Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
29th July- Dewdrops Case Study
The participants discussed the Dewdrops case study in the session
The case was divided into five sections for the purpose:
1. Background
2. Project brief by the client
3. Research proposal by Agency A
4. Research proposal by Agency B
5. Research proposal by Agency C
The participants noted and illustrated the salient points of ever component mentioned above. The case studfy emphasised the following points:
1. The need for a market research must be justified.'
2. One must consider the project brief as the cornerstone of the proposal as the objective and the requirements must be understood thoroughly.
3. The proposals must contain elaborate research design description and be able to compete with multiple good quality proposals.
4. The research method plays a vital role in selection of the proposal.
The photograph of the discussion shall be uploaded soon.
Abhishek Banerjee
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Class on 27 July - Data Collection
The class was on the topic Data Collection Techniques. It dealt with 4 important points:
• How to collect data
• Pros and cons of questionnaire
• Dos and Don’ts of questionnaire
• Observational technique
How to collect data :
Questionnaire is the most common method of data collection. While designing a questionnaire, care should be taken in case of the grammar, scale, etc used and the translation done. the length of the questionnaire should be such that it can be administered properly.
Nowadays, questionnaire is not the only tool for collecting data. People have also started using social networking sites. But, while using technology for data collection one should be careful that every point of data collected is saved properly for future analysis.
In this context, the problem with data collection in the dark chocolate case was also discussed.
Another technique for data collection is Focused Group Interview. In this , the member size is between 8-12 .
Pros and Cons of questionnaire:
Pros :
o If monitored properly, the work becomes easy.
o It can become a one-stop solution .
Cons :
If not administered properly, the above 2 points will turn negative.
Dos and Don’ts of questionnaire:
Designing of a questionnaire is both an art as well as science. Care should eb taken that questionnaire doesn’t turn into a boring one for the respondent.
Observational Techniques :
In this technique, generally the behavior of respondents is studied by observation.The example of Zara market research was discussed for this.
Greeshma
• How to collect data
• Pros and cons of questionnaire
• Dos and Don’ts of questionnaire
• Observational technique
How to collect data :
Questionnaire is the most common method of data collection. While designing a questionnaire, care should be taken in case of the grammar, scale, etc used and the translation done. the length of the questionnaire should be such that it can be administered properly.
Nowadays, questionnaire is not the only tool for collecting data. People have also started using social networking sites. But, while using technology for data collection one should be careful that every point of data collected is saved properly for future analysis.
In this context, the problem with data collection in the dark chocolate case was also discussed.
Another technique for data collection is Focused Group Interview. In this , the member size is between 8-12 .
Pros and Cons of questionnaire:
Pros :
o If monitored properly, the work becomes easy.
o It can become a one-stop solution .
Cons :
If not administered properly, the above 2 points will turn negative.
Dos and Don’ts of questionnaire:
Designing of a questionnaire is both an art as well as science. Care should eb taken that questionnaire doesn’t turn into a boring one for the respondent.
Observational Techniques :
In this technique, generally the behavior of respondents is studied by observation.The example of Zara market research was discussed for this.
Greeshma
Monday, July 26, 2010
Class recap-26th July'10
In today's session we did a group activity in which we analysed the questionnaire for case study "Customer attitude towards mobile phone providers".
We needed to find out the flaws in the questionnaire and also categorise the questions into various types of scales.
This info is now to be written on a sheet of paper by the respective grp reps and submitted to sir in tomr's class.
Also, sir announced the deadline for interim submission of project work, which is 6th Aug.
Friends, pls take initiative n keep blogging n try to inform sir thru mail before taking a leave.
We needed to find out the flaws in the questionnaire and also categorise the questions into various types of scales.
This info is now to be written on a sheet of paper by the respective grp reps and submitted to sir in tomr's class.
Also, sir announced the deadline for interim submission of project work, which is 6th Aug.
Friends, pls take initiative n keep blogging n try to inform sir thru mail before taking a leave.
Richest Segment in Urban India
This week we take up A4—the richest houseghousehold segment in urban India. A4 is a small segment with large families, households whose chief wage earners are graduates or postgraduates working as professionals, managers or businessmen. More importantly, they live with their children who are themselves married.
Household sizes are therefore large—more than half have more than five members. And with many earning members, just 17% of the households depend on just the chief wage earner’s income. Median household income is close to Rs6.5 lakh a year and more than one-quarter of these households earn more than Rs15 lakh a year—the highest proportion in this income bracket among all in the series.
The 600,000 households in this segment account for a little more than 1% of the urban population, but the high education and income profile makes this an important consumer segment for marketeers.
