14 MRSI Seminar 2002

Promoting the needs of MR in India

14 MR Works Seminar 2002

The Esperanto Of Advertising: Exploring Brand And Advertising Literacy

Authors:
D Shiva Kumar
Business Head (Hair Care)
Hindustan Lever Ltd.

Poonam V Kumar
Vice President (Spl. Pdts.)
NFO MBL India Group Pvt. Ltd.

Excerpts from this paper:

This paper explores the Indian youth's relationship with brands and advertising. It identifies stages of brand advertising literacy with an aim to get an appreciation of the role of brands in the consumer's life. The paper also looks at the content and the executional style of advertising, relating them to needs and examines their impact on raising the status and the interest of the brand.

The paper draws on findings from qualitative research in teen and youth markets. All of the research is in urban markets - primarily metros, but with some representation of smaller cities. It is also limited to SEC A, B and C. In the rest of the paper, the 'Indian consumer' refers to an urban 16-25 year old belonging to middle or upper SEC. Apart from conventional focus groups, we also used ethnographic methods - observations at home, shopping, leisure time - to get a sense of the brands used, relationships, interactions, non verbal cues and activities - all of which stimulated an enriched level of understanding.

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Cherry Picking the TV Audience

Authors:
Sunder M
Director Analytics
Advanced Techniques Group

CS Krishna Kumar
Head CRM Analysis
OgilvyOne Analytics

Excerpts from this paper:
It is a well-known fact that TV viewing habits vary vastly from one individual to another. The time of the day spent watching TV, the time spent watching, attention levels, loyalty to channel etc., all vary considerably among different individuals. These factors affect the performance of any media plan.

This paper focuses on the dynamics of TV viewing and two critical dimensions "the time spent viewing" and the "frequency of viewing". These are extremely critical factors that impact the deliveries of any media plan.

The objective of this exercise was to arrive at tools and techniques beyond the existing ones that will help in increasing the productivity of media plans. The data source used is:

o TAM people meter respondent level data which is the best source of dynamic viewership measurement data

The analysis has proved very clear directions in terms of the channel mix and the time bands for a media plan. One of the key conclusions we have arrived at is that:

Niche channels do add significant reach to a media plan, and reach an audience that is otherwise difficult to reach…

Programme Predictor Literature Survey

Authors:
CVL Srinivas
COO
Madison Media

Nagaraj K
Madison Media Research Centre

Excerpts from this Paper:
While 'predicting' new programme ratings have always been a challenge to the media community, today, it's perhaps the biggest challenge. Intense competition among broadcasters is leading to a great churn in programming. We see new programmes launched every other week and more the new programmes, more the uncertainty for media buyers.

On the other hand, high clutter in most programmes has reduced the potency of television as an advertising medium. For media buyers, spotting a winner early adds immense value to media plans. Brands get to ride on high TRPs at low 'entry costs', whilst ground acts and other value adds can help break through clutter and make the media buy exceed ROI targets.

For broadcasters, accurate programme prediction helps manage their portfolio of programmes better as well as fight competition with the right slotting strategy. Whichever side of the fence you're on, media buyer or broadcaster, it all boils down to risk management.

The Programme Predictor is a proprietary tool to predict initial rating size (1-6 weeks) of a new programme that helps in making the critical "go" or "no go" decisions.

Trade Secrets To Identify key differentiation opportunities that influence FMCG distribution network loyalty

Authors:
Surekha Poddar
AVP
CSMM

Subhash Chandra
APD
CSMM

Praveen Nijhara
SPD
CSMM

Excerpts from this paper:

The FMCG distribution network has witnessed a continuous evolution since the time it was first established. This evolution has been fuelled by changes in technology and processes. Those corporations, which have adapted to these changes have thrived and those that haven't withered away.

In the recent past, organizations were dependent on their sales force not only to pursue sales objectives but also to provide information on retail behaviour and areas of retail satisfaction. However, this was not an efficient method as salespeople only reported those issues that were critical in furthering their sales in the short term and not those aspects that were important to the retailer. In other words, the information coming in from the sales force was not of the desired quality.

Many corporations realized this fallacy and therefore contracted third parties to collect and assimilate feedback from retailers and distributors. This feedback was then used to identify low performing areas in order of their priorities and interventions were carried out accordingly. This paper demonstrates the utilization of trade satisfaction measurement to identify differentiation opportunities.

Cultivating Loyalty - A Fine Balance

Authors:
Deepak Mahendru
Head - Channel Management
Escorts Limited

Surekha Poddar
AVP
CSMM

Nimai Swain
RD
CSMM

Anuj Sethi
APD
CSMM

Excerpts from this paper:
Word of mouth is one of the key drivers for the sale of new and existing products and the tractor industry is no exception. 96% of the respondents agree being recommended. A high degree of brand repeat purchase is also witnessed. It is therefore no wonder that satisfied customers are ambassadors for the brand.

This exercise is based on the fact that satisfied customers of Escorts will use more, buy more and be more tolerant of the brand. The client is one of the pioneer tractor manufacturers in India.

