Survey Methodology

Our methodology remains the same as last year. The fist question we've asked
each respondent is on 'top of mind recall' for each category. The other two
questions remain the same as last year, wherein the second asks them for their
'most likely' choice of the primary brand if they were to buy the same category
of products in the coming six months and the third asking them to identify the
'primary' brand they currently 'own' for the same product category.

That's why this time our story has focused on both factors. We first delve
into the perceptions that different people have about various IT brands with our
Most Wanted IT Brands survey. Next, we've done a comprehensive buying guide of
various enterprise IT products and services, which gets into the physical
aspects of various brand categories. Plus, on popular demand, we've also revived
the PCQuest Users' Choice Awards. This time, the Users' Choice awards have been
awarded to the most future ready brands. The meaning of this term has been
explained in our survey methodology.

What's different this time?

There are lots of new things we've done this time to make the survey more
exciting, interesting, and meaningful for our readers. For one, we've added five
new categories that are of interest to IT decision makers, up from 21 that we
analyzed last year. Plus, we've also tracked 17 consumer IT brands categories as
well. This time, we've surveyed 420 IT decision makers of leading Indian
enterprises and 1100 consumers from across the country.

This survey is useful for IT decision makers as well as consumers of IT
products and services alike. That's because it tells you the best IT brands out
there not based on any test results, but based on what your own peers are
thinking about them. The base for the survey remains the same. All respondents
are asked three basic questions. First, they're asked to name the first brand
that comes to their minds when they think of a particular category of products,
solutions, or services. Next, they tell which brand do they currently own in
that category, and finally which brand are they likely to purchase in the next
three months. All questions are open-ended, meaning they don't get any list of
brands to choose from. The enterprise survey was done through personal
one-on-one meetings, while the consumer survey was conducted online.

The survey results were used to determine the brand persuasiveness, pull, and
loyalty of each brand. These were then used to predict the future readiness of
each brand. The most future ready brand of the lot was also declared the Users'
Choice winner for that category. The results of the Users' Choice awards are
fairly interesting. Many dark horses have emerged from different categories.
More on this in the survey methodology.

Each 'measure' in the model reflects a 'milestone' in the consumer's
interaction with the brand during the buying process — from recall to
consideration, to intention to buy, to usage. To measure how well a brand is
performing at each of these 3 critical 'transition points', the JuxtConsult
Brand MomentuxTM Model uses a set of simple but effective diagnostics:

• Brand Persuasion — how much is the consumer convinced about a brand
  to not just consider it but also 'prefer' it over other brands in a particular
  category (by intending to buy it). It reflects the 'persuasive' power of the
  brand (of its positioning, proposition, benefits, image, value, etc).
• Brand Pull — how much is a brand able to attract and convince
  consumers of competing brands or non-users of the category to prefer or
  'switch over' to the brand. It reflects the 'consumer pull' power of the
  brand.
• Brand Loyalty — how much is a brand able to convince its
  existing consumers to 'continue' to prefer and buy the brand. It reflects the
  retention or 'loyalty' power of the brand.
• Brand Momentum — It is measured as a combination of the
  current 'mass' of consumers the brand has, together with the 'current speed'
  at which it is (likely to) gain or lose consumers as a result of its current
  marketing performance. Symbolically, the brand momentum indicates the future
  'market share' potential of the brand.

The current 'mass' of the brand is measured as the 'cumulative' market (or
user) share the brand has accumulated in the market place. This is reflected by
its existing consumer base (including historical buyers who are still using the
brand).

To measure the 'speed' at which a brand is moving in the market place, the
model uses the three critical speed 'acceleration' factors from the brand's
current performance parameters. These are the brand's current 'persuasion'
power, 'consumer pull' power and 'loyalty' power.

In simple marketing terms, the model states that how many consumers a brand
is likely to gain in the future depends on how many consumers prefer the brand
today, how many are likely to switch-into the brand and how many are likely to
continue to stay with the brand. We've done this calculation for each brand and
mentioned it in the individual category pages. The write-up for each brand
carries a relative index for brand persuasion, brand pull, brand movement
pattern, and brand future readiness index.