Marketing Analytics

A Practitioner's Guide to Marketing Analytics and Research Methods

Ashok Charan

• Publisher: WSPC
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9789814641388
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Marketing Research
• Index: Business

The digital age has transformed the very nature of marketing. Armed with smartphones, tablets, PCs and smart TVs, consumers are increasingly hanging out on the internet. Cyberspace has changed the way they communicate, and the way they shop and buy. This fluid, de-centralized and multidirectional medium is changing the way brands engage with consumers.

At the same time, technology and innovation, coupled with the explosion of business data, has fundamentally altered the manner we collect, process, analyse and disseminate market intelligence. The increased volume, variety and velocity of information enables marketers to respond with much greater speed, to changes in the marketplace. Market intelligence is timelier, less expensive, and more accurate and actionable.

Anchored in this age of transformations, Marketing Analytics is a practitioner's guide to marketing management in the 21st century. The text devotes considerable attention to the way market analytic techniques and market research processes are being refined and re-engineered. Written by a marketing veteran, it is intended to guide marketers as they craft market strategies, and execute their day to day tasks.

For access to lecture presentations, case study datasets, and information on the topics covered in the text, visit the book's website at: http://bizfaculty.nus.edu/site/bizakc/MarketingAnalytics

The digital age has transformed the very nature of marketing. Armed with smartphones, tablets, PCs and smart TVs, consumers are increasingly hanging out on the internet. Cyberspace has changed the way they communicate, and the way they shop and buy. This fluid, de-centralized and multidirectional medium is changing the way brands engage with consumers.

At the same time, technology and innovation, coupled with the explosion of business data, has fundamentally altered the manner we collect, process, analyse and disseminate market intelligence. The increased volume, variety and velocity of information enables marketers to respond with much greater speed, to changes in the marketplace. Market intelligence is timelier, less expensive, and more accurate and actionable.

Anchored in this age of transformations, Marketing Analytics is a practitioner's guide to marketing management in the 21st century. The text devotes considerable attention to the way market analytic techniques and market research processes are being refined and re-engineered. Written by a marketing veteran, it is intended to guide marketers as they craft market strategies, and execute their day to day tasks.

For access to lecture presentations, case study datasets, and information on the topics covered in the text, visit the book's website at: http://bizfaculty.nus.edu/site/bizakc/MarketingAnalytics Contents:

• Brand:
  • Brand and Brand Image
  • Brand Equity
  • Case I Shopper Trends — Food and Grocery Shopping in Singapore
• Consumer:
  • Segmentation
  • Qualitative Research
  • Quantitative Research
  • Customer Satisfaction and Customer Value
  • Consumer Panels
  • Consumer Analytics and Big Data
  • Case II Vizag
  • Case III Hectomalt
• Product:
  • New Product Development
  • Product Design
  • Product Validation
  • Case IV Hecto Grow
• Advertising:
  • How Advertising Works
  • New Media
  • Digital Marketing
  • Advertising Research
• Price and Promotion:
  • Price
  • Promotion
  • Market Mix Modelling
  • Case V Yakult
• Retail
  • Retail Tracking
  • Retail Analytics
  • Sales and Distribution
  • Category Management
  • Case VI Little People
  • Case VII Inulas
• Appendices:
  • Sampling
  • Gain–loss Algorithms: Assumptions/Limitations
• References
• Subject Index
• Company and Product Index
• People and Place Index
• Key Features:

  According to an ex-P&Ger, P&G "was like a marketing university. You were always learning." And what you learnt was not taught at business schools. Not surprisingly P&Gers are highly valued. A LinkedIn search by AdvertisingAge in 2012 revealed that there were 100 CMOs of other companies who started their careers at P&G. The company has produced an even greater number of CEOs (713 based on AdvertisingAge's search) including marketers such as Bart Becht, Mitch Barns, Fabrizio Freda and Paul Polman.
  
  

  But, what if you are not one of the fortunate few to have benefited from the P&G University or the School of Unilever?
  
  

  You would expect that there would be a book or two that you could refer to. But oddly enough, while there are plenty of books on marketing, until now, there were none that were truly practitioner oriented. Ashok has been teaching for over 10 years, without prescribing a text. And as the refrain from his students, old students, academics and practitioners (including ex-P&Gers) grew louder, he got down to writing.
  
  

  His book, Marketing Analytics, is the practitioner's guide to marketing management in the 21st century. It covers the marketing concepts and the marketing mix from the viewpoint of execution, devoting considerable attention to the analytic techniques and research practices that are required for effectively managing your brands on a day to day basis. It is written in an easy to understand style, with the intent to teach, as well as to excite and inspire.
  
  

  You can click on this link for more information on the topics covered in the text. The website also provides access to lecture presentations, case studies, as well as snippets from the book.
  
  

PART I

Brand

CHAPTER 1

Brand and Brand Image

Exhibit 1.1ArgylePink — “Beyond Rare — The most concentrated form of wealth on earth”.

“The word VALUE, it is to be observed, has two different meanings, and sometimes expresses the utility of some particular object, and sometimes the power of purchasing other goods which the possession of that object conveys. The one may be called ‘value in use;’ the other, ‘value in exchange.’ The things which have the greatest value in use have frequently little or no value in exchange; on the contrary, those which have the greatest value in exchange have frequently little or no value in use. Nothing is more useful than water: but it will purchase scarce anything; scarce anything can be had in exchange for it. A diamond, on the contrary, has scarce any use-value; but a very great quantity of other goods may frequently be had in exchange for it.” — quoted from Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.

