he argument for - and against - pre-testing advertising concepts is old hat. But how is it done? A paper, on research done for the Bajaj Caliber 115 Hoodibaba campaign, was presented by Shobha Prasad, director, Drshti Strategic Research Services and Kamlesh Nankani, product manager, Bajaj Auto, at the annual seminar of the Market Research Society of India (MRSI) held recently. Excerpts:

Caliber sales were dropping and Bajaj had launched a new variant, Caliber 115. The ad agency had come up with a one word campaign for it, 'Hoodibaba'. Before the launch, the MR agency was asked to find out, how consumers would react. Would their response work for the brand? Before that, one had to understand impediments - with regard to the environment, stimulus and approach - in existing methodologies. ... more