Market Segmentation: Integral component of market research Monday, Oct 19 2009

Market segmentation (business perspective) is identifying a group of people having similar liking for a particular product or a service based on their interest. There can be multiple segments as different group of people have different needs.

Importance of Market segmentation

The significance of segmentation are not tough to understand but challenging part is to arrive at the most effective groupings. In consumer markets, segmentation is almost always according to consumer need. It helps answer some of the concerns raised by service providers.
For example:

1. What are the differences among different targets?
2. Who is the my most profitable customer among them?
3. What did this segment of consumers like most in this product?
4. What are the most important geographic markets for my campaign?
5. Which age group of people use this service most?

If service providers focus on catering to consumers based on various market segments identified, this will help improve their products and service on a long run.

Key Benefits

Some of the advantages of performing market segmentation are:

• Helps target the right audience and cater to their needs – hence achieve customer satisfaction
• Makes it economical for marketers by focusing on the right group before launching a campaign
• Saves time by identifying the target audience
• Improves ROI for service providers

It is well known fact that, goal of very business organization is to achieve customer satisfaction and hence increase their revenues. Therefore, to know your consumer behavior and understand their attitudinal pattern is very important, Hence market segmentation plays a very important role  in market research which helps understand consumer requirements.

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Importance of market research and how to achieve it? Tuesday, Sep 29 2009

Today, the biggest challenge faced by service providers in India is to understand their consumer behavior well.  Service providers need to cater to consumer (mobile users) requirements in order to attain complete customer satisfaction and in turn concentrate on improving their Return on Investment (ROI). It seems obvious that service providers should focus in providing customer satisfaction, as satisfied customers are the ones who usually come back and buy more, they tell other people about their experiences, and have trust in their existing service providers. Therefore, when we win a customer, we should hold on to them.

How can market research guide you?

A one stop solution for marketers with all the relevant data in the form of reports is useful. Performing market research even before launching the campaign is very significant. Pro-active approach will not only save service providers the money before investing but also help generate higher revenues. This could be achieved by conducting surveys and receiving feedback from their consumers. The survey questions should be framed in such ways to capture high level as well as specific level details. In addition, it should also consider:

1. Who should one interview ?
2. What parameters are to be considered for the specific topic
3. What should be measured How should the set of questions be?

Useful tips – To achieve Customer satisfaction through market research

1. Perform market segmentation and Select target audience – Arrive at the most effective groupings as in consumer markets, segmentation is almost always according to consumer need
2. Observe customer behavior – Customer needs differ and therefore satisfying them may require different approaches. Identify needs and recognize differences between groups of customers
3. Measure campaign results – Analyse the results and come up with relevant solution Prepare competitor matrix – Several players in the market provide similar services. One needs to differentiate one from another and try to provide better service from their competitors. Therefore competitive matrix plays a critical role
4. Report – Create statistical and graphical reports for easy understanding after data/facts are gathered, observed and analyzed

Market research is the measurement yardstick for service providers.The data and reports can, not only measure effectiveness but also provides the ability to measure service providers against competition with other players in similar space. Creating new marketing solutions, pre-empting market moves, and to always be at the right place, at the right time is what is important to all.

What do you think? Do you agree with me?

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Mobile gaming – Usage and popularity in India Tuesday, Sep 22 2009

Demand for Mobile gaming in India is increasing at a rapid rate. It is observed from latest data gathered on Mobile gaming users in urban India, approx 120 million urban Indians used their mobile phones to play games during quarter ending July 2009, a reach of 41%. In terms of time spent playing games, 37% of the population spends less than an hour in a week playing games while on the other end of the spectrum 9% spend over 5 hours on an average.

Sports dominates the mobile world

Sports games like Cricket, Soccer, bowling etc is the most popular genre of games played on mobile phones, by 40% of all mobile gamers. Arcade/Puzzle games like Soduku come in a close second played by 37% of all mobile gamers. “Gaming on mobile phones has a large upside potential with 40% of phone owners playing games, the sheer numbers speak to the opportunity for providers in this space. As phone models evolve this number looks like going only one, that’s up.

 

 

 

 

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Telecom market research – Panelva, a web survey panel Friday, Sep 4 2009

Market research, ever since its existence has been the best way to reach out to consumers to understand their requirements and hence achieve customer satisfaction. Researchers spend lot of time in gathering first hand data from consumers tin order to understand, observe and analyze consumer’s behaviorial and attitudinal patterns. The end goal is to provide an excellent quality service/product and cater to consumer demands on continous basis.

Therefore, we being a telecom market research firm help achieve customer satisfaction through our web based survey site called panelva.

Market research, ever since its existence has been the best way to reach out to consumers to understand their requirements and hence achieve customer satisfaction. Researchers spend lot of time in gathering first hand data from consumers in order to understand, observe and analyze consumer’s behaviorial and attitudinal patterns. The end goal is to provide an excellent quality service/product and cater to consumer demands on continous basis.

