Article published in Interface: "Consumer is constantly evaluating"

While a complete understanding of the consumer is difficult, practices based on key insights can add great value to a brand. I share anecdotes, my own experiences and learning about consumer behavior in this article. It pays off to treat the consumer as a Martian, drop assumptions and listen carefully. Probing with open-ended questions, leads toin-depth consumer understanding. It is important to set up the hypothesis clearly & validate it with a number before moving to the next step. The decoding of this insight in a simple sentence leads to an actionable insight. The key for the Brand then is to stay consistent.

Imagine if we were to have Martians visiting earth & if you were the designated host. What are the first few questions you would ask? - You may want to know what language they speak? ; Is there an interpreter? ; What do they eat? ; Do they breathe oxygen? ; Are they friendly? ; Is it safe to be around them? ; How do they live in their own world? ; You would observe their habits and behaviors. It is this approach that I try to follow while trying to understand consumers.Ψ. Approaching customers as Martians; has helped keep my curiosity high and shed assumptions.

I was 25 years young, three years out of B-School, brimming with confidence when I joined the marketing team at Apollo Tyres. Apollo was about to start a defining journey towards international markets, largely dependent on the success of the Passenger Car Radial (PCR) portfolio. Refer Figure A1. I had two months to propose a new PCR Brand. Like me, there were more members assigned with the same task. We were given freedom to make our own research plan.

Figure. A1

I studied industry data to get the basic information I needed and here is what I gathered. (indicative in nature)-Refer Table. A2. PCR is Passenger Car Radial or Car tyre. YOY is Year on year.

Table.A2

Existing then market share for Apollo	Less than 5%
PCR portfolio	Tube type Tyres (90%), Tubeless (5%), Performance (.08%)
PCR growth YOY	25%
Tubeless Tyres growth YOY	50%+
BIG PCR markets	Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore (north as a region)
Big Tubeless Tyre markets	Chennai, Bangalore (south as a region)

The major pie of the PCR was the tube type (TT) tyre, a fiercely competitive market, with big marketing spends, highly incentivized distribution network & consumer promos. The established players enjoyed strong consumer pull. So, when my colleagues were fighting for Mumbai & Delhi, i requested for Chennai as I saw opportunity in the latest & fastest growing segment. On my way to Chennai, I was anxious; I wasn’t sure whether I had done the right thing, as the entire TL was just 5% of total PCR. I started observing Tyre retail points to understand what was selling & why. I found that customers bought basis a couple of dominant factors,
a) Original fitment: These tyres come fitted on the car at the time of purchase
b) Promotions/discounts: Consumer Promos, Dealer discounts

“Something was amiss, is that it?” I thought to myself, this meant, “launch a new brand of tyres with a focus on getting Original equipment (OE) fitment & run a promotion at retailers to push the brand”. This meant, high credit period for the OE, low profitability for Apollo & a “me ran too” approach in the Multi Brand retail outlets. Something was not right. I decided to meet customers, one on one. It was 2004, the year of cars like Ford IKON, Hyundai Accent, Mitsubishi Lancer & so on. I had some open-ended discussions with consumers about their lifestyle, preferences, & favorite brands followed by their current car & the reasons they chose it. Most of them were driving the new sedans, knew about Tubeless & some had them on their cars. There was a similarity; they had chosen these cars for their high performance in terms of engine, speed & safety (Refer Table. 1 D).

Table 1D

Queries	Key sentences	Insights from probing
How was “choosing the car” experience	“I liked the overdrive, low engine noise & the mileage”, “I had just come back from Singapore & didn’t want to compromise in my choice of car”	Quieter car on highway at higher Speeds & good mileage Updated to latest
Have you taken any accessories for your car till now, how did you go about it	“Alloy wheels enhance the looks & improve mileage”, “Wider Tubeless Tyres improve the grip & keep me safe if there’s a puncture on highway”	Performance which stands out Safety on high speeds (sharp turns & puncture on high speed)
Rate Performance(P) & safety(S)	(P): Speed, BHP, 0 to 100 KPH (S): ABS, Airbags	(P)- speed, acceleration (S)- braking, accidental

I probed, layer-by-layer, asking customers to share their thoughts about the accessories they bought or were looking for. The need to compliment their car came up, for high performance accessories with added safety features. Some of these were Alloys, Tyre pressure sensors, wider tyres for added grip & Auto Cop. I checked the sales figures for these cars & augmented it with some growth percentage & the time when they would be due for a tyre replacement. Refer Table.1C
Table 1C

Proportion of new age cars sold as part of total cars	10%
Growth rate YOY on new age sedans	30%+ (almost double of the other categories)
Accessories sought by this customer	Alloys, Wider tyres, Auto cop
Guiding insight	Accessories for my latest sedan should also be latest in technology & performance
Total PCR (no. of tyres in replacement)	10,00,000 units
Tubeless Tyre	4.5% i.e. 45,000 units
Customers looking for performance	1,50,000 (15%)
Customers looking for safety	4,50,000 (45%)

Customers with new sedans & Customers looking for safety as an important parameter added to 45% of the category between them.

From Table.1D, I got key insights on updated customers looking for high performance with safety, common in their fear of accidents at high speeds. This was a strong platform to build to assure the consumer of a better performance coupled with superior safety at higher speeds & I could decode 400 hours of listening to consumers in one single line on a tissue paper as I sipped filter coffee in a restaurant on mount road, “Safety + Performance @ high speeds”. This became the actionable insight.

