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Archive for the ‘Market Research’ Category« Previous EntriesWhat’s the Problem?Wednesday, April 11th, 2012  Daniel Attivissimo this week looks at the defining steps that will make or break a market research project. What do a doctor, automotive mechanic, and market research professional all have in common? Their ability to provide conclusions and information on solutions relies on the mastery of one fundamental step – defining the nature of the problem. Peter Drucker, influential management consultant, once stated, “The truly serious mistakes are made not as a result of wrong answers but because of asking the wrong questions.” This simple and almost elementary observation outlines one of the leading causes behind many marketing research project failures. To put this theory into everyday terms, I’ll use a relatable personal experience as an example. Recently, I had the pleasure of breaking down on the highway which led to my car being worked on for the better part of a week. The symptoms were obvious, the car wasn’t running at all, but the underlying problem was not as apparent. Working with only the symptoms would not have been enough information for the mechanic to properly address and fix the problem. It was necessary to dig a little deeper into the underlying causes behind the problem before deciding what the best method of fixing the car would be. Sounds pretty understandable, right…..? Well, the marketing research process is very similar to the example I just gave, in which the process is integrated and iterative – meaning, that no step is independent and the results of the previous steps affect the design and outcome of the following steps. That is why the most important step of all is the first step, defining the problem at hand – not just describing the symptoms (i.e. declining market share, decreasing profit margin, etc.). It sets the course for everything else in the research design, from the objectives and methodology to the questionnaire design all the way through to the presentation of the results to the client. By definition, our responsibility as marketing researchers is to provide our client (typically some form of management) with information that aids in decision making. One of the most disastrous outcomes of a marketing research project would be reaching the end of the project only to find out that the information obtained holds little to no relevance in addressing the true nature of the business issue. The waste of time and money would be likened to the mechanic returning your car only to find yourself broken down a few miles down the road – but at least you have that new oil filter and full supply of windshield wiper fluid. To effectively accomplish the task of identifying the problem (or opportunity), we must first gather all pertinent information to fully understand the background of the business issue. Three useful steps would be:
Below, is a comparison of the example of a mechanic and a general business issue that many companies face: Figure 1: Identifying The Problem To Design The Research
 please click on the image to enlarge
In the end, because of the mechanic’s ability to effectively define the problem causing my car to not run, he was able to provide me with a cost effective solution. In the same way, the research team at B2B International is expert at providing its clients with actionable insights because of an acute attention to fully defining the background to the business issue, translating it into a research problem, and designing an appropriate approach that will effectively provide our clients with information that addresses the problem. Impressive growth continues for B2B InternationalTuesday, February 28th, 2012  Another strong year of growth for international business-to-business market research and market intelligence specialists B2B International reported another excellent year in 2011, with revenue breaking the £4m (US$6.3m) barrier and profit increasing by 21% from £580,000 to £700,000 EBITDA*. Since its formation in 1998, the company continues its record of growing its revenue and making a profit for 14 consecutive years. CEO Matthew Harrison attributes the company’s success to a number of factors: “Despite the difficult economic environment in UK and Europe in 2011, B2B International’s growth in this region was its best ever at 33%. North America also had an excellent year, equalling the record year of 2010. Another reason for our success over the past few years is the increased diversity of our customer base. The financial sector is now our third biggest sector, complementing the two traditionally strongest markets of engineering and manufacturing, and chemicals and gases; and business services continue to grow. Finally we have moved towards the ‘productisation’ of much of our offering, developing a number of metrics that are pre-defined before a project, add value to the customer and allow comparison with aggregated data, all of which clarify our outputs in the minds of our clients.” B2B International’s growth plans have not abated for 2012. An office in Chicago was opened a month ago, and an ambitious foray into the consumer arena is promised, with a new consumer subsidiary Deep See Research (www.deepseeresearch.com) set to launch in April. The Growth of Market Research in RussiaTuesday, January 17th, 2012  Curious as ever about how the market research industry is faring around the world, we do of course have a particular interest in developments in Russia, thanks to our Moscow office. It’s pleasing to hear, therefore, that according to the latest estimates from OIROM, the Russian Association for Market and Opinion Research, the country’s market research turnover grew by 16% in 2011 to reach approximately $US 370m. Turnover grew by 20% in 2010, demonstrating the increasing importance attached to Russian market research. If you are interested in carrying out market research in Russia, please email moscow@b2binternational.com or read our white paper on the subject to find out more. Being IntelligentWednesday, August 31st, 2011  An article by Enrico Codogno – Competitive Intelligence and market research– caught my eye recently. Not for the snappy title but more for the contentious sentence at the beginning of the piece:
I could not help but disagree with this statement. To my mind, competitive intelligence and market research are more than complementary; competitive intelligence is, in fact, one of the many guises market research can take. I was intrigued and needed to read more.
