What is in a name!' - Name-test Using 'Contextual Probing' - GfK & Tata Sky

Ramada Hotel Singapore October 1 & 2, 2014

#QUAL360

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#QUAL360 Ramada Hotel Singapore Oct 1 & 2, 2014

Platinum Sponsor Silver Sponsors

Association & Education Partners

Media Partners

NAME-TEST USING

‘CONTEXTUAL PROBING’

~ An Innovative approach to Evaluate Product/

Brand Name ~

‘What is

in a name!’

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A quick Introduction…

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Service Innovation Value

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Actve Services – Sets us apart from the rest

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Actves

The name makes all the difference…

We conducted a Concept Evaluation

for one such service for men on

learning ‘grooming and etiquettes’

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Client was ready with that offering and now was the time

to evaluate the Name for it !

“Hey! We are ready with the

offering on grooming service

for young men of smaller

towns who would like to

prepare themselves for the

corporate world!...”

“Oh yes! We evaluated the

offering some time back!..So

you are ready now..Great!”

“Yes... And now, before

launch, we would like to test

a name to understand whether

it fits well with the offering”

“Yes Sure….

Why not!”

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It seemed a fairly simple and usual study!

“A name test!

How boring!!” “But hey! Can

we do it

differently? ...” “But HOW? And

Why differently?

…….. hmm”

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Well…actually…is it? Let us see!....

After all, Brand name is one of the key

elements of the Brand Identity

…and can speak volumes about the brand offering, especially if it is

meant to be a ‘Descriptive’ type of brand name

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Let us have a look at various types of brand names

Initialism

Descriptive names

Alliteration and rhyme

Evocative names

Neologisms

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A ‘descriptive’ brand name is typically relevant

…….When the target audience is niche

……When the resources and avenues to

advertise are limited

Hence, the need for the brand name to be indicative of its offering

is very strong as was the case with our client

Not only did we understand our client’s needs well but also

knew that they would appreciate something innovative and

different! As long as the approach is robust enough

“Hi! So have you thought of

how you want to handle it?

Why not do something

different! Do remember the

brand names mean a lot for

our ACTVE services”

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“Hmm …. Interesting! In

fact ‘conventional’ could be

avoided as it would yield

some typical responses

which are not very

conclusive or indicative …

more so in case of a

descriptive brand name ”

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“Yes …it matches the

product very well… one

can immediately make

out it is the name of an

ice cream… or a soap…” “I don’t think this

matches well… how is

this name related to

this category?... It

doesn’t tell me what to

expect from the

product”

“It is catchy and good

… and I wouldn’t mind

using a product with

this name … even if it

has no link with the

category”

Either the consumer tends to force fit the name with the offering

or is unable to provide ‘useable’ reasons for dislike

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Hence, to make it more EXCITING, FUN & importantly USEFUL , we designed a

CONTEXTUAL PROBING APPROACH

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Detailing ‘Contextual Probing Process’

Simply introduce the Brand Name without any ‘context’ and ask the respondents to ‘weave’ a name story

Introduce Category context to the ‘story’

Introduce ‘Marketer’/ ‘Service provider’ Context

Finally, introduce the context of ‘Concept of Offering’

STAGE 1

STAGE 2

STAGE 3

STAGE 4

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Detailing ‘Contextual Probing Process’

Simply introduce the Brand Name without any ‘context’ and ask the respondents to ‘weave’ a name story

Introduce Category context to the ‘story’

Introduce ‘Marketer’/ ‘Service provider’ Context

Finally, introduce the context of ‘Concept of Offering’

STAGE 1

STAGE 2

STAGE 3

STAGE 4

At every level we modify/alter the ‘STORY’ keeping in mind the

CONTEXT and that is how the story EVOLVES becoming

sharper, focused and more relevant

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…And this is how it WORKS!

It involves ‘WEAVING A NAME-STORY’ in the form of a

COLLAGE ……………

WITH THE HELP OF pictures, images, colours, scenes,

celebrities, features, benefits, moods, adjectives ………

USING lifestyle magazines and chart papers such that

these reflect a story around the ‘test name’ …………..

