PROJECT REPORT

ON
MARKETING
RESEARCH
TOPIC : Services Offered by Market
Research Companies

SUBMITTED TO; SUBMITTED BY;

Mr. Rajdeep Bakshi Sujeet kumar
Prof. Market Research Roll no. p/mn/r/08/198
PGPBM(2008-10)
Section – ‘B’
INTRODUCTION

One definition of marketing states: "Marketing is the process of planning and executing
the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create
exchanges that satisfy individual (customer) and organizational objectives". The concept
of marketing as a business philosophy defines marketing as a process that is intended to
find, satisfy and retain customers while business makes a profit. But central to all these
definitions is the role of the customer and his relationship to the product (i.e. whether he
considers the product or service to meet a need or want).

Therefore, market research is imperative for a company to know what type of products or
services would be profitable to introduce in the market. Also with respect to its existing
products in the market, good market research enables a company to know if it has been
able to satisfy customer needs and whether any changes need to be made in the
packaging, delivery or the product itself. This enables a company to formulate a viable
marketing plan or measure the success of its existing plan.

Types Of Market Research

Market research consists of two separate types of research that can be categorized as
secondary and primary research. Secondary research consists of collecting already
published data to create a "company database" that may serve to perform situation
analysis. It helps to identify the company's competitors, perform a strategy for
benchmarking and also determine the segments the company should target in view of
factors such as demographics, population, usage rate, life style and behavioral patterns.

Primary research serves to provide information through monitoring sales levels and
measuring effectiveness of existing business practices like service quality and tools for
communication being used by the company. It carefully follows competitor plans to
gather information on market competition. Both primary and secondary researches are
essential to fulfill the company's objectives.

Market Research Companies in India

• Diksha Research, Coimbatore - Online market research and public relations

services
• IMRB International, Mumbai - Market research agency
• Lamcon Finance & Management - Market research, financial planning and
consultancy
• Market Pulse - Market research & entry strategy services
• Nielson India - A leading market research agency
• Protech India - Market research, consulting & database publishing services
• Rural Relations - Rural marketing services
• Rushabh Direct Marketing - Direct marketing, mailing & database
management services
 • Sampling Research - Market research and analytics services
• Samsika Marketing Consultants - Marketing consultancy & brand management
courses

ACNielsen was established in the United States in 1923 by Arthur C. Nielsen, Sr.,
one of the founders of the modern marketing research industry. Among many
innovations in consumer-focused marketing and media research, Mr. Nielsen was
responsible for creating a unique retail-measurement technique that gave clients the
first reliable, objective information about competitive performance and the impact of
their marketing and sales programs on revenues and profits. Nielsen information gave
practical meaning to the concept of market share and made it one of the critical
measures of corporate performance. Mr. Nielsen also founded the business known
today as Nielsen Media Research, the global leader in television audience
measurement and other media research services.

SERVICES OFFERED

Retail Measurement Services

To make good marketing decisions you must have accurate, timely information about what’s selling at the retail
level and how in-store conditions such as pricing, merchandising and promotions are influencing sales.

ACNielsen Retail Measurement Services are the industry standard for quality information on product movement,
market share, distribution, promotional effectiveness, pricing and other market-sensitive information in more than
80 countries across six continents, providing our client base with an information network and global reach second
to none.

Using in-store scanning of product codes and store visits by professional auditors, ACNielsen offers a complete
portfolio of sample and census information across the food, household, health and beauty, durables, confectionery
and beverage products industries.

Whether long-term strategic planning or tactical decision-making, ACNielsen measures and tracks the information
you need to win in your market place.

Your global, comprehensive retail coverage solution

ACNielsen Retail Measurement Services integrate information from a variety of sources to provide accurate,
decision-ready reporting and coverage of a broad array of retail channels, including:

• Supermarkets
• Hypermarkets
• Drug stores & pharmacies
 • Mass merchandisers
• Convenience stores
• Small independent grocers

Understanding product performance and market dynamics

• Kiosks
• Open Markets
• Military commissaries
• Liquor stores
• Dollar stores
• Pet stores
• Warehouse-clubs

ACNielsen’s comprehensive coverage permits management to examine key business trends by product, category,
store, chain, or market for one brand or an entire competitive set. From viewing an executive summary to drilling
down through a robust database to the desired level of detail, executives can make strategic decisions based on
accurate, timely information.

