Marketing Research Project

Introduction The research topic which we covered in our research activity covers the area of use of marketing research in the FMCG industry of Pakistan. This topic fulfills our research objective of getting an insight into the current marketing research practices in the Pakistani FMCG industry and the degree of effectiveness of these practices. Historically it has been observed that most of the organizations in Pakistan are not very much involved in the use of marketing research and the reason behind is the orthodox way of conducting marketing activities involving a lot of intuition and personal judgment of the decision makers in the organizations in spite of real time marketing research prior to the marketing activities.

Key objectives of the research 1

Here are some of the key objectives envisioned about this research: • To find out the extent to which marketing research is being used in Pakistani FMCG companies. • To understand the credibility of the current marketing research practices in Pakistani FMCG industry. • To understand the perception of Pakistani business organizations towards marketing research. • To go through the success stories based upon implementation of marketing research in Pakistani FMCG companies. Research Methodology In order to discuss the research methodology used by us for this research activity we have covered following activities which also form a stepwise process of a research activity: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Nature of research activity Nature of the data required Sources of the required data Population Sampling technique and the selected sample Data collection techniques Techniques and methodologies used for data analysis Interpretation on the basis of findings from the data analysis Conclusive end and recommendations

Nature of the research

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As in our research we had a detailed insight into the current marketing research practices in the FMCG industry of Pakistan and its future prospects so it can be easily identified that the nature of this research is DESCRIPTIVE. Nature of the data Like any other descriptive research we had to gather both the qualitative and quantitative data. Sources of the data We used both the primary and secondary sources of data for data collection, detail of the primary source of data will be completely discussed later on in the data collection part of the report but here is a brief description of the secondary sources of the data used: a. Annual reports of the organizations (Nestle Pakistan limited, Haleeb foods limited, Qarshi industries private limited, Mitchells fruit farms limited, Unilever Pakistan limited, Proctor and Gamble Pakistan) b. Organizational web sites (www.map.org.pk, www.nestle.pk, www.haleebfoods.com, www.qarshi.com, www.mitchells.com.pk, www.unilever.pk, www.pg.com/en_PK ) c. business journals and magazines (IBA business review, Lahore journal of economics, synergizer, aurora) Population The population for our research includes all the FMCG organizations (either domestic or multinational) operating in Pakistan.

Sampling technique and the selected sample

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We used convenience sampling for the sample selection and the selected sample for the research includes following organizations headquartered in Lahore: a. Shakarganj foods private limited b. Haleeb foods private limited c. Coca cola export corporation d. Hamza oil mills private limited (SUFI) e. Mitchells fruit farms private limited f. Forvil cosmetics private limited g. Shezan international h. Dawn bread i. Qarshi industries private limied. Data collection techniques In order to collect the data we used interview method (both unstructured and structured) along with questionnaire method because firstly it was the most feasible way to interact with the sample organizations and get the relevant data for our research and secondly as our sample size was short so found it suitable to interview the relevant persons in those organizations . Names of the persons with whom we interacted, along with their organization names are as below: • Mitchells fruit farms private limited Amna Iqbal (Brand and media manager) Danish Habib (Assistant brand manager) • Shakarganj foods private limited Asim Zafar (Brand manager) • Qarshi industries private limited Ali Kiyani (Brand manager) • Forvil cosmetics private limited M.Sarwar (manager strategic planning and research) • Haleeb foods private limited M.Iqbal Jutt (Marketing manager) • Hamza oil mills private limited. (SUFI) Sajid Shahzad Sufi (Director marketing) • Dawn bread 4

M. Nisar Ashraf (Brand manager) • Coca cola export corporation. Abbas Arsalan (Brand manager) • Shezan international Waseem A Mehmood (director marketing) Data analysis techniques For the purpose of data analysis we have used Microsoft excel and deductive analysis approach in which analysis is done after going through a wide area of the available data. Key findings from the data collection In order to explain the key findings of our research we have divided this section into different parts showing interviewee’s response to our questions. In this way it will be convenient to interpret the findings. 1. How do you perceive marketing research in the context of overall organizational Operations?

2. Does your organization use marketing research as a part of the routine business operations?

3. What % age of the marketing budget of your organization is allocated to marketing research?

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4. What is the base for marketing research budget allocation in your organization?

5. Do you use marketing research only for the purpose of new product development?

6. Does your organization have its own marketing research facility?

7. Which criterion is rated most suitable by your organization for the selection of marketing research firms?

8. Are you satisfied with the results produced by marketing research activities performed in your organization up till now?

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9. List down the three marketing research techniques mostly used by your organization. In response to this question interviewees told us about their preferences of marketing research techniques and the result shows that the 03 mostly used techniques are: 1) Various observation techniques like personal observation and inventory tracking 2) Mall intercepts 3) Personal interviewing of the channel members 1.

“Marketing research is a pre requisite for marketing”, give your comments on this statement.

To this question 06 out of the 10 respondents answered in YES showing that they believe in marketing research as a pre requisite to marketing.

Conclusion From our research we have found that most of the FMCG companies in Pakistan are still not using marketing research functions properly. The reasons behind this situation are unavailability of the up to the mark marketing research services in Pakistan, excessive dependence on intuition and experience based judgment and less budgetary allocations for marketing research. We have observed that in Pakistani FMCG market those companies which are using marketing research as part of the routine operations have got more success in terms of successful brands, higher sales volumes,etc.

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Annexure section Questionnaire used for research The questionnaire in order to obtain the above mentioned research objectives includes the questions shown as below: 1) How do you perceive marketing research in the context of overall organizational Operations? a. important b. unimportant c. optional 2) Does your organization use marketing research as a part of the routine business operations? a. Yes b. No 1) What % age of the marketing budget of your organization is allocated to marketing research? 8

a. 1-3% b. 4-7% c. 7-10% d. More than 10%

1) What is the base for marketing research budget allocation in your organization? a. Sales volume b. Profitability c. Any other.__________ 1) Do you use marketing research only for the purpose of new product development? a. Yes b. No 1) Does your organization have its own marketing research facility? a. Yes b. No 1) Which criterion is rated most suitable by your organization for the selection of marketing research firms? a. Efficiency b. Credibility c. Cost d. All of the above 1) List down the three marketing research techniques mostly used by your organization. 9

a. ________ b. ________ c. ________ _________

1) Are you satisfied with the results produced by marketing research activities performed in your organization up till now? a. Yes b. No c. No idea 1) “Marketing research is a pre requisite for marketing”, give your comments on this statement. _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________

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