15 MR Works Seminar 2004

Promoting the needs of MR in India

15 MR Works Seminar 2004

Bol Baby Bol: New Methodologies & Techniques To Understand Kids Of Varied Developmental Stages
Author:Sridhar Reddy
Project Manager
TNS Global

Abstract of the Paper:
Our experience shows that children rarely react to brands and brand communications in the same way as grown-ups do. Children's thought patterns are usually concrete, which means that they cannot cope with non-visible / intangible objects or ideas, which makes it more difficult to test out concepts with them. Another important short-coming of the conventional approach (which we are still practicing at large) is that we rely a lot on verbal responses, whereas it is more than apparent that a kid of this age group finds it difficult to express his feelings using words. Also, the developments happen very quickly with every passing year

Also for kids below 8 years, the chief influencers or the co-decision maker in most cases happens to be the mother. There have been instances / situations where mothers and kids are talked to separately. However, we have noticed that the coming together of these two members and the dynamics of such interactions lead to a different kind of decision / opinion / conclusion in terms of brand choice.

Our endeavor in this paper is to highlight the key facts related to this audience, how they behave as consumers (solus and with mothers) and present certain methodologies and techniques that will suitably gauge reactions of this segment. Also, we would be suggesting certain logistics related issues and probable solutions, which could sway the proceedings and inferences one-way or the other.

Some key outputs / recommendations of this paper would be

>Techniques / methodologies suitable for kids across varied nature of studies
>Developmental stages and implications on techniques/ dos and don'ts
>Analytical tools engineered to elicit kid related insights
>Some key dos and don'ts in researching kids

Want to get a broader view of this topic? Order the 15th Annual Seminar - MR WORKS! Book of Papers in a CD format! For further details, contact us.
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Consumer ID : A Consumer Segmentation Model
Authors:
Nita Gopal,
Prasenjit Bhattacharya
PQR, Mumbai

Abstract of this Paper:
The Context
- You are a new market entrant. You are trying to jostle your way into an already cluttered field with other comparable products.
- You have a large portfolio. But have realized that your brands seem to be targeted at the same person.
- You are an established brand. You have been doing well. But you need to get a larger share from the competition's pie. While protecting your own turf.

The common concern:

Understanding Consumer ID©
Focus of Consumer ID© is to:

It is developed on the assumptions that:
- Within the target group identified by the marketer, there still lie differences in mind-sets,
- Which explains why seemingly similar consumers, behave differently, and
- A deeper understanding of each of these distinctive mindsets empowers the marketer to identify sharply who he needs to target and fine-tune all marketing efforts for enhancing brand appeal for her.
Unique Qualities of Consumer ID©:
" The critical task is to identify attributes that differentiate mind-sets meaningfully. We therefore use a value-based segmentation.
- We capture three facets of each respondent - psychographic, category values and category behaviour.
- The first two help us get a clear understanding of the different mindsets - or personas - that exist in the market.

- The third allows us to capture exactly how the mindsets impact behaviour within the category and brand connects.
" Technique: I-DI's.
- Intensive depth interviews are used which is typically 2.5 - 3 hour interviews.
- The sampling is done to explain all the behavioural diversities within the TG.
" Quantitative follow up module.
- Role of Qualitative: to amplify the mindsets - 'how they are distinctive from each other' and 'how this impacts their behaviour within the category'.
- Role of the Quantitative module: to validate and size these segments.
A Case Study
There are multiple shopping options for a housewife purchasing grocery today. A new entrant wanted to know how to get in with a unique value add that would maximise footfalls.
We offered to identify the different mindsets of housewives - demographically similar women, who choose to buy at different types of outlets, despite having the same choices.
The study not only amplified the personas that existed in the market; but also provided cues that would help maximise appeal to each persona.