Fig. 1E

We launched Acelere, “Go Tubeless- Acelere H-Rated Technotread”(Fig.1E); meant safety even at high speeds (H Rated tyre- speed>240 kms/hr) with superior performance (Tread grip-Technotread). Acelere went on to become one of the largest selling PCR brands, also catapulted Apollo to a new-age international player beyond its Truck Tyre image. Apollo is one of the leading PCR players in the country now.

Ψ. In hindsight the choice of Chennai (read geography) is crucial, as is starting with a set of hypothesis & interacting with consumers with open-ended discussions. It has paid off to ask “how, why, how was the experience, what did you feel, why did you choose” to get to the root of a behavior or preference. I learnt the importance of putting figures behind consumer insights to validate feasibility.

Ψ. It’s crucial to decode the core insight into a simple & actionable sentence, which may be translated into the core benefit or positioning. In case of Acelere, the customer’s aspiration was to find the latest accessory, but when peeled further, the key insight was to have Safety & Performance at high speeds.

A similar “Customer preference” challenge came my way in 2008; I had joined Kidzee as Business Head. Kidzee in spite of having a large number of Preschools was not a preferred brand. The key indicators were enrollment & the fees. I went across cities to meet parents, and also visited competitors. There was a particular group of parents at Bangalore, a mix of housewives, Bank executives & IT folks, this in hindsight were pivotal to Kidzee’s future. I asked parents to share concerns for their child, followed by dreams. Next, I asked about what they liked about their child’s preschool followed by what they thought was the role of Preschool in their child’s development. I also cued them to talk about Fees, facilities, infrastructure & so on.

Figure.B1

While they interacted, I noticed
a) Mothers were more active in the discussion as it progressed than fathers
b) There was a consistent voice from the group about how their child has some peculiar habits & how they were always concerned about his/her well being
c) A continuous urge among parents for “individual attention” for the child

This was followed up with in-depth interviews with the parents in pair, i.e. mother & father. There were some key statements (KS) which, emerged when I went through the focused discussion pointers (DP), leading to the two defining insights
DP 1. What are your dreams for your child’s future?
KS 1. Want my child to pursue his/her own interests, want to provide all resources
DP 2. What are your concerns for your child?
KS 1. Would my child get personalized attention in the school?
KS 2. My child is different from other children, I worry about he/she being cloned

The key insight, “My child is unique, my child’s preschool should acknowledge & focus on getting the best out of my child”.

I realized so as to why Kidzee didn’t have customer preference. We worked with Shinning’s Shombit Sengupta, creating a complete new brand identity for Kidzee based on this insight, followed by a TV commercial & a print campaign, leading to a complete turnaround of the Brand. Kidzee grew phenomenally, beating all records in three-digit percentage, becoming one of the most successful preschool Brands in the next one year.

Ψ. I learnt the importance of in-depth interviews with broader discussion pointers & found that; powerful insights emerge from unaided & uninterrupted experience sharing by the customer. Cues: “what happened next?” or “how did you feel then?”


Ψ. It’s rewarding to have your brand positioned on a key insight deep rooted in customer’s concern. Kidzee was repositioned to “Growing your unique child”.

Tata Sky led some product innovation basis their understanding of housewives by “listening”, understanding concerns, barriers & aspirations. Housewives aspire to be new age women, confident in socializing like workingwomen but struggle with time & the hesitation to take the first step. Active English helped them overcome barriers & be socially confident. Another example from Tata Sky is PLUS, which gives the flexibility to record & view your favorite program as per your own convenience. So while others follow, Tata sky Ψ. listens to the consumer, understands concerns & aspirations, leads innovations by meeting these expectations consistently.

Anna Hazzare’s fight against corruption found supporters across the nation. Hazzare came up with a fighting plan to get the Lok adalat bill. Here’s an excerpt from the newspapers, "In this fight against corruption, India has won, not Anna. You have shown we are united. But the fight must continue." Hazzare warned he would be back if the law to combat corruption in public life is not passed by August 15. Ψ. He listened to the consumer carefully, understood their concerns, & came up with a solution. Consumers hence created this brand “Anna Hazzare’s fight against corruption”. Indigo Airlines is another example. Punctuality has been a common unmet need & though it’s highly valued by Business fliers, no Budget Airline has addressed it in a consistent manner. Ψ. Indigo has been consistently punctual. Senior professionals choose Indigo’s Economy over the Business Class of other Airlines. No lounge, No frills, Paid food, but consistent on time performance. Indigo has been the fastest to break even. No wonders that they are expanding the fleet.

Ψ. It’s imperative to be consistent with the customer, or else one may easily be lost in the crowd. Brands gain in equity with consistent delivery of its promise over time as the Consumer is constantly evaluating.

About the Author: Nitin Pandey is a Business Head with a Social Mission organization at Gurgaon. This article has been based on the Author’s personal experience while in different roles in Marketing, Leading a SBU, & from his observations of brands as a Consumer & Consultant. Nitin is also a Strategy Consultant & Advisor in some organizations & engages as a visiting faculty with leading B-Schools. Among others, his areas of expertise are Consumer Behavior & Brand Management.