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Some Instructions given to the respondents

To be as vivid in their expressions as possible

To use as many analogies as possible

To put forth their thoughts in picture more than simply words

To bring the collage to life in the given context

While moving from one ‘context’ to another in the collage, to retain relevant aspects, to remove the irrelevant ones and to

add the new ones relevant to the new ‘context’

At each level, the teams could either work on the same collage or could work on a separate chart altogether – in either case, the ultimate idea is to

enhance and take forward the ‘name story’ relevant to the new context’

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All In All…

A very robust and activity-oriented approach

which allows the respondent to think beyond

the obvious while painting a wider picture

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Now, the details of the study

that we undertook for

and the output that emerged

basis

‘Contextual probing’ approach

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Some details of the Study…

STUDY OBJECTIVES TARGET PROFILE

Men, residing in small towns (< 1 million)

about to enter their professional careers

To evaluate the test-name ‘Actve Smart

Manager’ for the given service

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FIRST, RESPONSES ELICITED AT A

SPONTANEOUS AND VERBAL LEVEL

Simply introduce the Brand Name without any ‘context’ and ask the respondents to ‘weave’ a name story

STAGE 1

NEXT, A COLLAGE IS CREATED

RESPONDENTS WORK IN TEAMS

THEN THEIR ‘CREATION’ EXPLAINED FINALLY, A PRODUCT CATEGORY THAT IT

BEST FITS IN IS ‘GUESSED’

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A professional with heightened skills

and aptitude

A true leader, achiever, ambitious,

a go-getter, a multi-tasker,

progressive

Introduction to test-name :

‘SMART MANAGER’ STAGE 1

THUS, a PERSON with

• Leadership skills,

• Attractive personality,

• Good etiquettes and

• Appropriate sense of

grooming

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Introduction to test-name :

‘SMART MANAGER’ STAGE 1

NEXT, A COLLAGE IS CREATED.

RESPONDENTS WORK IN TEAMS

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Introduction to test-name :

‘SMART MANAGER’ STAGE 1

THEN THEIR ‘CREATION’ EXPLAINED

A person with

Leadership skills

A true leader Creative

‘Suited booted’

to perfection

Good Etiquettes

Successful

Innovative

Well groomed

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Introduction to test-name :

‘SMART MANAGER’ STAGE 1

FINALLY, A PRODUCT CATEGORY THAT IT

BEST FITS IN IS ‘GUESSED’

A practical course

A training

A service

An application, Technology to make life

smarter and easier

Successful

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We then introduce a context of a ‘product category’ to

the whole ‘name-story’ the teams are asked to enhance

and take forward the ‘collage’ by shedding the irrelevant/

adding the relevant aspects

How will this collage

change if I say this

name is for ‘xyz’

product?

Introduce Category context to the ‘story’ STAGE 2

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• To perform better at one’s workplace

• In ‘office’ scenario

• Personality and Leadership skills

• A TV service to enhance :

Introduce Category context (TV service) to the ‘story’

STAGE 2

SMART MANAGER

A person with

Leadership skills

A true leader

Creative

Well groomed

Successful

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More relevant in their scenario since they had stronger need

vis-à-vis ‘Professional Life’ and ‘Performance at Work’

Introduce Category context (TV service) to the ‘story’

STAGE 2

HEIGHTENED NEED TO DEVELOP

Personality Leadership

Skills

Grooming Etiquettes

Seen as comparatively a little lower down in the need ladder

Whereas…

ACTIVE

NEEDS

LATENT

NEEDS

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Introduce Category context (TV service) to the ‘story’ : some illustrations of charts

STAGE 2

A person with

Leadership skills

Creative

Successful

Well groomed

A true leader

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We then introduce the next context to the ‘story’ which

is name of marketer OR service provider

…and the process of collage activity is repeated

“What if I say

this is from ‘___’

brand?”