From shaky beginnings, now we’re on the same page. Far from disagreeing with the article, I felt it went on to put forward an intelligent argument for the need for companies to gather competitive intelligence. We all know that many factors – internal and external – impact on a company and its ability to function in any given marketplace. We also know that what our competitors do can impact dramatically on what we may need to do now, or in the future. Competitive intelligence can look at many things, among them: legislation; the emergence of new technologies and new competitors; upgrades or new uses for established technologies; new markets; public opinion; the backgrounds of key decision-makers; shifts in demographics; the abundance or scarcity of raw materials or their substitutes; and changing client demands. All the information gathered from any intelligence study – and at this point I should perhaps reiterate that competitive intelligence is not akin to some sneaky form of industrial espionage; indeed, ‘standard’ market research techniques (i.e. interviews with customers about why they choose one company’s products over those of their competitors) can provide a wealth of CI data – then needs to be analysed and cross-referenced in order to assess the validity of the data and to truly understand what it all means. The findings will then serve as the basis for strategic and tactical planning…or, at least, they should as long as the findings are taken on board. As with any research, there’s no point in having all this fantastic information at your fingertips if you are going to let the report sit on the shelf and gather dust – or if you are going to disregard the findings. Because, let’s face it: although many of us do have an impressive understanding of our ‘chosen specialist subject’, there are – sadly but inevitably – certain to be huge gaps in our knowledge. One vital job of competitive intelligence, therefore, is to challenge and dispel myths which would otherwise form the basis of a bad judgment. Competitive intelligence, as with other forms of market research, gives you cold, hard facts, which should be ignored at your peril. To find out more about competitive intelligence, please click here. The ROI of Market ResearchWednesday, August 10th, 2011  Cristin Malone this week ponders the return on investment of market research As prospective clients inquire about our capabilities to conduct market research on their behalf, one of the most frequent questions they ask is how successful our research contributions and action recommendations have been to our previous clients’ growth and business success. Essentially, they are trying to gauge the return or value that they will receive by investing in market research. As this happens quite frequently and as my intrigue on this matter continued to grow, I read an interesting article by Dawn Lesh and Diane Schmalensee entitled, “Measuring Returns On Research.” While the authors focused more on internal market research departments or groups, I found that their conclusions and suggestions are also applicable to a research supplier. In my own experience with prospective clients, I found the authors’ following statement to be dead on:
I found this to be particularly true, as many of the clients that request examples of return are often those that are the most skeptical of market research and its value. In many cases, this skepticism is not undeserved as some prospective clients are conducting a research project for the first time or have conducted market research projects that have failed in the past, among other reasons. Despite what may cause this disbelief in market research, it is important to help clients understand its value. The two authors detail three approaches that can be utilized by market research providers to demonstrate and increase the return on investment to their clients, as summarized in the figure below. (Please click to enlarge)  To get further details on the approaches provided above, check out the article in full: http://www.schmalensee.com/files/articles_measuring_returns_on_research.pdf While the ROI (Return on Investment) of market research is important to measure, the return that clients receive from the market research rests on the quality of that research and the provider and how well the actions and recommendations derived from the research are implemented. What good is measuring ROI, if it is not maximized by quality? The value that the supplier can provide is of the most importance as that is what has the most impact on ROI. Therefore, if you are considering market research, think: how can the expertise, quality, and specialization of this supplier help me get the most return for my investment? We pride ourselves on being able to provide quality data and service to our clients, consult our clients with actionable recommendations and findings, and help our clients implement these recommendations to reach their objectives and maximize ROI. One tool that we use to help our clients achieve the maximum return on investment is an implementation workshop, which rests on our proprietary, action-oriented MOSIAC model shown below:  For more information on B2B International and how it can help you maximize the return on your potential research investment, visit http://www.b2binternationalusa.com/ You can also check out our white paper, Measuring & Maximizing The Return On Investment Of Market Research « Previous Entries |
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