MukkaMaar works on building agency in adolescent girls with a focus on violence prevention, building inner-power, to lead to long term positive outcomes in girls. Research and evidence forms the backdrop of our approach but in the absence of concrete frameworks for manifestation of adolescent agency in the Indian context, there was a need to build a nuanced understanding of whether MukkaMaar's work is in the right direction or not.

Quantitative data and monitoring that the organisation does is insufficient to capture changing and emerging mindsets and motivations and that's where illume' research stepped in. Reshma painstakingly invested a long time speaking to our team to understand the goals of the project. Her team designed appropriate projective tools, that would capture data with minimum bias. illume was also mindful of working with minors and all ethical and safety considerations were met.

The result of the study is rich to say the least. A number of unintended consequences of the intervention emerged and how change takes place was captured, synthesized and presented in a very nuanced manner. The report is immensely valuable to MukkaMaar to understand stakeholders as well as for the purpose of building credibility for our work. 

Reshma and team are brilliant at their work, and bring tremendous experience and research etiquette with them. 

Ishita Sharma

Founder & CEO

MukkaMaar

 

As we set about working on the next phase of growth of our organisation, we were keen on getting an understanding of how the work that we do, the ideas that we put out and our brand is received by the many stakeholders that we work with. We worked with Reshma whose incredibly detailed work provided a nuanced understanding of how our work impacts our stakeholders and how it is received. Her well-crafted distillation of these thoughts has provided invaluable input into our brand strategy. 

 

Jojo Mehra

Chief Product Officer

eGov Foundation

The research undertaken by illume helped in identifying areas where we may be carrying unified myth based on popular narratives. It also helped look at users life/perceptions/how they think from various new angles than what we typically end up discussing with them via field sales team.

Hiren Doshi, 

VP - Head of Partnerships, Ninjacart

 

A deep and nuanced understanding of how our ideas and offerings are being received by our stakeholders is very critical to our journey. In the same vein, understanding if we are delivering the desired societal impact is as critical, if not more. Reshma has been our conscience keeper on both counts.

I have had the opportunity to engage with her in projects across multiple Societal Platforms. She has always surprised me with her rich insights and the blend of direct user feedback with excellent framing. She works very hard in the design phase to ensure that her work is standing on a strong foundation.

Her insights have lasting relevance. I have always gained increasing depth as I reread her research reports regularly. They are rich and actionable. I am sure that she will lift and change the way you think about your work

Sanjay Purohit

Chief Curator, Societal Platform

Reshma's research gave us insights and information that were important in shaping our strategy. The study involved rigorous qualitative interviews. The research processes followed were robust and structured. She was very patient with us throughout the research process, particularly when we were exploring the scope of the project in the starting stages. She was constantly in contact with us to review and make any changes if needed. Reshma paid close attention to the context of the interviewees and the work they do. She was able to gather and structure a vast and diverse amount of insights and information, and present the findings the way it was planned. We got good feedback from the interviewees when she presented the findings to them. Moreover, she showed great diligence in presenting the findings to different stakeholders.

Naveen Varshan 

Lead Curator - Societal Platform 

"Reshma was quick to understand the issue and developed a comprehensive strategy to work through the assignment. She was systematic, organized and communicated clearly. Further, her approach was very participative; so, she consulted us at each step and proceeded only once there was consensus. She was also open to new ideas and that made it easy to work with her. She was a thorough professional, delivered quality work, and stuck to timelines despite challenging situations, like the CoronaVirus. But perhaps what stood out the most, was Reshma's empathy, and her ability to deeply engage with the assignment."

Lakshmi Viswanatha

Programme Designer - Capacity Building

AastarUrmika Health Systems Pvt Ltd.

Our team recently had the opportunity to work with Reshma on long awaited project- a myth buster so to speak. What really made this project a success to both brand and business, was Reshma’s unrelenting effort to truly “dig deeper”. In a time where research projects can be perceived as superficial, in the absence of a strong foundation over methodology and a skilled moderator to probe; Reshma and her team shatter that perception. What makes a difference to the work they bring is the level of ownership and accountability to the project; reflected in the depth of the insights unearthed.

Reshma’s project has helped provide our team a wealth of information, much of which has been used in our plans with immediate effect. The results are tangible and measurable; reinforcing how important consumer research can be as a lever to unlock growth. We look forward to working with Reshma on future projects!

Priyanka Moorthy

Fuels Marketing Manager - Retail

Shell India Markets Private Limited. 

In 2013-14 Nandan Nilekani ran a highly competitive campaign for the Lok Sabha seat in Bangalore South. Fighting against a long established MP in the constituency, Nandan ran a passionate, people-focused campaign, which Reshma and Ravi Paritosh were instrumental in helping us create. 