Want to get a broader view of this topic? Order the 15th Annual Seminar - MR WORKS! Book of Papers in a special CD format! For further details, contact us.
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Driving Customer Choice through Employee Focus

Authors
Sanjay Badhe
Sridevi Rao
Abstract of this Paper:

Many leading edge organizations are fairly customer focused. Understanding the customer, anticipating his needs, designing products and services to meet those needs, while at the same time keeping costs down, are common practices for most of them. It is the kind of external that ensured them success. But it takes vision and courage to turn that logic inside out and focus on the internal customer for that all-important competitive edge.

Shoppers' Stop, the market leader in a booming large format retailing industry, had taken all the established measures of customer centricism, So when research showed that the front-end employee had become a big driver of customer loyalty, the chain invested heavily in raising their morale and improving productivity. The hope was that this investment would increase customer loyalty, thus improve revenues and bring down costs. Was it worth their while?

This paper examines the research that informed this decision and the impact it has had on driving customer loyalty and revenues.

Jack in the Box

Authors:
Seemeen Khan
AC Nielsen ORG-MARG

Sangeeta Gupta
AC Nielsen ORG-MARG

Subhransu Rout
GM
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Health Care India

Abstract of this paper:
New product Development is an area of keen interest for marketers due to the far reaching strategic opportunities that it throws open. Our paper delves into the unconventional path of microethnography for new product development ideas for the tiffin box arena for the 8-12 year old child. The micro ethnographer synthesizes disparate observations to make meaningful constructs by experiencing in a holistic manner local conditions of the subject of study.

This paper explores the psyche of the child and observes the context of tiffin consumption to comprehend the referential setup of the subject. We look at the mother's perspective in terms of her understanding of the child's needs and her actual behavior towards the fulfillment of these. We touch upon the cultural symbolism of the tiffin box to the child and then move into understanding in detail the tiffin interaction process. The depth of involvement with food consumption, the behavioral aspects of consumption as well as the desires and needs of the child are looked into basis our participative observations.

This framework is then used to put together an understanding of the need gaps so as to be able to put together a new product development brief outline for R&D, to guide them in their quest for new product ideas.

"LIVE WITHOUT FEAR"

Using Consumer Truth To Create Marketing History In Credit Cards

Authors:
V. Vasantha Kumar
Sangeeta Gupta
Madhumita Chakraborty

Abstract of this paper:

This is the story of how a late entrant in a cluttered category was able to achieve a successful launch because of a deep "connect" with the consumer. The ABN AMRO Freedom credit card was born of a journey of understanding the consumer using a multi pronged and iterative process. The exercise involved studying the cultural context of saving and finance; understanding consumer needs and gaps, attitudes and usage of credit cards, observing the consumer's interactions with the product; developing and fine-tuning concepts that revolve around consumer needs and checking the communication pre- launch.

This multi dimensional approach provided a wealth of knowledge about the consumer and his reactions with credit cards. However, the primary reason for the success of the Freedom Credit card lies in the fact that the client had the conviction to take on the big barrier of " loss of control and fear of overspending". The product and communication was intricately woven around the findings of the research. The card born of these efforts met with great success in the months following the launch - to give an example, it generated as many as 20,000 enquiries in just 9 days following the launch. The Freedom credit card became the flagship product of the bank and helped propel ABN AMRO bank from a relatively lesser-known MNC bank to a key player in financial products today.

Making Words Speak Louder - Exploring ways of developing a framework to measure the "word of mouth phenomena"

Authors:

Rajshree Dave,
ACNielsen ORG MARG

Tara Prabhakar
ACNielsen ORG-MARG

Preeti Singh
ORG-MARG

Pradeep Rai Saxena
Hero Honda Motors Ltd.

Abstract Of This Paper:

"Word of mouth marketing is the world's best-known marketing secret."
"Best-known" and at the same time "a secret"? Practically every marketer knows how important word of mouth marketing is. Yet almost no one truly understands how to build their business through word of mouth.

This exercise attempts to develop a framework for measuring word of mouth in the motorcycles category with the objective of using the findings to influencing word of mouth and transform it into an active and controllable element of marketing mix.

The client, Hero Honda recognizing the critical role of word of mouth in the motorcycles category, agreed to partner us in this initiative.

