RINITA SINGH | QUANTUM CONSUMER SOLUTIONS Twenty years

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RINITA SINGH | QUANTUM CONSUMER SOLUTIONS
QUANTUM LEAP
Having sharpened its tools in qualitative market research for 20 years, Quantum Consumer Solutions
has extended its products into larger divisions to provide a holistic view of today’s consumer
By Dipali Banka
R
inita Singh, Managing Director,
Quantum Consumer Solutions Pvt Ltd,
set up the Kolkata office of Quantum
in 1992. She has been instrumental in
the group’s business development and growth
strategy across divisions and geographies. Singh
shares with IMPACT her industry insights and
the company’s plans going forward
Q] What has been the recent re-structuring
at Quantum? What will the new divisions
look into?
Since its inception 20 years ago, Quantum
market research has been involved in qualitative
research and expanded in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
Singapore and Jakarta. Besides, we had been
incubating several allied marketing tool services.
We had been driving them as products and this
year, we restructured ourselves into Quantum
Consumer Solutions and converted those
products into different divisions. Ethnography
is one division created to understand cultural
connotations of consumers. Another one is
Quantum Live. As every company across India
and many parts of Asia is genuinely interested
in understanding the consumer, they want their
internal managers - not just the marketing people
- to know the consumer better. Through Live,
we set up annual programmes for companies to
facilitate on-ground consumer interaction. We
take them to watch the consumer shop, smoke,
drink, eat... to schools to watch what children are
doing. They actually experience the consumer
live. The last division is called 360, for consumer
consulting. We actually get the consumer’s
perspective and then use that to device strategy
for brands.
Q] Can you cite any examples of how
clients changed their marketing strategy
based on your research?
There have been instances of consumers
saying that they do not like a piece of advertising.
We’ve actually told clients that even though the
consumer is saying this, it is important for you
to go ahead with the advertising because it is
preparing your brand for the next stage and the
client has listened to us and it has worked. We
work as a partner with the client company and
their brand. I can’t share details, but of the top 20
brands every year, we’d have worked with 15.
Q] What change have you noticed in the
industry over the years? How do you think
it has evolved?
Twenty years ago, very few multinational
September 18 > 2011 [ impactonnet.com ]
clients knew how to handle market
research. Everyone knew about
questionnaires and surveys, but there
was not much understanding of why I
want to understand the consumer. Today,
the big change is that market research has
become an essential tool for marketing.
Also, there is a lot more partnering
between the client and the agency.
Another big change due to the clutter in
brand choices and media is that market
research is used to predict what’s going
to happen. The market research industry
has actually matured and attained more
gravity in the scheme of things.
Q] How big is the size of the
industry in India and globally?
Unfortunately in India, we do not
really know the size of the industry
because it does not have a capitalised
billing process as in advertising. There
are no organised bodies other than the
MRSI (Market Research Society of India)
which attempts to come up with some
sort of sizing annually, but it doesn’t
really work. The thumb rule that we
go by is that the quantitative research
industry is about 85 per cent and quality
research about 15 per cent of the market.
The top five quantitative agencies would
have the lion’s share of the market. In
India, Quantum would have a business of
roughly Rs 40 crore.
Q] What are the key characteristics
of this industry in India as compared
to other markets?
UK and parts of Europe have always
been very mature in market research.
In America, market research is more
direct and rational and the relationship is
more like a supplier-vendor. In India, the
industry is much more vibrant and on the
ground now. There is a sense of humility
in the industry because of the belief that
consumers know exactly what they want
to do and the industry wants to approach
them as a friend to serve them better.
Q] What are the key opportunities
and challenges for market research
agencies?
The biggest challenge in the global
market research scene is mergers. As
the big companies go global, many of
Twenty years
ago, very few
multinational clients
knew how to handle
market research
them are buying out smaller boutique
agencies. They are constantly looking
for smaller companies in the emerging
markets to add to their basket. The
biggest challenge in India is the price
undercutting. With a lot of small
agencies over and above the qualitative
research, there are a lot of price wars.
The second massive challenge globally
and in India is people - finding the right
talent and being able to train them. We
need the right kind of people interested
in consumers and brands.
Q] With social media playing a big
role in consumer feedback, will the
importance of surveys decline?
I don’t think the importance of
reaching out to a large number of people
and understanding the mathematics is
going to change. But the whole concept
of social media and networking is going
to change the way we distribute, market
and get feedback on brands. Surveys
will not become irrelevant, but modify
the way they collect and analyse data.
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