The agency would keep a continuous pulse on tracking the Customer Perceived Service Quality. This, integrated with the initiatives to produce world-class products, would help Escorts Limited regain its No.1 position in the customer's mind and the tractor industry. The authors have attempted to build up strategies for Escorts Tractors in the new millennium on the basis of this programme.

VIEW 360 An Ethnography Inspired Multidimensional Qualitative Research

Authors:
Sanjay Gangopadhyay
General Manager (Marketing)
Levi Strauss Pvt. Ltd.

Surhid Devsharma
Consumer Marketing Manager
Levi Strauss Pvt. Ltd.

Nihal Pinto
Research Executive
TNS Mode
Excerpts from this paper:
Mining for consumer insights is an unending quest for marketers and market researchers. This quest has lead to a continuous development of newer and more effective tools and technologies - in both quantitative and qualitative research areas.

However the quantum of development in this field has been more visible in the quantitative arena, essentially contributed by the phenomenal growth in desktop computing power in the recent years. While various tools and techniques of eliciting responses have evolved in qualitative research, the classical tools of focus group discussions and depth interviews still remain its mainstay.

One of the qualitative methods that is slowly finding application in consumer research is ethnography. The approach that the authors have used in the case study that will be detailed is inspired by the principles of ethnography.

The approach being recommended in this paper is inspired by the two defining features of ethnographic research but factoring in the commercial realities of time and investments. This also means using multiple tools and techniques, including classical focus groups and depth interviews - to gain a holistic understanding. This has proved richer, deeper insights into consumer behaviour and psyche, that are relevant for marketing decision making.

Market Research's Role In Helping Government Institutions Track And Reduce Corruption

Authors:
Bhupendra Mathur
Sr VP and Country Manager
BIRD-CSMM, IMRB

TS Mohan Krishnan
AVP and Research Services Director
The eTechnology Group@IMRB

Mrutyunjay Mishra
Consultant
The eTechnology Group@IMRB

Excerpts from this paper:
For long we have ignored the utility of market research in helping governmental institutions that have been mandated by law to service its ultimate consumer (public at large) by regulating the intermediaries.

From the standpoint of a governmental service provider, the requirements are:

Are customers getting service as explicitly stated in our quality manual?

Are our officials misusing their power - colluding with wrong doers and/or harassing genuine service seekers?

Traditionally market researchers have been quick to help in providing feedback on the first query. However, we have continued to refrain from developing better methods that measure / quantify level of corruption and at the same time identify holes that need to be plugged through systematic interventions. This paper is based on a real life study for a governmental institution, which regulates certain services and businesses in India.

Picture Perfect Innovation in Below the Line Research - Kodak Photoshop

Author:
R Vijayalakshmi
Project Director
IMRB International

Excerpts from this paper:

Photoshop is a neighbourhood level retail activity that aims to integrate the channel for two discrete parts of Kodak's business - Input and Output.

Input constitutes the 'picture taking' aspects - cameras and film rolls

Output encompasses the picture making aspects - development and processing which are more popularly known as washing and printing. This includes lab facilities, emulsions and chemicals (collectively known as chemistry) and photographic paper.

We have innumerable examples of how Market Research supports branding and consumer strategy development. Today, however, many marketers have to win the war in the store and the spotlight shifts to BTL and channel.

This paper illustrates how market research can work for channel initiatives. It also illustrates how research looked at multiple distribution channel partners to capture the full effects of a channel level activity.

The Consumer As Jury The Emerging Trend in Government Decision Making?

Authors:
Sushmita Balasubramaniam
Senior General Manager
TNS Mode

K Jairaj
Vice Chairman and Managing Director
KSRTC

PK Garg
Director (Security and Vigilance)
KSRTC

Sumeeta Suresh
Research Executive
TNS Mode

Excerpts from this paper:
Consumer Research is increasingly getting accepted and used in the social marketing context. However, it is almost never used for hardcore government decision making despite the fact that decisions taken by the government have much larger monetary implications. It is against this backdrop that we need to view government decisions relating to subsidized travel for students.

All state governments provide bus passes at highly subsidized rates to school and college students across the state for commuting to their schools/ colleges. It is a social welfare measure for encouraging education, but has major commercial implications for the transport corporations who issue the passes.

Though the corporations belong to the public sector, they are run commercially and need funds to be viable. And the subsidy grant provided by the government for compensating for the losses due to subsidization is felt to be insufficient by the corporations.

The true loss as a result of the subsidization of passes has been a contentious issue between state governments and their respective transport corporations due to possible abuse of the passes.

Thus, the objective of the study was to estimate the actual usage of the passes by the pass holders. The estimation method was simple - involving the mapping of travel of the individual in a typical week - including weekends/ non working days - using the pass. Moreover, the commercial value of all the pass trips were ascertained to arrive at the average value of the trips made using the pass in a typical week.

Please Lend Me Your Ears Public Voice in Policy Planning

Authors:
Aruna Sethuraman
Deputy General Manager
TNS Mode

Kalpana Kar
Member
BATF

Amol Ghate
Research Executive
TNS Mode

Raghavan Srinivasan
Executive Director
TNS Mode

Excerpts from this paper:
One of the visions Bangalore's new CM, SM Krishna, had for the city was to make it truly 'international' in terms of its living standards and to make it the best city in India. Thus, the BATF was set up to achieve this aim.