While the study focuses on motorcycles category, these learnings can be extended to other categories such as cars, consumer durables etc where word of mouth plays an equally important role in influencing brand choice.

A Match Made In Heaven… Exploring the Brand-Celebrity Nexus

Authors:
Puneet Awasthi
Associate V.P. and Research Services Director
IMRB International

Aditi Gairola
Associate Project Director
IMRB International

Abstract Of The Paper:

While celebrity advertising has been used as an effective tool to create visibility and appropriate imagery by association for several decades now, it has truly come into its own in India in the last decade. This paper explores the brand-celebrity nexus in terms of a framework for identifying a suitable match. It further suggests an exploratory approach towards understanding how this marriage can be used to maximise the gains accruing to the brand from the endorsement. This paper demonstrates applicability of research on celebrity research through case-studies of researches done for different categories/brand over the last couple of years.

The framework suggested for identifying a suitable brand ambassador examines the issue of the stars salience as compared to his/her popularity. Subsequently, the popularity estimates were mapped against the consumer perception of his/her longevity in the industry. Using these two analyses, which we have called Star Popularity and Star Momentum stars have been indexed and ranked basis their stature and therefore value. We examined both qualitative and quantitative approaches to assessing star-brand imagery fit and found that the qualitative data tends to be richer in uncovering the different dimensions of the star and brand fit in terms of imagery and therefore have used the qualitative approach towards assessing the star and brand fit. This has been explored in terms of the emotional assets of a star and the brand, their core values and anything new that the star can give the brand and thus improving the equity off a brand.

The matchmaking program thus suggested provides a tool kit which blends qualitative and quantitative research approaches for evaluating celebrities.

Media Ethnography

Author:

Kunal Sinha
VP - Discovery
Ogilvy and Mather Advertising

Abstract of this paper:

The paper introduces Media Ethnography is a key method of anthropological study and cultural analysis, leading to a richer appreciation of a group's values, rituals, symbols, meanings and role models.

It helps uncover nuances in people's behaviour and attitudes that conventional qualitative research often fails to elicit. The methodology is illustrated through projects done by the Discovery group at Ogilvy & Mather on women, romance and sexuality, the meaning of the home, relationships as portrayed in Hindi soap opera, and regional culture characteristics.

They show how a close study of media content can reveal the hidden facets of our personalities and life, how sometimes the media can magnify emotions and strip away subtleties, providing inspiration for the creative product, and provide points of comparison between socio-economic classes - based on the media they consume.

Meeting customer needs and expectations through e-initiatives

Authors:

Mr. Mohan Krishnan
Vice President
The Henley Centre

Mr. Vishal Bali
Associate Project Director
The etechnologygroup@IMRB, Mumbai

Abstract of the Paper:

Historically, several e-business strategies have failed in India because of failure in obtaining a proper understanding of the customer needs and expectations.

Given the fact that an online environment is significantly different from an offline environment, one needs to understand the 'unique' barriers that a customer may face in this particular environment and that may paralyze his desire to adopt this particular innovation. Hence, new approaches are required to understand the key stumbling blocks that an organization may face while going the e-business way.

This paper aims to outline a successful approach where traditional MR techniques along with usability testing techniques have been used to help a client design an online offering that meets the customer needs and expectations.

Want to get a broader view of this topic? Order the 15th Annual Seminar - MR WORKS! Book of Papers in a CD format! For further details, contact us.

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Not Quite Magic Potions Decoding consumer interpretations of product windows in OTC advertising

Authors:

Anjali Puri
Qualitative Division
ACNielsen ORG MARG

Vrinda Bhatia
Qualitative Division
ACNielsen ORG-MARG

Abstract of this paper:

This paper attempts to study consumer decoding of product windows in OTC advertising, and isolate some of the factors that seem to make them effective.

There are two questions it addresses:
1. Why do product windows work at all? … How does the consumer 'use' this element of the advertising … what does he get out of it?
2. What kinds of product windows work better? What are the elements that strengthen or detract from the effectiveness of product windows?