Therefore, we being a telecom market research firm help achieve customer satisfaction through our web based survey site called panelva.

1. What is Panelva?

Panelva is a web – survey panel (www.panelva.com). It brings together mobile users across all parts of India to take up the survey based on mobile space. The primary purpose is to better understand the trends and patterns affecting mobile users such as you.

Please note that the survey method by mobile application download is currently not in use and only web-based survey is followed.

2. Who can take this survey and how do I know I am eligible to take this survey or not?

If you are 18+ yrs of age, a mobile user residing in India having access to Internet over PC, you are allowed to participate.

3. How can I take this survey?

You need to have access to PC with internet connection

You need to register on this site http://www.panelva.com/web/panelva-participatesurvey.php

Questionnaire related to mobile space (survey) will be emailed to you at your registered emailed id.You need to answer the questions and send it back to us through email

4. How long does it take?

Questions are very simple and framed well. So it should take you only 20-25mins to answer all the questions.

5. What do I get in return?

Participation is free of cost (other then you pay for internet access charges as per your plan). By participating in this survey your chances of getting rewarded are high (cash prices upto 1000rs). This is based on lucky draw. The longer commitment you have with us, chances are higher of getting rewarded. But cash incentive is definate, if you refer this site to others (friend, family, colleagues etc) and your referral stays with us for minimum one month. So join us now and refer this site soon!.

6. How often can I take it?

After you have registered with us and taken up one survey, you can participate in this survey once in 3 months.

7. What are the questions asked in the survey?

Survey questions are very simple and topics are related to mobile space usage.Some of the topics covered so far are social networking, mobile Internet, SMS usage, mobile games, location ased services, mobile search etc), tones, phone usage, service providers in India, popular sites usage etc.  Each month we come up with new topics mainly in Mobile VAS. Data is observed and analyzed as per demographics (Gender, age etc) and geographic (location).

8. How does it help you (Researchers)?

We are a telecom market research company focusing on research in mobile space.The data gathered through this survey being accurate and reliable is analyzed and used in the form of reports. Since it is provided first hand by consumers (mobile users) such as you, it is beneficial to companies providing services/products in mobile space. They focus on achieving complete customer satisfaction by catering to end-user needs as per your interest.

9. Will the answers be kept confidential?

Yes, definetely. The answers are used only for analyzes purpose and completely kept confidential. Also your personal details (Name, phone number and email id ) is not shared with anyone.

10. How do I get in touch for additional information?

If you have any more questions you can email us at info@panelva.com

Sounds interesting? Then do take a look at www.panelva.com and participate in our survey. Your contribution can help improve mobile user experience.

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Popular mobile games played by Indians Monday, Aug 24 2009

Mobile gaming industry is growing at a rapid rate with 105 millions urban gamers noted early this year. Mobile manufacturers, game developers and operators together are focusing on generating good chunk of their revenues from mobile games (integral part of Mobile VAS). Finding new ways to deliver games to handsets, by reducing the prices, designing and implementing games based on users choice/interest are some of the ways service providers are trying to attract more users. 3G (higher data transfer rate) is also expected to add to service providers advantage.

Indians men seem to be more hooked on to games related to sports, specially cricket and action  games (shooting, war, fighting).  Indian women are also catching up with men by exploring various games designed for them. Games based on fashion, make over, cooking etc are trying to attract more women gamers today.

To understand the reasons for popularity of these kind of games, take a look at http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/no-phoney-game-fightbloody-battle-or-hitsix/367149/

Which mobile games do you like the most and why? Do share your experience.

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Aware of Location Based Services? then why low numbers of users? Thursday, Aug 20 2009

Over 400 millions subscribers in India, but very little take for LBS?
In addition to the reasons  discussed in Location Based Serices : Status in India article about low penetration of LBS users in India, it is also noticed that use of this service requires GPS enabled phones which are available in mid to high-end handsets making it expensive for purchase and also  subscription based pricing model for users is not bringing in many LBS subscribers, feel telcos. At present LBS users seem to be exploring this service only out of curiosity is what is said by service providers.

Take a look at what others in this industry have to say:

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/paid-location-based-services-struggle-to-find-favourindividuals/367478/

Looks like if mobile application developers, telcos and device manufacturers co-ordinate well in terms of gathering accurate mapping and navigation information on regular basis in combination with existance of 3G services, LBS should have better potential in Indian market.

Some also feel there is lack of awareness about LBS in India. What do you have to say for this?

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Location Based Services: Status in India Tuesday, Jul 28 2009

In India, over 400 million mobile subscribers, with ~10millions new mobile subscribers every month is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world but one of the last great frontiers for location – based services. Ever since mobiles have moved into the affordable bracket, there has been increasing demand for mobile VAS such as SMS based services, social networking, CRBT, downloadable contents, mobile gaming, mCommerce , mobile search etc. But what about LBS ?

