--By Samriddhi Poudel

 

When one is a marketing student, one has a keen eye for all the advertisements around. Going by the rule of thumb, 40 per cent of the media content is advertisement. And how fascinating the advertisements are, with proclamations that seem to be truer than science itself! Tongue twisting statements that are catchier than peppy tunes and with products so flamboyantly flaunting figures that it gives complex to a size zero model. But, how much can companies truly swear by that fact? And can the public actually relate and rely on it?

 

Of course, none of us believe when a particular Nepali oil brand claims to be ‘100 per cent pure for the heart’. In fact, the squeamishly yellow packet holding the oil adds more doubt to our already doubtful minds. Further, it’s actually funny how this particular ad shows a lady pulling a broken truck with her luscious brown Rapunzel hair. Thanks to her shampoo! But this specific beauty ad seems to have taken the idea of scientific proof to a whole new level- an ‘expert fairness meter’ to measure how your skin tone has transformed from a dingy brown shade to snow white. However, it’s not only the advertisements that need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

 

Research findings, data collections, inferences, and claims should be an intellectual property for any organization and the same findings should serve as a reliable and relatable fact for the public. Intellectuals have had endless and inconclusive debates about which method of gathering data to make attractive claims is the most credible. To take a positivist approach or that of a symbolic interactionist, quantitative or qualitative, each side goes into feral debates to prove which is more representative and valid. 

 

A strategic clue. Today, in any company, planning for research activities evolves with the identification of “wants”. Starting with a collection of internal resources within the company, it ventures out to shaping the public demand and starts making claims accordingly. But what most companies lack is the collection of external resources to identify these precise wants. 

 

There’s a variance between marketing internationally and marketing to a specific country or a region. Coca-Cola showcases some of the reasons for their global success.

 

The clue? Same. Marketing strategy: research, research, and more research. Coca-Cola employs top-ranked marketers who work closely with local agencies and have excellent insights into local consumer responses. The company operates out of its headquarters in Atlanta, but has individual representatives all over the world.

 

Coca-Cola’s advertisements endure beatific multiculturalism. And this is also what Coca-Cola’s image is about: people coming together. So can be seen in the local advertisements that Coke had aired around the festival of Dashain, where a big happy family comes together for lunch with Coke. Thumbs up to coke for this one. An advertisement, which speaks of not only reality but also is relatable. Next, haven’t we always believed that music is a universal language? Coke has tactfully utilized this concept by associating its advertisements with "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing". This is a popular song which originated as the jingle "Buy the World a Coke" in the groundbreaking 1971 commercial for Coca-Cola. The ad portrayed a positive message of hope and love sung by a multicultural collection of teenagers on the top of a hill, hence clearly and successfully putting the message across.

 

Maggie. Rings Bell? Nepal was primarily dominated by the white noodles- Maggie in the 80s. It was Chaudhary Group’s (CG) initiation of market research that led to sensing a need for brown instant noodles in the Nepali market. Tapping on this demand in 1984, CG introduced WaiWai. The popularity of this brand has only soared since its introduction. Moreover, the new theme via market research for advertising volumes “hamisabko Wai-Wai!”

 

One of the major advantages of external research or outsourcing research and development (R&D) activities is that the company can focus on their core competencies while still reaping the fruits of diversifying into very attractive and lucrative, even previously unfamiliar, business areas. That’s not all, the integration of evidence routinely into work helps ensure that an organization is working in a safe and effective way – portraying the company as responsibly giving its clients true and reliable statements and figures.

 

Pushing truth? Or false claims?

Research requires time, effort, and more often than not, money. There's a big difference between pushing the truth and making false claims. For those companies which cross the line, it can cost a fortune. Major brands have been fined and have faced inspections from the beloved consumer market. In October 2010, Gap launched a new logo in an attempt to be more modern. Now guess how long did that logo last? A shocking two days! Gap quickly put the old logo back into place after unbelievable recoil from the public. Gap, known for everyday basics, tried to redo their image to appeal to a more hip crowd. Unfortunately, they hadn’t bothered to configure and understand who their target market was and is.

 

Likewise, hundreds of car owners were awfully disillusioned to find out that Hyundai and Kia had overstated the horsepower in some of the vehicles launched. In 2001, the Korean Ministry of Construction and Transportation uncovered the misrepresentation. As a result, the auto powerhouses had to pay customers between a whopping $75 million to $125 million!

 

But there is a particular dimension in research that directs us towards a ‘right’ conclusion – the dimension of ethics!  Misconducts are very rare if one is aware of practicing the ethical ideologies. 

 

 All in all in today’s world, it is almost impossible to efficiently sell a product or service without having made a superior claim about the magic their product/service can create. It is only through research that business companies gain a suite of believable solutions for their clients. And claims solidly based on research activities lead to a developing business processes, multiplying profits, boosting performance, and most importantly, content and trusting customers. 

 

(The author can be contacted at [email protected])