Danone - Kids Market Research Partner 2012

Groupe Danone is a food-products multinational corporation essentially based out of Paris, France. Founded in 1919 by Isaac Carasso, Danone has reached its present structure through a series of strategic re-orientations.

Present in around 60 countries all over the world, today, Danone ranks 1^st in the world in fresh dairy products, 2^nd in terms of bottled water (by volume) and baby food and 1^st in Europe for medical nutrition.

Danone’s principal brands for different segments include:

Dairy Products

Densia

Danonino

Danette

Bottled waters

Evian

Volvic

Baby Nutrition

 Gallia

Milupa

Medical Nutrition

Neocate

Fortimel

After facing initial turbulence in the Indian market, Danone in India is looking to adapt its product lines to the tastes and needs of the Indian consumer. Danone in India has achieved popularity through Danette and recently launched brand Fundooz. Probiotic drink Yakult (Yakult Danone India Pvt. Ltd.) is a joint venture between Yakult Honsha, Japan and Groupe Danone of France. The JV was formed in 2005 to manufacture and sell probiotic products in the Indian market.

Here are some interesting Danone commercials

Danone Nations Cup:

Recognised by FIFA, the Danone Nations Cup is the world’s largest international soccer tournament for children aged 10 to 12, drawing over 2.5 million participants from over 40 countries every year. This year, Danone nations cup South Africa has supported 3 000 schools and 30 000 players. 

The Danone Website has a kid’s corner wherein it provides information about yoghurt, its origins and also hosts a quiz about yoghurt.

With its efforts to target the children in India as its customers, Danone is the Child MR partner for Illumina 2012.

Welcoming Danone on board, we hope for a successful Expressions 2012.

Illumina is here

Illuminati

Rural Illumina - Yo Kareena??

Finally the day that team Illumina was eagerly awaiting for came on 24th October- Dussehra! This was the day that had been decided upon to go and conduct disguised market research for Berger Paints in a rural area. The venue was the Dussehra fair held at Pataudi village (40 km from Gurgaon city) every year. We reached the spot about the same time when others had started putting up their stalls. A tent had already been put in place for us to set up shop. The Illumina team accompanied by the team selected to conduct the market research (MR) quickly got down to work and readied the tent for the occasion.

The research brief was given by Berger and the objective was to cater to the demand service gap in rural segments with a hassle free painting experience. For this, Team RDB had devised a themed ‘natak’ on the concept of recent marriage of popular movie stars Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. The natak was done with a plot in which the movie stars had just been married and wanted to decide on the painting for their new home.

Before we got down to work, all of us had a quick but wholesome lunch, giving us the much needed energy for the exhausting task that ensued.

The fair was a cold affair till 1.30 pm with no appreciable crowd. It was then that the action began with the heroic entry of the protagonist of Ramayana and our very beloved king of Ayodhya and destroyer of evil- Lord Rama, accompanied by his brother Lakshamana and his greatest follower- Hanuman. Following him in another vehicle was the evil king- Ravana and his army. And behind them flocked the people, and suddenly the ground that wore a deserted look a moment ago seemed to be overflowing with people who seemed to come out of nowhere. Practically, the whole village had gathered there to watch the final battle between Lord Rama and Ravana, and witness the triumph of good over evil.

And on this note, our team too got down to work. Many of the members went out in the ground and nearby places to conduct a survey on the buying behaviour of the villagers while others took their position in and around the tent where the real action was.

The huge size of the tent and a large poster of Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor aroused enough curiosity among the people to see what was going on that very soon we had a huge crowd waiting in a queue to go inside and experience the whole thing. The tent had been divided into sections with game for kids in the starting section (who were being given toffees and chocolates for their performances) followed by the disguised MR being conducted in the subsequent sections. Students posed as Bollywood actors and entertained people while also asking them questions.