Full client service support

All ACNielsen Retail Measurement Information is fully analysed, interpreted and presented by experienced account
managers with knowledge of a wide range of grocery markets and industry trends. From basic market analysis to
complex business issues, ACNielsen Executives are your business partner to help fully exploit your information
investment to gain maximum advantage.

Consumer Planning Services

Success in brand planning and strategic marketing comes from understanding your market and changing your
consumers' behaviour towards your brand and your competitors' brands. To do this, you must know what makes
your consumer tick.

ACNielsen Consumer Panels reveal actual consumer purchasing behaviour at a category, segment and product
level. Understanding brand dynamics such as penetration, buying rates, loyalty, purchase frequency,
demographics, inter-purchase intervals, repeat buying and brand switching means that strategies can be created
and revised in response to market opportunities and threats.

ACNielsen Consumer Panels provide answers to important questions such as:

• Who is buying my brand?

• How do their habits change over time?
• Am I hitting my target market?
• What are the consumer dynamics underlying my brand share?
• How loyal are my consumers to my brand, my segments, categories and retailers (Chain-specific)?
• How does consumer purchasing respond to my marketing activity?
• How can I maximise share within a retailer?
• How is my new brand performing?
• From where (categories, segments, competitive brands) does my brand source its volume?
As the global leader in consumer panels, ACNielsen offers unparalleled expertise and innovation in panel design
and development to guarantee comparable, indepth consumer insights across multiple markets.

ACNielsen Consumer Panels are demographically balanced to represent the national population of the individual
countries and are readable at the regional, local market and retail account level.

Advertising, promotion and media research

Advertising Research
Advertising research derives its importance from the fact that today, a huge chunk of any organisation's
marketing expenditure is spent on advertising. Where a good advertisement can do wonders to an
organisation's topline, a bad one can tarnish its image for several years to come.

The advent of globalisation has actually left only nominal significance for national boundaries. The
incorporation of practices and beliefs typical to foreign cultures has taken place at a rather fast pace.
Our preference for cholle-bhature and idli-dosas has been subtly replaced by that for burgers and
pizzas, thanks to the McDonaldisation of India. All this has posed a great challenge for advertisers, and
this is precisely where Advertising Research comes in handy.

Promotion Research
Promotion has been defined by many marketers as the most significant of the four Ps of marketing. A
marketer may create a great product, price it reasonably enough and place it in outlets all over the
country, but unless he has promoted it well, or in other words, created an awareness about all that he
has done, the consumer would not even ask for it.

Promotion refers to all the non-advertising activities carried out to build awareness or a favourable
image about a product or a service. Typically, promotions include exhibitions, trade fairs, contests and
road shows. Promotion Research helps an organisation foresee the outcome of all such activities it
wishes to undertake.

Brandresearch
Usage and Attitude Studies

Brands today are operating in an extremely dynamic market. As the marketplace changes, you need to
evaluate your brand's position compared to the competition. The best way to accomplish this is by
periodically tracking your competitive advantage on the relevant brand health parameters and customer
perceptions.

Also, in order to break from the clutter, one needs to identify one or more characteristics that set your
product or brand apart from competitors. This helps in establishing a strong position in the minds of
customers.

Additionally, understanding the attitudes of your consumers and their usage patterns is crucial to
virtually every decision you make. Understanding why consumers choose one brand over another is
vital to success in this ever-evolving marketplace. This level of understanding provides an extremely
effective tool for identifying and targeting potential customers.

We at IMRB International design usage and attitudes (U&A) studies that provide quintessential
information to lay the foundation for successful strategic marketing. In addition to assessing U&A
patterns for the category, our studies often serve as useful benchmark tools, allowing you to measure
your performance across all the parameters important to the category, and target specific areas to track
over time.

Name Test
What's the most appropriate name for a product? What does a name connote to a consumer? Naming
research answers these and other important questions.

Appropriate naming plays an important role in the consideration of products. Knowing what customers
think of a specific name is the first step to successfully marketing your product or service.

We at IMRB International have a been associated with the christening of a number of leading brands.

Segmentation and Profiling Studies

Segmentation and Profiling is critical in targeting specific groups and understanding the purchase
behaviour of those consumers who represent the greatest sales opportunities. Key groups can be
identified, based on a number of different criteria including attitudes, psychographics, motivations and
barriers, usage habits, loyalty, etc. Once the segments have been identified, analysis can be conducted
to provide insight into the purchase behaviours and demographics of each group such as :

• Differentiating category / brand attitudes by various buyer groups to enhance the purchase
behaviour information.

