THE RESEARCH

MINEFIELD

ANKIT SHUKLA (1160)

SEC-A
 REASON FOR RESEAECH
FAILURE
• Companies are starting off on the
wrong foot.
• Agents and client actually end up
working at cross purposes.
• “right research for the wrong
reason”- which is a fundamental
waste.
MISTAKES BY MARKETERS
The pre-concieved idea
• Jumping to a conclusion first and
then commisioning research to
backup the idea.
1. Research might start with inherent
bias.
2. Findings of both marketer and
agency are entirely different.
 THE WRONG MARKET
• Ignoring the necessity to do category
research before specific research.

THE FUZZY BRIEFS

• Trying to cover to much area in a single
research
• Giving a loose, general brief without
quantifying the specific areas that need to
be checked.
 TO BE SPECIFIC
To choose the right research
tool, an agency needs to
know the precise marketing
problem the client is trying to
solve.
The problem should be more
clear & specific to make
researcher to reach the right
direction with right
methodology of the research.
 Example
ABC was a major player in the cosmetics and toiletries
market. Its portfolio fell into three brand product
categories, and it had create sub brand for each. Two
year later the sub branding programme had been
launched, it wanted to conduct a study to find out the
impact of its investment on the sub-brands.
XYZ was a company of durables & had range of product
in its portfolio. One of its division had created a sub-
brand some time ago and the company wanted to
know its investment into the sub-branding exercise
was paying off.
Both the company wanted answer to
the same question-and therefore, the
some methodology should have work
for both.
The market research agency posed a
couple of question to each company.
• Why did company wants to find out
about the impact of investments on
the sub-brand ?
• What did the client mean by impact-
and which were the area it expected
the impact to be felt in?
ABC explained that in the past two years, the
advertising is largely concentrated on the
product range. Also the spent have been low.
The advertising had played the umbrella brand
name at the expense of sub-brand. That’s why
the company felt that the sub-brand were
probably not registering strongly with
customers.
Since ABC was committed to the sub-branding
exercise. It wanted the research to get a
measure of the impact it had made till then,
and to use the result to take a decision on the
direction for future communication efforts.
Therefore the key research task were :
• Has the branding registered a all” if
so, how strongly ?
• What is the image of the newly
created sub-brand ? Has it stated
acquiring an identity of its own ?
To answer these questions, the agency
needed to work out a quantitative
“usage and awareness” study.
XYZ’s problem was different. Like ABC
it recognised that the equity of the
parents or umbrella brand was very
strong and the spend on the sub-
branding exercise was too spends on
the meagre to be really effective But
it was still debating whether or not to
have the sub-brand at all.
In essence, the key question XYZ
needed answer were
• Whether the sub-brand name fitted
with the image it wanted to create
for the product.
• Whether the sub-brand name had
any potential, and could be
developed further.
To answer these questions, qualitative
research need to be done.
 WHAT TO TELL YOUR
AGENCY
At the root of most research problems is a bad brief. But while most
marketers know this, they still find it difficult to work out a proper
brief for their agency. The problem usually crops up because a
marketer is never sure how much tell his agency. Most companies,
constantly torn between;
• Telling the agency everything it would like to know.
• Revealing only the absolute minimum the agency need to know.
It generally helps to be clear about
• Project objectives
• Stick to the specific problem that need to be researched.
Asking the agency a host of peripheral issues only tend to confuse
the problem definition.
The ideal research brief to the agency
should have:
• The marketing problem
• The background of the problem
• The market research objective/s
Here’s the kind of brief the client give
the agency

• History of the brand

• Business/Marketing strategy
• Hypothesis
• Research objectives
• Methodology
• Timing
 Picking the Agency
How effectively your research is will
depend to large extent on how good
your agency is. That why the
marketers spend some time with the
people of an agency whom they are
going to hire. Many of the agency
offer excellent services. However all
client need to do a routine check to
see how their agency stacks up.
 Personnel Criteria
• Personnel
• Project leader
• Image
• Integrity
• Specialization
• Creativity
 Other Criteria
• Data Bank
• EDP
• Organization and administration
• Post study services
• Cost
Research steers nightclub's
repositioning
• The Horse Feather is a night club. Not long after it
opened last year, Horse feathers night-club in
Louisville, Ky., achieved a moderate level of
success. During the week, happy hour crowds kept
revenues at a steady level. But when it came to
late night club going, the crowds chose to go
elsewhere.
• To change that, Flautt Properties, which also runs
four other Horse feathers in the U.S. , sought the
help of the Enterlink Co., a Houston based firm
specializing in marketing research and consulting
for the nightclub industry.
 The research process
David Townsend, president of Enterlink,
conducted computer-assisted surveys
and focus groups with customers and
employees. In conjunction with the
research, he performed a market
analysis, reviewed club operations,
suggested design changes and guided
increased promotional efforts.
 Conducting the customer
• To get a representative
survey
sample of customers and day parts,
Townsend typically conducts the computer survey at least
three successive nights, either Wednesday-Thursday-Friday
or Thursday-Friday-Saturday.
• Customers answered questions about their perceptions of
Horse feathers' food, music, service, and decor, their specific
likes and dislikes, their awareness of promotions, and how
they initially found out about the club.
• They also provided information on club-going habits: Why do
they go out? How often do they go out? How much do they
spend? What types of promotions do they enjoy most? What
radio stations do they listen to and when? What is the most
effective way of hearing about a club?
• Similar questions were also asked in the focus groups. The
responses were broken down by age, sex, day part
preference and club-going frequency
 Strengths and weaknesses
• The customer research identified the club's strengths and weaknesses,
according to its various customer segments, resulting in design and
music format changes. It also aided redevelopment of the club's in-
house, direct mail, and radio advertising.
• A large percentage of frequent customers indicated that they went to
Horse feathers mainly to meet friends and relax after work, choosing to
go elsewhere to dance. Some cited dissatisfaction with music selection
and DJ performance. These findings were important because they
indicated that if the right changes were made, these frequent
customers would probably attend the club more often and stay longer.
• Male respondents said they went to clubs primarily to meet new people,
while a large percentage of females indicated that they went to clubs
for dancing. This made it clear, Townsend says, how important the
music, sound system, and light show were to Horse feathers' female
target market. Catering to this segment of the market is crucial, he
says, because if a club can attract women, the men will follow.
 Radio and direct mail

