It is not about big or small data, but about smart data'

Many insights related to product innovation, insight into consumer behaviour and marketing were shared at a compelling, day-long session called Consumer 360 held in Gurgaon, National Capital Region, on Wednesday (November 20). Piyush Mathur, President, Nielsen India, speaks to Shamni Pande about how clients still want granular details and more effective information, despite the overwhelming sweep of Big Data.

Q. Big Data is very different from the way traditional research has been carried out. How is Nielsen working to make a difference to clients?

A. Yes, everyone is talking Big Data and many firms have also jumped into the fray to offer this without being clear about their destination. But we see it differently. We are not talking about about Big or Small data, but about Smart Data. Basically, insights that will allow clients to make sense and also reveal to them their consumers and the choices they are making.

Q. Big Data is not concerned with `why' but only shows 'what' is happening. How do you push the relevance of 'why' back where it belongs?

A. Every piece of data adds to Big Data. Today, we are in a situation where even clients are sitting on volumes of their own internal data and at another level IT companies are also churning it to give them some perspective on it. That is not our way. So there is client data and public data and I am not denying the value proposition of any of the data sets, but we do have our own Nielsen data asset that can offer very granular insights as it helps clients actually make sense of the data and take effective decisions.  Companies want help today with how they can reach different consumers more effectively.

Q. Are you looking at acquisitions to tackle the deluge of data better?

A. Yes, we are actively looking at acquisitions and partnerships. There are many small firms which are sitting on volumes of data by virtue of what they doing, but interpreting data is not their core activity. Also we are looking at partnerships and are considering it with banks and telecom operators who have lots of data. But this is a long journey and nothing is decided yet.

Q. What are top concerns from clients today?

A. Many clients come to us for cross-learning today. They are concerned about the slowdown so they want to know not just how others in their category are performing, but also what some others in other categories or industries are doing. So, you have many in the fast moving consumer goods industry interested in what, for instance, Idea, has done in rural markets.

The second area that has everyone worried is about how expensive media is becoming, especially with the 10+2 advertising cap (referring to the 12-minute ad cap for every hour of television programming). So they want to know about the best media-mix - analytics and strategy - where they can have the best return on investment.

Finally, they all want to know more about how innovations can work. They are careful about placing their bets on it and want to ensure success.

Q. What has Nielsen study on innovation shown?

A. We presented our insights today at Nielsen Consumer 360 in our session called 'Breakthrough Innovation,' which clearly showed how the top five fmcg (whom we call the hi-five) innovations differed from the low-five ones.

The companies that succeeded were those that put their concept through rigourous tests and those that passed that rigour were supported longer by investment - by at least a year more-to promote them. So if the low five invested in their innovations for a year, those that succeeded invested for at least two years. Those in the hi-five tended to then offer five times more return than those in the bottom five. This is necessary in a market like India where retail and media is very fragmented. We will be launching our complete study on innovation in December this year.

Q. What are some of the new initiatives that one can expect from Nielsen in India?

A. We have just launched 'Retail Census' for 29 cities with GPS co-ordinates. We are also looking at our offering in neuroscience as the other big disruptive tool for clients. We also gearing up to offer 'Smart Data' to our clients by mid next year. This will change the way people can approach and understand Indian consumer and will allow them to understand consumers right down to the postal pincode level. It will allow them to decide their product mix, their media choices and even take decisions about where they should have a store/offering.