TBWA's Integer Group announces official launch in India

The firm's Mumbai outfit will be spearheaded by Sreejit Nair, managing director, The Integer Group, India.

A sister agency of TBWA and a key member of Omnicom Group Inc., The Integer Group has announced its official launch in India. The promotional, retail, and shopper marketing firm has announced that it will begin its Indian operations by opening an office in Mumbai. With this development, India will become the group's 16th global office.

The outfit will be spearheaded by Sreejit Nair, who was appointed as managing director of The Integer Group, India, in May 2011. Interestingly, the group will make its foray into the country, armed with several blue chip clients including PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble. In alignment with TBWA India, The Integer Group is all set to serve both its global and Indian clients with this move.

On this occasion, Nair says, "We have noticed that brands in India are increasingly recognising the importance of having a deeper understanding of shoppers. Integer uses this knowledge to develop shopper marketing programmes that result in an improved shopping experience for the shoppers and better conversion at retail for the brand."

According to Dan Paris, regional managing director, Asia-Pacific, The Integer Group, over the last few years, there has been a big shift in the media spending habits of brands across Asia. Also, shopper marketing has evolved into a powerful new philosophy for these brands, such that they can tap into a whole new arena of insight presented by this discipline and also place a fundamental consumer role across all their main spending.

"It is fast becoming the future methodology for consumer engagement, and we now have a great team in place in India to complement our Asia-Pacific footprint," Paris says, addressing the launch of Integer India.

Marc Ducnuigeen, president, Integer International, says that it is important for the group to continue to develop offices across the world to not only service the global needs of its existing clients, but also tap the demand for retail solutions from an increasingly sophisticated local client base. "The launch of Integer India represents a significant milestone in the ongoing development of our global network as we continue our international growth," adds Ducnuigeen.

Besides the launch of its Mumbai office, Integer has also announced the release of 'The Checkout International: Indian Shoppers', the Indian leg of the group's shopper study, designed to understand motivations and attitudes, rituals and factors that influence shopping. The Checkout (that is available for download at www.shopperculture.com) is a global newsletter that publishes results from an ongoing survey conducted by The Integer Group, where consumers are quizzed about their shopping attitudes, shopping behaviours, and economic outlook.

In India, the study was conducted during the last quarter of 2011, across three geographical segments - Urban A (metros with a population of over one million), Urban B (cities with a population of less than one million) and rural India. The respondents included male and female shoppers in the age group of 18 to 55 years. This category-neutral study, commissioned by Integer India, was conducted by Ipsos Marketing.

The study was conducted across three retail formats -- 'Kiranas' (traditional trade stores), modern retail stores (such as Reliance Retail, Big Bazaar, and Hypercity) and multi-brand stores (such as Shoppers Stop).

The findings revealed insights about urban shoppers' behaviour with respect to store selection, shopping frequency, shopping priorities and promotional communication, as well as insights about rural shoppers' shopping priorities and the degree of planning involved in their shopping trips. The crux of the study was the segmentation of the Indian shopper - it was found that there exist four different types of shoppers, namely, The Task Shopper, The Explorer Shopper, The Planner Shopper, and The Therapy Shopper.

The Integer Group, which was first launched in the US, already has a presence across Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, and West Asia. The group is positioned as one that resides at the intersection of branding and selling. Some of Integer's leading clients include MillerCoors, Procter & Gamble, Pernod Ricard, Kellogg's, 7-Eleven, Michelin, and Nissan.

Integer's shopper marketing expertise utilises extensive global research data on shopper behaviour, retail insights and unique tools to develop strategic marketing solutions for clients interested in engaging and motivating shoppers. The information is applied through 'The Shopper Continuum', a proprietary approach which focusses on strategically communicating with shoppers before they enter a store (that is, Pre-Tail), while they are shopping (that is, Retail) and after they make a purchase (that is, Post-Tail). The group views the path to purchase as a continuum, rather than a linear one.