Marketing Science is the thought leader of Kantar IMRB, tasked with ideation and innovation. We distil the best in psychology, sociology, technology, statistics, and economics, to develop insightful, actionable, and fast-paced solutions that are marketer-centric.
We are a motley group of people with a vibrant mix of youth and experience amongst our ranks, possessing a wide range of skill-sets and training. We are researchers, designers, statisticians, economists, ethnographers hailing from diverse backgrounds. We draw on each other’s talents and capabilities to conceptualize solutions to complex problems and deliver them in the simplest, most impactful manner.
Our expertise lies in the field of forward-looking consumer understanding, be it through segmentation, pricing, forecasting, branding, communication, or product testing. We regularly work with the best minds in academia and technology globally to ensure that our solutions are founded on proven principles and are applied creatively to anticipate the future. We apply cutting edge and latest analytical thoughts, processes and models – from picture recognition to social media analytics to neural networks and agent based modelling – to System-1-inspired methods of consumer engagement. We are constantly validating, challenging, and recasting our own work, in order to keep up with the demanding and ever-changing nature of the times we live in.
Our solutions are flexible enough to adapt themselves to various sectors like FMCG, auto, durables, financial services, telecom etc. They have been used to frame and execute successful strategies across companies and sectors, both in India and globally.
valueR is Kantar IMRB’s pricing system, designed to answer all pricing questions and their ancillaries.
A study conducted among Global 1200 companies found that demand remaining constant, raising price by 1% can on an average lead to 11% jump in profits
IMRB’s valueR can help the marketer find that 1% for his brand.
Since 2008, it has helped marketers in more than 20 countries and across scores of categories – from FMCG to consumer durables, automobile to alcohol – to find answers to questions like: how do I price my brand for better share as well as better margins? Which SKUs will give me best returns? I am the market leader - help me get the price right so as to grow the category.
valueR’s has a diverse client, including the likes of Diageo, GSK, Nestle, Pepsico, Coke, ITC, Marico, Castrol, Heinz, Tata Group and many more, both in India and internationally. It has been the preferred pricing partner for BAT globally for more than 7 years.
Its foundations are built upon realistic trade-offs and economic principles married with advanced and robust statistical techniques. The questioning mechanism is inlaid with behavioural economics and subliminal preference principles, enabling us to penetrate the layer of rational choices and uncover the true decision-making process.
valueR’s Choice Model is boosted with special twists like:
customized brand set for each respondent
multiple choices in repertoire categories, and
contextual questioning
These are overlaid with principles of TURF and Genetic Algorithm to answer questions on brand shares and portfolio optimization, using price as a lever.
Econometric modelling using wide & varied input variables to account for category peculiarities is built-in to quantify the impact of price change on category.
valueR brings together the unique strengths of Choice and Econometric modelling techniques to give the marketer a complete, integrated picture of shares and volumes for the brands, the portfolio and the category – something that no other pricing solution in the world can claim to offer.
The result: over 90% accuracy for nearly 100 studies, with marketers making successful pricing decisions to drive their growth. The model accuracy validation itself is a continuous exercise and an integral part of the system.
And yet valueR is flexible enough to allow one to choose the solution that suits your needs best from a range of off-the-shelf and customizable products. The deliverables include a state-of-the-art simulator that puts the power of valueR at the user’s command. One can simulate as many pricing scenarios as one likes using the software, with no additional cost or time required.
valueR has a suite of products, with clients empowered to choose the one that suits them the best:
valueR Regular
Standard off-the-shelf product
Existing brands and variants only
Overlay of current distribution
Simulator with brand shares and elasticity
valueR Absolute
Standard Off-the-shelf product
Depicts category expansion & contraction
Uses historical data and macro economic variables
Simulator with category volumes in various scenarios
valueR Active
Custom product
Introduction of new features, promos, variants except new brands and features that require product experience
valueR Latent
Custom product
To estimate category growth due to introduction of new features or disruptive pricing
valueR is powered almost round the clock by a global, central modelling hub comprising experts in choice and econometric modelling ensuring that the insights and learnings are robust and validated.
