Whiskas Cat Food Whiskas meals have been satisfying cats since 1958. The brand is part of Mars Petcare and is a truly international brand well known by the distinctive purple color and the advertising line: 'Eight out of ten owners said their cat prefers it'. A clear segmentation is used by Whiskas: cats are divided into kittens, adults (one or two years and above) and seniors (eight years and above). The products are divided into these three categories. Foods are available through distribution outlets as meat in cans, pouches, or as dry biscuits. Numerous ingredients and flavors are offered including chicken, turkey, duck, rabbit, beef, lamb, cheese, green beans, peas, salmon, tuna, prawns, cod, trout, sardine, herring, and whitebait. Whiskas spends a great deal of energy bringing valuable information to cat owners and does much of this over the Internet. The company uses visitor information to help plan promotional and business activities. Questions This is a role play situation where you are acting as Whiskas for question. 1. The company website will provide information on products. Create a research brief using the information above and making any reasonable assumptions. The objective is to generate new ideas for cat foods and the research should test a new concept of inviting customers to propose their own mixtures and recipes of cat food. At the basic level the website will allow them to choose from a selection of flavors, there will also be the opportunity to propose unique recipes on a message board and this will then lead to comments from other cat owners and become a lively forum in addition to a source of new product ideas. 2. For question 2 you are now taking the role of a research agency. In response to the brief you have written, develop an outline of notes for a proposal. You should include the usual parts of the proposal. Cover the research objective/s, chosen method, and respondent profile. Pay less attention to specific aspects of methodology such as the sampling method and sample sizes, data collection, analysis, reporting, and timing. 3. What assurances of validity, reliability, and ethics can you provide to your client?