SESSION PLAN cum syllabus, Marketing Research. Faculty: MVKulkarni.

Text: MR & RM by

MVKulkarni.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Marketing Research
1 Basic & Applied Research, Problem oriented & problem solving research. 2 Nature & scope of MR 3 Importance & benefits. 4 Case Study: Marico Ind 5 Case Study : HUL 6 Limitations of MR 7 Definitions of Market R & Marketing R 8 Small cases let.

MARKETING RESEARCH
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING RESEARCH I (a) Basic or Pure Research: The research which is done for knowledge enhancement, the research which does not have immediate commercial potential, the research which is done for human welfare, animal welfare and plant kingdom welfare is the basic or pure research.

Government of India, through Census, does research on population count to identify total population of India, no. of male, female, no. of families, no. of voters, etc. One of the major findings of census is, some rural areas, proportion of female is 10% -20% less as compared to male. In some metros and mini metros, female count is marginally less than male. This situation might create problems in future. Govt. responded quickly to this trend and have implemented adcampaign having punch line a world without women. Discovery TV channel highlights the basic research done by Australia and US Governments towards animal welfare and plant kingdom welfare.

Some of the documentaries on animal rescue operations are quite remarkable. Sometimes social research may have commercial intention. Example: Jaago Re Campaign Objective- one billion voters by 2015. Intention was to get 4 million youth registered across 35 cities before general elections in May 13, 2009 &one billion by next elections in 2015. The young coordinator of the campaign Mr Jasmine Shah,along with 11 people approached voters at crowded places&appeals to get registered as voter&also used to say to use helpline www.jaagore.com for any assistance.Tata Tea has sponsored some part of this campaign. This was a successful campaign because by first week April, i.e. within 17 weeks of its launch, the website has managed to register 5.66 million youngsters. Campaigns by Jagore:@Rights of Voters 1)Sir,Madam aap so rahe hai 2)If election ke time you are not voting, then u r sleeping. 3)A woman asking, how to register with EC & Jasmine shah answering.

@Responsibilities of voters
1)Jasmine Shah travelling in a bus with snake 2) A voter asking qualification& experience of contestant candidate

3) Aaj se khilana banth,kam chalu. 4) Municipal Corporation officer asking bribes to a woman, who asked license for Beauty Parlor (Tata Tea Premium) (b) Applied Research: The research which has immediate commercial potential is called applied research. Applied research can further be classified as problem oriented and problem solving research. Problem Oriented Research This type of research is done by Industry Apex Body for sorting out problems faced by all the companies. For example NASSCOM regularly conducts problem oriented research for the benefit of all software companies. Similarly CII does the research for all types of companies. At global level, WTO does problem oriented research for developing countries. In India, APEDA (Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority) conducts regular research for the benefit of agro industry. Problem solving Research This type of research is done by an individual company for the problem faced by it. For example if Videocon International conducts research to study customer satisfaction level, it will be problem solving research. The findings of problem solving

research are unique and only true for that company which does the research and cannot be generalized. Whereas findings of the problem oriented research could be generalized. Market Research and Marketing Research are the applied research. II NATURE OF MARKETING RESEARCH

The nature of marketing research is very much linked with marketing as such. It deals with each and every decision which marketing also deals with. In nut and shell marketing research involves research related to nature and range of products, demand for the products, pricing, distribution and promotion, etc.; virtually every aspect of

serving customer or clients right from idea generation till delivery, recovery of payment, installation and training.

III OBJECTIVES OF MARKETING RESEARCH (a) To generate, refine, and evaluate marketing plan.e.g bottled water.

(b) Monitor marketing performance to improve impact of marketing programme. (A)(Example of launching marketing/promotion of Hum Tum movie) (B)Launching of Rub Ne Bana Di Jodi by Yashraj Banner (c) To identify market potential India`s direct selling market potential/size is Rs 3500cr. # Growth rate is 30%p.a #Biggest players -Amway, Oriflame,Avon,Tupperware&Modicare @ One million employement generated last year Out of total consultantants, 68%are women&32%aremen.

