Business Research Methodology Project
Business Research Methodology Project
Subject: Business Research MethodologyTopic: Do Brand Mascots
Aid Brand Recall In FMCG Sector?Phase 3 Submission: Interviews with
the Industry Experts and Analysis of their Responses Team Members
Roll NumberAshwin Masurkar130Vishal Garg122
Background:The purpose of the Project was to conduct a research
on the Topic: Do Brand Mascots Aid Brand Recall In FMCG Sector?
from the various angles such as the Brand Recall, Brand
Building,etc. concerning the brand. Building a strong brand is
necessary in developing lasting relationships with consumers even
if it will not dramatically increase revenue. People relate to the
products they buy and the services they use, so branding is
important. If a utility company can derive ways to relate to their
consumers, then it will surely improve business even if it will not
increase profits.A brand is created by merging what the company
says the brand is, what others say, and how the company performs in
the eyes of the consumer (Berry, 2000). It is important to
understand how a brand is created. Also, it is important to
understand the effects of a positive or negative brand image.The
first phase of the Project included conducting Secondary Research
about the Brand Mascots and how companies use them for building a
Brand Image.The second phase of the Project required forming of the
Questionnaires for the people from different industries and getting
their views on Brand Mascots.The third phase of the Project which
this report deals with, required Collection of Data in the form of
Interviews of the professionals. The idea being to understand their
thought process, their perception and their point of view on brand
mascots. And accordingly how do companies and professionals think
and work towards creating a brand mascot for brand building. This
report tries to understand and project those same understandings of
the professionals. Objective: The objective of this Survey was to
capture the point of the views of the professionals working in FMCG
companies over brand mascots aid in brand recall with respect to
the below mentioned factors: Concept Brand Awareness Brand
Recognition Brand Building Brand Loyalty
Data Collection Methodology: Personal Interviews
Sample: Professionals working in various industries
Total Sample Size: 5
Classification and Description of the Interviewees:
1) Mr.Prakash Mehra Designation: Assistant Brand Manager Been
with AMUL: Since 2009. Job Profile: Creating various Brand
Promotions for AMUL.
2) Mr.Kunal Manjrekar Designation: Marketing Assistant Been with
Asian Paints since 2010. Job Profile: He is the team lead of
marketing department.
3) Mr.Yash Pathak Designation: Advertising Sales Director Been
with Parle-G since 2007. Job Profile: He leads advertising sales
team.
4) Miss.Shreya Sarang Designation: Assistant Creative Manager
Been AMUL since 2012. Job Profile: Works as a creative manager for
AMUL.
5) Lakshmi Jayakumar Designation: Product Development Manager
Been with Sunfeast since 2006. Job Profile: Works on various
product development for Sunfeast Biscuits.
Data Analysis and Interpretation (Questionnaire Wise):Question-
Do you know the name of the brand mascot for Asian Paints (the boy
with the paint brush)?Answer- Most of the people could recall the
mascot but only few remembered the actual name i.e Gattu.
Question- What do you think about the Asian Paints move to
retire the mascot? Answer- Answers received included responses like
sad, a necessary move, makes no difference, good as mascots are
outdated.
Question- How often do you read the Amul cartoons?Answer- Not
many people even notice the cartoon section.
Question- Do you feel the Amul cartoons would be the same
without the Utterly Butterly girl?Answer- Amuls utterly-butterly
girl is well known and most of the interviewees see the mascot of
equal value as the brand, so Amul wouldnt be same without the
utterly-butterly girl.
Question- How does the figure of Ronald McDonald outside a
McDonalds outlet appear to you?Answer- Responses received included
responses like- its fun, children love it, childish.
Question- How often do you take selfies with mascots at a brand
event?Answer- Mascots like Ronald are very popular for the purpose
of selfies, hence quite often people (teenagers and even adults)
click pictures with the mascots.
Question- Does the presence of a mascot influence your decision
to attend a launch or publicity event?Answer- Mascots give life to
a brand and can be fun having a living animated character around
while such an event.
Question- At events, do you prefer to be given product info by a
regular salesperson or by someone dressed in a mascot
costume?Answer- Regular salesman are preferred.
Question- How helpful are mascots to build relationships and
amplify emotional connections?Answer- Responses registered were
mainly positive that, mascots are indeed, helpful to build
relations and amplify emotions.
Question- Can Brand mascots take the role of the spokesperson
for the brand?Answer- People find it easier to approach a sales
person dresses as Mascot.
Question- What makes a mascot successful/memorable?Answer- How
well the mascot elicits the values of the company in a positive and
fun way.
Transcript of the Interview:Interviewer: StudentInterviewee:
Prakash Mehra (Assistant Brand Manager, Amul)Interview Setting:
Interview conducted at the residence of Prakash Mehra. The
interview was conducted at 2:00 PM on a Thursday afternoon (29th
January 2015). Transcript:Interviewer: How does a Mascot personify
to you?Interviewee: A brand mascot is almost like an identity of
the brand, at times even bigger than the logo. It is also
important, to ensure the mascot keeps up the brandimage. For an
Indian brand, Amul is one of the biggest examples.The cute girl
from Amul is the face of the brand and they make it a point to come
up with something creative for almost all major current affairs in
India.Interviewer: Does Mascots give a unique identity to the
brand?Interviewee: Who doesnt recognize Ronald McDonald orPillsbury
Dough Boy? Brands with mascots have a stronger recall in consumers
mind than those who dont. Just a logo and a fixed colour scheme
might not stand out like a mascot would.Interviewer: What do you
think about people relating to the Mascots?Interviewee: At times
people are able to relate to a mascot more than the brand
itself.RecentlyCouponzGurulaunched its mascot The Guru to give
weekly advice on online shopping on social media, and surely enough
people were hooked to hear more from the expert mascot.Interviewer:
How does creative mascots and branding activities encourage social
sharing and increase the possibility of campaigns going
Viral?Interviewee: We have a great example ofVodafone Zoozoos.This
mascot was once very active on social media and Vodafone used it
quite wisely for marketing purposes and they also used Zoozoos to
encourage interaction at their social pages. And surely enough they
got the conversations going across different forums
online.Interviewer: Do you think mascots give an opportunity to
people on social networks to interact with the brand
casually?Interviewee: Mascots are almost always friendly looking
avatars.People find brands with mascots more approachable. People
dont directly talk to brands, hence mascots make the interactions
interesting and engaging. For instance, one cant just remember
Cheetos without Chester the Cheetah.Interviewer: Mascot Creates a
Top of Mind Image of a Brand, if its Designed Well Enough to Relate
to the Brand. What is your view on this statement?Interviewee: Ill
take the case of Guruji of CouponzGuru here. He is a Guru, i.e. a
wise experienced man, but with a flavor of youth, which is the
target audience of Couponzguru. Thereby a Mascots identity should
co-exist with the Brands objective.
Interviewer: What is your overall view of Mascots over
celebrities? Interviewee: The Amul girl is a mascot that
immediately comes to mind. It has withstood the test of time,
across generations.As far as a celebrity-brand partnership is
concerned, regrettably, todays celebrities tend to take-on one too
many brand associations, so it is difficult to associate them with
any single brand. The two exceptions that do come to mind are
Abhishek Bachchan and idea. And Yuvraj Singh and Birla Sun Life
Insurance. The fact also remains that a celebrity can give instant
boost to a brand whereas a mascot needs time investment before it
becomes a household name.
Interviewer: Thank you for your time Sir.
Interviewee: You are welcome.
N.L.Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and ResearchPage
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