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Archive for the ‘Industry News’ Category« Previous Entries Next Entries »The Market Research Industry in India – Part ITuesday, November 6th, 2007
As Asia’s third-largest economy and with consistent annual growth of around 9-10% expected for the near future, India is undeniably an emerging force on the world business stage. As both local and international companies look to reap the rewards of this burgeoning market, effective research will become an ever-more crucial tool for organisations looking to expand in India. In the first of a two-part post, we look in more detail at the challenges of conducting market research in India, as well as the operational and technological developments that can be expected in the industry there in the years to come:
If you would like to know more about conducting research in emerging markets such as India or China, please contact our dedicated Asian office – Further details of which can be found at www.b2binternational.com.cn Market Research in the Virtual WorldTuesday, October 23rd, 2007
Team playing, social networking, interactive virtual worlds and now…the avatar. There is a sub-culture which is becoming main stream. A segment of the population who are currently spending as much time living in the virtual world as they previously did watching TV. It starts with video games. They are becoming so realistic that they challenge Hollywood in entertainment quality and worldwide turnover. No longer are they restricted to being packaged goods. They can be downloaded from the net. Game playing on the net is enhanced by team playing. Like in the play ground, players have the opportunity to select their team and the opposition. This has given birth to social networking. Participants who have a shared interest in the game can play with each other and against each other. It needs organisation and communication. They don’t have to live in the same country. The power of the net has given rise to specific social networking sites. Bebo, Space Book and Facebook are examples. Facebook (www.facebook.com), because of interest from Microsoft, is now valued at $10 billion. 25 million now use Facebook to communicate with each other and share their experiences. It is a platform for good and evil. Out of video games, their realism and social networking, we have the development of virtual worlds that are interactive. The key example is Second Life (Your World. Your Imagination at www.secondlife.com). A world in which you can determine your persona and demonstrate your desires without the constraints of the real world. You can be thin, sexy and an entrepreneur. Participants can buy and sell land, buildings and consumables using a currency called “Lindens” exchangeable with the US dollar. There are currently 10 million residents in Second Life and in the USA some have become “Linden” millionaires. This development has not escaped the attention of branded goods manufactures. Nike, Adidas and advertising agencies such as Bartle Bogle and Hegarty in London are actively marketing in the virtual world. This is not an activity restricted to teenagers or “nerds”. Anyone can participate and the mainstream population is engaging. Here in the UK there is a web based “soap opera” produced by Channel 4 (www.channel4/second_lives.com) using Second Life as a vehicle for entertainment. A product of this world is the Avatar, an internet user’s representation of himself or herself whether in the form of a 3 dimensional model or a 2 dimensional icon. E-Box Software in the UK is developing an Avatar to represent a research interviewer and moderator. They not only ask questions but have a conversation with the respondent through the interview or discussion, it makes the on-line dialogue more human and inviting. In Second Life the Avatar can recruit as well as research. We are now on the brink of research opportunities that we could not have imagined three years ago. Who knows where it will take us? You can view the full article at www.aimri.net. Increase In Global Market Research Industry TurnoverMonday, October 1st, 2007
ESOMAR‘s latest market resarch industry figures (published in “Global Market Research 2007″) show an increase in global market research revenue. The Global market now stands at USD$24.6 billion – an increase of 6.8% on last years figures (4.0% after inflation). Europe enjoys stable growth of 5% (2.8% after inflation), North America 6.6% (3.4% after inflation), along with double digit growth in geographies such as Brazil, China, India and Russia. For more information on these figures, visit the ESOMAR website. Market Research – Commodity Or Consultancy? – Part 2Thursday, September 13th, 2007
Following on from our post yesterday… Market research in general is becoming more production oriented, likewise qual. A common currency of unit cost per group discussion now exists. This key evaluative metric applies to most qualitative practice. Standard qualitative measures are becoming a – albeit high-quality – commodity. As such, there are price and delivery time pressures. Market research, especially in the qualitative and innovations space, is blurring at the boundaries. So, what is the definition of ‘research’? Increasingly money is being spent on research activities that are not ‘mainstream’; non-researchers are doing ‘researchy-type-things’ as part of a wider offer. Researchers are doing other things too, of course, but more competitors exist than those we’d normally call research agencies. We established there is no ‘single’ model in our sector. We are structured as a hybrid of ‘consulting’ and ‘manufacturing’. Buying patterns have traditionally reflected the latter: they are mainly driven by fixed price, units of product. In turn models that are appropriate to the buying of large scale data collection are being