Listening Post for consumer insights

WHEN Nestle wishes to know why out-of-home coffee consumption is higher but slumps in-home during winter in parts of north India, or when Castrol is keen on an insight on what trucking means to truckers, traditional market research may often fail to provide suitable insights. What do consumers want? Is anyone listening? It seems, someone is. A team of marketing pros have recently teamed up to create Listening Post — an alternative to the more established norms of market research. Using an extensive network of contacts in B and C class towns, it gathers consumer insights. And, companies like Lafarge, Tata Indicom, Aviva, Tinplate Co. are queuing up to enlist this methodology for market survey. The methodology is based on a less structured approach to market research through informal chats with target groups. This is done by tapping into a large, extended family of contacts in B and C class towns across the country. “Habits are quantitative but attitudes are mental constructs. We try to map these attitudes based on an informal, uninhibited exchange,” said Stratways Pvt Ltd (the company which created Listening Post) director Pradeep Dutt. In his long corporate career as a veteran marketing professional with Lipton, Hindustan Lever (now Hindustan Unilever Ltd) and later, as managing director, Bata India, Mr Dutt has been plumbed the depths of market research from the client side too. Mr S Das and Ms Jayati Ghosh, formerly with Ogilvy Rural and Ogilvy PR respectively, are also associated in the venture. “We try to gather insights rather than only information. For that, we decided to take a somewhat informal approach. It is less structured than traditional market research since structured formats often tend to destroy the search for truth. However, the analysis of these findings is done using the same rigour. This usually leads to insights that are qualitatively better.” “For Nestle, we found that in places like Barbanki and Lucknow, people enjoy drinking coffee out-of-home but tend to prepare it at home like the way they make tea.

Courtesy: EconomicTimes
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