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Archive for the ‘White Papers’ Category
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Matthew Harrison, B2B International’s Director of International Operations, was featured in Marketing’s recent special issue on emerging markets.
Drawing upon his time spent working in our China office and using his extensive experience gained through managing research projects in such far-reaching geographies as Russia, Sri Lanka and Tanzania, Matthew offers invaluable advice to Western companies looking to establish or build a presence in any emerging B2B market. The full published article is as follows:
Some years ago, the chief justification for Western companies entering emerging markets was to establish low-cost manufacturing operations.
However, in the past five years there has been a revolution in strategy as the purchasing power of emerging economies has grown and these companies have now shifted their focus from supply to demand.
The casual observer watching a Muscovite sip a Starbucks cappuccino could be forgiven for thinking that customers in developing markets want Western products in Western packaging, promoted in a Western style at Western prices.
While many Western brands have developed a cachet across the developing world, the real picture is more complex, particularly in B2B markets. There are six factors that must distinguish B2B marketing in emerging markets.
The first is the importance of conveying higher product quality. In developing markets, companies’ product requirements often place less emphasis on product durability and quality of materials than in Western countries, putting greater importance on a lower cost. This is a huge challenge to Western companies seeking to enter the market, as they may find it hard to convey the value of the technical superiority of their product.
Second, when it comes to the services associated with a product offering, buyers in emerging markets are frequently as demanding, if not more so, than Westerners. For example, branches of Subway in China often take telephone orders for their sandwiches, and deliver these free of charge to customers’ homes or workplaces. A service such as this would be seen as extravagant in the West, but is often a basic requirement in Beijing and Shanghai, and no economic value is attached to it.
The third factor is the importance of local presence. Western companies entering developing markets often assume that the prestige of their brand excuses them from establishing a local presence. This is not the case. While customers in developing countries may be willing to pay more for the quality, prestige and technical know-how of an established Western company, all these advantages must be in addition to, not instead of, the basic requirements of spare-parts availability, access to technical support and face-to-face contact with local-language speakers.
Then there is promotion. If a Western brand can deliver on its promises, its name and values can prove a huge advantage and allow extremely large margins to be achieved. This is particularly true in consumer markets, where products such as luxury clothing and perfume brands frequently collect higher premiums than they do in the West.
In B2B markets, Western brands carry a particular weight if they can boast international accreditations such as ISO or a prestigious client list. These demonstrations of a company’s aptitude are often vital.
Fifth, relationships are key. As developing markets open up, buyers are only gradually becoming comfortable with dealing with people and companies they don’t know. Relationships are widely used as a substitute for brand when it comes to verifying provenance. Most B2B offerings also involve repeat purchases or after-sales support, and this makes attendance at events, face-to-face contact and local language capability essential.
Lastly, market research is vital. This is commonplace among Western companies, and the necessity of obtaining independent information is even more critical when it comes to operating in foreign markets. Not only do many Western companies lack insight into the developing markets, but cultural barriers and a lack of familiarity between managers in different locations can often mean that the exchange of information within international companies is wanting.
The most successful multinationals conduct frequent research across geographies, challenging their own thinking as well as the flow of information within their companies.
More of Matthew’s white papers on developing markets are available on our website:
Posted in
BRIC, Emerging Markets, Market Assesment, Market Entry, Market Intelligence, Marketing, Matt Harrison, White Papers |
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Thursday, May 14th, 2009
The latest issue of Insight, B2B International’s regular newsletter, is available now.
In our Spring 2009 version, you can read all about our latest products, white papers and company news, as well as case studies about recent work we have done in the pharmaceutical and construction industries. There’s even an original parable which gives us all some food for thought at the present time!
Take a look now by downloading the pdf here.
Posted in
B2B News, Case Studies, Construction, Insight, Pharmaceutical, White Papers |
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Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
A new B2B International white paper – Using Market Research For Product Development – is now available online.
In it, Julia Cupman assesses the importance of product development to a company’s growth prospects, focusing in particular on the vital role(s) that market research plays throughout all the different stages of the product life cycle, from initial concept through to product maturity. Product development research serves a host of purposes, such as establishing (unmet) needs, estimating likely demand, setting prices, shaping the specification of the product or determining optimal price points, to give but a few examples.
Of course, product development research does not just examine the product alone; packaging, advertising, pricing, service, brand and company reputation are some of the other factors which together make up the complete customer value proposition. Indeed, improvements to packaging, delivery, or any aspect of service support could have just as big an impact as improvements to the physical product itself.
Whether establishing potential opportunities for brand new products or trying to breathe life into a former favorite seemingly on its last legs, market research provides insight into the needs of the market, and reduces the risk associated with any form of product development.
