Siji Nair Kaul is a purpose-driven leader, leveraging over 20 years of expertise in the pharma industry to forge innovative strategic solutions, shape the market, and deliver consistent high growth in challenging environments. She has rich and diverse exposure in marketing, sales management, and business development.
In a conversation with Women Entrepreneur India Magazine, Siji Nair Kaul, Head Marketing at Bayer, shared her views and thoughts on what role consumer feedback and market research play in the brand planning process, as well as the most important qualities or elements that contribute to a brand's long-term success in the market.
In your view, what techniques are used to identify and understand the target audience when building a brand plan?
Identifying and understanding the target audience is a crucial aspect of building a successful brand plan. By understanding the needs, wants, and preferences of your target audience, marketing campaigns can be created that resonate with them and drive results. Here are some of the key techniques that have helped me are:
- Know your customers: This involves gathering data about your existing customers, such as their demographics, interests, and purchase behavior. You can do this through surveys, customer interviews, and customer relationship management (CRM) data.
- Know your competitor: It's important to understand your competitors' target audiences, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. This will help you differentiate your brand and position it more effectively in the market. You can do this by analyzing competitor websites, social media profiles, and marketing materials.
- Know your market: This involves understanding the overall market landscape, including industry trends, consumer behavior, and regulatory changes. You can do this by referring to industry reports and conducting market research.
- Direct customer insights: This involves talking to your target audience directly to gather their insights and feedback. You can do this through surveys, interviews, focus groups, and social media engagement.
- Data analytics - mkt data: This involves using data analytics tools to analyze customer data, market data, and social media data to identify trends and patterns. This data can be used to create detailed customer profiles.
- Advisory meetings: This involves meeting with industry experts, marketing consultants, and market research analysts to gather their insights and recommendations.
What role do consumer feedback and market research play in the brand planning process, and how can we use this data effectively?
The single most important role of consumer feedback and market research is to ascertain the customer journey. The journey about what needs your brand would address and which part of the journey can the brand make an impact. Charting the customer journey helps in shortlisting potential leverage points or interventions for the brand.
The data can be effectively used in identifying the target audience, pricing, and determining growth targets. This helps in determining compelling communication, and in building customer loyalty by improving your product or service.
Data-driven decisions help gain a competitive edge and guarantee sustainable success.
What are the most important qualities or elements that Contribute to a brand's long-term success in the market?
I believe the following are the key elements for a brand's long-term success in the market
Vision and purpose– Knowing very well the vision and purpose of the brand, helps as a compass and guides the action through the journey
Customer-centric approach- Ignoring or not considering this key aspect could be a sure-shot recipe for failure in the long term. Knowing the needs of the customer, how is the brand addressing the need?
Likeability of brand / Brand building– Are the users or customers feeling good about being associated with the brand? How good the customer experience is will lead to repeat purchases, advocacy, and word of mouth.
Adaptability - Agility and Pro activeness. In today’s fast-changing world, this is a virtue that every brand custodian should incorporate. Knowing the pulse of the market and the changing dynamics, the brand can adapt and be agile, continuing to address the needs of the customer
Product or service is at the core- Mind you, you may have the best of brains working for the success of the brand, however, if the product or service itself is not up to the mark, there is no sustainability. That’s why you see many launches but many disappear in a short period.
According to you, what emerging marketing trends or technologies are most exciting and potentially impactful for future brand planning?
Customer needs are fast changing. AI is a disruptive technology that needs to be considered closely for future brand planning as it is evolving. Metaverse, Blockchain, and augmented reality are certainly other areas of interest and much information is available on these topics.
However, considering that customers are getting more and more conscious, sustainability would play an important role. Mindless consumerism will continue to decline. How you address this aspect without burdening the planet’s resources will become a determining factor in the future when consumers make their decisions of whether or not to engage with your brand or service.
As per your experience, what KPIs are considered most important when measuring the success of a brand plan?
In my experience, the KPIs that are most important for a brand will vary depending on the type of brand segment. KPIs should help measure business outcomes, the effectiveness of brand strategies, and the impact of marketing efforts.
- Sales or Value: This KPI measures the total revenue generated from sales of a brand's products or services. It is a key indicator of the financial health of a brand.
- Market Share (Volumes & Value): This KPI measures the percentage of the market that a brand owns. It is a key indicator of a brand's competitive position.
- Evolution Index: This KPI measures how quickly a brand is growing compared to the overall market. It is a key indicator of a brand's growth potential.
- Brand Awareness and Perception: This KPI measures how well consumers know and understand a brand. It is a key indicator of a brand's reputation.
- CTA (Call to Action) Engagement Rates: This KPI measures how many people are responding to a brand's call to action, such as clicking on a link or signing up for a newsletter. It is a key indicator of a brand's ability to engage with consumers.
- Reach or Penetration: This KPI measures how many people are exposed to a brand's messaging. It is a key indicator of a brand's ability to reach its target audience.
- Duration of Usage or Repeat Purchase: This KPI measures how long consumers are using a brand's products or services. It is a key indicator of customer loyalty.
“Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by me are solely attributed to me and do not reflect the views, thoughts, and opinions of my employer”
