Major market researchers gain insights of consumer behavior at BrandScan

The 18th edition of BrandScan, the country's largest Market research fair, hosted by TAPMI (T.A.Pai Management Institute, Mangalore) one of the leading B Schools in India, was a major success and saw the successful completion of more than 200 projects for leading brands including Nielsen, Titan, Fastrack, Himalaya Healthcare, Apple Computers, Berger Paints, Diageo, Nerolac Paints, Punjab National Bank, Everonn Education, Naukri.com, etc. These brands stand to gain keen insights into consumer behaviour with the research conducted. Many of them will gain insights on a product they are planning to introduce in the market or in some cases a product already introduced. Over 5,000 respondents of varied demographics were surveyed within two days.

BrandScan, into its eighteenth year now, has a unique process by which the market research is conducted. At BrandScan data is collected by means of disguised / simulated games which elicit unbiased responses from people being surveyed. Teams comprising students from TAPMI design innovative games to subtly collect required data while the respondents engage in fun filled activities. Disguised / simulated games add to the uniqueness of BrandScan research and differentiates BrandScan research from any other market research activity conducted by other B-Schools in the country.

At this year's BrandScan, the disguised games were devised on themes such as Casino Moneypal- Punjab National Bank, Roadies/Splitsvilla- Fastrack, Spooky circus- Nerolac paints, Rajani's Dhaba- Berger paints, Facebook-Apple, Amazon forest-Shiksha.com, Illusions- Diageo, Village-Dil India ka- Himalaya Health, 7 sins-Everonn Education, Carnival- Nielsen company.

Each game was devised in the most innovative manner to serve a specific purpose for the Brand it was catering to. For example, the game for Berger Paints ' Rajani's Dhaba, had three levels ' the Simulation Game, a video game which asked respondents to build a house for cine superstar Rajanikanth, was devised to understand who the key influencers are for buying paint and the primary reason to buy paint. The second game, Snakes and Ladders was used to find out words consumers associate with "Silk" (used in Berger commercials) and finally, the Smiley game was used to judge impact of the Berger Ad.

BrandScan is a platform where the students of TAPMI are exposed to live projects from reputed corporates in a "town mela' like surrounding. The USP of BrandScan is that it serves as a platform for both learning and entertainment with customized events focused on attracting people for conducting research.

Speaking about BrandScan, Dr.Saji Gopinath, Director, TAPMI said "Brandscan is all about innovation. It challenges the student to translate the knowledge they learned in class rooms in the most innovative way to solve a practical problem in the field without the comfort of a class room. It is said that learning is complete only when the learner can apply his knowledge involuntarily when faced with a situation. And Brandscan provides right challenges to test the learning this way. The mere fact that leading Brands in the country continue to endorse Brandscan even after 18 years of starting by providing challenging projects is the proof of this concept. "

"Professional guidance and consultations from reputed research agencies like TNS, Market Insight etc has helped BrandScan develop a systematic three-phase research approach which includes pre, during and post-BrandScan study. This year research partnership for BrandScan was provided by The Nielsen Company." said Abhishek Agarwal, student Convener, BrandScan.

Consumer demographics were managed by a demographics compatibility stall at the entrance that ensured that the respective target segments reached the relevant disguised game sites. To substantiate the data collected during the BrandScan fair, select disguised games will be hosted online to capture data from the required target segment elsewhere in India. The online initiative was launched last year and proved to be successful. The event is fully managed by the students and sees participation from top Corporates of India as clients. Events such as Kalakriti, Dance Masti, Kids Got Talent, Panache-the fashion show and Mosh- The Battle of The Bands entertained the visiting audience.