International Research

In a highly global business environment, market intelligence is increasingly internationally focused.

As international research specialists, the vast majority of our studies are multi-national in nature. With this expertise and experience comes a great deal of knowledge about how to conduct market research "on the ground" anywhere across the globe.

Some of our thinking, experiences and advice as regards global market intelligence are shown below:

 

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Infographic: Where are you growing?

With the growth of a business, comes the need for global expansion into foreign markets. We have come up with six simple strategies to ensure your business achieves international success.

White Paper: Small Businesses - An Anthropological Insight

If you are reading this White Paper, you most probably work for a “corporate”, that breed of company that employs hundreds of people and has revenues of millions if not billions of dollars. Big ...

White Paper: Entering Chinese Business-to-Business Markets: The Challenges & Opportunities

The challenge of China market entry has become an increasingly important one of Western companies of all shapes and sizes. Despite a difficult economic climate in Europe and the United States, China’s e...

White Paper: Business-To-Business Market Research In Russia

The Russian market research industry is growing rapidly, driven both by domestic growth and the huge interest in the country by foreign investors.  In a country where market research was virtually...

White Paper: To What Extent Is The UK Market Research Industry A World Leader?

Anyone who has lived in the UK will quickly realise that market research – the exploration, analysis and interpretation of the views of people and businesses - is an integral part of everyday life.  On...

White Paper: Russia After Putin

On Sunday 2 March 2008 Russia went to the polls to elect a new president.  The result, as we know, was a resounding endorsement of a young lawyer little known outside Russia but well recommended by Vladimir...

White Paper: Marketing and Selling to Chinese Businesses

The question of how to market and sell to companies based in China is one that is debated endlessly by foreign companies seeking to profit from the huge potential of the country....

White Paper: The Growth Debate - China & India

China and India are booming.  Superficially it is easy to be impressed.  We note that annual growth rates in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have been sustained over the past few years at 8-10 per cent,...

White Paper: How To Research & Evaluate Outsourcing Opportunities In China

Imagine you are the CEO of a medium-sized manufacturing company operating in Europe.  Recently you have lost a major piece of business to a competitor that has offered equivalent quality product ...

White Paper: What is Globalisation?

Unfortunately "globalisation" has become one of the great buzz-words of our time and this poses a problem. The problem is that many, if not most, commentators on globalisation do not appear to have an...

Article: Market Intelligence

Nick Hague discusses three steps to powerful market intelligence Take a minute to think what it would be like if you had just a handful of customers and you intimately knew everything there was to know about them from their names and personal background through to their differing business needs. Just like a market trader who has a continuous finger on the pulse of customer preference, direct contact with customers allows a business owner to quickly evaluate what he is doing right or where he is going wrong. Such informal feedback is valuable in any...

Article: Differing Needs – How Companies Source Research Agencies In China

As the global economic recovery continues, an increasing number of companies and organizations are commissioning research on the Chinese market. With a growing number of companies beginning to recognize the commercial importance of establishing a more detailed understanding of the Chinese market, the prospects for b2b research agencies in the country look better than ever. More than three-quarters of all research enquiries in China come from international companies, with a high proportion of enquiries originating outside of China. Multinational...

Article: Entering China

It is tempting to talk of ‘developing markets’ as a homogenous group characterised by rapid growth, low cost labour, inequality between rural and urban areas, and a rapidly growing middle class. The danger of this approach is that the substantial differences between countries such China, India, Brazil and Russia can be overlooked, leading to misunderstanding and ultimately bad business decision-making. China is distinct from other developing markets in a number of important ways, all of which have strong ramifications for marketers. To begin with,...

Article: Market Research In China – Recruiting And Retaining The Best Employees

As demand for market research services in and about China continues to grow, attracting and retaining good quality industry professionals has become one of the most significant challenges facing agencies with operations in the Greater China region. Despite having a population of 1.3bn, hiring and motivating Chinese research executives and managers is a significant challenge for many companies operating in the region. The country’s rapid transition from the planned economy of thirty years ago to the liberalized economic environment that exists today h...

Article: Innovate or Die – Create Powerful Customer Insights

We are now over half way through 2011 and hopefully you are reading this with your company having survived one of the deepest recessions in history! However, there has been a lot of talk about the fear of a double-dip recession (one in three Finance Directors believe the economy will fall back into recession, according to the survey of FTSE 100 and 250 companies by Deloitte; July 2011). An evolving market It has always been assumed that marketing expenditure is one of the first things to be cut in the time of a recession and yet...

Article: Recommended Marketing Strategies In Developed And Developing Markets

Interest in developing markets such as China, India, Brazil and Russia has increased rapidly over the past ten years, meaning that market research and intelligence agencies are exploring a wider variety of geographies than ever before. This presents numerous challenges throughout the market research process, for fieldworkers, managers and analysts alike. This article discusses perhaps the most important issue of all – the different insights that tend to arise in different geographies. In particular, how do the critical marketing success factors in the d...

Article: Intelligence To Make You International

Ten ways in which business-to-business market research will make your business an international company. Market research and market intelligence do not enjoy the most dynamic of reputations throughout company board rooms. Marketing departments often see surveys as little more than a raw data resource, to which they then add the main value. CEOs criticise surveys as lacking the business context necessary in order to be actionable, while sales teams often deride market research as unnecessary window dressing. In reality, however, good quality market...

Article: Market Sizing In China

One of the main objectives for many companies when carrying out research in China is to establish the size of the market. Market size information can be used to gauge the overall size of the opportunity, to prioritize segments of the market for special attention and to inform future product development and marketing strategies. However, market sizing is challenging in any market, and the fact that many companies come to China with a low initial base of knowledge makes the market sizing process even more challenging. There is a growing demand for market...