The paper draws from multiple sources of data including primary research among consumers and an expert medical / psychoanalytical perspective. It examines issues like the underlying consumer logic with respect to an ailment, realism vs. abstract symbolism, and the impact of perceptual elements like colours and symbols, to arrive at some guidelines for creating more impactful product windows.

Pulsing: Identifying The True Potential Of Emotional Routes

Author:
Preethi Gupta
PQR, Mumbai

Abstract of this Paper:
The Context
With growing clutter in the market place marketers are turning to emotional routes to assert brand distinctiveness. When a client has multiple emotional routes to choose from how do we go about choosing the best? How does one research something as intangible as an emotion?

Conventional research has treated emotional routes like a typical concept research, wherein the emotions are presented as concept cards with the relevant product and category supports.

The key drawback of such an approach is that, the category and brand fit often dominate the research process and thereby hinder real responses to the emotion itself. Imagine if someone asked you…would you buy a sports shoe that does….. and helps you to just do it!

The Pulsing Approach
The 'Pulsing' attempts to overcome this limitation and unlocks the true potential of an emotional route. The fundamental belief being that emotions cannot be tested in the same way that we test other concepts:
" Emotion are felt not thought through and processed
" Emotions need to connect
" They may not always be directly linked with the product

The process therefore uses the emotion as a starting point and pulses its potential in the following manner:
" Spontaneous level…what does it evoke?
" Fit with the consumer's emotional world…does it touch a chord?
" Category level…what does it say about the product?
" Brand level…what does it say about the brand?
The typical pulsing process can be used not just to evaluate the true potential of comparative emotional routes but also to provide communication development cues.

A Case Study
The above methodology was successfully used for a cellular service provider looking to make an entry into an already cluttered market. The market already had strongly entrenched players, and was also extremely feature and price led. In such a market the challenge for the new entrant was to shine above this clutter. They chose to get emotional and the rest is history.

Punjab Express: A New Product Mix For A New Market

Authors :
Seemeen Khan
Consultant
ACNielsen ORG-MARG

Tara Prabhakar
ACNielsen ORG MARG

Sunil Pillai
Wipro Consumer Care

Abstract of this paper:
This paper is not an attempt to showcase a 'research miracle'! It is not about jazzy techniques. It is about good, solid, homegrown qualitative research that has resulted in the most elusive proof that research works - a marketing miracle, a success story.

This is a chronicle of how a brand managed to break the 'psyche of ritualistic behavior' and successfully take on a market leader on its own turf. Dainik Jagran's revamp and attack strategy for a new market (Punjab) and its subsequent challenge of Punjab Kesari's dominance based completely on an extensive qualitative study aimed at deconstructing culture and anchoring the brand in it, is the stuff qualitative research should be proud of. It is an example of how the right approach could sometimes throw up the most insights (not just the techniques).

Retail

Authors:

Sharanya Sitaraman
Head - Qualitative Division
Synovate India

Ruchira Garg
Senior Research Executive
Synovate India

Abstract of this Paper:
In today's fashion retail scenario, it is a challenge to keep the merchandise cutting edge, yet appealing to a mass audience. The marketing need is to develop a range that will be considered trend setting.

Globus has an in house design team who were in tune with national and international trends. What research really needed to establish was whether the consumer was willing, and likely to adopt these trends or not. Market research was used to evaluate designs and identify likely 'hits' of a collection.

The key research challenges were to identify consumers who were capable of being fashion leaders. And the next step, to obtain customer feedback on the product specifics, in the context of latest fashion trends.

Through all this, the data required a predictive slant… understand likely shop floor responses although the product is exposed to the customer in a research situation.

Further, it was required to validate the findings on a continual basis, and keep in touch with the consumer and perceptions on changing trends.

This paper traces the Globus case study by addressing three key questions:

å How do we identify 'trend setting' target audiences?