To read the white paper in full, please click here
For further details on B2B International’s product development research services, please click here
Posted in
Innovation, Julia Cupman, Market Assesment, Market Intelligence, Market Research, Needs, New Product Development, Product Development, Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research, Segmentation, White Papers |
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Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
How many times have you heard the question, “Tell me why I should spend this money on market research – what is the payback?”
Sometimes knowing yourself that market research can answer the questions that matter to your business is not enough; you may need to justify its value to your colleagues.
This brand new white paper examines how to maximize the return on investment (ROI) of market research, demonstrating:
the role of market research in business decision-making
how to measure the ROI of market research
which types of research will generate the greatest ROI
To read the white paper in full, click here.
Posted in
ROI, White Papers |
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Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
Retaining loyal customers, generating turnover and responding to global competition are becoming increasingly challenging. And the current economic climate doesn’t help as financial pillars appear to shake and stumble, draining confidence amongst businesses of all kinds.
In times like these, it is crucial to remain focused. Forecasts are a useful foundation for setting goals and KPIs based on predicted future sales and production, and adjustments to both production and marketing can be made in reviewing forecast figures and actual results.
Forecasts are nevertheless tricky to create as it is difficult to obtain reliable data and it is often impossible to predict the future beyond the short to medium terms. Furthermore, the data gathered can be biased, out of date or flawed.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discusses the collaboration of company departments – chiefly the sales, production and marketing departments – in creating forecasts, and suggests seven rules companies can follow to make the most of collaboration in their forecasting efforts. These can be summarized as follows:
- Involve senior executives. Senior executives need to be on board, not only to achieve buy-in to the forecast, but also to approve and action spend on forecasting technologies that enhance the collection and sharing of data. The author suggests:
One way to get the attention of key executives is to calculate what a one-percentage-point improvement in forecast accuracy may mean to the company. As supplies come closer to demand, customers can buy more, stores return less, and more revenue goes straight to the bottom line instead of paying for excess storage and handling. For a large company, it could add millions of dollars to the bottom line.
- Explain the mutual benefits. Forecasting needs to benefit all those involved in the data sharing process. The authors argue that whilst salespeople may want to focus on selling and not forecasting, the salespeople would however become interested if they believed that a more efficient supply chain would help make the product available according to customers’ requirements, thereby increasing sales commissions.
- Clearly define goals and agreements. Setting clear goals and metrics are paramount to increasing efficiency, especially of supply chains, such as reducing the number of days of inventory on hand. The authors cite Procter & Gamble as an example: the company uses a scorecard that looks at on-time deliveries and the number of times a store runs out of a product, amongst other things. The goals should constantly be reviewed to eliminate unrealistic expectations between departments and to determine whether goals are met, thereby enabling the most effective changes to be implemented and improvements made.
- Use the best technology. A central database is required to enable different parties to share data, such as sales, inventory and purchasing data (historical and current). The best technologies should be used to capture, store and share this data.
- Focus where revenue and profits are greatest. Since resources are limited, companies should focus forecasts on products that yield more revenue and profits. A deviation from this could result in staff devoting more time to less important and lower value products, rendering the forecasting a wasteful exercise.
- Link incentives to companywide goals. Incentives and rewards should be based on achievements of the company as a whole, as opposed to those of particular departments. This enables effective and reliable forecasting, as opposed to deliberately low forecasting that is set too low with the aim of bettering predictions and therefore making a certain team look deceptively good.
- Aim for continuous improvement. It is crucial to continuously check the data to eliminate any errors that could contaminate the forecast, such as prejudiced assumptions or incorrect benchmarks.
Finally, we would like to add a further tip to successful forecasting. The seven tips above are based on an inside-out approach, i.e. the view from within the company. It would be beneficial to test forecasts from an objective standpoint, involving market and competitive intelligence. For example, market research could be used to create comparable datasets (such as competitor forecasts or market forecasts as a whole), and this can be achieved through desk research, statistical extrapolation, and a select number of interviews with industry experts (such as large customers, trade associations, competitors and distributors).
B2B International USA’s Business Development & Research Manager Julia Cupman says:
Market research offers an independent means of not only verifying forecasts, but also of obtaining invaluable insights into everything that can directly and indirectly affect a forecast, such as challenges facing a market, market trends and influences, strengths and weaknesses of a company and its competitors, threats, unmet needs and opportunities. Hence companies who only base their forecasting and planning on internal knowledge may not be maximizing their full potential.
For more information on forecasting and how market research can add value, including different types of forecasts, the role of forecasts and forecasting methods, please take a look at our white paper: Forecasting and Scenario Planning.
Posted in
Desk Research, Forecasting, Julia Cupman, Market Assesment, Market Intelligence, Market Research, White Papers |
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