Marketing Case Study: Market Research at P&G

Submitted To: Prof. Sandeep Bharadwaj

Submitted By:

Group Members:

Name Roll no
Lionell Misquitta 76
Nilesh Nagpal 78
Vaitasi Oswal 83
Ruchi Patel 89
Priyanka Bhan 95
Ekta Shrivastava 109
 1. P&G was among the few companies in the world to recognize the importance
of conducting market research as early as 1924. Explain the various
qualitative and quantitative research techniques employed by the company
and describe how they were used to generate valuable information about
consumers need and preferences.
Soln Following are the qualitative research techniques:
Focus group discussions:
o P&G assembled a group of people to discuss a particular
product.
o The discussion facilitated free exchange of information between
the participants and the moderator on all aspects of the product.
o This research tool helped in exploring new product ideas as well
as gauging the customers response for these products.
o How this tool helped:
Using this tool inferences were drawn out of the
discussion matched with the actual market response
when the product was launched.

In-Home visits:
o P&G used in-home visits to interview customers who had
recently purchased a P&G product.
o P&Gs researchers visited the residence of customers, observed
them directly as they went about doing their daily chores and
interviewed them.
o The researchers enquired about:
The purpose for which the product was purchased.
The consumers expectations from the product.
The parameter on which they could judge the utility of the
product.
The product modifications which they wanted.
o How this tool helped:
This tool enabled the researchers to observe the actual
market conditions under which the product would be used
and the problems that could be encountered by the
consumer during use.
It gave valuable insights into the kind of attributes that
consumers desired from the products and thus helped the
company make modifications and tap into new markets.

In-Context visits:
o P&G used this tool to observe the practical difficulties
consumers faced while actually using a product.
o Besides observing the customer actually use the product, the
researchers elicited their opinions on the product and whether
they wished to suggest any modifications.
 o How this tool helped:
This tool helped P&G to make major improvements in
their products.

In-Store interviews:
o P&G used this tool to identify the factors that influenced
purchase decisions of consumers at places where the products
were actually sold.
o Researchers interviewed consumers in shopping malls and
grocery stores.
o How this tool helped:
Through such interviews, the researchers determined the
impact of factors such as attractive packaging, labeling
and point-of-purchase display on the purchasing decisions
of the shoppers.

Following are the quantitative research techniques:

Blind tests:
o P&G used blind tests whenever it launched a new product or
different versions of an existing product.
o Consumers were given a new version of an existing product or a
competitors product without being told about the brand and
were asked to use the product.
o P&G usually used their nearest rivals products in its blind tests
to enable comparison with its products.
o How this tool helped:
The results of the blind tests were used in the promotional
campaigns of P&G as part of the media strategy for the
brands.
Blind tests were also used to dispel consumers doubts
about their products.

Concept aided usage test/concept & use test:

o P&G employed these tests wherein consumers were educated
about a product/brand concept, its utility and application.
o Following this the product was offered to consumers to test
whether it actually fulfilled the desired purpose.
o How this tool helped:
The results revealed consumers opinions on aspects such
as packaging, pricing and devising the advertisement for
the product.
This test enabled P&G to form a preliminary opinion about
the product/brand concept before committing resources to
launch the product on a large scale.
 Habits and practices method:
o In this method large scale studies were conducted in which the
respondents were requested to maintain records of product use,
either manually or on a computer, for a longer period of time.

Quality Monitoring:
o In this method P&G conducted tests to check whether the
products bought by the consumers actually met their needs and
the product design criteria.

2. P&G conducted MR through its own full fledged MR department and also
through external MR agencies. Critically examine the benefits of conducting
MR in-house vis--vis outsourcing the same. What are its drawbacks?
Elaborate.

Soln. Following are some of the advantages of outsourcing MR activities:

Market research firms specialize in gathering, analyzing and reporting

information. They have a comparative advantage and can probably do this
type of job more efficiently than the average corporation.
Market research companies have access to diverse professional talent that
few firms have (statisticians, psychologists, etc.). For full-scale consumer
surveys, it's unlikely that you have the personnel in-house or that you
could divert sufficient staff to do the job properly. Even if you could, you
might not want to spend the necessary time and money to train them for
a one-shot project. That's what market research firms' field staffs are for.
Market research outfits have specialized facilities and software, including
focus group rooms with two-way mirrors and state-of-the-art taping
capability, electronic interviewing and data processing capability, and
product test centers.
Anonymity and security. Reputable market research companies never
divulge the name of their client, which protects you while simultaneously
increasing the validity of study findings by minimizing bias.
Objectivity, especially if emotions are running high, the marketing issues
have become politicized, or there is internal disagreement among
different factions.
Market research companies have access to a wide range of information
and do business with clients in many different industries. They know
where to find data, something that can be particularly helpful in the
Philippines (a difficult place to obtain accurate data, especially for
business-to-business market research). Good market research suppliers
can apply their knowledge and accumulated experience to make a project
run more efficiently and more effectively.
 Following are some of the benefits of an in house MR department against
outsourcing the same:

Better understanding of the situation that requires market

research:

It is unlikely that a vendor will ever understand a client's situation as well

as how a client's own employees do. With outsourcing you get a broad
range of experiences that usually aren't available internally. With an
internal work, you get a deeper knowledge of your organization and its
needs.
 More control over activities carried out:

Outsourcing means that you have somewhat less control over the work
than you would have with your own internal staff doing the research. In
managing your own research staff, you have daily input in such areas as
project flow and sequencing, delegation of tasks, and scheduling. If you do
a lot of in-house research, you'll probably strive to develop uniform
methods and improve the overall capability of your "research team."

Vendors might be slow to adjust to needs and preferences:

Vendors usually have their own way of doing things. As a result, they may
be slow to adjust to your needs or preferences, especially if they have ten
other projects going on at the same time. The market research company
has its own standard operating procedures, and they are likely to do
things differently than you would if you were doing the study yourself.
Some vendors also see themselves as experts who are there to guide the
client, which means you may face a battle getting things done just the
way you want. While having internal research staff doesn't entirely solve
this problem, it does give management greater daily control over these
issues.

3. From the late 1990s, P&G has been conducting MR online in a big way.
Examine the benefits to the company. What according to you are the possible
limitations of conducting MR online? Explain.

Soln. SWOT analysis of online market research:

Strengths:
Equal and higher reliability
Cut down costs
Instant feedback (reduces time)
Data collection process is easier
Eliminates or substantially reduces the usage (wastage) of paper
work, postage charges, phone charges, labor charges and printing
expenses.
Multi cultural and diverse geographical outreach (global
connectivity).
Large numbers of respondents can be researched at one time
 Pre-screened panels i.e. most large research suppliers have access
panels which provide an easily accessible, reliable respondent base
which can respond promptly to online questionnaires

Weaknesses:

Only accessible to people with an internet connection

Misleading data collection is possible
Lack of consumer participation due to privacy concerns.
Restriction on sample size and characteristics as only internet users
can be targeted.
Only prominent in countries where internet connectivity is high.
Highly restricts respondents expressiveness
o Certain advanced offline focus groups may be based on
recording the emotional expressions of the respondents.
Internet, though equipped with emoticons like highly restricts
respondents expressiveness

Opportunities:

Used to generate higher online sales.

Can be used in developing countries once IT infrastructure is
improved.
Different internet savvy segments can be targeted more easily (e.g.
18-25 who use the internet very frequently can be targeted as well
as the working class professionals who use the internet on a daily
basis)

Threats:

Can be vulnerable to malicious software.

Can be vulnerable to getting bogus data.
Majority of P&Gs buyers of home products do not use the internet.
The people who use the internet will have a different mindset and
perception about a product as compared to a non internet user. This
could be attributed to the generation gap.

Corporate Level Strategy and recommendations:

Strategies to tackle low outreach in areas with low connectivity:

While the major strength of online MR is global outreach, its major

weakness is the depth of outreach in places which are low on internet
connectivity. Restricted internet access can make it difficult to get
responses from a broader cross-section of the society. Rural marketing
campaigns dependent of online research for example may result in a
 disaster if the area faces insufficient internet access due to
geographical remoteness.

To tackle restricted outreach, especially in developing countries where

internet connectivity might not be present in every home, a hybrid MR
approach should be devised wherein a person is appointed to collect
data by visiting door to door or conventional approaches of gathering
data and then feed the data collected in a database.

The marketing executive and then transmit all the collected data
through an available internet portal. This will enable collection of data
from various rural areas at once.

Strategies to ensure data authentication and maintain data

integrity:

When an online survey is conducted there can be two types of

concerns:

Is the data provided by the internet user true?

From the internet users point of view is the data secure or will
some unauthorized person be able to access data?

Strategy to check if data provided by internet user is true:

A reward system wherein the person being surveyed is given free

coupons or discounts should be introduced. The coupons should be
printed by the organization along with the identification details of the
person surveyed. These details should be verified by the organization
when the person tries to redeem these reward coupons.

This would deter the internet user from providing bogus data

Strategy to allay the internet users fears about security of the data
provided by him:

We can provide a strong statement stating that the data provided by

the internet user is and will remain confidential. We can build on the
brand name of P&G to ease the users fears.