• The research showed that two important groups—females

and 21 to 25 year-old customers—were most responsive to
the club's radio ads. Coupled with the information supplied
by customers in that age group on their radio station
preferences and listening habits, the club was able to make
its radio advertising hit the right audience.
Once they felt they "had the product right," the club took a
new approach to the content of the radio ads. Previously, the
spots had focused on upcoming promotions, but more recent
spots have emphasized the music, to show that Horse
feathers is a place for people who love to dance.
•
 "Hot Mix"
• This idea was further conveyed by a promotion called the
Hot Mix, which began this spring. From 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
every Saturday night, radio station WDJX broadcasts four
hours of uninterrupted dance music live from the club with
no advertising, except for occasional voiceovers on
upcoming club promotions. Sales doubled on the first night
and the promotion continues to do well.
• "One of the problems we had with Horse feathers was the
club's name," Townsend says. "Some people in the market
thought it was a country-western place. By hearing the
radio show, they know immediately that we don't play
country and western music!"
• "Radio stations also like it because it's tough to sell air time
between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. on a Saturday night, and if
they've got a client that's going to buy it every Saturday for
three months, they get pretty interested."
 Design changes
• In response to customer comments and also to
accommodate increased late-night business, design
changes were made to maintain the comfort level of happy
hour while adding space for dancing.
• Stand-up drink rails were installed in the front of the club
to alleviate a problem caused by people congregating near
the dance floor, which is located near the back of the club.
• "If you walked in the front door, even if there were a
hundred people there you wouldn't see any of them,"
Townsend says. "It looked like the place was dead. People
would walk in, look around and walk out. So by putting the
rails in the front, we now have people in the front of the
club interacting, so when you walk in now you see some
people."
 Employee survey
• Townsend also conducted computerized interviews and focus
groups with employees, because he believes that if the staff is
happy and enthusiastic, and they can communicate that feeling to
customers, it can do a great deal towards giving the club a
positive feel and ensuring a lengthy lifespan.
• "The key to longevity is having a great staff that's really involved
in promotions and marketing and can make the place feel
different and be different, without repainting, changing the name,
or moving the dance floor. Every club that I've ever seen that had
a long life had this—employees   that were involved, that knew
their customers and would tell them about upcoming promotions,
and really get the customers excited about coming to the place."
• The employees were asked what they liked most/least about their
jobs, what their level of job satisfaction was, and how they rated
relations with management. While most employees were happy,
some cited a need for increased communication with
management, adding that they felt their ideas on promotions and
service were being overlooked.
 "Party Squad"

• To increase management/employee communication

and give employees a stake in the club's success,
Townsend introduced what he calls the Party Squad, a
small group of creative-minded employees who are
shown basic brainstorming techniques, given a
budget, and then put in charge of organizing a
promotion from start to finish. Managers are also
involved, but it is a group decision-making process; a
manager has no more say than a bartender.
 Aggressive approach
• Townsend also conducted computerized interviews and focus
groups with employees, because he believes that if the staff is
happy and enthusiastic, and they can communicate that feeling to
customers, it can do a great deal towards giving the club a positive
feel and ensuring a lengthy lifespan.
• "The key to longevity is having a great staff that's really involved in
promotions and marketing and can make the place feel different
and be different, without repainting, changing the name, or moving
the dance floor. Every club that I've ever seen that had a long life
had this—employees   that were involved, that knew their
customers and would tell them about upcoming promotions, and
really get the customers excited about coming to the place."
• The employees were asked what they liked most/least about their
jobs, what their level of job satisfaction was, and how they rated
relations with management. While most employees were happy,
some cited a need for increased communication with management,
adding that they felt their ideas on promotions and service were
being overlooked.
 OUTCOME
• Popular promotions such as Thursday night alligator
races have helped Horse feathers nightclub
achieve a 250% increase in monthly sales.
• Using information obtained from the customer
research and market analysis, the club has
repositioned itself in the marketplace. Monthly sales
figures have risen more than 250%.
• It helps horse feather efforts to reposition itself in the
marketplace and subsequently increase its popularity
with and sales to evening customers.
THANK YOU