Illume's persona identification for the candidate, and the questionnaires and analysis of the focus groups they conducted across Bangalore South neighborhoods were essential in helping us understand the challenges and priorities of Bangalore South's residents.

Their research analysis was high calibre, and helped us build our campaign messaging and communication. Illume's work was critical to voter understanding, helping create an urban, inclusive campaign that people still hail as an innovative political effort - one that helped an untested candidate win over four lakh votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

In addition Reshma and Ravi were a pleasure to work with - they approach their work with expertise and a level of skill that helped us devolve a substantial amount of our campaign's ongoing qualitative research to illume. I have consistently, and will continue to recommend them as research partners. 

Devi Yesodharan

VP - Consumer Insights 

'EkStep is a non-profit initiative working to build a technology-based learning platform, with the goal of enabling literacy and numeracy for young children. As we began our work in this space, we contacted illume to help us with research to understand the challenges and aspirations of parents, teachers and children as they navigate the learning journey.

Reshma and Ravi Paritosh worked with us to understand the teachers, parents and students in low-income schools and neighborhoods across Bangalore. illume's questionnaire design and group discussions focused on capturing the aspirations and drivers for parents and teachers when it came to children's education. They also helped us understand the apprehensions of teachers, parents and students towards technology, and interacting with technology for learning. 

illume's reports are works of art in themselves with distilled insights and learnings to help us and our partners address these issues. We continuously engage illume as our research partner in our endeavour. '

Shankar Maruwada, 

CEO 

I had an opportunity to work with Reshma on a complex research project on Multigenerational Diversity.

Rarely do we find a partner who comes in with the right combination of, subject matter  expertise; execution focus and flexibility, which is what Reshma brings to the table that makes the working experience truly a “wow”. She is very articulate and engages in candid and explorative discussions right from the initial stages which ensures that there is clarity on the requirements from the very beginning  before she gets started and this process ensures that the rest of the working relationship is smooth. Her thought process in being able to identify the underlying patterns in qualitative research are extremely value adding.

Would look forward to an opportunity to work with her again and explore many more untapped areas such as subconscious research and sensorial exploration which is really Next!!!

Maria Christine 
Head of content & research. 

"Reshma has been chlorophyll’s research partner for seven long years.

Three aspects of her work and personality make her an asset in every situation.

First, she is unlikely to settle for the stereotypical styles of research, by now already proven unproductive. Which is how we ended up with rich, meaningful brand concepts like “Nostalgia Foods” and “I am the Centre of the Style Universe”.  She used the alpha state interviews she is known for quite effectively.

Second, Reshma has great clarity in communication. What she digs out, she presents coherently. This is not the case in most research-related presentations.

Third, as a person, Reshma has a low centre of gravity, which means she is likely to be unflappable even under pressure.

I am sure she is going to win many more awards and do pioneering work in a field not characterised by leaps of creativity.”

Kiran Khalap

MD & Co-founder chlorophyll. 

I am finding a tiring sameness in qualitative market research - techniques haven't really changed over the last 20 years. Additionally, clients and research companies seem more interested in hearing what consumers have to say, rather than what is really behind what consumers are saying and why they are saying it.  Real insights don't come from what consumers are saying.  They come from how consumers are thinking. 

In this kind of research and marketing environment I find Reshma's approach to research a fresh breath of crisp morning air.  She unfolds the hidden layers in consumers minds by digging deep into the sub-conscious.  An in- depth interview is not like a journalist asking consumers a batch of questions. It is about uncovering the hidden emotions and motivations that lie in the deep recesses of the subconscious.  I have used Reshma in projects where I need the real answers.  Not the superficial answers that lie bubbling  on the surface of the consumers mind. 

I highly commend Reshma's work in this area and think that any company who wants real answers to real questions would benefit from her unique way of doing research. She is able to uncover the hidden codes and meanings in how consumers are thinking about brands' 

Prabhakar Mundkur
CEO – Percept H

‘In my brief association of working with Reshma on a qualitative research on B2B customers for one of our brands, I noticed a high degree of attention to detail. The entire research project starting from the recruitment stage was handled by her with dexterity and considering that it involved approaching people at CXO/Partner levels in their organizations, it was really commendable. She managed the time to deliver in a very crunched schedule and her findings went as valuable inputs to the branding project that we were executing. I look forward to her expertise on future assignments as well.’

Shomik Sen
Manager (Marketing)- Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd.

Reshma has done 2 research projects for CRY. The consistent thread through both were the rich consumer speak and insights. This is an outcome of her persistent but probing and peeling the layers approach to the consumer interviews. She is thorough in her analysis and recommendations. However, the additional delight is her reporting of insights and observations that are relevant to the category/brand that she has picked up outside the research brief, in course of the interviews.

Her research findings and recommendations have been a key part of CRY's communications' plans for the next 2-3 years.

Sharmila Subramaniam
Associate General Manager - CRY