Awaaz announces consumer preference vote for India's best brands

- India's largest consumer vote executed by AC Nielsen ORG MARG will identify the most preferred brands in the country
- AWAAZ Consumer Vote 2006 , for the second year running is much more extensive and exhaustive spanning over 40 service categories and 21 Indian cities, with about 7000 respondents forming a cross section of the Indian society
- AWAAZ consumer Vote will culminate into the AWAAZ Consumer Awards 2006
- The results will be documented in the AWAAZ - AC Nielsen ORG MARG Research Handbook

New Delhi, July 5, 2006: AWAAZ, India's first consumer channel in partnership with ICICI Bank has today announced the launch of India's first of its kind exhaustive Consumer Preference Vote for India's best brands called 'AWAAZ Consumer Vote 2006'. Leading research organisation AC Nielsen ORG MARG has conducted the research spanning 40 service and product categories across the country in 21 locations with about 10000 people participating in the survey.

The 21 widespread locations adequately represent the heterogeneous nature of India in terms of geography (zones) and population size (town classes: metros, mini-metros and class I towns). About 7000 respondents covering all strata of society will decide on the preferred brands available in the country.

The current market scenario comprises of the modern Indian customer who is a well-informed individual and has the freedom to choose from a host of brands available in the market. The power to choose, the power to spend and the power to make or break a brand ultimately rest with the consumer. In such a scenario, brand building has become much more vital than it ever was and much harder and competitive. Brands today have to work that much harder to earn the trust of the consumer and have to constantly re-invent themselves to understand and cater to changing consumer preferences.

Keeping in mind the current Indian scenario, AWAAZ has taken the onus to arrive at a list of the "Most preferred Brands" (as perceived by the end-consumer) for each of the product categories covered in this study. Banks, FMCG, Consumer Durables, Telecom. Automobiles are amongst the 40 services and product categories that the vote will cover.

The study was not only extensive but also absolutely meticulous in its approach. Also, there are clear advancements made basis the feedback and response received in Year 1 of the study. For e.g. "Preferred" brand rather than "favourite" brand was the parameter captured, in this study since preference is deemed to reflect experiential and thereby more realistic responses. To a great extent, preference also indicates future intentions of repeat purchases. Like last year, spontaneous (unprompted) responses rather than prompted responses were taken in to bring out unbiased preferences with the intention to capture "memorable" brands.

Speaking about the unique survey to identify the most popular brands, Mr B Saikumar, CEO, TV-18 Media Networks said, "The Indian market is becoming a buyer's market where a multitude of brands give the customer the power to choose. Brand building and sustenance is even more vital, today given the current competitive market scenario. Through this study, India's first dedicated consumer channel AWAAZ stands by its proposition of being the 'Voice of the Indian Consumer'. We are confident that in its second year, this study will only be more relevant and more insightful to the consumer and the manufacturer."

To arrive at the results, adults in the age group of 18-60 years belonging to SEC A, B & C households in different parts of the country were met and a large-scale quantitative research technique was be adopted to carry out the research among the target respondents.

The consumer vote survey will culminate into the Awaaz Consumer Awards ceremony on July 18, 2006 that will voice the consumer's opinion. ICICI Bank who has partnered this survey (and the awards) from the inception continues with the partnership. Mr. Vaidyanathan, Country head, Retail banking ICICI Bank adds, "The retail banking industry has rapidly transformed from a sellers market to a buyers market within a matter of half a decade. A consumer voting process will help gauge consumer preferences, and encourage all players to upgrade the quality and innovativeness of the offerings, thereby furthering the consumers' interests".

About AWAAZ:
Awaaz is India's fastest growing channel. The channel reaches out to India's affluent Hindi speaking consumers and is a credible source for timely information on intelligent investing, saving, spending decisions, as well as the latest career opportunities. The Awaaz editorial team brings with them more than 15 years of experience each and a nation wide network spanning more than 45 cities. The reporting team is backed by a strong research set up, the first of its kind in India that specializes in research including consumer research, commodity markets, small business related information and stock markets.

For further information please contact:
Prachi Deshpande / Imtiaz Alam
Hanmer & Partners
Tel: 2921 493/4