Pink Diamonds?

The unknown is synonymous with unease. If a customer is offered diamonds of a peculiar shade, despite how captivating the pitch might be, she is likely to harbour a suspicion that the jewels are not genuine.

If you have not heard of a particular brand, or a product, or a pink diamond, not only do you lack the interest in buying it, you also tend to be dubious of the person or the organization that tries to sell it to you.

And so the discovery of diamonds embedded in an ant hill in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia in October 1979 posed a challenge for Rio Tinto. At the time of the discovery, the notion that diamonds could be intense pink was virtually non-existent. Undoubtedly, associates at the mining company would have pondered how to generate demand for these gems.

Diamonds and water lie at opposite ends of a spectrum. Which you consider more valuable depends on whether you assess them in terms of their “value in use” or their “value in exchange”. And while the paradox of value may be explained by the theory of marginal utility and the mechanisms of supply and demand, one might wonder what is it that makes tiny rocks of pure carbon so precious to begin with? Why do so many young men all over the world spend hard earned savings on a glittering diamond ring that, once bought loses over 50% of its monetary value?

The rationale in part lies in their sheer beauty, their famed indestructibility and the strategy adopted by a few dominant players of managing supply. To a greater extent, however, their value is the outcome of beliefs and memorable associations imparted through marketing. Marketing generates knowledge, awareness, interest, curiosity and status; it makes products desirable.

A plethora of memorable media campaigns have contributed to the charm and the allure of diamonds. Great monarchs and famous movie stars have proclaimed their love for these gems. An Archduke in 1477 gave his fiancée a diamond ring when he proposed to her, and men have since followed his example. Over the years a great many images, symbols and beliefs have become associated with diamonds, contributing immensely to their intangible value.

In terms of physical attributes, other than colour, pink diamonds do not lack the qualities of clear diamonds, and they are far rarer. What they lacked at the time of their discovery was awareness, interest and status.

Through branding and marketing, Rio Tinto imbued the pink diamonds with interest and status. Marketing communication powerfully influenced consumers’ minds, creating an alluring mystique about their origin and colour. Described in advertisements as “the most revered diamond in the world”, the pink gems, through a range of marketing efforts, metamorphosed into the rare, exclusive, and much desired Argyle Pink (Exhibit 1.1). They are now sought after by investors, collectors, celebrities and high net worth individuals, and command a high premium.

The brand, Argyle Pink, captures much of the intangible value that is created through marketing. It makes intangible benefits — such as intrigue, fascination, curiosity, fame — tangible, and associates these attributes with pink diamonds, and more specifically those mined in the Kimberly region. It is the beliefs, symbols, perceptions and associations that consumers hold in their head about the Argyle Pink, that ultimately affects their desire to purchase these diamonds at the premium prices that they command.

Preview

What distinguishes a brand, like the Argyle Pink, from the tangible product are the thoughts and feelings that it evokes. The manner in which these thoughts and feelings are tracked, measured and presented, by means of techniques such as image profiling and perceptual mapping, is the prime focus of this chapter. It introduces the subject of brands and highlights their importance, and reviews the concepts of brand image, positioning, the segmentation and targeting of consumers, and the differentiation of products.

Lesson from the Summer of 1985

“To hear some tell it, April 23, 1985, was a day that will live in marketing infamy ... spawning consumer angst the likes of which no business has ever seen.” — The Coca-Cola Company, commenting on the New Coke announcement.

In April 1985, The Coca-Cola Company launched New Coke, and discontinued the production of the original formulation. Taste tests findings clearly indicated consumers’ preference for the sweeter New Coke mixture over both regular Coca-Cola and Pepsi. But the consumers’ response was not what Coca-Cola had anticipated. At the onset, it was a minority, albeit a vocal one that protested against the transformation of a brand that had become so much a part of their heritage. Their mood was infectious and headquarters in Atlanta started receiving an avalanche of letters expressing anger and dismay.

What transpired was one of the greatest expressions of the will of consumers. Overwhelmed with over 400,000 calls and letters, the company reintroduced Coca-Cola, as Coca-Cola Classic. One can only imagine what the response might have been, if consumers, at that time, were empowered by social media.

The episode gave us a rare glimpse of the enormous depth of emotion that consumers feel for Coca-Cola. A psychiatrist the company hired to listen in on calls told Coca-Cola executives that some callers sounded as if they were discussing the death of a family member.

New Coke was more than a change of formulation. The brand name, logo, and the manner it was presented was altered in one fell swoop. No longer the “the real thing”, for many Americans it was the demise of the Coca-Cola that they knew, and had grown to love.

This was a demonstration of the enormous power that resides in the minds of consumers for this extraordinary brand. According to Muhtar Kent, the company’s chairman & CEO, “Coca-Cola is more than just a drink. It is an idea; it is a vision, a feeling.” Great brands like Coca-Cola live beyond generations, becoming part of society’s heritage, bonding people together across the globe.

Brand

A brand is defined as a trademark which in the mind of con...