applied inappropriately to various types of consulting. In fairness, buyers’ working patterns with agencies are changing too: witness increasing reference to ‘data providers’ and ‘insight providers’ in roster definitions. So should data collection be seen as a commodity? Yes. There is a measurable unit of production with associated quality controls, and that’s all there is to it. Should group discussion, without any bells and whistles, is now treated very much like a basic unit of production. Will the Market research sector as a whole become commoditised? Yes and no. There is an entire sub-sector of activities and advisory services unrelated to the data machine that should be priced on time/value, not cost, but currently it’s insufficiently delineated. It’s being treated as one: partly because agencies are selling these activities and clients are buying them as such. Also, partly because it’s clients, and suppliers work to a fixed price overall project model. Is this really appropriate for current work practices? Maybe it’s time for a structural reorganisation within the Market research industry, and a new narrative. Here businesses would be segmented into ‘makers’ and advisers’. In Market research, the ‘makers’ would include most of the mainstream and might well redefine their core business(es) around ‘Volume’. But at the ‘value’ and ‘vision’ end of our market, to avoid commoditisation, quallies can continue to fight their corner through relentless innovation. Luckily, this has always been one of their strengths. The best outcome is self renewal; a resurgence of new methods analogous to the original meteoric rise of ‘qual’ in the 1980’s. Clients are saying the this I exactly what they’d like and expect to see. Most importantly, it will be very good business for everybody. Market Research – Commodity Or Consultancy? – Part 1Wednesday, September 12th, 2007
Here at B2B International, we pride ourselves on being able to convert data into intelligence. We know that if we can get people, whose responsibility it will be to execute the actions, to own the data, we will achieve a positive outcome for getting action. However, good research is not just about good interviewing and accurate reporting; it is also about communicating the findings to the research sponsors in such a way they can action the findings and achieve their goals. The B2B International team always work with our clients to develop actionable findings and communicate these in a way that allows strategic decisions and tactical action plans to be developed. From our experience we offer help and guidance in taking projects from initial concept through to implementation and completion; not just data delivery. Here is an interesting extract taken from AQR’s (Association for Qualitative Research) www.aqr.org.uk ‘In Brief’ September edition by Andy Dexter, Truth. It argues the case that is it time to restructure the market research industry into volume agencies that concentrate on quantitative volume, qualitative specific agencies and consultancy advisers. We are all in the business of market research. Agencies exist to make money. Clients buy research to make (or save) money. Clearly this works, or there would be no agencies, and precious few clients. But ‘how’ does it work? At this years BIG, I examined the research industry from a ‘business’ perspective. In turn, this provoked questions about the economics and business models underpinning it and led to three main observations We measure our industry as an ‘industry’ not a service. Market research statistics have traditionally focussed on turnover: the amount charged by agencies to clients. It’s how manufacturing and retail industries benchmark themselves – by sales. Yet practitioners in sectors that researchers usually compare themselves to – advertising, PR, brand consultancy, etc. – are more interested in measuring fee income. This focus on the top line means we tend to measure ourselves in a way that lends itself to industrialisation and commoditisation. This is a global phenomenon. And to reinforce this, we have designated ourselves and ‘industry! The P&L account of our industry looks production rather than service oriented. Looking at profitability or research agencies, and the underlying business models that drive them, there is clearly a dominant economic model in the research ‘market’. This is more analogous to production-oriented sectors than consultancy professions. Similarly, it is clear that acquisitions, economics of scale and cost management – rather than true revenue growth – enables the larger players to maintain profits. Distinct segments in our market reflect different financial dynamics at play. In any sector there are three basic ways to make money on the supply side. Firstly, sell lots of stuff very competitively and make production and delivery highly economically efficient: ‘Volume’. Secondly, sell high value, high prestige stuff and ensure it is appreciated accordingly: ‘Value’. And thirdly, sell an idea; create demand for specialist new stuff that may not even exist yet: ‘Vision’. Readers will have an immediate view on where particular agencies or agency types might sit. Thinking beyond our sector, under (1) we would typically find manufacturing, retail, and production businesses; product and volume-oriented; whose business is cost control and efficiency –led. Under (2)2 and (3) we would find advisory business, with a less pyramid-like structure. So, if there are two different markets, where is qual heading? My initial instinct was to assume that, as a ‘sub sector’, qual would naturally fall under the heading of the advisory business model rather than the production-oriented ones. But this might not be the case… This article continues tomorrow.. « Previous Entries Next Entries » |
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