[Case study of Reliance Petroleum for identifying market potential for petrol (8

million ton) diesel (40 million ton) and launching of value added petrol pumps] d) Stress on innovation for market growth &profitability. e) To research trends. IV IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING RESEARCH Marketing Research helps the marketer in following decision areas: MR for designing strategies to face recession. 1)Tata Housing:Research indicated shortage of 25 million dwelling units across middle&low income families.Real Estate companies like DLF, Kumar Properties, etc could not market even Rs 10lacs worth properties in sufficient nos during last 12 months.Tata housing,after Nano success to group company, decided to target low& middle income families through SHUBH GRIHA PROJECT at BHOISAR near Mumbai,in which each flat is priced between RS 3.9lakh&Rs 6.7lakh.The project of 1000 flats is huge success because it recorded 75% booking within one month launch of project. Now Tata Housing wants to take same model all over India. 2) Bajaj Auto:Two wheeler automobile markets are passing through rough path. Demand for 100cc bike is steady. But 125cc, 150cc, 180cc, 200cc are in bad

shape. To meet consumer expectations on power Price, Bajaj is launched 125cc motorcycle at price Rs20, 000-24,000(made in china), which is Rs8000 less than cheapest available bike CDDAWN. 3) Aviation Industry:During 2009-10,Private airlines like Jet Konnect& Kingfisher suffered 14% drop in passengers carried.As such it were compelled to launch low price offerings. 4) Acer:World`s third largest PC brand,Acer,already revised price of entry level desktopEL-1600, to RS 9999from Rs 12000,to meet affordability in recession of corporate&household customers. 5) PETER England Fashion& Retail:Indias branded apparel retail market size is Rs 26000cr.Madura Garments is Rs 1000cr worth company& Peter England is Rs 270cr worth brand. Peter England shirt prices are Rs 400 onwards. The company launched new MASS brands like Spinoff,Elysee,Byford&People at a price Rs 249549.These shirts are retailed through 100 different stores. 6) Cadbury India:Indian confectionery market is Rs 3500cr& Cadbury commands 72% market share. During early 2009 ,it launched CDM-Shots at price Rs2.Earlier Cadbury did have low price chocolate at Rs 2, like small pack of Perk & chocolate paste-

Chocki.But it did not market aggressively. Now Cadbury is serious about all low price chocolates, since it occupies 10% of its revenue. 7) Titan Watches:Indias watch market was flat last year(44 million units).Sonata brand is the leader& cash cow for Titan. The price range of sonata is Rs 400 onwards. To face recession successfully in 2009, Titan came up with sub brand of sonata--SONATA-SUPER- FIBRE,in price range of Rs 275- 550.Recession research indicated that 25% of market exist below Rs 500/ Titans move, therefore was timely& yielded much needed growth push to umbrella brand. (a) Target Market To understand taste, preferences and choices of consumers, to understand market size, to measure market potential, to interpret consumer behavior, to study influence of life style on target market behavior. (b) Products / Services To identify customer satisfaction, to identify customer service levels, to study and to augment product features, attributes as well as to identify service gaps (c) Price To study price affordability of target market, to study competitive pricing structure, etc.

(d) Distribution To identify prevailing channels of distribution, emerging channels, channels of distribution by competitors and modification to be done in channels structures as per market requirement. (P&G introduce master wholesaler between stockiest and retailer to augment service level) (e) Promotion To design promotion mix, to identify promotion mix of competitors, to study emerging promo tools (road shows, pops and kiosks)

BENEFITS OF MARKETING RESEARCH

Conducting Marketing Management to identify strength and weaknesses of the marketer as well as the competitors.Also to research market shares (a) Determining whether economics of scale and economics of scope (e.g. retailing, insurance and telecom can be clubbed by organized retailer like Shoppers stop, ICICI, etc.) (b) Understanding needs wants and demands of target customers in India and abroad. (c) To formulate sales and distributions strategies

(d) To avoid business recession by timely launching brand extension and or product variants (detail study of PLC or BCG matrix) VI SCOPE OF MARKETING RESEARCH (a) Type of consumers that comprise present and potential markets. (b) Buying habits and pattern of consumption Earlier consumers used to buy cassettes/CDs for music. Now you do not have to physically walk to a music store. You can download the music. Hence the production & distribution model has changed. (c) Size and location of different markets, not only in India but overseas also. (d) The prospects for growth or contraction for the current markets being served.( dVD vsVCD, CDVs Flopy) (e) New mantras of emerging segments. (f) The marketing and manufacturing capabilities of competitors. (g) Most suitable entry timing (h) The current and prospective competitive position w.r.t. price, quality, reputation, etc. (i) Chances of improvement of current channels (j) Optimum use of promo-tools

