Research for Marketing Decisions

Guidelines for Course Project (2014-15)

Introduction
The aim of the project component is to enable participants to develop skills in
recognising research requirements, commissioning market research studies and
evaluating studies carried out by others. The project will be carried out on a focal topic
(brand /company) of the groups choice. It is expected that the project will be carried out
in a professional manner with due consideration to ethics involved in marketing research.
The submissions in this project are spread out so that the initial planning work is done
early enough to provide sufficient time for data collection and analysis. The project will
carry a weightage of 30% of the course marks. Each submission will be evaluated.
Project deliverables
The project may be focused on any one of the following:

New introduction (new product/service/retail outlet)

What should the new product/service/retail concept be like; Need gap; target
segment; which benefits/ features are likely to be valued by customers; what
should the positioning be like; what should the rest of the marketing mix be like?

Evaluation of a companys marketing strategy

Value proposition offered by company; Segments currently being catered to; how
appropriate is the current positioning; how effective are the current product,
pricing, promotional and distribution strategies; level of customer satisfaction
relative to alternative brands; what changes are required in marketing mix?

Evaluation of a brand/company on an important marketing issue

In depth analysis of any one of the following issues for a company/brand using
appropriate theoretical frameworks:
o Brand positioning/repositioning/revitalization
o Advertising strategy
o Product acceptance /usage/
o Value perceptions / Pricing
o Customer satisfaction / loyalty /recommendations

A list of RMD projects done by PGP students of previous batches is given in the
appendices.
Please choose a brand/topic for which research among a student (or young) population
is appropriate. This will enable easy access to respondents for interviews/focus
groups/surveys.

2) The project must include both exploratory and descriptive/conclusive research:

Exploratory research:
o Secondary data analysis AND
o Qualitative research
Descriptive /Conclusive research:
o Survey OR
o Experiment

3) Qualitative research must be carried out using any one or more of the following:
Focus group discussions
In-depth Interviews
Laddering
Projective techniques
Brand Concept Mapping
Direct Observation
4) Quantitative data must be analysed using:
Tabulation, Frequencies/ Chi Square/ ANOVA and
Any one or more of the following multivariate analysis techniques- Discriminant,
Logistic, Factor, Cluster, Regression, Multidimensional scaling, Conjoint analysis

SUBMISSIONS
Submission 1

[3 marks out of 30]

a) Choose a brand / company

b) Choose a topic : New product launch/ marketing strategy evaluation/ examination of a
specific marketing issue
c) Describe what you wish to study:
Marketing decisions that you think are important (Management decision
problems)
What information is required in order to take above decisions (Market
research problems)
o Components of the market research problems OR
o Research questions
Page limit is 3 pages. You can submit by e-mail to avinashgm@iimb.ernet.in

Submission 1 is due- Wednesday, 31st Dec 2014 by 10.00 am

Submission 2

[6 marks out of 30]

A report giving the highlights of the exploratory research phase

Highlights from analysis of secondary data
Highlights from qualitative research
Transcripts* (Focus Groups, Depth interviews)
Output of other qualitative techniques(if used)
Revisions/ Additions to Submission 1 if any
* Transcripts may be submitted either in typed form or as sound and visual files
Submission 2 is due-Tuesday, 20thJanuary 2015 by 10.00 am before session #10

Submission 3

[5 marks out of 30]

Flow chart
Questionnaire
Coding sheet

Submission 3 is due Thursday 5th February 2015 by 10.00 am

Final submission

[10 marks out of 30]

Final report* containing one page abstract that mentions management decision
problem, research issues / research problems, research design(s), methodology
used, information sought, sample details, major findings, and learning from the
study
Details of each section mentioned above
Your recommendations for focal brand /company
Annexure containing data analysis outputs, tables
Questionnaire and coding sheet
Raw data collected during survey tabulated in an SPSS data file (on a CD)

* The final report must be submitted in the form of a printed, bound report.
. Final submission is due at the beginning of session 18 (date to be notified)

Note: Final PPT presentation in Sessions 18-20 carries 6 marks out of 30

Appendix 1
RMD Projects done by PGP 2013-15 batch
Brand/Company

Topic

Shoppers Stop

Evaluating marketing strategy

Axe deodorant

Brand revitalization

Nokia

Brand revitalization

Brand Ajay Devgan

Brand revitalization

Nestle Alpino

Improving sales and market share

Brand BJP

Strengthening the brand among youth

Tata Nano

Evaluating marketing strategy

Sunfeast Dark Fantasy

Increasing market share

Aam Aadmi Party

Evaluating acceptability amongst youth

Nokia

Brand revitalization through Lumia

Vespa

Evaluating marketing strategy

Linked in

Evaluating marketing strategy

Chaat store

Feasibility of launching a chaat store chain in Bangalore

Shaadi.com

Product acceptance and usage

Micromax

Increasing market share in smartphone segment

Appendix 2
RMD projects done by PGP 2012-14 batch

Brand/Company

Topic

Bridal gown boutique

Evaluating feasibility of launching a bridal gown boutique in

Bangalore

Kingfisher beer

Determining customer satisfaction for Kingfisher relative to

international beer brands

Google +

Increasing brand acceptance and market share

ITCs corporate brand

Impact of diversification and sustainability on ITC corporate

brand equity

Coptex

Brand revitalization of Cooptex

Chai Point

Evaluating marketing strategy

Ikea

Launch in India: what needs to change from their international

strategy

Johnson and Johnson

Evaluating marketing strategy of baby care products I the

context of new competitors

Meru cabs

Feasibility of launching an economy cab service in Bangalore

Blackberry

Improving market share in India

AMD microprocessors

Enhancing brand value in India

Windows 8

Evaluating marketing strategy

Fiama Di Wills

Evaluating marketing strategy

Volkswagen India

Evaluating advertising effectiveness

Microsoft

Feasibility of launch of tablet in India