” was the retort, realizing that an entity that was highly respected in various circles had so quietly shut down its operations that not even the news got a hold of the development.

Knowing full well that what one person says at lunch is not proof enough for an article in Politics Hawai‘i, this blogger decided to investigate and see what was going on with this esteemed marketing and research firm.

Former SMS office on Bishop Street--name plate is blank and nobody home at 2pm Friday October 11, 2024.

But first, a little background on SMS.

In 2021, the company owner passed the reins to a new generation of leadership. SMS Research was established in 1986 through a merger of SMS and another research firm, Singer & Associates, owned by Hersh Singer.

With that merger, it was off to the races with SMS becoming one of the most tapped firms to do market research in Hawai‘i. For several years, perhaps decades, if someone needed market research that was run by a dependable name, you would go to SMS Research.

And those entities spanned the gamut – from government departments to political campaigns to private contracts with healthcare entities. Their reports would be published and reported on by newspapers across the state.

Their reports would also be used as the basis for changes that were needed in something, based on SMS’s findings. For political campaigns that could afford it, SMS would be a go-to for polling and, again, the discovery of issues that were on the minds of voters.

They even had a cool-looking logo, with a bench of professionals that were, at many angles, seen as the top of the line. One of the names that popped up who was running SMS at the time was Daniel Naho‘opi‘i, who was the Executive Vice President up until 2023 when he moved over to the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA).

Now Naho‘opi‘i is the Interim President and CEO of HTA

In 2021, an article in the Star-Advertiser announced that Singer was retiring and sold SMS to Timothy Carson. Keep that name in mind, as he pops up again a little later in this article

Back to the investigation of what is going on with SMS. Upon hearing this news this humble blogger started investigating what was going on. The first place, like most others do, is to go to the internet and see what pops up on a Google search.

Sure enough, SMS’s link at smshawaii.com comes up, but through the various pages that Google comes up with the only page that it links to is a “site can’t be reached” message. Everything that was linked to that website is, as of this writing, down.

Then it was off to see if there were any Facebook posts or LinkedIn. The Facebook page is down but the LinkedIn did have material on it. The last posts there are about four months old. Looking at recent headlines, SMS was featured back in August 2024 releasing a report on public opinion about Maui short-term rentals.

So, there was activity with the entity relatively recently. And there was nothing said in any place this blogger looked at, which would suggest that something was askew with SMS. Not even a random social media rumor.

Then it was off to see if their business registration was up to date. In looking at the Hawai‘i Business Express website at the State Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, indeed SMS Research is both registered and recently brought up to date.

One could purchase the company’s Certificate of Good Standing on the day this article was written. In looking at the filing of their update, the point of contact listed was the current owner of the company – Timothy Carson.

Finally, it was time to see if anyone was in and would pick up a call. Calling the listed number for SMS, went directly to an automated system notifying the caller of where they were in the queue of calls, for the next available operator.

After five minutes of that, it went to voice mail…and this blogger left his name and phone number for someone to call. Later on, the source that provided the tip reaffirmed that SMS was shut down as associates who used SMS for research were telling them they were being forced to look elsewhere now.

If it’s true that SMS Research and Marketing Services has ceased operations and shut down their offices, it would be one of the stealthiest shutdowns this town has seen in a long time. This removal of a large, well-known, highly respected marketing firm from the industry is significant. Although few reviews are available to read about their services, it seems that employees liked working there, and the few reviews of clients in this Google link, say the same. Anecdotally they were seen by information gatherers for decision-makers as providing some of the best an accurate research in town.

And if this shutdown stands, SMS becomes yet another reminder of the ever-changing landscape of businesses, of all kinds, in Hawai‘i.

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