MARKETING RESEARCH

BAY MADISON CASE

Submitted To: Dr Suresh M R

Submitted By: Group 6
Section A
Chetan Sharma 16013
Kangana Dutta 16018
Nilina Lizbeth Babu 16030
N G Shrivallabhan 16046
Sindhu S 16048
Sreenath G S 16050
CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE ..................................................................................................... 2

Marketing and promotion strategies of Bay- Madison (currently) .............................................. 2
Distribution and competitions ......................................................................................................... 2
Main Problems .................................................................................................................................. 2
Information required ........................................................................................................................ 2
Research Problems in the case ......................................................................................................... 2
Robert’s marketing problems .......................................................................................................... 2
PROGRESSIVE RESEARCH GROUP ............................................................................................. 3
Research objective: ........................................................................................................................... 3
Research Methodologies ................................................................................................................... 3
Time & Cost....................................................................................................................................... 4
NATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES.......................................................................................... 4
Research objective ............................................................................................................................ 4
Research Methodologies ................................................................................................................... 4
Analysis & Comparison .................................................................................................................... 4
Drawbacks of their proposal ............................................................................................................ 5
CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 5

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INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE

The case talks about the company Bay-Madison Inc. and George Roberts who is the research
Director of the company wants to find the solutions to the ongoing problem by conducting a
study on the product “Rill”. It is a product of Ellis Company who is one of the clients of Bay-
Madison. Rill which is a initially a cleansing agent was developed in 1923 but later when the
R & D added an ingredient it was promoted as both a cleaner and a laundry wash additive.

Marketing and promotion strategies of Bay- Madison (currently)

 50% of ads features the product as Cleaner

 30% of ads features it as a laundry additive
 20% of ads features it as a dual-purpose product

Distribution and competitions

 It is available in three can sizes i.e. 4 ounces,8 ounces and 1 ounce

 There are 6 national cleaners and there are 2 laundry additives who are competitors

Main Problems

 The unit sales of the product decreased from the past five years
 The agency and company are in a disagreement as to whether product should be
promoted as a cleaner, a laundry additive or a dual-purpose product

Information required

 Sales, outlets, margins, distribution, consumer attitudes, usage patterns, different

product characteristics such as strength or concentration or package size etc.

Research Problems in the case

 The product’s marketing problems

 Objective of the proposed research
 Suggestions regarding the methodology
 How to prepare the Questionnaire

Robert’s marketing problems

 Why do people buy Rill is it because of it being a cleaner or laundry or a dual purpose
product
 How do people buy Rill?

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  Should it smell like a soap/perfume?
 Which is better strong/weak product?
 What should the pricing be?
 How do people see our product is it good/average/ or poor?
 What to promote either use it as a product/multi use product?

PROGRESSIVE RESEARCH GROUP

The Progressive research group started operations in 1948 and it is one of the most seasoned
showcasing research organizations. They have done many statistical surveying ventures and
their customers are biggest buyer merchandise producers. The organization has most developed
PC innovation and furthermore making steady upgrades in it to accelerate and make more
prudent, finish and point by point customer reports.

Research objective:

They defined the nature of the problem as follows:

i) Brand personality and image of several cleansers
ii) Brand personality and image of several laundry additive products
iii) Habit pattern on home cleaning
Habit pattern on laundry additives

Research Methodologies

i) Market survey: face to face interview with 2275 homemakers who used Rill across
various geographical area.
ii) Intensive interview study: by taking 2 hour depth-interview with 600 consumers.
iii) The various study techniques that was used by NRA are:
(a) The Personification Test,
(b) The Thematic Apperception Test,
(c) Word Association Test, and
(d) The Semantic Differential Test, among others.

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Time & Cost

i) Completion time: 12 weeks

ii) Estimated cost: $23,900 plus or minus 10 percent.

NATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES

Research objective

i) To discover the present market position of Rill in relation to its competitors.

ii) To learn about the current position of Rill.
iii) To know the consumer habits, attitudes, knowledge, opinions about Rill
iv) Analysis of Rill’s packaging.

Research Methodologies

iv) Market survey: face to face interview with 2275 homemakers who used Rill across
various geographical area.
v) Intensive interview study: by taking 2 hour depth-interview with 600 consumers.
vi) The various study techniques that was used by NRA are:
(a) The Personification Test
(b) The Thematic Apperception Test
(c) Word Association Test
(d) The Semantic Differential Test
vii) Completion time: 12 weeks
viii) Cost estimated: $52000

Analysis & Comparison

 National Research Associate are more precise and accurate in their procedures.
 Mostly focusing in determining the effective promotional activities in order to increase
the sales
 Their research objective is to compare in relation to its current competitors in each of
the given fields.
 Their study covers studying of consumers taking into consideration factors like brand
usage, purchasing and usage habits etc.

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  Proposal to interview a sample size of 2,275 housewives, spread across a wide
geographical area, covering both the rural and urban areas which will be effective in
representing a population.
 The research will consist of both intensive study (covering in-depth interviews), and a
market study is to be carried out by 88 University-trained and 455 trained field-staff,
respectively.
 Different techniques like personification test, Thematic Apperception Test, Word
association test, Semantic differential test are used that will help to understand the
customers preferences better.
 Laboratory test technique even included.
 There is also a better shared understanding between Mr Roberts, the research-director
of Bay Madison Inc. and NRA (as compared to The Progressive Research Group).
Mr Robert considers marketing problems, are closer to what National Research
Association considers their research objectives.

Drawbacks of their proposal

They are making a surrogate information error by conducting psychological evaluation, which
is of little relevance, when the requirement of the company doesn’t fit well.

CONCLUSION

By analysis all the companies Mr Roberts should select National Research Associates although
they are charging high price because their research is sequential and the different techniques
which will be helpful to understand the customers’ habits and they will able to know better
what customer excepts which will them to take decisions regarding product formulation and
product differentiation if needed as per the market requirements and future changes. Errors
must be taken into consideration while proceeding the research to get more accurate results.

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