The consumer profile selected were mass to upper end consumers, who were 'early adopters' of fashion. The selection process ensured that they are fashion conscious and are fashion leaders within their peer group but not necessarily those who defined fashion only through designer clothes.

å How do we collect data?

The methodology of qualitative sensitivity panels was used… recruiting a regular set of people who will evaluate merchandise over a period of time. This helped ensure consistency of responses over different collections. It also added value in validation and interpretation of responses.

å How do we make this actionable?

The findings were analyzed in two ways:
" Overall response to the range, and the key parameters that matter
" Details of individual garments

Further, insight into their wardrobe and purchase patterns showed us that there were four needs that different items fulfilled. Analysis along these parameters helped make the responses more actionable.
" 'Appealing garments', they like it and would like to buy for themselves
" 'Aspirational garments', Admire, but do not buy for self
" 'Ordinary, daily wear' kind of stuff… Not 'fashionable'
" 'Not at all required at any cost' kind of garments… do not like and would not buy at all

The findings have provided inputs into the last three collections of Globus.

The Wake Up Call

Authors:
Nimai Swain
Research Director
CSMM, Delhi

Sushil Varma
Consultant
CSMM, Delhi

Abstract of this Paper:
The paper focuses on the crucial role Customer Satisfaction Measurement (CSM) plays as a comprehensive system to drive the business strategies of Bharti Telenet (Touchtel), the leading basic service provider and guide overall business goals.

The research acts as a barometer to capture minute fluctuations in market sentiment and customer expectations, and gives valuable insights for Touchtel to act proactively.

The paper depicts Touchtel's journey through various phases of its operations in MP starting from challenging the monopoly of DoT, meeting ever increasing customer expectations and building a successful brand from the scratch. With the unification of telecom licenses Touchtel now faces multifarious challenges from across the redefined telecom boundaries. It discusses the options available and way forward for Touchtel in winning customer loyalty.

The paper demonstrates how CSM research has helped a company to reinforce its processes, fine-tune its tactics to face competition moves and build strategies to drive customer loyalty based on systematic analyses of customer's voice.

Want to get a broader view of this topic? Order the 15th Annual Seminar - MR WORKS! Book of Papers in a CD format! For further details, contact us.

'Ghoonghat ke peeche kya hai' : Unveiling the rural woman

Authors:
Malini Mathur
Shaleena Kaura

Abstract Of The Paper:

The Client is market leader of a hair oil brand, spanning both rural and urban markets. In mid 2002, the hair oil market was fraught with flat growth rate; Recent launch of a competitive brand pegged at a lower price was posing to be a threat; There were other brand specific issues viz brand imagery as well. The marketing need was to strengthen and revive overall brand standing and relevance in the rural segment.

The research objective was to provide cues into brand and specifically communication strategy. Specific tasks were to gain an understanding the rural consumer (woman in this case) - her life, her dreams, roles and aspirations and understand the category / brand role and relevance in her context.

THE RESEARCH APPROACH
The paper demonstrates the advantage of a consumer- based research approach rather than a conventional brand / category- based approach. Given the above market and brand context, it discusses the need to look beyond the category and approach the task from a much larger consumer context, rather than using category / brand needs as a filter as in conventional research designs.

METHODOLOGY
The research focused on ethnographic methods instead of relying on conventional focus group interviewing - observations at home, Day in Life Observations , leisure time - to get a sense of the immediacy of moods, relationships, interactions, non-verbal cues and activities. It also discusses certain elicitation techniques that worked well with the rural audience.

FINDINGS
The paper unravels key implications for marketers with brands spanning urban, semi-urban and rural markets in communicating with the rural audience (woman in particular)
- Is she really a different animal.. different from urban audiences .. how so?
- What is the role of effective market research in understanding this consumer and her interaction with the category?

- What are the learnings, specifically in developing communication that lends itself to producing relevant interpretations and responses across different consumer typologies?

Want to get a broader view of this topic? Order the 15th Annual Seminar - MR WORKS! Book of Papers in a CD format! For further details, contact us.