Mr. Amit Mehndiratta, Global CMI Manager – Lifebuoy at Hindustan Unilever Ltd. shares with the Northpoint students his views on being at both ends of the research spectrum i.e. on the research agency’s side as well as the client’s side.Excerpts from a very interesting interview with him are given below.

What are your views on the Post Graduate Program in Marketing Research (PGPMR) that is being run by Northpoint in association with Nielsen India?

The program is a very useful one given the fact that there are very few specialized courses in marketing research. Hence, training students for a year solely in marketing research is immensely beneficial to the research industry and obviously, to Nielsen too. Other players in the industry and the research industry as well will soon reap the rewards of this very specialised program.

While observing the evolution of soap to liquid handwash to a hand sanitizer, innovation plays a key role in the handwash category. What is Lifebuoy doing differently to achieve its long term goal and also to stay ahead of its competitors?

Lifebuoy emerged with the proposition of offering complete protection from germs in only 10 seconds because that was a very critical manifesto for not just the product but also for the entire handwash category. Until then, all Government run agencies, NGOs, government campaigns and many of our competitors too advertised their products stating that one needs to wash one’s hands for one full minute to ensure clean and germ free hands. But that was far from reality as no consumer ever washed their hands for more than a few seconds.
Hence, Lifebuoy developed a product which actually met the consumer’s need and due to this, the entire category itself has grown in the process! Lifebuoy and the entire handwash category, have reaped rich rewards from this innovation as consumers were not asked to change their behaviour. Mothers everywhere need no longer chase their kids to wash their hands for very long and don’t feel the need to supervise when their kids are washing their hands.

HUL believes in making a sustainable living in the most common places. How does Lifebuoy achieve this goal?

Lifebuoy plays an essential role in achieving this objective as the goal of sustainable living is embedded in Lifebuoy’s DNA which is all about saving lives. Therefore, it is Lifebuoy’s mission to change the behaviour of millions of people on this planet by making them aware of the crucial occasions on which they should be washing their hands. If you look back in history, there were close to two million deaths on account of diarrhoea, pneumonia, etc. The World Health Organization too believes that the simplest act to prevent diarrhoea is washing hands. So Lifebuoy’s mission of teaching one million people the right way of washing hands, is our precious contribution to achieving sustainable living in the most common place.

Where do you see Lifebuoy and the FMGC category, as a whole, in the next five years especially with respect to India?

FMGC is certainly here to stay. You will see a lot more competition coming in from players like ITC, Nestle, etc. There will be smaller players like ConAgra Foods who will be close competitors as well as.
As far as Lifebuoy is concerned, nearly five years ago, Lifebuoy was seen as a brand which was a poor man’s soap and as a value brand. Today, Lifebuoy has repositioned itself, though not completely, but we are on a journey to achieving this. Lifebuoy is no longer seen as a cheap product but is now perceived as doing its bit in India especially when it comes to sustainable living. One of the biggest global campaigns was to help a child reach the age of 5. India being the largest market for Lifebuoy, we generally centre our campaigns keeping the India audience in mind. HUL is also gaining a share in the soap category. Basically, it is our endeavour to make Lifebouy mom’s best ally of a brand which protects her children.

How was the shift for you from being on the research side to now going onto the client’s side. Could you share your experience from a professional point and a personal point of view?

There are always two sides to the same coin. While working on a product on the agency’s side, one gains an understanding of the depth of the product. For example, if you are working on BASES, you know how volumes are calculated or how the so called black box operates. On the other hand, if one is working with a research agency, then one learns how a product test works. On the client’s side, one sees the breadth of things and will choose first, not to get into the research processes for every research project but one can carry out qualitative and quantitative, both at the same time which is not the case when you are working at research agencies in India.

Secondly, one important aspect is the manner in which results are used and this is of prime importance to a researcher. That understanding comes from working on the client’s side. Hence, both, the agency’s side as well as the client’s side contribute in their own unique way; both have their own merits. People have different interests. Some people are excellent with numbers and want to understand how research works. So they are happy on the agency’s side whereas people who want to understand the breadth of things, working on the client’s side is apt for them.

Either way, with young minds like those of the students of the PGPMR, the future of marketing research is very bright and extremely promising in India.

Northpoint would like to express its sincere thanks to Mr. Amit Mehndiratta for his excellent insights into the marketing research industry as well as for his words of wisdom and encouragement.