Letters to the editor

Insightful magazine
Business & Economy is one of those insightful magazines that I thoroughly enjoy reading. There have been some great cover stories back to back and the issue on “Reverse Innovation” has been one of them. The entire issue was well conceptualized. Reverse innovation has been gradually picking up steam and to stay competitive, companies should maximize its potential since innovation is not only about bringing down pricing in India. I also enjoyed the cover story on ‘Ten Ways to revive Indian Economy’, as the points the package suggested are the ones India needs to thoroughly work on in order to stay competitive. It logically described the ten reforms India should implement not only to refurbish the economy but also the entire socio-economic fabric at large. Comments from Planning Commission and Ministry of Finance were equally thought-provoking. I would look forward to see many more such issues in future.

Sukhamay Paul
Chairman, Institute of People’s Education – Coochbehar, Under Ministry of H.R.D, Govt. of India

Great supplement
Despite having computer problems and a cold that delayed me for a feedback, I thank you for writing and sending the cover story on brain mapping in your supplement “Tech Next”. I enjoyed it very much. The team has good writers and I particularly enjoyed the flow of the cover story. My only criticism is a misplaced fact. Although Rob Williams is my colleague and we have done research together and written articles that have been published, the fact is that he is not a physicist. That was someone else who I mentioned in the interview – a small thing that no one will really notice. I appreciate very much the opportunity to participate in your article.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

 

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year

BBA Management Education

Nielsen back on the receiving end, again?

NDTV’s strong lawsuit against TAM and the people who control it (Nielsen & Kantar) exposes manipulations that are calamitous for the entire market research fraternity. And it also begs a question oft repeated by us – why does Nielsen, in particular, find itself in the ignominious limelight so consistently?

David Ogilvy gifted us with many gems of advice, and one of them went thus, “Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.” Such is the importance of research in the marketing world, since it is the starting point of the marketing philosophy of ‘sense and respond’. While timely and accurate research is essential to effective advertising, it is also extremely important for media planners to ensure that a communication reaches the right target audience and makes the desired impact. Conversely, incompetent market research is equally dangerous, and MR companies have to stay on their toes to keep their research results in tune with reality. But what about market research that is manipulated, and that too, by the best in the business?

The latter is the basic context of NDTV’s recent lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The news channel has alleged that TAM ratings have been deliberately manipulated in India over the years to report a lower market share for NDTV. This, in turn, has led to losses, which are “not less than $810 million” over the past 8 years. Matters have worsened to the extent that NDTV is now seeking at least $1 billion in damages from Nielsen as well as Kantar, which jointly operate TAM ratings in India.

Nielsen is certainly no stranger to criticism over its research practices. The data released by the company for the FMCG sector is a case in point. For the quarter ending June 2012, seven of the listed FMCG giants reported an average value sales growth of 19.28% as compared to Nielsen’s estimate of 17.6%. Even more significant discrepancies were found in the data across categories and companies (as reported in a leading national daily). Nielsen has maintained that it brings out a retail audit and it is technically wrong to compare it to actual quarterly results, but FMCG players have been critical of Nielsen’s research reports over time. Unilever CEO Paul Polman has claimed in the media that Nielsen is not very accurate with their numbers.

It’s not restricted to FMCG players. A spokesperson with a consumer durables firm speaks on condition of anonymity, “We had problems with Nielsen data on our market share since they had largely ignored the regions where major infrastructure development is happening.” Once Nielsen addressed these issues, the particular player’s market share more than tripled! A radio industry official also admitted to B&E that he was unhappy with RAM readings. He cites the example of Radio One, which turned from Hindi to English in January this year. But its market share (as per RAM) remained just about the same, which is quite improbable with such a shift in audiences.

TAM ratings themselves have largely failed to find favour with the TV industry. But the case document filed by NDTV is a Pandora’s box of sorts, which goes beyond research competence to make shocking allegations of deliberate manipulation of TAM data for commercial gains & steadfast resistance by the ratings agency to make amends. At the very outset, the case document alleges that the core reason why Nielsen is neglecting customers is the fact that it is now controlled by PE players like KKR and The Blackstone Group. Since these groups have short term gains in mind and want to cash out quickly, Nielsen is allegedly looking at cost control and cost avoidance measures; the most common being “refusal to increase sample sizes” and not adapting to local conditions in countries like India and the Philippines. A committee report in 2010 indicated that the sample size of 8150 for TAM and 6000 for aMap was grossly inadequate for a market with 129 million TV watching households. An e-mail request for interaction sent to the Nielsen India office for this story went unanswered.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2013.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

 

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

 

IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman

ExecutiveMBA