MAM
Data analytics’ global potential stands at $30 billion: Gain Theory’s Muthuraman
MUMBAI: Marketing is in transition and the consumer journey is getting increasingly complex due to the increase in the number of channels. Consumers are now constantly interacting with brands and hence, marketing is now ‘always on.’
Difficulty in discerning actionable information from an expanding set of data and technology, confusion around terminology and jargon, multiple answers to a single business question, the need for faster, smarter predictive insights is what gave birth to Gain Theory.
The company, with three key hubs in New York, London and Bengaluru was born when WPP decided to merge two of its existing companies in order to help marketing and insight professionals solve their pain points.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com about how the company helps marketers resolve their concerns, Gain Theory worldwide CEO Jason Harrison says, “What we do in the context of marketing is that we don’t necessarily do analytics around the operational aspect of businesses or operations in the supply chain, we instead focus on our unique expertise, which is understanding the knowledge of data and measurements with various event analytics, techniques and approaches, to help marketers arrive at their marketing tactics and whatever they are trying to accomplish.”
With its three centers, Gain Theory is keen to help marketers from all possible markets. However, with marketing being its focus, the company doesn’t plan to target any particular category of clients.
Gain Theory CEO APAC Sunder Muthuraman adds, “Our focus is marketing. So it doesn’t matter if I’m selling soaps or an e-commerce business. We essentially address to the needs of the clients. We work with CPG, movie studios, retail, finance and so on. As long as there is a marketing problem and that is related to data and has data, we are in for it.”
Throwing light on the importance of dashboard, Muthuraman says, “It depends on how badly the client wants to answer that question. Typically, that’s when they will push us and we will bring in our expertise and try and solve their question. What dashboards are meant to do is to help them draw conclusions or collectively help us draw conclusions and being analysed. So the evolution now is that clients recognize the purpose of data visualisation. A dashboard, just like that of a car, tells you how fast you are driving, how much fuel is left, how many miles you have travelled and these are fundamentally important things. Similarly, clients now have begun to understand the dashboard; what it should contain. It is fundamental for me to take decisions on what could be done differently in the future in marketing.”
The understanding of the firm and that of the client is very different, hence it is a challenge. Muthuraman further asserts, “While that’s the challenge, it is also the opportunity of doing something in a better way and guiding the client accordingly with the data in hand. So if everybody did everything that we wanted them to do, then we have to go find something else.”
He adds, “What we believe is that the only way both of us can speak the same language is by getting the common paradigm and data. As long as you know that the data is reliable, you cannot expect us to flip the results. This is a journey, which not everybody is interested in.”
Harrison asserts, “The fundamental challenges that marketers face are consistent and they tend to be different from category to category. We at Gain Theory started exploring the audience and consumer level data in this market to better understand consumer behaviour.”
According to Harrison, while there are markets where an extensive research is impossible because of lack of the quantum of data, but such isn’t the case with India. “Then we have US, Brazil and UK where data is available at a large level,” he adds.
Muthuraman believes that the industry is going through exciting times. “We are currently a $30 billion industry globally. This could vary, since there is nobody who has really measured the market. We live in exciting times and data makes it even more exciting,” he signs off.
Brands
Kwality Wall’s reports standalone losses following strategic HUL demerger
Ice cream major faces Rs 64 crore Ebitda loss amid commodity inflation and muted Q3 sales
MUMBAI: Kwality Wall’s (India) Limited (KWIL) has released its first set of financial results as a standalone entity, revealing a challenging start to its independent journey. Following its successful demerger from Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on 1st December 2025 and its subsequent listing on 16th February 2026, the company is navigating a transition period marked by structural changes and high input costs.
For the quarter ended 31st December 2025, the company reported revenue of Rs 222 crores. Despite the revenue base, the bottom line was impacted by several factors, resulting in an Ebitda loss of Rs 64.2 crores. When calculated on a Pre-IND AS 116 basis, the Ebitda loss stood at Rs 83.8 crores.
Organic Sales Growth (OSG) declined by 6.5 per cent year-on-year during the quarter. Volume growth, however, saw a marginal increase of 1.2 per cent. The company reported a gross margin of 41.5 per cent. Additionally, exceptional expenses amounting to Rs 94 crores were recorded, primarily linked to non-recurring costs during the transition phase.
Performance across portfolios and channels was mixed. Within the impulse portfolio, brands such as Magnum and Cornetto recorded mid-single digit volume growth, indicating steady demand in on-the-go consumption. However, the in-home portfolio, which includes take-home packs, experienced muted consumption. The company is planning a relaunch of this category with improved offerings ahead of the 2026 season.
Quick commerce (Q-Com) continued to emerge as a strong growth driver, delivering robust double-digit growth during the quarter. Meanwhile, the company also expanded its physical distribution network by increasing the number of company-owned cabinets across markets.
Margin pressure during the quarter was driven by a combination of one-off factors and broader cost inflation. Gross margins were impacted by around 600 basis points due to trade investments made for stock liquidation. Additionally, cocoa price inflation contributed to another 400 basis points of pressure on margins.
Deputy managing director Chitrank Goel attributed the muted performance partly to prolonged monsoons and transitional challenges linked to the GST framework. Operating expenses also increased as the company invested in establishing its standalone supply chain, operational systems and corporate infrastructure following the demerger.
Looking ahead, the management remains focused on a volume-driven growth strategy. To restore profitability, the company has initiated a cost productivity programme aimed at reducing non-consumer-facing costs. It is also working on building regional manufacturing networks to optimise logistics expenses and improve operational efficiency.
The commodity outlook for the near term remains mixed. Dairy prices are expected to remain firm due to tight supply conditions and rising fodder costs. Sugar prices may also move higher following increases in the Minimum Selling Price (MSP). While cocoa prices have moderated recently, currency depreciation has offset some of the potential cost relief for the company.
