Lawrence & Mayo to woo women with exclusive pen's range

Qualitative Marketing Research

Identification of the research problem currently faced by Lawrence & Mayo and methodology to conduct the qualitative research SUBMITTED BYNIYATI JHUNJHUNWALA 2012PGP234 SEC A

Lawrence & Mayo to woo women with exclusive pen's range 2013

Table of Contents
1. Research Problem ............................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Main Research Problem ................................................................................................................ 3 1.2 Research Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 3 2. Target Group ....................................................................................................................................... 3 3. Sampling Techniques .......................................................................................................................... 4 4. Data Collection Methods & Justification ............................................................................................ 4 5. Data Collection Questionnaire ............................................................................................................ 5 5.1 For Women Executives/Professionals .......................................................................................... 5 5.2 For Store/ E-commerce Owners, Sales-Managers & Salesmen .................................................... 6 6. Data Analysis Plan .............................................................................................................................. 7 6.1 For Focus Group Discussions ....................................................................................................... 7 6.2 For In-depth Interviews................................................................................................................. 7 7. Expectations from the study................................................................................................................ 7

Lawrence & Mayo to woo women with exclusive pen's range 2013

Lawrence & Mayo to woo women with exclusive pen's range

1. Research Problem
1.1 Main Research Problem
The purpose of this study is to explore ways of venturing into the ladies range of pens profitably by Lawrence & Mayo.

1.2 Research Objectives

1) How should they brand this range of products? 2) What would be the best pricing strategy for this range? 3) How feasible is their current distribution strategy & what improvements can be made?

2. Target Group
The target group for the new range of pens, as defined by Lawrence & Mayo, are the women in the corporate world such as executives or CEOs and also the professionals such as doctors. Thus the appropriate profile of the target group for the research can be illustrated as follows:

Target Group

Urban females

Urban Retailers (Male/Female) Store/ecommerce owners

Executives

Professionals (mainly doctors)

CEOS

Senior

Sales Managers

Middle Level Managers

Middle Level

Salesmen

New Joinees

Junior

Lawrence & Mayo to woo women with exclusive pen's range 2013

3. Sampling Techniques
Maximum variation sampling technique is used for the research in order to get responses from a good mix of different levels (senior, middle, junior) of executives/ professionals. Homogeneous sampling techniques is also used in order to gather as much reliable information as possible from certain FGDs having samples of say middle level executives of the same company or salesmen of the same store . For certain FGDs, random sampling across salesmen from different stores or managers from different companies is also done to avoid any biases that might creep in the research study.

4. Data Collection Methods & Justification

The qualitative techniques that should be adopted for such an objective are as follows: 1) In-depth interview 2) Focus Group Discussions 3) Observation

No. Target Group Qualitative Technique Female CEOs In-depth interview 1. & Senior Professionals (Doctors)

Rationale To understand their perception & buying behaviour of stylish lifestyle pens to help L&M with their branding, pricing & distribution strategy To know unbiased views on pens for women and their wants & desires Difficulty in getting the CEOs or doctors together in a focus group discussion due to their extra busy schedules To exclusively gauge their perception & buying behaviour and at the same time see the difference in their opinion with respect to CEOs To capture external factors influencing a respondents behaviour Reveals insights and nuances not possibl By other techniques To understand the role of group dynamics in shaping a consumers opinion Easier to conduct an FGD across this level of managers as opposed to the busy

2.

Female Focus Middle Level Discussion executives & professionals

Group

Lawrence & Mayo to woo women with exclusive pen's range 2013 CEOS and senior professionals 3. Female Joiners New Focus Discussion Group To exclusively understand their perception & buying behaviour at that stage of life with respect to seniors and middle level executives/ professionals To capture external factors influencing a respondents behaviour Easier to conduct an FGD across this level of managers as opposed to the busy CEOS and senior professionals To understand the feasibility of selling this range from our own stores To understand the feasibility of selling this range from other stores To help us analyse the pros & cons for selling Easier to conduct To analyse the current strategys feasibility distribution

4.

Own Salesmen Focus & other Store Discussion Salesmen

Group

5.

6.

Store/ E- In-depth interview commerce Owners Owners of In-depth interview other Lifestyle Brands

To learn from the experiences of such individuals in launching a similar range of products To help us understand the risks associated with entering into this category To understand the feasibility of the distribution strategy that is adopted by Lawrence & Mayo.

7.

