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Archive for the ‘Economic Downturn’ Category
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
They are the questions on the lips of many b-to-b marketers right now: How is the current state of the economy impacting on b-to-b markets, and which marketing strategies will help me cope with its impact?
Fortunately, the Canadian Marketing Research & Intelligence Association has hosted a webinar tackling these topics. The State of the Economy and How It Will Impact on B2B Markets and Research features two guest speakers: David Skelsey of Strictly Financial and Julia Cupman of B2B International.
Skelsey, on reviewing the global financial crisis, discusses whether this presents a challenge or an opportunity for the market research community. He also assesses what the impact will be for specific industry sectors and particular research areas, offering some tips for how market researchers can cope with the challenges.
Cupman, research and business development manager of B2B International’s US office, expands further on the challenges and constraints faced by B2B marketing professionals in today’s increasingly pressured environment, highlighting how research and marketing strategies have been – and continue to be – affected by the recession.
The webinar is now available as a recording by clicking here.
Posted in
B2B Marketing, Economic Downturn, Julia Cupman, Market Research, Market Research Canada, Recession |
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Friday, August 14th, 2009
With so many people interested in the state of the economy, Alaric Fairbanks this week takes a look at some of the more unusual indicators which may tell us whether prospects are looking up.
Even – perhaps especially – here in Beijing, as elsewhere, not a day goes by without mention of the economy and how quickly it will recover or not. Supplementary to this are the business confidence or climate surveys and their subsequent reports of optimism and pessimism.
These are all very well, and may be a good source of column inches or publicity for a research company. This is all OK with me but, even if reflective of whatever business community or industry sector’s level of confidence, it is perhaps worth thinking about which sources of information are behind, say, agreement with a statement expecting an increase in profit, revenue, headcount, etc.
From examples I have seen, including, I confess, a climate survey we conducted, there is little attention paid to the sources of information upon which these feelings are based. When it does appear, it is usually a choice of ‘respectable’ sources, such as newspapers, journals, or official statistics. Less expected or rational influences are often overlooked and, even if included in the question set, a respondent may not admit to having been influenced by an alternative or informal source.
Of course, it would be great for our business if businesspeople took tailored market research as their main source of guidance for decisions and even opinions, but as this is not always the case, I was curious as to what observations people were making to inform their levels of confidence.
To this end we spoke informally to contacts in the Western business community about any indicators used to reflect on their business prospects. A common theme emerged around indicators being derived from the physical environment, especially through observation. A simple example of an informal indicator was counting or estimating the number of new building sites passed on the way to work – the more new sites, the stronger the economic prospects.
These conversations suggested that observations were aimed at levels of activity. They tended be a mixture of fairly Beijing-specific and the more general. Observed indicators from work and life in Beijing with a perceived positive correlation included:
- The number of properties marked with the character “chai”, indicating ready for demolition.
- Visibility of yellow construction helmets seen at lunchtime
- Levels of air pollution, sometimes with reference to the official air pollution index
- Time taken to get to work
And with a perceived negative correlation:
- Number of unsolicited job applications
- Number of cold visits by salespeople
- Ease of purchasing train tickets.
Interestingly, although not all of these are anecdotally based, they all appear to have some underlying rationale. It would be interesting, at least to me, to look into how effective these indicators really are… but things are fairly hectic here at the moment, what with projects, proposals, etc – another way of showing how things are going right now!
Posted in
China, Economic Downturn, Economic Indicators, Economic Recovery, Market Research China, Statistics, Surveys |
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Monday, August 10th, 2009
B2B International is delighted to present its latest free eBook – Effective Marketing Strategies for a Recession.
At the present time, many marketing specialists are asking themselves how the recession has been affecting fellow marketers. They are wondering how competitor organisations have responded to the current economic environment, and what their own strategic responses ought to be.
Based on her own primary research conducted among 400 marketing professionals, and drawing upon the work of many well-respected experts in the field, Julia Cupman has authored this new eBook. Focusing on the role of marketing strategy, common reactions to an economic downturn and those marketing strategies that are considered to be the most successful in a recession, this eBook will help marketers worldwide adapt to the pressures brought about by today’s global economic downturn.
- To read Effective Marketing Strategies for a Recession, please click here
- To view our selection of other free eBooks, click here
Posted in
Economic Downturn, Julia Cupman, Marketing Strategy, Recession, Strategic Marketing |
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Thursday, August 6th, 2009
The findings of a survey into the confidence of business owners in London have just been released. Conducted for Business Link in London by business-to-business market research and intelligence consultancy B2B International, the research highlights how the effect of the economic environment varies significantly by type of business, location and personal characteristics of owners.
The survey, commissioned to examine how to meet the business needs of a diverse marketplace, is the first of its kind and the ‘Diverse Business Confidence Index’ has been created to represent minority groups including women, ethnic/faith groups, the elderly, the disabled, and those of a particular sexual orientation.
B2B International director Nick Hague, in charge of the survey, says the survey uncovered perceived discrimination and prejudice in the business world. “This diverse business confidence index for BLIL is a great step in finding out how business owners are coping during the recession. Companies in the industry sectors of recruitment, property and construction have been hardest hit during the economic downturn, whilst least affected are in the health and beauty sector. As a bonus to developing such a robust index, we also gained real insight into diversity issues in business which may be mirrored across the country, not just across Greater London.”
London’s SMEs Defy Recession
As London’s small businesses bear the brunt of the recession many are still looking to grow, according to Business Link in London’s new Diverse Business Confidence Index (the Index). The first of its kind, the Index surveyed over 3,000 small businesses in London and found that 84 per cent are planning on expanding and growing their business over the coming year. Nearly two thirds of entrepreneurs surveyed said that the recession is still affecting their business with 39 per cent saying the recession has significantly impacted overall budgets and expenditure.
