Archive for the ‘International Market Research’ Category
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
A recent online survey conducted by BtoB found that more than half of business-to-business marketers are increasing their overseas marketing budgets. This is in the face of global economic tightening, which is being felt in the United States as much as – if not more than – anywhere.
Although the survey only questioned a relatively modest 274 marketers, it should come as no surprise that organizations are increasingly turning to non-US markets for business opportunities. Indeed, over the past 12 months, US companies have commissioned B2B International to conduct competitive intelligence studies and to research market assessment opportunities in more than 60 different countries worldwide.
Of those respondents to the BtoB survey who indicated that they expect to be increasing their non-U.S. marketing spend:
- 60.0% plan increases of between 1% and 10% this year over last
- Around a quarter plan increases of between 11% and 20%
- 8.8% plan to up spend between 21% and 30%
- 6.4% plan increases of more than 30%.
Of those companies who are not expecting to see any increase in their international marketing budgets, the vast majority (87.8%) plan relatively minor negative adjustments of between just 1% and 10%. 12.2% are decreasing non-U.S. budgets by more than 10%.
Of all the b-to-b marketers responding to the survey:
- 25.9% said non-U.S. business makes up between 1% and 10% of total company revenue
- 9.1% said non-U.S. business makes up between 11% and 20% of total revenue
- A further 11.7% stated that non-U.S. business makes up 21% to 30% of their total revenue
- Approximately one-quarter confirmed that more than 30% of total revenue comes from outside the U.S.
- By contrast, approximately a quarter of respondents indicated that none of their revenue comes from outside the USA.
In spite of looking to increase international marketing budgets, many companies highlight the difficulties associated with this, including the challenges of entering new markets, handling different languages, and coordinating global efforts. To read about BtoB’s survey in full, please click here.
Posted in
Marketing, Global Research, Recession, Market Intelligence, Market Assesment, International Market Research |
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Thursday, August 14th, 2008
Over the past year, B2B International has observed a sea change in clients’ global research and market intelligence requirements, reports Director of International Operations Matthew Harrison.
“Throughout our history B2B International has obviously placed a great deal of importance on international research. Our clients demand not only that we are capable of researching the markets of interest to them, but also that we have a rounded experience of a variety of geographies. Over the past 10 years, half of our work has been international in scope, so we feel that we have delivered in terms of international experience.”
Over the past 12 months, however, we have noticed a significant shift in emphasis towards developing economies. Clients who previously were asking us to research the UK, USA and France are now increasingly asking us to look at Eastern Europe, Central Asia and East Asia. The number of different countries we have researched over the past year alone has grown by around 40%, with Russia, China and Ukraine being areas of particular growth. Four new geographies were researched for the first time by our team, in the shape of Libya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Azerbaijan.
This growth has been led by our US clients. In the past year we have researched over 60 different countries for US organizations, particularly manufacturers whose domestic markets have often matured and who are therefore seeking to grow their client bases amongst the rapidly industrializing Eastern countries.
We have implemented a huge variety of research techniques in developing geographies; however, by far the most common are market assessment and competitive intelligence studies. This reflects the rapidly changing nature of so many Eastern markets and our clients’ recognition that their market intelligence must constantly be refreshed.
Whilst these may be challenging markets to research, they certainly add interest to the job and also differentiate our company. How many businesses are genuinely capable of obtaining information from Libyan Government officials or Mine owners in Azerbaijan? Our ability to ask and answer the most difficult questions in the most difficult locations is one of the things that mark us out from the competition.
Posted in
Global Research, Market Size, Market Intelligence, Matt Harrison, Market Assesment, International Market Research |
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Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
Market research specialists B2B International have welcomed over 1,000 employees during their 10 years, with Leah Fletcher (pictured above) being the lucky 1000th.
Peter Mullarkey, operations manager at B2B International’s UK office says:
We’re delighted to have reached this milestone. More than 1,000 people have now worked for B2B since its inception in 1998. This includes the consultants in our research team and those working in the telephone interviewing unit. There’s certainly always a lot going on here!
Whilst there are a large proportion of English-speaking interviewers, B2B also employs people of many nationalities with up to 35 languages being spoken amongst the staff at any one time. This, in no small part, is due to the international nature of many of the projects that B2B conducts.
Director and co-founder Nick Hague says:
This multi-national aspect is why so many clients commission us. We talk to people all over the world, and the differing time zones means the phone unit is often busy 24 hours a day!
With the opening of a Beijing office 18 months ago and a New York branch having opened in June, Peter says constant expansion means B2B that is always looking out for additional staff:
The B2B phone unit is thriving. Work is quite flexible, which suits many people, and also very varied – short interviews, longer in-depth conversations, through to focus groups. We‘re a happy and dedicated team…and the provision of a tea trolley also proves highly popular, as well as helping lubricate their voices whilst interviewing!
Posted in
Nick Hague, International Market Research, Market Research, B2B News |
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Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
Before starting out on the journey of commissioning market research, it is always wise to see if there are any existing published reports or industry analysis on sites such as Research & Markets.
The following excerpt is from their latest market research report looking at the market research industry in India:
The need to conduct market research has changed over the years primarily driven by globalization, and rise in competition, among other factors. The marketing function, which was earlier restricted to creating awareness and building differentiators among products, has expanded and become central to the creation of these new products.
Large corporates are now spending anywhere from $5m to $100m on market research and analysis. Research agencies too have tried to complement the changing needs of clients with professional management, consolidation and creation of value through both delivery mechanisms and interpretation. The increasing use of technology has led to standardization and consolidation in the research industry, thus preparing the ground for greater outsourcing.
Going forward, Indian market research companies are poised to move from research back-office operations to becoming strategic partners in executing research. It is predicted that partnering with other entities in the market research value chain e.g. high-end analytics services, will be aggressively undertaken by Indian market research companies in 2009.
For more information on how B2B International can help you with your international research, click here and speak to one of our research team
Posted in
Market Research India, International Market Research |
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Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
In a recent Thursday Night Insight post featured on The Market Research Blog, Caroline Harrison talked about how costly it can be to launch a product without first investigating the new market and without fully appreciating local cultural differences in geographies across the world.
A recent USA Today article highlighted how even the most innocuous assumptions can show that you don’t fully understand – or haven’t fully considered – your target market. This most unlikely example was actually a product review for a German car that was launched in the US market in January. Whilst much of this article is a detailed (and not altogether unflattering) technical assessment of the product, two quirky examples are brought to the reader’s attention of how this European vehicle has not quite been adapted enough to totally satisfy the needs of a United States consumer.
- The in-car cup holder is too small for many standard North American cups
- The vehicle clock displays as a 24-hour clock – popular in Western Europe, but not the normal 12-hour clock that Americans are used to.
Whilst these are, of course, very minor ‘problems’ in the scheme of things, the reviewer notes that they are a “reminder that Americans weren’t top-of-mind during development”.
If you’re entering a new market with an existing – or adapted – product, you need to be sure you have thoroughly researched your target market. DO NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS.
If you are launching a new product in an entirely new country or continent, then market research is an absolute must.
When developing a new product, don’t just think about the bigger picture. As this automobile example demonstrates, sometimes it’s the small things that make the difference to your customers.
Posted in
Market Research USA, New Product Development, Market Assesment, International Market Research, Market Research |
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