Sales Managers

In-depth interview

In observation technique, we simply observe the common patterns in behaviour of customers while purchasing pens from stores. We also note the instances of dissatisfaction while purchasing these pens.

5. Data Collection Questionnaire

The questionnaire for the survey is as follows:

5.1 For Women Executives/Professionals

1) What is your name, age, designation, work experience, salary? 2) Do you buy pens? Why? 3) Mention three features that define your ideal pen type.

Lawrence & Mayo to woo women with exclusive pen's range 2013

Branding: 4) What brand names come to your mind when you think of pens? 5) Which brand of pen do you like most? Why? 6) Can you describe the pen which you possess currently? 7) What does your pen symbolize- style, sophistication, funky? 8) What famous personality would you associate with the pen that you currently use? 9) What is your opinion about the mens line of pens available in the market? 10) Which brand for mens range of pens comes to your mind? 11) Would you purchase a pen only meant for women? What is your opinion on such a range? Pricing: 12) How frequently do you buy pens? 13) What amount do you spend on pens on a monthly basis? 14) What is the price of the pen that you currently use? 15) Which was the most expensive pen that you bought and at what stage of life? 16) Which was the cheapest pen that you have bought and at what stage of life? 17) Do you like promotions on premium category of pens? 18) What kind of offers would you like on the pens you buy? Distribution: 19) Where do you purchase your pens from? 20) Where did you purchase your pen from, the last time? 21) Do you need to touch & feel the pens before buying it from a store or are you ok with placing order through e-commerce websites? 22) Do you need someone (say a salesman) to help you choose pens? 23) Do you believe in impulse purchase of pens in the premium category? How & when do you purchase it?

5.2 For Store/ E-commerce Owners, Sales-Managers & Salesmen

(Distribution mainly)

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

What is the no. of pens sold per day/month? What are the peak-hours/ occasions for purchase of pens? What are the monthly revenues from selling pens? Is it as easy to sell pens from other stores as from the brands own stores? How many other brands of pens are placed in your store? Which brand sees the highest sales? Why? Mention three main needs (in pens) of a customer. Do the customers come with the intention to purchase pens or do they impulse-purchase? For E-commerce Owners: Do the customers need to touch & feel the pens before buying it from a store or are they ok with placing order through e-commerce websites? 10) For Store Owners: What are the advantages & disadvantages felt by customers in buying through a store? 11) For E-commerce Owners: What are the advantages & disadvantages felt by customers in buying through a website? 12) For Store Owners: What are the risks involved while setting up stores for selling any commodity such as pens? 13) What are the 3 problems faced while selling pens and achieving targets?

Lawrence & Mayo to woo women with exclusive pen's range 2013

6. Data Analysis Plan

The analysis of the data collected through various methods can be done through the following way:

6.1 For Focus Group Discussions

1) Video/ Audio recording of FGD needs to be done for future reference of any point that was missed while recording by hand 2) Coding of different categories of data needs to be done for proxemic, kinesic, paralinguistic, chronemic information. At the same time, group members segmentation and degree of consensus should also be coded for ease in analysis. 3) Pictoral representation of the group dynamics can also be recorded during FGD for better analysis 4) All the other data that is gathered should also be coded for ease in analysis 5) Matrices of recorded data should be formed for better understanding of the data gathered 6) All this data will help us understand the consumer perception and needs of womens range of pens along with their purchase behaviour 7) The data will also help us gather insights from the store owners & salesmen about the problems involved in selling these products which would in turn help L&M define ways of venturing into this range of products profitably

6.2 For In-depth Interviews

1) Every individual would be subjected to extensive list of questions to get an understanding about individual specific needs/ desires that are currently unmet by L&M which in turn shall help L&M define their strategy better 2) The individual would be probed deeper into areas where he thinks differently from the majority in order to understand better 3) While capturing patterns across different individuals, similarities should also be captured appropriately to help define L&Ms strategy better

7. Expectations from the study

The following is the list of expectations from the study: 1) Consumer perception of pens in terms of the kind of branding & pricing they expect on its launch. These insights would help L&M devise its branding & pricing strategy better. 2) Consumers buying behaviour in order to know their needs while purchasing which in turn would help define the distribution strategy for L&M better 3) Salesman, Sales manager & Store-owners perception/ insights on consumer behaviour with respect to pens at their stores which would help us understand the feasibility of the distribution strategy currently defined by L&M 4) All of the above insights would help us understand/analyse ways of venturing into the ladies range of pens profitably by Lawrence & Mayo. ****************************