Work done for our clients
TN Govt
The Government of Tamil Nadu initiated an ambitious project to restore the fragile eco-system of the precious endangered wetland habitat of the Adyar Estuary and Creek and raise awareness of the general public to environmental issues.
Research was required to assess the overall reaction of the stakeholders to the project plan and the proposed features and steps; in terms of positives of the plan, the concerns and objections, and the favourability towards the plan.
Here, the sample included the general population and the scientific and aware community.
The study was done through a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches; with a sample size of 400 interviews and 10 group discussions.
AIRDA Study
AIRDA- an independent, non-profit advisory body dedicated to the timeshare and vacation ownership industry wanted to understand the economic contribution made by the resort industry to the Indian economy. For this purpose, two such areas were identified – the district of Coorg in Karnataka and the state of Uttarakhand.
The assessment of economic contribution was done through studying the direct and indirect contribution. It included monetary contribution and generation of employment.
Direct contribution was assessed as expenditure incurred by the resort owners and the customers, which has indirectly contributed to the economy by creating purchasing power and job opportunities down the line.
The study proved that the industry contributes hugely both directly and indirectly, and also has a significant social impact.
Fertilizer Company – Student placement criteria
A leading manufacturer and marketer of a wide range of Fertilisers, Speciality Nutrients, Crop Protection and Retail wanted to assess their standing as a prospective employer among college students for eventual placements.
This study was conducted among students of 30 leading agri-business and engineering colleges across India.
Our deliverables to the client included a detailed insight into the parameters considered by students for employer preference, types of work place, dream employers, etc.
We found that career growth ranks first followed by learning environment and work culture. Industries like automotive, banking and durables are preferred even by candidates in the agri-business stream.
Holiday Resorts – Classification and gradation
A market leader in the family holiday business has been operating successfully with a chain of resorts.
They offer different levels of facilities in different resorts on the basis of their locations. For instance – a beach resort may have a swimming pool, but a hill station resort may not. Thus the amenities and activities offered by the resorts differ.
The company wanted a gradation system to classify the resorts.
A common currency was developed to evaluate different features and amenities by quantifying the value of each as perceived by customers.
The gradation system was then developed similar to the the system of star ratings of hotels.
Corporate governance practices
A research scholar wanted to study corporate governance practices in India and relate them to the teachings in the ancient Indian texts, such as Arthashastra, Bhagavad Geeta.
For this purpose, we developed a few scenarios that a business generally faces in functional areas like marketing, sales, leadership, HR, systems and process, finance, and more. The companies’ response to those scenarios was compared with what would be the prescribed response as per the texts.
New shopping mall
A leading corporate house wanted to convert one of its properties in the heart of the city to a luxury shopping mall. This mall wished to house some top International retail brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger and the likes in the mall.
The objective of the study was to research if these retail brands were interested in taking up retail space in the mall and at what rates.
30-40 such retail players across the world were interviewed, and recommendations were given to the client.
Software company – Employee satisfaction study
A medium-sized software company specialising in the healthcare vertical for the UK market had been conducting an annual employment satisfaction study and was observing uniformly high satisfaction scores. However they noticed an unusually high attrition rate over a two year period.
We were roped in to study this problem using qualitative research. We discovered that the basic problem was poor internal communication systems (sense of estrangement of long-time employees from important business issues due to expansion over a period of time), and also that the employee satisfaction questionnaire used by the company around the world was not customized enough to pick up other problems peculiar to the Indian operation.
Our deliverables here ended with recommendations on how the internal communication system could be revamped, and also extensive briefings with the top management on the roles that they needed to play to bring morale back up.
Radio station – Rating IPL 2011
A leading radio station wanted to develop a rating for IPL 2011 performances. The performance were to be rated in purely quantitative terms.
The biggest challenge here was to develop a common currency for evaluating batting, bowling, and fielding (for instance, are 30 runs equivalent to 1 wicket or 2wickets?).
This system generates scores for the players and the ratings are given. This system is currently functional and is working successfully.
Automobile – branded service center
A leading automobile manufacturer wanted to start a branded third party servicing centre with a chain of service stations around the city. This was to provide breakdown and scheduled service to any car.
The objective of the study was to estimate the demand and also the financial feasibility of such a format.We researched for two prospective business models – multiple service stations and a central station with collection points spread across the city.
Rigorous quantitative research was performed among 600 car owners. And the cost structure for a service station was studied in depth.
FM Radio – Tamil Nadu and Kerala
A study was carried out to determine the pattern of listening to FM radio by listeners across Tamil Nadu and Kerala. This included citing the preferences of channels, radio programmes, the timings and more.
A yearlong tracking study done in each market over the period 2008-2009.
Radio Audience Measurement was a big challenge and we carried out a conventional research study using recall-based methodology, amongst a sample size of about 16,000 in Kerala and 12,000 in Tamil Nadu. This involved 12 rounds of monthly sampling in Kerala and 10 in Tamil Nadu.
This study delivered new trends, differences and similarities in the listening pattern of the FM.
Snack Product – Response Surface Modeling
A company that manufactures snacking products was to develop a new food product. They wanted to study the role and interaction of elements such as crispness, tanginess etc. in terms of impact on taste.
Our role was to analyse data provided by the client using a suitable statistical technique. We used Response Surface Modelling as it permits the study of interaction non-linearly.
HNI – Sales team audit
A company dealing with high net worth individuals and B2B customers, wished to audit the performance of the sales team at every stage of the sales process like initiation of contact, sales lead, and negotiation and so on.
Our study was to find out how well this process worked as perceived by the prospects inclusive of those who became customers and those who did not become customers.
Quantitative customer study was performed with about 300 respondents and the entire sales process was audited.
Tea retail strategy
A premium brand of tea was looking to strengthen its presence in the market in the retail space. Research was required to help develop a retail strategy.
We carried out a conventional qualitative research to satisfy the study objective. Face-to-face depth interviews were conducted over a sample of 70 respondents which were retail outlets and different kinds of F & B points.
Middle east almonds
A middle east country’s government wished to promote its almonds in India.
Research was required to anticipate its acceptability in India and to compare with the Californian almonds and some local almonds.
Our deliverables to the client included an analysis of the almond market in India, the wholesale and retail players, the pricing margins and also an assessment of consumer reaction by sample testing.
Manufacturing sector
A client from the manufacturing sector decided to embark on a brand building and marketing programme for their business. A senior manager from the sales function was asked to takeover the marketing role.
Since he had no prior experience in marketing, we were asked to consult in the brand building area for a period of 6 months.
Our role included putting in place the processes and equipping the team with the necessary conceptual knowledge.