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MARKETING RESEARCH
Marketing research in India is clearly
at a point where it is set to become indispensable if the liberalization
of the economy and expansion of consumer choice, which has become palpable
in the recent years, is going to continue. With the opening of the Indian
economy, the markets have gradually become buyers' markets. In India, market
research is essentially used as a reactive tool, it is in the static stage;
whereas, I feel that MR should serve as a proactive tool, helping corporations
optimize their functioning by bringing research into all marketing efforts,
by integrating it into the long and short term marketing strategies and
by involving the operational staff who actually carry out the work that
can use informed research results. Market research often ends up being
used as an isolated tool that gives a narrow picture of the past without
giving a holistic view and an insight into the future.
The need of the hour are MR professionals
who are true managers - managers who have to facilitate a radical change
in the way market research is looked upon today; very often as an activity
done by a separate cell and an end in itself. I see myself, as an MR professional,
using research as an actionable tool, incorporating cutting edge methodologies,
getting the needed results while saving time and money. I want to turn
it into a dynamic instrument, use it to feel the pulse of the market, make
probabilistic predictions abut the market through sophisticated tools and
ultimately get involved in product innovation and strategic planning.
To achieve this, I would like to gain
exposure to the latest practices adopted by the trend makers in the field
of market research and information systems. To this end, I would probably
want to work with a leading international market research firm that would
enable me to help corporations leverage their focus. I would like to bring
this acquired expertise back to India, and use it to help companies to
grow in the stiffly competitive market. I see market research as a sensitive
and flexible instrument to be applied with insight, imagination and creativity.
Working at Centennial Cotex and then
later at NMC Corp as a part-time associate intern led me to realize the
importance of market research to a company. At Centennial Cotex, I was
part of a cross-functional team that helped the firm shift its focus to
the handicraft market where such coarse fabric was a good alternative.
It is here that I gained wide exposure to the SPSS software and other tools
of research design. At NMC, I have worked as an efficient and effective
coordinator throughout research processes and work directly with numerous
researchers on a wide variety of projects. I have experience in research
design, questionnaire development, analysis, writing and interpreting results
and a range of quantitative and qualitative methods. I am proud to say
that I am an enthusiastic individual with good people skills and enjoy
working as a team player in a multi-task environment across department
lines and organizational levels.
The ability to work in a fast paced
setting with time sensitive jobs made my summer internship at Pepsi a further
step to learning. I was a part of a number of marketing promotions of the
company on a local scale. My project on customer research on a key stock
keeping unit required consumer profiling and a high degree of qualitative
analysis through a study of buyer behavior using research tools like focus
group interviews and perceptual mapping. Based on this study, I have planned
and implemented marketing promotions to capture the home segment, within
given budget constraints. At Cadence, one of the leading pharmaceutical
firms in India, I had carried out a pre-launch survey based study for an
antioxidant brand that helped the company identify its target segments.
Apart from these, working on various
school projects has given me varied experience on the basis of which I
have decided that MR is where I would like to base my future. A career
in MR would give me an opportunity to work across boundaries of industry
definitions with a number of industries ranging from consumer goods to
innovative communication and high tech markets
I possess a broad-based management
education. But, in order to attain what I am aiming for, I believe that
I require a sharply defined and focussed course in marketing research.
The expertise to analyze the marketing as well as the strategic problems
faced by companies and implement corresponding solutions is what I want.
An international exposure coupled with the immense opportunity in the Indian
marketplace will help in breaking new ground in Indian marketing research.
I want to attend University Of Maryland's
Master of Marketing Research program for several reasons. The focussed
structure of the course will help me concentrate and work towards the attainment
of my career goals. The internship provided within the MMR course work
would help me gain exposure, insight, knowledge and hands-on experience
with real time work environment. I am impressed with the quality of education
provided by the university in terms of the well-structured curriculum and
the recognized faculty. I look forward to shaping my career in the halls
of University Of Maryland.