Introduce ‘Marketer’/ ‘Service provider’ Context

STAGE 3

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A high level of trust and assurance was

exhibited amongst most subscribers

Introduce ‘Marketer’/ ‘Service provider’ Context

STAGE 3

“What if I say

this is from ‘Tata

Sky brand?”

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Concept of Offering (if applicable)

If applicable, we introduce the final context

(a concept on the offering)

with details of the offer and/ or

the benefits of the same

And the respondents are made to repeat the same

process once again

Concept

note

STAGE 4

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Concept of Offering that was shown to the respondents

STAGE 4

The concept highlighted scenarios within corporate world which

focused on

Tips on Grooming

Etiquette learning

Overall Personality development

Broad conduct in the corporate world!

All above leading to a ‘Successful’ and ‘Smart Manager’

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A person with

Leadership skills

Smart looking

Well groomed

The Offering and the name-story STAGE 4

‘Suited booted’

to perfection

Good etiquettes

Well behaved

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It did indicate a service to become a Smart Manager BUT with

Larger focus on ‘Grooming’ and ‘Etiquettes’ and

Lesser focus on Personality Development and Leadership Skills

Larger focus being on ‘SMART’ness of appearance and NOT as much on

‘SMART’ness of personality

The Offering and the name-story STAGE 4

The same was highlighted while suggesting others names for the service :

ACTVE ETIQUETTES ; ACTVE GROOMING

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So how did contextual probing help us in this

study and what next!!

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So how could this gap be bridged?

“VIA COMMUNICATION!”

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“Product mix and the

proposition needed to

highlight more of ‘office

scenarios’ … which was

clearly a communication

task!”

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But why not relook at the name itself!

Name per se had no issues be it

decoding, semantic or phonetic

In fact it had a wide cross cultural connect!

Also, the name ‘ACTVE SMART

MANAGER’ connoted a service that

addressed ‘active’ as well as some ‘latent’

needs so no point tampering with that!

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How did this approach help us!

We have decided to review the

communication and increase the portrayal of

scenarios (within office) to befit the skills of a

manager

It would also ensure that we are able to

attract more subscription base (and fee) for

the service

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Going by the recommendation, the client is

making some critical changes in the way

the offering is being portrayed

Importantly, had it not been for the

‘contextual probing’ we would not have

been able to make the valuable

recommendation of ‘reviewing the scope of

the offering in communication’

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Let us have a closer look to

understand it better!

With Contextual Probing,

it was possible for us to get layers in

consumers reaction which could then be

carried forward and utilised by client

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In the ‘contextual probing’ the respondent is made to think beyond the immediate…

the obvious… and the typical... i.e. he is empowered not just to react, but to

‘GENERATE’

The ‘generation’ of thoughts and ideas helps the researcher and the marketer to

see the ‘name connotations’ from a wider lens and the addition of contexts in

various stages help us to get a realistic perspective as well

The key innovation of the contextual probing is the framework which helps to adopt a

funnel down approach AND the key Philosophy being held on two below pillars

1. Begin with broad and keep narrowing down as we move from one ‘context’

to another at every stage

2. At every stage, retaining/ adding the relevant and rejecting the irrelevant

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Phew ! That was

Quite a bit, right?

Now some reasons for

not using a

Conventional approach!

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1 Limits ‘thinking capacity’ of respondents since all is

already laid down

2 ‘Biases’ the thoughts and images in the direction of the

category!

3 No reliable suggestions on improvisation

generated

Cons of a ‘Conventional’ approach

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Some other applications of the

Contextual Probing Approach

It being ‘generative’ in nature, could be used to flesh out ideas for communication or for product E.g. we used it to develop product cues for an

automobile with a theme of ‘Fun’

It could also be used in case there are multiple names to be tested

Importantly, it works very well across SECs, genders, age group as well as town classes !

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Any Questions?

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#QUAL360 Ramada Hotel Singapore Oct 1 & 2, 2014

Platinum Sponsor Silver Sponsors

Association & Education Partners

Media Partners

Ramada Hotel Singapore October 1 & 2, 2014

#QUAL360

Organized by