When the task force first met, it was known clearly that Bangalore had many problems. And, like any other marketer in the free market, the Bangalore government could not tackle all this at one go. Ergo, the first task of the task force was really to obtain a focus on which problems to address.

Historically such prioritization was done from a service provider's viewpoint by the bureaucracy based on subjective administration and political agendas and constraints. But the task force decided to follow a citizen centric approach - that the citizen would set the agenda for its task and it would work with the citizen's agenda on the tasks to be prioritized. Therefore, this paper deals with an opinion poll that was at the heart of this citizen centric approach

Sneak a Peak Into the Retailer's Den

Authors:
Amit Adarkar
General Manager
Synovate India

Sonali Dalvi
Senior Research Executive
Synovate India

Excerpts from this paper:
It was a time when the branded atta market had witnessed a flurry of activities owing to the new brand launches. These national launches accompanied by aggressive trade margins and consumer promotions resulted in a dent in the market share of the client's existing brand. It was hypothesized that consumers are lapsing away from the brand.

The client, had always believed in focusing on brand building rather than on consumer promotions. Seeing the effect of trade margins and consumer promotions led to the thought of whether the branded atta market was completely commoditized with efforts of brand building having no effect on the consumer.

In this light, the client started weighing their brand building strategy against adopting consumer promotions. Should the client's belief be sustained in the light of rampant promotions? Were the promotions pulling away consumers from the client's brand? Or was there some other discrete reason behind the consumers lapsing away from the same?

Thus, given the above context, this research was conducted in order to understand what is happening in the market, possibly, effects of the role played by the retailer and the impact of consumer promotions in the final brand choice.

Abracadabra to ABCD De-mystifying Insight Generation

Authors:
Gayatri Yadav
Marketing Director
General Mills

Sakina Pittalwala
Vice President
Synovate India

Sharanya Sitaraman
Manager
Synovate India

Excerpts from this paper:
In a category that has seen a lot of research, where does one find fresh insight… of the kind that has never been heard before? There were two approaches open to us:

a. The Conventional Deductive Approach
Just a year ago, we had gone through an extensive stock taking research. This study had thoroughly explored the consumer, category and brand. The first and most obvious option was:
- Mine the current data
- Re-analyze the data from earlier studies, formulate hypotheses
- Conduct fieldwork specifically focused towards exploring these hypotheses
This process, called the deductive process, had certain issues associated with its application, including the risk of not finding anything new

b. The Fresh Inductive Approach
Fresh insight could be achieved only if fresh thinking was introduced right at the beginning. We needed to look at the category and the consumer with different lenses. The first task was to identify a new creative source. Thus, instead of using the known to deduce the new, we would start with the new and use it to provide a fresh perspective to the known…

Will He or Won't He? A Transparent Model for Predicting New Brand Shares in Consumer Durables

Authors:
Preeti Reddy
Vice President
TNS Mode

Usha Kavan
Vice President
TNS Mode

Dipanyita Ray
Deputy General Manager
TNS Mode

Excerpts from this paper:
It is a well-known marketing statistic that 8 or 9 out of every 10 new brand launches fail in the market place. And this, despite the brands having been constructed through a professional marketing programme - involving intensive market research at every stage. Brands fail despite intensive pre-development research because market research inputs before and during new brand development do not provide complete or substantial risk reduction.

Hence, pre-testing the final offer is a critical step in new brand development - for substantial risk reduction. This is even more critical for the durables category where 're-constructing' a brand has tremendous time and cost implications. In the true analysis, the true evaluation of a brand offer is the market share that it is likely to obtain in the market share.

Conventional constructs do not provide reliable estimates of brand potential (market share). To overcome these problems, the authors have developed a transparent model for predicting market share for durables - involving an experimental study design. The model is based on deriving the test brand effect from a classical experimental study design and transforming the current market shares using the test brand effects - to determine new market share, post launch of the test brand.

Decrease Price, Lose Volume

Authors:
Amit Adarkar
General Manager
Synovate, India

Manish Mittal
Senior Research Executive
Synovate, India

Excerpts from this paper:
Even within the price area itself, pricing policy must have taken account of the level and intensity of competition, the size of one's own brand and those of the competition and any market segmentation characteristics.

Last few years have witnessed some differences in the sales of two wheelers. At one end, motorcycle sales have shot up quite a bit whereas sales of scooters/ scooterettes have gone down. In the scooterette segment, though the sales have gone down, but they have gone down very marginally. This did not get reflected in the sales of 'Brand A' of a leading two-wheeler manufacturer. Rather it saw a uniform drop in sale over the years, with some improvement in sales when they dropped its price, but this was only short lived.

Pricing though one of the very critical issues, always impacts other key areas in the product category. So, volume enhancement was not the only area, which the research needed to address. Rather there were few more to it which could have got erupted because of reduction in price.

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