Patrick Elliott, chief executive of Business Link in London, said: “This Index gives a significant insight into how London’s small businesses are impacted by, and responding to, the recession. These results are an encouraging sign in these turbulent times – but they don’t come as a surprise to us. We regularly survey our clients on how they’re managing through the recession and we’re seeing a clear trend emerge of a sector that is refusing to get bogged down in the doom and gloom. But what’s telling from this index is that this confidence is across the board – many entrepreneurs across regional, industry, and demographic groups are responding to the recession by aggressively seeking out new market opportunities.”
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “It is extremely heartening and will inspire confidence in the strength of the capital’s economy that so many of London’s small and medium sized firms are planning to expand in the coming year. Making up nearly 99 per cent of our business sector, they create half of all the capital’s jobs and are therefore critical to its success. I will continue to do all I can to support these firms and ensure they get all the help they need to get through the downturn – they will, after all, be our spring board to economic growth and prosperity when the upturn comes.”
Maintaining and generating sales was identified as the single biggest challenge facing all businesses. However, three quarters of those surveyed remain optimistic about their business over the next twelve months. Of those who are planning to grow, most planned to drive this through diversifying their business operation – 43 per cent plan to enter new markets, and 35 per cent are looking to develop new products and services.
Start-ups were more likely to have difficulties with accessing funding while established businesses tended to have more difficulties with generating new business. A quarter of all pre-starts cited the falling value of the pound as the biggest impact and nearly half are revisiting their business plan projections as a result of the recession. However, despite being most affected by the recession, start-ups were the most optimistic about their business prospects with 89 per cent planning on growing their business over the next twelve months.
For more information on the Diverse Business Confidence Index please click here.
If you are a London business owner and would like to take part in future waves of the Diverse Business Confidence Index then please e-mail dbci@b2binternational.com and include your name, company name and London borough where your business is based.
Posted in
Business, Business Confidence Index, Diversity, Economic Downturn, London, Recession, SMEs, Trends |
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Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Following yesterdays post on ‘Market Research In A Recession’ is today’s post detailing the seven steps to minimize the impact of reduced market research spending. These steps from John Quelch (a professor at Harvard Business School) confirm a lot of what we have learnt in business to business markets over the last few months:
- Stay focused. Savvy marketers focus their research on the products, brands, and markets that are key to their marketing strategy. In a recession, it’s essential to get a clear read on existing core customers, including those who are most loyal to the brand and those who are most profitable, rather than fritter away research resources on potential or peripheral customers. When times are good, there is budget available for increased research on secondary products or customers. Now, nice-to-knows that are not essential will have to wait.
- Enlist trusted research partners. Marketers and research suppliers who trust each other and have established long-term relationships can jointly plan how to extract more insights and make better decisions based on fewer expenditures. For example, combining data sets may reveal new leading indicators of changes in customer behavior. Tracking studies may have an edge over one-off projects. CMOs who trim costs by consolidating their budgets with an integrated research supplier should insist that the supplier aggressively explore synergies across its various component agencies as well as eliminate research redundancies.
- Value experience and judgment. CMOs should tap the knowledge and intuitions of managers and researchers who’ve lived through previous recessions. In setting prices, for example, such insight can help calibrate the optimal level of price promotion offers. Experience also reveals proxies: in tough times, some marketers use research results from Sweden as a proxy for Scandinavia, rather than conducting the same research in all Scandinavian countries.
- Seize opportunities overseas. Some large multinational marketers, such as Unilever, are shifting market research expenditures away from Western Europe and toward emerging markets in Asia and Latin America. Relative to the developed economies, the costs of research in emerging economies are less and the payoff from incremental insight can often be greater. Brand preferences and consumption levels in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil tend to be more fluid. Customer research is therefore critical to aid marketers trying to cement brand preferences early on as these economies develop.
- Use online market research with a dash of skepticism. Online research is cheap, fast, and the wave of the future. Tools like SurveyMonkey allow non-expert users to create custom surveys in minutes. As an alternative to offline focus groups, custom online panels can be formed for qualitative research on new product ideas or new ads. Taking the do-it-yourself approach rather than outsourcing to a market research firm is attractive in a cost-cutting era, but you risk getting no more than what you pay for. The opinions of convenience sample of an enthusiastic online brand community may not represent all users.
- Don’t cut market research across the board. Just as important as knowing where to cut research is knowing where not to cut. When marketers are creating fewer new ads and introducing fewer new products, it is doubly important to use rigorous pretesting to select the strongest alternatives. In categories where the bases for customers’ value judgments are changing, modest expenditures on copy research can prevent blowing much more money on ineffective messaging. Adding a few questions to standard tracking studies is a low-cost way to shed light on changes in customer attitudes and purchase behavior. For key products, running conjoint studies to check on shifts in price elasticities of demand and price-attribute tradeoffs can usefully improve the profitability of pricing decisions at a time when cash is king.
- Keep an eye on the new customer. No one has a perfect record of predicting the future, and the recession is making it harder for customers to envision or articulate their needs. Even so, and despite budget pressures, smart marketers devote a portion of their market research to getting a handle on future changes in customer behavior. Are customers of your brand going to revert to previous consumption patterns when the recession ends? Or are they developing coping mechanisms that will endure, especially if the recession is lengthy? What new products and services will customers be open to embracing? If, as in the financial services category, customer confidence and trust in brands have been seriously eroded, how long and what steps will it take to regain them? Eventually, the recession will end, and future success depends on being well-positioned, based on sound research, when it does.
To view the latest marketing strategies of large multi-national corporates in a recession, click here.
Original article viewed at http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/
Posted in
Economic Downturn, International Market Research, Market Entry, Market Intelligence, Market Research, Recession |
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