Shiloo Chattopadhyay, a pioneer in market research, died following a cardiac arrest in Calcutta late on Friday.

Shiloo to most, Shilooda to the rest, the 61-year-old known as much for his insight into consumer behaviour as his propensity for adda, was the founder director of GfK MODE and was associated with the ABP Group for many years.

He went to Ballygunge Government High School, then St. Xavier’s College, and then to the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.

After heading IMRB, Calcutta, for a while, he started Mode with two colleagues in 1981 and adopted a unique approach to problem-solving research powered by “information scientists”. The approach, now known as fact-based consultancy, was soon adopted by other agencies.

In 1996, Mode joined the TNS Group with Shiloo as director. In 2004, he restarted Mode in its original form and remained its director even after its acquisition by the GfK Group in 2007.

In the past few years, as the chairman of GfK Mode providing knowledge-based marketing research, he expanded the horizons of the industry to include a holistic approach to consumer marketing.

He was the India representative of the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research, the apex international body of market research practitioners, for two terms, from 1997.

The research consultant was also a columnist with The Telegraph and Anandabazar Patrika.

Shiloo Chattopadhyay’s last rites will be performed on Sunday.