Two-thirds of the households have senior citizens while three-quarters have children, so the spectrum of goods and services consumed by this segment spans all ages. A4 households spend the highest share among all segments on services, the highest in fact on conveyance. Children are given vehicles as soon as they are eligible to drive, most graduating to four-wheelers at the earliest. Entertainment, especially at hotels, multiplexes and malls, is high on the agenda for weekends, while holidays are spent abroad or at top-end destinations within the country—this is after all an affluent segment. A4 households spend a very small proportion of their budget on rent, as 86% of them own the homes they live in.
Yet, there are some households that earn less than Rs3 lakh per year; they comprise less than one-fifth of the total. After all, not all the A4 chief wage earners have college degrees. Their family backgrounds can be quite diverse and more importantly, the sectors of employment are extremely varied—construction and real estate, manufacturing, education, health and social work all make up for around 20% of the sectoral employment each. There is also a nearly even split in this segment between those who are self-employed and those who have regular salaries.
Further, income also depends upon the opportunities to earn in the cities—a doctor or lawyer in Mumbai for instance would earn much more than one with similar qualifications in a smaller town, say Jabalpur or Jorhat. Even within large metros, there would be variations in income—a doctor in south Mumbai would have a very different practice compared with one in Jogeshwari, for instance. The point being made here is that there is still considerable variation within this segment, even though it is a much more affluent segment than the others in urban India. Consumption patterns would remain largely similar across all the households in this segment, even though the levels would differ.
A4 households are joint families, an anomaly in urban India, especially among the higher income groups. The advantages of living in the same house could be economic (saving on rent, children still to earn enough to live in separate homes) or social (the neighbourhood is a good one, close to schools or clubs, etc.). Or again, family ties just may be stronger than the individualistic need to break away.
Prasad & Ankur Singh
Household sizes are therefore large—more than half have more than five members. And with many earning members, just 17% of the households depend on just the chief wage earner’s income. Median household income is close to Rs6.5 lakh a year and more than one-quarter of these households earn more than Rs15 lakh a year—the highest proportion in this income bracket among all in the series.
The 600,000 households in this segment account for a little more than 1% of the urban population, but the high education and income profile makes this an important consumer segment for marketeers.
Two-thirds of the households have senior citizens while three-quarters have children, so the spectrum of goods and services consumed by this segment spans all ages. A4 households spend the highest share among all segments on services, the highest in fact on conveyance. Children are given vehicles as soon as they are eligible to drive, most graduating to four-wheelers at the earliest. Entertainment, especially at hotels, multiplexes and malls, is high on the agenda for weekends, while holidays are spent abroad or at top-end destinations within the country—this is after all an affluent segment. A4 households spend a very small proportion of their budget on rent, as 86% of them own the homes they live in.
Yet, there are some households that earn less than Rs3 lakh per year; they comprise less than one-fifth of the total. After all, not all the A4 chief wage earners have college degrees. Their family backgrounds can be quite diverse and more importantly, the sectors of employment are extremely varied—construction and real estate, manufacturing, education, health and social work all make up for around 20% of the sectoral employment each. There is also a nearly even split in this segment between those who are self-employed and those who have regular salaries.
Further, income also depends upon the opportunities to earn in the cities—a doctor or lawyer in Mumbai for instance would earn much more than one with similar qualifications in a smaller town, say Jabalpur or Jorhat. Even within large metros, there would be variations in income—a doctor in south Mumbai would have a very different practice compared with one in Jogeshwari, for instance. The point being made here is that there is still considerable variation within this segment, even though it is a much more affluent segment than the others in urban India. Consumption patterns would remain largely similar across all the households in this segment, even though the levels would differ.
A4 households are joint families, an anomaly in urban India, especially among the higher income groups. The advantages of living in the same house could be economic (saving on rent, children still to earn enough to live in separate homes) or social (the neighbourhood is a good one, close to schools or clubs, etc.). Or again, family ties just may be stronger than the individualistic need to break away.
Prasad & Ankur Singh
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Class - 22nd July'10
The class started with the revision of important ingredients of a brief taught in the previous class.
The first two steps in developing a brief were:
The importance of background in a research process was discussed.
We discussed various methodologies for conducting a research like:
The first two steps in developing a brief were:
- background info
- listing study
The importance of background in a research process was discussed.
We discussed various methodologies for conducting a research like:
- Central Location Test
- Sequential Monadic
- Panel formation
Friday, July 23, 2010
The Next Wave of Digital Marketing Trends
Sometimes the most important small business marketing tools and technologies start out as expensive enterprise solutions exclusive to big brands and agencies; only much later do they become affordable and accessible to small businesses.