We got an overwhelming response from the people who looked quite eager to respond to our surveys and questions. At times, the crowd seemed to be getting too impatient to wait in the long queue and the team had to work really hard to keep situation under control.

After a day full of hard work and successful accomplishment of our task, we left the place in the evening. All in all, it was a an assuring success in terms of completion of objectives and a great learning experience for the students who got to have first-hand experience of conducting an MR. Though everyone was tired but it hadn’t dampened the team’s spirits, a fact that was proved when we saw an arrangement for celebrating the success of the task by dancing on the beats of Dhol- a surprise for the team by the Secretary of Team Illumina. Soon, the whole hostel was out in front of the CM hostel, dancing their hearts out and enjoying to the core. All in all, a day well spent.

At Peace
Illuminati

Nostalgia: Illuminati for Life (1)

Once an Illuminati you truly are branded an Illuminati for life.

Presenting to you Nostalgia: the tensions, the apprehensions, the excitements, the fights, the tears, the fears, the memories - for life!

A very famous Illuminati (also well known for his stint with HnM) recounts his experiences -

"Coming back to the campus, on the day of Rural Illumina 2011, I had updated my status message on fb as “Beaten up, tired and exhausted....but fun it was!” Beaten up…I actually was, with a bruised finger. So difficult was handling the crowd at the Pataudi Mela. Yet, all I cared about was the latter part of the statement.

It was then that it dawned on me: Urban Illumina, three weeks later, would be the last time I would be involved in organizing a college fest of any kind. 

The satisfaction there is in successfully organizing a college fest, in planning for months, and successfully executing it, was something that was extremely thrilling, and I was about to do it for one last time.

At that moment, I knew, I was willing to go through all that exhaustion, may be even not mind getting beaten up, for going through that feeling one last time.

As I sat back at the t-shirt stall, listening to Nasya perform after the Mela, finally relaxing after weeks of hard toil and sleepless nights, I felt that satisfaction, a feeling of job well done. And that is a special feeling…"

It is always special to have our seniors and super seniors talking about Illumina. Do share with us if you would like to say/complaint/shout/reminisce/blabber anything.

Always

Illuminati 

Berger Paints - Rural Research Partner 2012

Rural Illumina is less than a week away. As such how could we have forgot the writeup on our research partner - Berger Paints. Below you will find a very interesting description on what this company is all about by a fellow Illuminati from PG12 -

Berger made a humble beginning in 1760, when a young German chemist, Lewis Berger, perfected a new process for making the colour Prussian Blue. Considering that it was the colour of most military uniforms then, the pigment assumed great importance, and the business, a great thrust.

Soon, the company moved from the production of dyes and pigments to the production of paints and coatings.

Hadfiled's (India) Limited was a small paint company based in Kolkata, established in 1923. In 1947, British Paints (Holdings) Limited, U.K acquired Hadfield's (India) Limited which later became a part of the worldwide BERGER group in 1983 and thereby acquired its present name ‘Berger Paints India’. Its present business revenue is more than Rs 2400 crores.

Berger India Ltd. is currently ranked as second largest on the basis of consolidated sales turnover in Indian paint industry.

They offer the following products:

1.       Home owners –

·         Interior wall coatings

·         Exterior wall coatings

·         Berger Metal & Wood paints

·         Living green (environment friendly products

2.       Industrial –

·         General Industrial & Automotive coatings

·         Powder coatings

·         Protective Coatings

It also sells items like color fan deck, wall stencils, interior color combo book, exterior book etc. online via its website.

Berger has come out with some wonderful commercials on television in the past. Take a look -

As part of its promotion strategy, Berger came out with an interesting billboard (shown below) which became very popular and garnered a lot of attention -

Berger: Natural Finish Colors

Fun Facts

Berger paints have been a part of some memorable projects such as Akshardham temple, New Delhi and the Cognizant building, Chennai.