• Providing key information needed to move light buyers to medium buyers and medium buyers to
heavy buyers.

• Providing the ability to understand multiple usages and how usage differs between buyer groups.
DELPHI
Delphi is a "specialist" market research and strategic consulting firm.

Delphi was set up in 1991 by a small team of research practitioners. Delphi came
into existence primarily to cater to the needs of Indian and international companies
and multi-lateral agencies seeking high quality and actionable research in the areas
of business-to-business /industrial research and social research. Since 1994, Delphi
added one additional line of business - specialised consumer research exclusively for
the service sector.

Delphi's aim from Day One has been to stay lean and focused.

Over the years, Delphi has made steady and solid progress with a growing base of
renowned customers comprising leading Indian and international companies and
multi-lateral organisations.

Delphi's expertise is sought by companies in India, the Asean region, the Middle East
and the USA.

SERVICE OFFERED

SOCIAL AND DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH

AREAS OF EXPERTISE & TYPES OF STUDIES

Health :

• Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) Studies

• Baseline Studies
• Impact Assessment Studies
• Diagnostic Studies
• Communication-related Studies

Income Generation
  Studies to Assess Intrinsic Viability & Sustainability of Existing Income Generation
Programmes (IGPs) of NGOs
 Studies to Screen and Identify Appropriate & Viable IGPs for NGOs
 Studies to Assess Effectiveness and Sustainability of Self-help Groups, Micro Enterprises
 Studies to Aid in Selling and Marketing Efforts of NGOs, Small Groups, Rural Artisans,
Micro Enterprises

Markets and Marketing

o Studies to Assess Potential for Products produced by NGOs, Small Groups, Rural
Artisans, Micro Enterprises
o Studies to Identify Appropriate Products Suited to NGOs and Small Groups, Micro
Enterprises
o Studies to Strengthen Existing Sales & Marketing Efforts of NGOs, Micro Enterprises and
Enhance Sustainability
o Comprehensive Market and Industry studies

Clusters

 Diagnostic Studies to Assess the Likely Emergence of Clusters

 Diagnostic Studies to Assess the Past Performance of Clusters
 Diagnostic Studies to Assess the Health, Vitality and Future Sustainability of Clusters
 Studies to determine Whether or Not Interventions are Required in Clusters, and the
Nature of Interventions Required, if any.

Solid Waste Management

• KAP Studies
• Studies to Aid in Developing/Testing Communication Material
• Diagnostic Studies.

Sericulture

 Studies to Assess Problems and Prospects of Spun Silk Industry.

 Studies of Matka Silk Industry.
 Studies to Assess Potential for Chitin, Derivatives and Downstream Products
 Studies to Assess Potential for Pupa Oil and Downstream Products.
 Diagnostic Studies of Silk Reeling and Weaving Industries.

Micro Finance

• Studies to Assess Opportunities for Micro Finance among the Urban Poor
• Studies to design new Micro Finance products for the Urban Poor

Others
 • Diagnostic studies to understand the contribution of major local economies to the
economies of major cities
• Studies to map the geographical dispersion of major local economies in major cities and
gauge their effectiveness based on resources utilised and the extent of "pay-back" to the
economy of each city

These are studies for any product or service where the end customer is an institution and not
an individual.

PRODUCTS

Telecom: Optical Fibre Cables, Radio Trunking, VSATs, Cellular Phone Hand sets,
Intelligent Wireless Modems

Real Estate: Shopping Malls, Budget and Star Hotels, Wide range of Residential
Housing projects, Exclusive, top-of-the-line Clubs, IT Parks, Hospitals, Service
Apartments

TYPES OF STUDIES UNDERTAKEN

• Studies to aid in Entry, Go/No Go decisions.

• Diagnostic studies.

• Studies to aid in evolving/refining Marketing strategy.

• Competition Monitoring Studies.

• Competitive Intelligence Studies

• Studies to Aid in New Product Development.

• Studies to Evolve a Blueprint and Roadmap for achieving annual sales targets.
CONCLUSION

Hence, it is been seen that different companies conducts different research and follow
various methods and techniques.