Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Reflections on &Lessons from:My Research JourneyAnandan PillaiFPM (2009) - Marketing
Initial sparks!• Sept' 05 -
Nov'06, Icfai Research Centre, Ahd
• May'07 - Apr'09, IIM-Ahmedabad
What to Research?The topic which:• Has Future Potential• I have Read About it• I have Work Experience
about it• My Faculty suggested• My Colleague works on an
allied topic• I am Interested in
No matter what, I am ready to slog for it!
My Initial Research topic Corporate Rebranding• Buzzword in Indian business
environment!• Very few research.• Got connected to Prof.
Laurent Muzellec, who coined the term.
• Completed extensive literature review.
• Prepared proposal document, which was submitted for my FPM selection!
• Worked on complete proposal as part of my Term – I core course!
Left It!! …..And????
Why did I leave it?Realized later that:• Phenomenon occurs once-in-a-while!• Doesn't match with my personality of
“being agile”!• My “specific inclination” (bias!) to study
brand's perspective ~ Methodological hurdles!• Phenomenon won't die down soon. I “can
revisit” it anytime in my career, with enough opportunities left!• “Felt” that I am getting carried away by
the current affairs!
What made me choose my new research pasture?
• Has Future Potential - Yes• I have Read About it - Yes• I have Work Experience
about it - No• My Faculty suggested -
No• My Colleague works on
an allied topic - No• I am Interested in - YesAm I am ready to slog for it – Yes!
What specific topic within Social Media?
•My personal inhibitions to interact with unknown people.
•Where should I begin conversation? •Extended the argument to “content
strategy” in social media vs. other traditional media.
•Zeroed on “Understanding Content Generation Process for Customer Engagement on Social Media”.
Choose a topic from within phenomenon or “extend the phenomenon”
•Constituents of brand community•Who joins brand community?•What is the motivation to join a brand community?•How does brand community benefit users & brands?
•What incentives to be given to users?•Dynamics of brand community on an offline & online context.
Content Strategy
Methodological Issues
• Respondents, i.e. community managers of brands weren’t easily approachable!
• Brand managers, Agency heads acted as “gate-keepers”.
• Faced utmost difficulty till March, 2012.• In April, 2012 Facebook brought a feature
change, which allowed me to reach community managers. Lucky!
• Tough to do a research from organization perspective, with respect to data collection hurdles.
• Used my social networking skills to get on board Prof. Robert Kozinets, pioneer of Netnography.
People believe only what they know!•Educate audience about new research
topics and methodology.•Facts matter to arm yourself!•“Convince yourself”, before you convince
others.
Publications• Quantity vs. Quality• Portfolio Depth vs. Breadth
Key learning!
[email protected]: @anandan22
