Market Research/ data Analytics in FMCG

Many of you reading this blog may have read the first few chapters of Kotler - Marketing Management, mentioning the importance of need for the consumer. There are mainly two types of needs:

1. Unfulfilled Needs
2. Unidentified Needs

Now take a snacks business where players like Haldiram, Frito-Lays and many other local brands are present. Lets Analyze. Are they able to satisfy the needs of the consumer. Remember one thing guys - Till this materialistic world exist, the needs will never be fulfilled. So marketers need to innovate and do lots of data crunching to identify NEEDS.

Lets take the example of Kurkure. They did a market research where they got the insight that people want something extra from just Kurkure. They must have analyzed the eating habits of consumers and found that they like eating with some onions, ketchup/ lemon or something else which add something new. Also that indian consumers like chats, rajcachoris and other chatka-bhatka stuff. So Kurkure invented - "KURKURE SHAKE"

But sometimes even the day-to-day data in an organization can give wonderful insights. On the basis of data, one can get general consumer insights - how their consumer behavior is changing. There can be some switching happening within the brand portfolio of an organization with some changes either in price points, value propositions etc. Lets take the example of MARUTI - 800 and Alto. The data clearly show that after the lauch of Alto, the sales of 800 has dropped. The reasons are:

1. AC is more effective
2. Change from the normal routine
3. The value for an extra charge of money is more
4. Imagery created via different advertisements

Now coming to FMCG example - there is GBytes of data from the bottom most level to the country level. You have data points at the retailer and the wholesaler level. HLL can easily analyze the performance of Liril vs Lux by effeciently analyzing the data. But what is happening is that Indian FMCG companies are not upto the mark in analyze this google of data.

I have one recommendation for every fmcg company to have a dedicated team in every branch to work on data analytics and come up with implementable insights to fulfill the NEEDS.

May the needs get fulfilled !!