Rock The Boat XXIV Annual Market Research Seminar - Call for Synopses
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Rock The Boat
Crossing the Chasm in MR
XXIV Annual Market Research Seminar
Call for Synopses
Last Date for Submission: Sunday, 10th August 2014
10-11th November 2014, Delhi
1There is a tide in the affairs of market research, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
Omitted, all the voyage of the industry is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are
we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.
(With due apologies to the Great Bard)
It’s time we rock the boat or miss it …
A fast forward into the future ....
8:30 pm, 14 July 2022, Mumbai: Sid was unable to focus on the Costa Rica vs Cameroon FIFA
World Cup finals at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, Qatar. His mind kept wandering from the excitement
of watching the first Africa-South America finals, looking for some early signs of activity on his
Rolex life-chronometer. It’s almost 24 hours when the first response to the Enrichment Bar launch
will be made available. The product was his baby. A year ago, he identified for his company a sliver
of an opportunity while looking at body metabolism data of a representative million+ Quantified
Selfers1 (QS). It was a moment of pure inspiration when he located a 2% market segment of high
income teens who needed a structured energy dosage regimen exactly around 11:30-11:45 am
and again at 3:45-4:00 pm. Since then it had been hard work – getting board clearance, working
with R&D, the ethics committee, and then FSSAI approvals and up until the launch. At 8.31 pm,
just when the match went into extra time, he got the first clues. 98% of his 20,000 target showed
enhanced metabolism. He clicked on the holograph button on his Rolex to reveal the heat map of
these users overlaid on India’s physical map. A quick voice command allowed him to see the
positive and negative sentiments. Hardly a spot of red except a tiny spec here and there around
Kolkata and Chennai. He sighed “Nothing can please those Bongs and Tams !” He overlaid the
social media heat map on top of the QS map. Bingo! A perfect match “So, the early adopters are
sending out good vibes.” With one other command, he saw the combined retail+online geo-
located sales data. All good. Finally, he added his sing song by-line commanding the system to
store: “Users happy - Ad working - Sales delivering. A match well played.” Tomorrow, he intended
to do a few focus groups at the virtual desk to get verbatim comments of consumers. Quickly, he
shipped his analysis to his CEO and was well in time for the penalty shootout even as he exclaimed
“Costa Rica! Costa Rica!”
1
Quantified Self, a movement founded by Wired magazine founders Gary Wolf and Kevin Kelly, in the mid-2000s with
bold positivist philosophical proclamation of “Self-knowledge through numbers”.
2But are we future ready?
This could very well be the exciting future of Market Research. The moot question is : Are we
gearing up for this future? Or, are we going to cede it to challengers from hitherto unknown
corners. The world around us is evolving fast to embrace this eventuality. We are already sensing
disquiet and restlessness in marketing review meetings. In response, many other service providers
are making a beeline and pitching their tents – digital agencies, social media companies, email
marketers, e-retailers, credit card companies, IT companies, consultants – the list goes on ......
It’s time we woke up to this reality and begun to rock the boat on which we have been travelling
for some time now. The boat has served us well in good and bad times. May be we have become
too comfortable, may be we’re tied to our old habits or maybe we are unwilling to leap into the
unknown. It’s time we rock the boat. It’s time we realised that safe is risky.
The theme of XXIV Annual Market Research Seminar at Delhi promises a revamped, never before
experience of learning which will aim to set a new road map for Market Research.
The seminar aims to attract an impressive range of experts in the form of a distinguished panel of
speakers, research practitioners, insights heads, marketing experts, advertising & media
professionals, students and renowned academicians.
3DAY ONE:
1. Mouthwatering ways to ‘See’ Food:
India is a lip-smacking opportunity for foods companies and has a rich culinary heritage
including gourmet traditions from different regions pan-India. Indian consumer tastes are
changing fast. Likewise, Food isn’t just about functional payoffs but spans rich emotional
territories which make researching food both exciting and difficult.
In this milieu, what traditional methods have we metamorphosised or which ones have we
invented or innovated to enable our clients to win in this fast changing market place?
The researches showcased in this section could include cutting edge work on sensorial
testing including, but not restricted to, any development work on biometric response to
food products. Innovative methods of segmenting customers to identify emerging trends
including out of home consumption can also be showcased.
Key selection criteria: Food research innovation that’s clearly veering off the beaten track
with a strong evidence of worthy outcomes for client.
2. Fishing in troubled waters:
Marketing teams are being urged by their captains to steer the ship using real time data
and with real time navigational aids to avoid the fate that befell the Titanic. Data driven
marketing is the new buzzword driven largely by abundance of big data at little costs to
business. So, what are we doing about it?
This session could include integration of real time enterprise information with clients,
often from multiple sources, with research information gleaned to enable them to take
appropriate decisions. In addition, data visualisation as well as real time decision
processing tools could be showcased in this section.
