 "Piyush Mathur")
Global marketing researcher The Nielsen Company marked its 90th anniversary this year and is looking at India as an ideal staging ground over the next decade to the consumer insight, information and analytics sector. In an email interview, Piyush Mathur, president, India Region, tells Vipul Vivek why marketers find India hard to crack and what can be done about this. Edited excerpts:
Why and how are Indian markets more fragmented compared with other developing markets?
Every country has its own set of challenges and opportunities. However, India is in a different league due to its enormous size and socio-economic diversity, presenting myriad challenges for marketers. No particular region can be identified wholly as the Indian market, as there are many micro markets within each market. Given the diversity of cultures, what is considered trendy in some markets could well be perceived as downmarket in other regions. This also becomes challenging when marketers face an environment that has fragmented media (for example, over 800 TV channels) and retail that is largely traditional (8.5 million stores).
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But it is precisely because of this diversity that there is an opportunity for marketers to leapfrog ahead of competitors. Companies can use consumer insights and market information to sustain their positions or make it to the top.
What new research inputs is Nielsen giving to companies for increasing their reach in a still largely traditional market?
We have a traditional trade advisory, very relevant for the retail landscape in India. From the most successful companies we have analysed, the quantity and quality of distribution is one of the key factors that sets winners apart. Taking this key insight, we have invested in a retail census survey of 1.4 million traditional trade outlets, that can help companies to optimise their distribution strategy, maximise sales and win through store-level intelligence. We can further provide end-to-end advice, starting from looking at expanding to the right stores, making sure your product is visible enough in the store to assessing the return on investment.
Tell us about your retail census. How large is its coverage and scope?
We are currently conducting a syndicated retail census in 29 major cities in India, which represent 36 per cent of the urban fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) consumption and 24 per cent of the urban population. Store profile details, down to the sales proportion & stocking of categories, along with GPS location mapping and storefront pictures, are available. This helps in distribution planning and expansion, as we see the 80:20 rule fully applicable in the Indian retail environment as well (developed by management thinker Joseph Juran, the rule says 80 per cent of the results are due to 20 per cent of the events.)
What differences does the census point to between cities and towns for marketers?
Going back to my point on micro-markets within each market, the differences at a city/town level are no longer enough. We are seeing significant dissimilarity across pin codes within each city. There are certain pin codes that contribute significantly to the FMCG spends within the larger locality. If within these 'hot zones', high throughput stores are recruited, the distribution actions at a micro level can multiply the impact.
Tell us about your research in neurocompression for increasing the impact of ads. How old is this project? How will this empower marketers in managing with Trai's (the telecom regulator's) proposed 12-minute ad cap in every hour?
Most marketers create shorter edits of their commercials when it comes to optimising their media. With no alternatives, they rely on their judgement to create these shorter edits. Now, guided by Nielsen Neurofocus, we are able get to the seconds that matter, and compress a 30-second ad into 10 seconds in a way that it maintains or, in many cases, increases the ad's impact. When we neurologically evaluate the ads, we can get the effectiveness second-by-second and are, hence, in a position to determine what parts of an ad are more neurologically effective, helping marketers/advertisers create enormous financial flexibility by compressing their ads.
This can help them increase the reach, frequency and impact of their advertising campaigns for the same level of spending or spend significantly less, with no loss of sales. Publishers who advertise their own shows extensively can gain, at no cost, additional inventory to sell or advertise more of their own shows without reducing the supply they can sell externally. And, agencies have a new tool to use in creating the most productive advertising for their clients. In a worldwide video advertising industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars, the potential is immense. Neurocompression would benefit marketers in India, especially given the 12-minute cap on advertising.
While these developments are only about six years old, we have evaluated and created compressions for about 1,200 ads and continue to partner with marketers and help them optimise their media spends.