(k) The macro environmental factors like changes in government regulations, effect of technological innovations, urbanization, etc. that will have any effect on the market for the product under consideration. For example FDI in Retail Trade. The Govt. rules are as follows. (l) Govt. allows FDI upto 51% with prior approval in retail trade of Single Brand products.This is aimed at attracting investment in production &marketing,improving the availabilityof such goods for consumers,encouraging increased sourcing of goods from India&enhancing competitiveness of Indian enterprises through access to global designs,technologies&management practices. 2) FDI up to 51% in retail of SINGLE BRAND products only. ---- Products should be sold under same brand internationally. --- Single brand product retailing would cover only products which are branded during manufacturing. 3) Cash&Carry- This is B2B format, where the retailer sells to shopping establishments&large institutional customers. Metro in Bangalore is cash-n-carry

VII LIMITATIONS OF MARKETING RESEARCH / OBSTACLES IN ACCEPTANCE OF MARKETING RESEARCH (1) In corporate India total number of companies could be more than 10,000,00 whereas companies engaged in conducting marketing research, in organized sector are around 10 to 15 and unorganized around 32 to 50; of which the major leading marketing research companies and their sales turnovers are as follows: Marketing Research Company ORG-MARG MRAS MBA RCG STANDARD RESEARCH IMRB Services offered Sales turnover for the year 2011 (Rs. In Crores) 200 50 30 25 30

People meter, retail audit Test marketing Opinion polls Perceptual maps Customer satisfaction surveys Advertising testing research Total

165 500

Corporate Indias turnover is few trillion $ whereas sales turnover of all marketing research companies (organized and unorganized) does not exceed more than Rs. 1000 crores. This indicates that marketing research is not very popular with corporate India. The big shots in consumer non-durables i.e. HUL and ITC hardly spend around Rs. 70 crores and 50 crores respectively annually on marketing research, which is not even 1 per cent of their sales turnover.(HUL`s sales till march 2010, was Rs19,001cr,GP Rs2815cr,NP Rs2202cr, ITC`s sales in 09-10 wasRs 27,061 cr & NP was Rs4062 cr) This fact confirms unpopularity of marketing research with corporate world. The reasons for unpopularity could be as follows: (2) Narrow conceptions: MR is perceived as data collection activity only i.e. a clerical job. This is because the marketer never comes in forward of respondents and explains to him the objectives of research or purpose of research. E.g. Times of India and Indian Express conduct research for estimating readership and viewer ship every six months. The boys recruited are under-graduates who do not know the purpose of the study. They just write down the answers on structured questionnaires and say that they are doing

marketing research. Hence the respondents form perception that marketing research is clerical job. (3) Improper orientation of the investigators data collection activity is normally entrusted to first year management students without imparting any training to them. The respondents are just given quota i.e. they have to complete say 100 surveys in one weeks time and submit 100 questionnaires. Normally, the interviewer is not able to complete this work in one weeks time and to fulfill the quota on his own he fills up the questionnaire. This hampers the accuracy of the survey. (4) Late results - well design and plan survey which is to be completed by conducting personal interviews might take 2 to 3 months time. In marketers opinion, the survey should not take more than one months time since he perceives it as clerical job. As such the report submitted by marketer may not be attended by the sponsors. (5) Conditional findings MR companies normally want to play safe i.e. due to volatile Indian markets, they never recommend any marketing strategy. In place they normally recommend conditional strategies i.e. if this happen, this marketing strategy will work. Such conditional marketing plans are not

acceptable to the marketer because marketer can hardly control the conditions. (6) Costly affair Field research is always very costly because the expenses like traveling, conveyance, lodging, meals, communication, etc. to be incurred e.g. a survey done for nation wide market for consumer non-durable like toothpaste might require few crore rupees. However, marketers opinion is it should not take more than few thousand since he perceives MR as clerical job. (7) Biasness Research may have biased due to (a) Improper research techniques- suppose for researching consumer buying behaviour, observation research is not done. (b) Inadequate skill of investigator- while administrating questionnaire, mis interpretation of open ended questions is not handled carefully. (c) Researcher inclined towards predetermined results. Research should not get carried away based on data published by one company. For example, Tata Motors says, Corporate for transportation now prefers four wheeler for small consignment upto 1.0 ton.Actual research indicated that today also Three wheeler command for transportation of small cargos.

vIII Definitions of MR 1 MR is a tool for a study --------To measure needs, wants, demands. To evaluate consumer attitudes To interpret consumer behavior Of various target markets. 2 MR is the systematic gathering recording &analyzing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods &services. 3 MR is the objective & formal process of systematically obtaining, analyzing &interpreting the marketing data for actionable decision making. IX MR &market research.