Key selection criteria: Complexity of real time data crunching and its integration into the
decision-making stream of company.
43. Focus on Shoppers – should we offer Sops or simply Ship?
There was a time when we ditched the consumer for the shopper focusing on impact of in-
store promos and offers. Some say the time has now come to re-imagine the art of
shipping to shoppers. A few others talk about hybrid outcomes captured in the
wonderfully worrying phrase “Showrooming”. More and more retail space is getting added
across the country while more Indians spend their weekend at these places. Some retailers
are thinking of offering Brick-and-click models to grocery consumers. Clearly, no one
doubts the fact that the Indian shopper, in traditional, modern retail and e-tail
environments, continues to evolve in myriad ways limited only by our imagination to
research them. This section will enable this debate to take definite shape.
We hope to receive papers that uncover hidden dimensions in the concept of shopping,
both online and offline. The aim is to enable marketers to learn new methods and metrics
to apply for the future.
Key selection criteria: New methods and new metrics uncovered in measuring online and/or
offline retailing.
4. Nautilus calling:
Exploring the deep recesses of the human mind with neurosciences, non-verbal
observations, automated recognition tools, Artificial Intelligence, machine learning,
modelling consumers in virtual environment using automatons. All sorts of science fiction
techniques are par for the course in this section. This session is reserved for the truly
avant-garde researcher – The One!
Key selection criteria: It should blow our mind away. Else, don’t bother to send.
55. Brave New World – The Pitch
The new millennial researcher will have to weather many more tempests and steer MR in
a new direction. This session is reserved for young researchers to give us a clarion call for
action to guide us to a new direction. A short write up (not more than 400 words) for a 5-
minute presentation will be invited from researchers and brand/marketing managers
under 30 years (a separate, more detailed announcement would be made). 20 of these will
be randomly selected and will be invited to give a 90-second pitch on why the audience
should listen to their presentation. The audience will vote for the 5 presentations they
want to hear in more detail. These 5 presenters will take the stage on Day 2. Topics may
include (but are not necessarily limited to):
Capabilities of a new age researcher
New engagement paradigms for client insights teams
New methods to engage research users – story telling, collaborative working
New age research agency – key ingredients of success
DAY TWO
6. e.e.e..everywhere but a drop of enlightenment anywhere?
Is it a case of sour grapes or are there worthy experiments underway to understand digital
media consumers engaged in social media, email marketing et al .. ? The online consumer
is surely leaving a lot of digital footprints everywhere. Data exhausts scrapped off Social
Media is the next frontier but what has that got to do with consumer insights? In the din,
insights that enlighten and enable us to act may be the victim of techno-excitement.
This section will enable showcasing of researches being undertaken to analyse online
consumer behaviour, linking it to media investment as well as to gleaning insights for
marketing actions. Critically, papers that demonstrate whether and to what extent digital
spends have resulted in tangible Returns on Investment would be appreciated.
Key selection criteria: Insights that can be directly attributed to actions taken
67. New Wine In Old Rum Bottles:
There is a great deal to be celebrated in the spirit of our market researchers who often
battle great storms and discover new lands with little more than ingenuity and intelligence
as their compass. While the e-deluge may be coming, with new jargon replacing time
tested names: test-control groups replaced by A/B designs, concept cards with random
screens etc., we will be foolish not to save good ideas from the past that merit being
carried forward into the future. This session is about the re-engineering of existing tool-
kits or the development of new tool kits/solutions for age-old marketing problems. Like
the proverbial Noah’s Ark, we hope to carry forward pairs of good ideas as we embark into
the uncertain future.
Researchers may showcase product/concept testing tools, communication testing, U&A,
segmentation, satisfaction measurement tools, mystery shopping methods ...
Key selection criteria: The circumstances that led to this new wine should be clearly
documented. Also, the improvement in outcome because of this change needs to be do
clarified.
8. Netting the big fish
Innovative ways on how to hook the respondent in an attention starved world for the
quality we seek in our research. Sometimes people are using innovative tools and
techniques like ethnography, metaphors and so on to ferret out new insights that
traditional methods do not offer. On the other hand, other researchers are using
technology like mobile apps (e.g. Whatsapp for interaction, GPS enabled sampling engines
etc.,) like never before to obtain information that we thought could not have been possible
sometime back. Yet others are building innovative means for co-creation using common
platform for consumers, researchers and clients alike to collaborate for insights. These and
many other ideas are what we seek in this section which is entirely focused on the topic of
active respondent engagements that enable gathering of new insights.
Key selection criteria: Innovation of data collection method used and the efficacy of
information to the problem at hand.