Tata Nano, a milestone in automotive engineering gets its coat of paint using berger automotive paints. So do trucks from the Tata stable, and also Hero cycles. Even the ONGC projects use Berger paints. That goes a long way in showing what reputation the company enjoys in India, not just among the people, but also the corporates as well as the government.

Awards & Recognition

Berger has won many awards for its outstanding performance,superior technology and great HR practices. Builder Information Bureau (BIB) has awarded Berger Paints India Ltd., the leadership award in the paint category for the year 2011-12.

Its an ISO  9001 and ISO 14001 certified company and has won many awards in Human resource management.

The Future

As India continues its success story, more and more people in villages are moving up the social-economic ladder. The attitude of rural people towards painting and decoration of their houses has seen a significant shift. Today, they take as much care in making their homes look good as anybody else. Berger India senses a great opportunity to gain a foothold in this still largely untapped market, and we are sure that with their  huge experience, great products, and valuable market insights, they will succeed in their venture.

Welcoming them on board for the market research and wishing them all the best.

Beaming with delight

Illuminati

Illumina 2011 - Cadbury MR (Expressions) - Nostalgia

As the blog activity has picked up a few eyes have started rolling and a few eager souls started pestering me to include their views/suggestions/opinions/messages on the Blog. 2 Crackle and 3 Dairy Milk later i decided to let the person send in the message.

Being loyal to the gifts i have taken, this post is about the Market Research done last year on Children. It was a fun filled yet disguised research and had been formulated for Cadbury. Rather than going into the details of the MR it would be better to let the enthusiastic soul express the much awaited views.

Please bear with me and read through a rather jumpy and over-excited description of the MR by a participant -

"When I went to bed on 23^rd October 2011, I was so tired that I could hardly move my fingers, but still I was smiling thinking of what a crazy day it was. That day I discovered and “learnt” quite a few things, I got to know that the today’s kids are smarter and naughtier that I even anticipated. And this was just a part of it - the fanatical day began with the frantic search of someone who will be willing to dress up and act as a bear! We were conducting a disguised market research for Cadbury and the theme was magical jungle. The extraordinary thing about the jungle was that the kids would start coming in an hour and there were no animals. In that one hour I clearly called, convinced, pleaded and begged more than I have done in my entire life. Fortunately managed few sporting and helping volunteers (they couldn't even anticipate what the day had in store for them). 

As our Baloo Bagheera and SherKhan were utterly submerged in their respective characters the kids started to pour in. Believe me the kids that came were even more energetic than the animals. The questions they asked were surprising -One nine year old asked me how many boyfriends I had, another group of ten year old were discussing each other’s love life and what they want to wear for the next event or function. Parents were more than happy to leave their kids with us and manage some moments of togetherness and “peace”. 

What started as a bizarre and exciting day continued to be equally bizarre with kids throwing tantrums, running away with chocolates, parents asking irrelevant questions and the jungle animals getting fatigued. But in the midst of all the madness we managed so much of laughter and extraordinary moments that it has been etched our minds. Some of the children were so cute that I didn't want them to go; I was chatting with them and felt like a kid again. Looking forward to the sequel this year!"

It was a rather unique and colorful MR which left all the curious souls wondering if the team was actually doing some research or was just there to savor on chocolates.

At the risk of losing the Admin-ship of this blog i end the post with a few colorful pictures.

Smiling from ear to ear
Illuminati

Castrol - Research partner of Illumina 2012

Castrol in India dates back to 1910 when certain automotive lubricants from C.C.Wakefield & company made an entry in the Indian market. In 1919, C.C.Wakefield & company set up its first overseas branch office in India and commenced operations as a trading unit.

Castrol India is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Mr. Naveen Kshatriya is the Chairman & Managing Director of the company.

Today, Castrol India limited is the second largest player in the Indian lubricant industry and is the market leader in the retail automotive lubricant segment. It owns around 22% market share in the overall Indian lubricant market.

