MUMBAI: In today's day and age when accountability is high on the clients' agenda and everyone wants to get the maximum bang for the buck, the task of media service agencies' has become that much tougher.

In a scenario like this, Lintas Media Services has developed a new proprietary research tool called Inteligrip (Intelligent GRP), which has been devised by its research arm Intellect, to provide a more efficient target base and a better quality of return on planned media spends of its clients.

Tam initiated the commercial launch of Viewer Graphics in India in August last year. Lintas acquired the system in January this year. Viewer Graphic allows for advanced planning and its seamless integration with Adex and Xpert.

The Tam TV systems form the core engine that Inteligrip works on for delivering these 'intelligent GRPs.' Inteligrip is a multi-stage planning process that treats the media plan and ensures an optimised and effective media thrust. The unique and final stage of the tool, which addresses the viewers' ad world and narrows the ambit of wastage due to this targeted approach, ensures that the marketer enjoys a closer and more profitable experience while communicating brand benefit.

The thought process behind Inteligrip is that every viewer has an 'ad-stock' that is the result of historical exposures to various brand messages. This 'ad-stock' gives an idea of conditioning that the viewers have gone through and the subconscious preference of the consumer. Also, GRPs should take advantage of the knowledge of the 'ad-stock' in the mind of the viewers.

For example: The ad world for a prospective Maruti Alto buyer, would be that of a WagonR and Hyundai Santro owner and also that of a two-wheeler vehicle owner who may be looking at upgrading to a four-wheeler. Similarly, the ad world of Samsonite would be V.I.P. and also various viewers who are interested in tourism and therefore Tourism Malaysia, Singapore Tourism and the likes would comprise the ad world of Samsonite.

Hence the tool helps in refining the target audience by viewing the ad worlds by knowing the programme preference of those people who are interested in these categories.

Inteligrip aims to help in identifying the source of the business and therefore determining the ad worlds and segment viewers in order to deliver intelligent GRPs.

IMPORTANCE OF PROPRIETARY RESEARCH TOOLS

Other agencies also realise the importance of proprietary research tools as a means to retain the existing business of agencies; this also helps improve and grow clients' return on investment (ROI). Says Madison Communications chairman and managing director Sam Balsara, "These tools are extremely important as the senior talent can work on strategic insight based on their experience and expertise and the juniors can do sophisticated analysis at the touch of a button. It also enables standardised ways of looking at a problem and ensures that hygienic analysis is done at a faster rate." Asked whether if this meant that gut feeling didn't work anymore while planning, Balsara says, "It is not that gut feeling doesn't work. Gut feeling should be added after all the basic analysis has been crunched."

MindShare South Asia managing director Vikram Sakhuja adds, "Tools if used properly can really work for the brand. We have tools like MindWare and 3D that we use on a regular basis while planning for our clients. These tools are something that gives us judgement and work as an add on to the gut feel."

While Lintas has Intellect as its research wing, Lodestar's Lab Center in India launched in 1995 undertakes proprietary research. Lodestar's Lab Center is the regional center for the Asia Pacific region and provides research data to 18 countries from Singapore to Australia. Lodestar vice president Nandini Dias says, "Almost 99 per cent of inputs while planning for a brand is derived from the findings revealed by these proprietary research tools. One per cent is gut feel. Once you have scientific data in your hands, you can predict what will work where, when and how. Clients benefit immensely from this and at the end of the day it is worth spending money in developing these tools. They are an investment for us."

At a time when television channels in the country are mushrooming, these proprietary research tools no doubt help in planning effectively and sensibly.