79. Pirates of consumer insights:
This section is for the lone warrior. This is for those who believe that their work truly does
not fit within a boundary and are willing to fight fiercely to win the heart of the audience
and grab the riches of consumer insights. We have gone out of our way to let you rock the
boat. This is THE session to showcase your unique idea, tool or talent. This is like a wild
card session to enable anyone with an interesting topic to send their paper.
Key selection criteria: Uniqueness and robustness of idea
10. Brave New World
The Final Countdown: Young researchers/brand managers whose presentations were
selected by the audience on Day 1 will each make 5-minute presentations on their topic.
8MRSI Guidelines for Synopsis
Dos
The synopsis document should be structured as follows
1. Background and the reason it is being submitted for the particular session
2. Research Objectives
3. Brief description of methodology
4. Key empirical data in form of graphs, tables, arguments, exhibits
5. Conclusions vis-a-vis the objectives
6. Impact/implications for client/practitioners
7. Limitations of the approach/method/technique
8. References/bibliography
The synopsis document should not exceed 1500 words and should be formatted for standard A4
layout.
Font used should be “Calibri” size 12 and the line spacing should be 1.5
The entire document should be in upper lower case and the title should also be in upper lower
case.
The document should in PDF format.
The PDF should be named as the full title of the paper.
Don’ts
1. Document should not carry the name of the authors
2. Document should not carry the name of the authors’ organisation(s)
3. Document should not have any reference to branded tools/methods which can reveal the
identity of the author or the organisation.
Any synopsis failing to adhere to these guidelines would be summarily disqualified.
9Synopsis Submission Process
The synopsis submission for 2014 seminar would be online.
Visit www.mrsi.in and click on the image of 24th Annual Seminar on the homepage. It will take you
to synopsis submission page.
Then follow the steps given below:
1. Fill in the Paper title
2. Select the session title you are submitting the synopsis for
3. Provide the details of the author and co authors, indicate who is the main contact for
communication (all communication would be with this individual)
4. Attach the Synopsis PDF file ( File size: up to 10 Mbs )
5. Attach the PDF copy of the NOC
6. Agree to the terms and conditions
7. Enter the secure code
8. Click the submit button
An acknowledgement of your submission with the submission ID (this ID needs to be used for all
further communication regarding the synopsis) would be displayed on screen and can be printed.
The author and co authors will also get an email acknowledgement along with the submission ID
on their listed email ID
The online submission will be available on the website shortly. Please look for announcement on
the MRSI home page.
10Selection & Award Policy
Criteria for evaluation
Synopsis
Synopses submitted will be evaluated by an independent panel of judges appointed by MRSI,
representing both practioners and users of research on the following parameters.
Relevance of paper to Seminar/section theme (see critical criteria under each theme)
Quality of research – novelty/originality/creativity
Robustness of design/evidence of data
Usefulness of research to participants, MR industry & Marketing
Presentation
On the seminar days, the judges would use the above criteria along with the below mentioned
parameters to score the presentations to arrive at the seminar awards.
Clear, Crisp and Comprehensive communication style
Innovative, creative presentation format
Awards
The 24th Annual Seminar would have the following awards:
Best paper award in each section – Jury Selection (Sections 1-4, 6-9)
Two overall best papers “Rock the boat” (One based on Jury decision and another based
on Audience Poll)
Best Young Find award - Jury Selection (Section 10)
In addition, the MRSI will also award the “Agency of the Year Award” for the XXIV MRSI Annual
seminar 2014 to encourage participation among agencies.
11Terms and Conditions
Decision of the selection committee would be final and the MRSI will not be liable for any
inconvenience/disputes resulting from the selection committee's decision.
The authors of selected synopses will be requested to submit a detailed research paper as
well as MS PowerPoint slides to the judging panel. The full paper and the presentation
would be screened once more to make the final selection. (Note: In the past, we have
found significant variation between synopsis submission and final paper and hence this
change has been necessitated).
The finalists would be informed along with comments from the jury members to help them
improve their presentation quality.
MRSI reserves the rights to delete or merge sessions outlined in this document in the event
of not enough quality submissions for any session.
One author per every selected paper would be provided complimentary registration to the
seminar.
Activity Schedule
Date Activity
Sunday, 10th August Final date for receipt of synopses
Friday 5th September Results communicated to shortlisted authors
Sunday, 12th October Final full paper and first draft of presentation to be submitted to
MRSI
Monday 27th October Finalists informed along with jury comments
Sunday 2nd November Final presentation to be submitted to MRSI for further processing.
LAST DATE OF SUBMISSION OF SYNOPSES: Sunday, 10th August 2014
12The Market Research Society of India
5D Siddhi Vinayak
Chambers, Opp MIG Club, Kalanagar, Bandra (East), Mumbai 400 051,
Phone: +91 22 2640 0060, Fax: +91 22 2640 5529
www.mrsi.in
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