Key product range can be classified as –

1. Industrial - Castrol metalworking fluids, cleaners, corrosion preventives and lubricants.
2. Oils - Cylinder oils-crosshead, crancase oils-crosshead, truck piston engine oils, hydraulic oils, gear oils, compressor oils, turbine oils, refrigeration oils, emulsifiable oils, multi-grades, heat transfer oils, greases, and fishing

Castrol Logo has evolved over time which can be seen by the following timeline –

LOGO IN 1917

LOGO IN 1929

LOGO IN 1946

LOGO IN 1958

LOGO IN 1968

LOGO IN 1999

CURRENT LOGO DEVELOPED IN 2001

In India, Castrol is a huge brand largely on the basis of its awesome advertisements mostly involving cricket stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and movie superstars like John Abraham. Some of the popular videos are as follows –

Castrol Drive for Safety Ad

Castrol Activ – Protection hai toh confidence hai - Sachin

Castrol GTX -I love my car - Sachin

Castrol Power1 - John Abraham

Castrol Activ - Two Brothers

Castrol Dhakkam Dhakka

Castrol has dedicated websites for cricket and biking. The cricket website is replete with all stats on players and teams along with current series. There is a concept called Castrol Index which objectively analyses and ranks player and team performances adopting a comprehensive approach towards the game. The following videos are good to explain the advantage of Castrol Index –

The website also boasts of experts like Harsha Bhogle and Brett Lee. And then there are the much awaited Castrol Awards for the best talents in Indian Cricket. None other than M.S.Dhoni was the recipient of Castrol Indian Cricketer of the Year Award. The other awardees can be found on this website.

With gas and oil prices going through the roof and supplies of the non-renewable resource getting lower every day, motorcycles should continue to grow in demand. Today most people ride motorcycles in North America for fun or as a hobby, but it is not so in other parts of the world. Even in countries like the UK, people are riding them due to the savings in gas, oil and insurance over other vehicles and even riding them the year round.

Will that happen here as well? Yes, and probably sooner rather than later.

So there is a greater need for motorcycles than ever before, but what will they evolve into? Time will tell - and Castrol will always be a part of bikes that will look forward to the refinement and superior quality that is inherent to Castrol.

If you are a biker, traveler, photographer or just about any person who loves adventure then you should see this website.

We welcome Castrol on board for the market research. Hope we have a great time.

Eyes Shining

Illuminati

Time to Gear up!!

Today the Senior Illumina team met up and the Secretary (who sports a visible paunch btw) has made it loud and clear that its time we shift our attention to the main event and the execution.

As i pen down my thoughts i cant help but think that just 20 days are left for Rural Illumina - the first market research to be conducted at the Pataudi village.

Before i start introducing you with the MRs that are lined up for this year it will be appropriate to do some chest thumping. As such i outsourced the glamorous writing part to a HR team member who have core competency in using jargons and enamoring every event with their charm and intellect.

"The festival of lights is just around the corner, with a little over a month to go and with each passing day the entire market- from the corporate giants to your local mithaiwala- is gearing up to make the most of it.  So as has been the tradition for the past 16 years, Illumina is back again to bring the mountain to Mahomet (the market to the consumer) and observe the camaraderie between the two. 

As kids, we have heard the tale of the king who went about in disguise to see what and how his subjects felt. Illumina gives the organisations that rule or aspire to rule the market, an opportunity to go in disguise and understand the needs or reactions of their subjects.

So how is this different from other such projects you may ask... 

The difference is... we toil with a twist! We bring jack, his play and his work under the canopy of our Diwali mela which grows and glows further every year.  

With this small insight into Illumina.... we wish to kick-start the festive season where we look to post about our partners, our work and the markets... while keeping you updated and entertained with the happenings of the event."

In a nut shell - We are going to storm the town. Brace yourselves.

Keep watching this space for more because i am sure you would not like to miss out on any detail.

Now excited

Illuminati