Innovation No. 1: Online Display Advertising
Banner ads may sound like an antiquated way to get noticed, but actually display advertising is becoming much more interesting due to two important trends.
One such trend is better local ad targeting. Several companies, such as Local.com, LinkedIn and Facebook, have announced that they're getting into the local targeting game by offering geography-based advertising along with the standard demographic or keyword targeting you'd expect. Local targeting is already prevalent in search engine marketing and it's good to know that display ads are heading in the same direction.
The other noticeable trend to get excited about is the movement toward ad pricing based on cost-per-action rather than cost-per-click. Paying for ads based on CPA means that you don't pay the publisher until you get the action you want from the ad. For example, if you want your online display ad to drive someone to an online store to buy the advertised product, you won't have to pay until someone actually clicks the ad and completes the purchase. Several companies--such as Hydra--have announced an emphasis on CPA tracking and billing.
- How to get ready
Get to know your acquisition costs on an intimate level. If cost-per-action advertising sounds attractive, you'll need to have a firm understanding of what you're willing to pay for each new customer or action your advertising obtains in order to know how to bid. If you're interested in the possibilities of targeted display advertising (and you're interested in getting sophisticated with your targeting) start building a profile of your best prospects and customers--including geography, demographic information and typical buying behavior. If you need help figuring out how to analyze your customers to get that information, online advertising company Ad Buyer offers a set of free audience profiling tools.
Innovation No. 2: Online Retail Promotions
Selling physical goods has long been about driving traffic to your e-commerce store so prospective customers can see and buy your products. That trend seems destined for a giant turn in the opposite direction, because it won't be long before smaller retailers have the ability to sell more of their products on other highly targeted consumer websites. One such website is Milo.com, where the CEO announced the company's intention to enable anyone to search real-time availability and local product information on every product, on every shelf, in every local business in America.
Another outstanding innovation for online retail comes from Pixazza. Pixazza is changing the way consumers shop by allowing people to browse and buy products that appear in any photos. For example, let's say you're reading an article in an online entertainment magazine and you see a photo of Jennifer Lopez wearing earrings that are to-die-for. Getting yourself a similar pair is easier than ever; as you hover over the photo Pixazza recommends earrings at suggested prices far below what Jennifer Lopez probably paid for hers.
- How to get ready
It's time to get your inventory database in shape. Selling products on websites owned by other companies will likely require you to conform to their database and information technology standards. There's no need to get overly sophisticated here. If your company has the ability to publish real time inventory and product information to your own website, you probably already have enough technology to quickly enable a feed of that information to other online databases.
Innovation No. 3: Social Media Advertising
Social media is arguably the most innovative internet tool to emerge since, well, the internet. There are definitely good reasons to advertise on social media sites (this includes your own fan pages and networks). The challenge for a small business is the same challenge facing any business: How do you get enough people to pay attention to your ads while they are busy uploading photos or conversing with friends?
There are a number of companies working to make social media advertising more engaging and even fun, and it won't be long before there are a plethora of choices for small budgets. At the show, NTB Media announced an interesting video advertising product with built-in games and quizzes to get people to pay attention and remember the content in the videos, and Fan Appz announced access to an integrated suite of social media applications designed to attract attention and engagement in exchange for a subscription of just $50 per month.
- How to get ready
Test before you invest. Social media advertising is already accessible and affordable to small business, but affordability isn't the only reason to invest in a particular form of advertising. Don't invest in a new social media tool or advertising strategy until you are sure you have the ability and the time to track your results and compare them against other opportunities. As a small business, you can't afford to invest in everything. If you don't track and compare your results, you won't have the information you need to make budget-wise choices.
Innovation No. 4: Mobile Marketing
Advertising and messaging to mobile phones is definitely a hot topic among marketers. In the past, most mobile marketing tools focused on only one aspect of mobile marketing, such as text-messaging, application development or mobile websites. Those tools are now converging as integrated solutions. One such company, 2ergo, recently announced plans to offer a comprehensive suite of marketing solutions that include SMS, MMS, e-mail and mobile websites. Be on the lookout for companies offering comprehensive mobile solutions priced for small businesses in the not-too-distant future.
- How to get ready
Make sure at least a portion of your website is designed to display and function properly on mobile devices--especially the pages that contain contact information for your business. If you have a location-based business, start making your communications more mobile friendly so people can respond to your offers and information while they are on-the-go. Sending text-messages and e-mails with mobile coupons and snack-sized bites of product information are great places to start. Also, social media users are more likely to become mobile savvy than the average internet user, so make sure you have a presence on the most common social sites.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
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