What is LBS?

Location Based Services, based on GPS (Global Positioning System) technology is an informative service which provides location specific data to mobile users when moving from one place to another.It makes use of mobile application which helps mobile users track the right address.

Services offered

Many service providers such as BSNL, MTNL, Bharti Airtel in India have been providing location based services for few years now. Some of the services supported by LBS are:

• Friend Finder – alerts subscribers when one of their friends in their buddy list is in close proximity to their location or vice versa
• Mobile Yellow Pages – allows subscribers to get the location of the closest service point of their interest
• City Sightseeing – provides subscribers with the location information of a place of interest – restaurant, museum, park etc
• Maps and direction- provides navigation to find the right address
• Locating place – malls, hospitals, movie halls, ATMs, banks etc
• Receiving alerts – location based advertisments, about sale, traffic jam, road construction, road block etc
• Resource tracking – fleet management , courier tracking etc
• Chatting  – Location based chatting service to be in touch/meet people around that location

Even though there is good potential for LBS providers to tap the Indian market due to large number of mobile subscribers, getting mobile users to explore this service still remains challenging. Based on a survey conducted to find out the most desired Value added services in urban India, LBS (maps usage) is ranked low. This is because of low GPRS subcription, personal safety, lack of reliable and accurate data available, ever changing infrastructure due to road constructions, blocks, multiple names addressed for same location etc . LBS providers in India are hence currently lagging in the race in comparision to other mobile VAS providers.

Take a look what others in this industry have to say about status of LBS in India.  http://www.livemint.com/articles/2009/07/21220956/Locationbased-services-yet-to.html

What are your thoughts?

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SMS usage in Urban India – Statistics based on demographics and geographics Monday, Jul 13 2009

SMS is an acronym standing for Short Message Service and more commonly referred to as text messaging is a method by which messages of 160 charecters can be sent to a mobile phone via another mobile phone or via a computer connected to the Internet. A Value Added Service which has become very popular among mobile users not just for peer to peer messaging but also for A2P (application to peer) including services such as a marketing tool, advertising, promotional offers , entertainment services and P2A (peer to application) including services such as polls and contests.

Here is a detailed SMS report on its usage pattern in urban India

Mobile Market Report – SMS Usage in Urban

http://www.pluggd.in/india-mobile-market-report-sms-as-a-vas-service-297/

SMS in India – How, what and why?

http://trak.in/tags/business/2009/07/07/full-report-sms-vas-usage-india/

Full report can be downloaded from:

http://www.vitalanalytics.in/web/force_download.php?fname=images/downloads/SMS-Report.pdf

Do let us know your thoughts?

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SMS based VAS Tuesday, Jul 7 2009

SMS based Value Added Services

SMS has celebrated its 15th Birthday recently. Ever since its existance, there has been a remarkable increase in usage of SMS services in India today.  56 Million urban Indians used a VAS related SMS subscription service in March/April 2009.

Service provider wise SMS usage share

SMS is a basic VAS and is provided by all service providers in India. Reliance Mobile CDMA accounts for a quarter of all subscribers to VAS SMS subscription service, followed by Bharti Airtel (18%) and Vodafone (14%).

SMS Usage versus service providers in India

Popular SMS service

Some of the SMS services offered are polls, contests, entertainment (ringtone download, jokes, games download ), activation of non-sms services, stock updates, health care tips, fashion tips etc. However, receiving Jokes via SMS is the most popular SMS subscription with 1 in 2 subscribers subscribing followed by Astrology.

Popular SMS services in urban India

I like SMS services as its simple to use, user friendly and low priced. How often do you use SMS services and which services do you use most?

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Choosing the right Service provider in India Thursday, Jul 2 2009

Indian mobile subscriber base has grown immensely ever since mobile technologies (Cell phones, Mobile VAS) came into existance. There are various service providers offering mobile services to mobile users in India today. Pricing, customer service, types of service offerings and network connectivity plays a huge role when it comes to choosing the service provider (cellular operator). Mobile users constantly look for reliable service providers. Based on data gathered in May 2009 for April/March 2009 urban Indian mobile users, it is noticed that state run mobile service providers are perceived to be offering most reasonably priced services!

22% of BSNL and 16% of MTNL subscribers feel they (service provider) offer a more reasonably priced services compared to overall subscribers. On the product diversity side, Aircel and Vodafone do a great job as 11% of both service providers’ subscribers appear to agree than overall subscribers. On customer service front, MTNL, Loop mobile and Vodafone Essar are ahead of the curve with subscribers to each provider agreeing 16% more than overall that they offer reliable customer service.

Comparison of Service providers in India

Are you happy with your existing service provider ? What is it that makes you stick to your exisiting service provider?

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