What has the response of Indian Outdoor Survey been up till now? The clients who have accepted the tool for Mumbai and Pune?
The acceptance and feedback for IOS – Mumbai Pune has been great, that is the reason we have confidence and funds to take it to the next level. Since this was done with most of the users, who were a part of the technical committee they knew what they were going to receive. At MRUC the advantage is that we have user driven researches. While our Patrons who will support us further for the next level remains the same i.e. Laqshya, Ogilvy, OAP and Reliance. Along with their support we at MRUC have post the launch of IOS – Mumbai and Pune also managed to get a lot of other clients on board who had not committed initially.
The IOS Subscribers are:
Shlok media (Square circle)
Entertainment Media
Kinetic (Portland & Poster publicity)
Denstu
141 Wall Street
Platinum (MOMS)
HT Media
Are there any structural changes made in the second phase of IOS? And what are the improvisations that have been made?
No! There are no structural changes in the study the entire methodology is the same. What was done in Mumbai & Pune is being extended to the other markets.
In terms of improvisations, one of the most exhaustive tasks was the site census; to take the inventory of all the sites. We had faced some difficulty there and it was a lot of work. But from the prior experience we know, what to expect now. Although not an outright improvisation; we can say that in this phase we are well equipped to handle the toughest part of the survey.
Second is that we might consider bringing in technology like Global Positioning System. We have mentioned in the RFP that if agencies recommend GPS based systems, for full sample or part sample then we are ready to incorporate the same.
we have mentioned in the RFP that if agencies recommend GPS based systems, for full sample or part sample then we are ready to incorporate the same.
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Which markets are going to be a part of IOS phase 2 and why?
We are looking at covering Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmadabad and Chennai in the second phase. This is was a part of our initial plans of covering 19 markets. We began with two and already defined these for the second phase as they are prominent markets for outdoor.
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Will the phase two witness any new formats as the part of the study?
We had excluded In-transit/Mobile medium in the first phase to balance out the complexity. Now that we know the nuances of the story we have included:
Mobile Media – Bus and Trains
Circulation area of Bus station, railway and airport: These are the boards which are near and not inside the vicinity.
IOS already had Hansa Research on board then why a ‘Call for agencies’ for the second phase?
When we start something new a Pilot is an essential activity. So to conduct a Pilot for IOS the natural cause of action was to include our existing research company who we have been working with very closely. So we approached Hansa Research for the Pilot. But all throughout the plan was that once the Pilot is completed and we have done our homework well we will have a ‘call for agencies’ so that everyone interested can participate.
On what criteria will the agencies be evaluated?
One essential criterion which though is not mentioned in the RFP but will prove to be an added advantage for agencies is ‘Prior experience’. It any agency has worked on a similar research in the past then this experience will work in its favor. But this is not a hard wired fact, it any other agency which is new and has not experience displays a set of promising resources and ability we are willing to listen.
How has the response after the ‘Call for agencies’ been?
We have had an overwhelming response. All the top market research companies have contacted us and confirmed their participation in the tender. The agencies that have confirmed till now are:
Ipsos – has approached us both ways – through their local partner and the international parent company has participated too.
IMRB
TNS
Nielsen
GFK
IDC
Majestic Research
QED Research
Azure
Roy Morgan
Eye-on-Media
Times Monitoring
We are looking forward on finalizing an agency by the end of October.
What is the kind of investment the Phase 2 of IOS demands?
It is very difficult to say at this stage, as the figure on the investment front will come from the agencies participating in the tender. We at MRUC have set no restrictions in terms of the ideal sample size, thus it’s completely on the agency’s onus to decide on the ideal measures and thus on the investment.
Every research has an evolution phase which it has to pass through in order to become a well accepted ‘Currency’ used for making decisions. Give us a perspective on the evolution phase of IOS?
We know that if the data is available for the decided 19 markets, then the usage will go up, the trade will be based on numbers and not on gut-feel anymore. And this will be an advantage for the vendors as well as media planners. So once there is a method and there is a number to quantify and justify the investment. It will eventually become a currency. Here the most critical part for it to be called a currency is coverage.
I think with the release of these 5-6 markets plus the existing two; we have more or less reached 70% of the evolution period. And the remaining 30% needs to be plugged in by the remaining markets and then it would sure be a currency; because in the absence of any other numbers IOS has an easy way
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