Posts Tagged ‘research’

It’s no secret that I love using blogs to gather competitive intelligence. In any single Internet marketing campaign at any time, I don’t spend a single penny until I have found at least 10 or 15 blogs that relate to whatever it is I’m selling. I read through each and every one of those blogs for at least three or four days usually longer; more like a week. If I have a lot of time before the marketing campaign begins I’ll spend as much as two to three weeks reading blogs within the industry.

You can find out so much about your industry, your niche, your market, your product, and your potential customers, just by reading a few blogs that relate to whatever it is you’re selling. The hardest part is finding those specific blogs that relate to your specific industry. And that’s what I’m going to talk about today in this article.

So the question remains, how can you find specific blogs that relate to your specific industry or product?

Well there are two or three places that I like to go to search for blogs on any given industry. The first is Technorati, which is a sort of search engine for blogs. Go to their website and you can see that it’s very easy to search for blogs. Just type at the top of the page and away you go. Now if I were you I would type in my specific keyword that I’m targeting first of all, or you can type in the industry name you are in, or a generic product name that relates to your product… the point is just get in there and poke around and figured out how things work. I have no idea how many blogs Technorati has indexed but it is many many millions. In July 2006 Technorati announced that they were tracking over 50 million blogs.

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Now that’s been 3 1/2 years so you can imagine how many more are in there. Especially in the last couple of years blogging has really exploded, so if it’s out there you can expect to find it at Technorati.

The next two places that I use are probably more obvious. The first one is Google. You can use Google to find everything and anything and I’m sure you already know how to do that, so I won’t spend any more time talking about it.

But there may be a feature of Google that you don’t know about and it’s the third place that I used to find blogs. It’s called Google blog search, which I think is very aptly named. Don’t you just love how Google names things? They don’t mess around fancy names do they? Google blog search, Google talk, Google voice, Google Mail, Google analytics, they generally don’t spend any money on marketing brand names. But I’m getting off the point…

You can find Google blog search by just going to Google and typing in Google blog search. It will be the first thing that comes up I promise you. Get in there and play around with it; search for a few things and you’ll find it is a very useful tool to have when looking for blogs as a competitive research tool.

And that’s it! Those are the three places that I use most of the time to search for blogs on any given industry from a competitive research point of view. I hope you found this helpful, and thanks for reading.

                                       The Strategic Planning Process                             

                      Market Research – Political, Economic, Regulatory, Competitive

                         ……….and the greatest of these is Competitive Research

A well integrated Strategic Planning Process has always been the cornerstone of strong Company earnings and positive market share growth among industry leaders. Within the Strategic Planning Process there is a wealth of information available on the potential impact of Political, Economic and Regulatory changes for the segments in which your company operates. Corporate Planning for the next few business cycles will pay particular attention to the potential impact of the very turbulent financial markets worldwide.  

In 2009, this could include the potentially positive impact of the ‘bailout’ action plans of the Barack Obama and Stephen Harper administrations, the ‘New Reality’ economic operating environment and its potential business consequences, regulatory changes, and social trends for the environments in which your Company operates.

The competitive marketplace, however – that is an entirely different matter.

The ‘Competitive Intelligence’ updates would pay close attention each key competitor as well as new entrants and those exiting the business. The research data on customer and supplier profile changes that may impact the business going forward is a ‘mission critical’ element. There is no question that both the advancements in technology and the seemingly ‘out of the blue’ arrival of non traditional competitors may in fact, along with a floundering economy, be the most essential aspects of Strategic Planning in this business cycle.

All too often the road of an internalized Strategic Planning Process with only a cursory look at the traditional competition as well as the potential impact of new trends or technologies has led to market share self destruction. The emphasis is on market research and qualitative data.

As a good illustration, the Audio/Video, in-home entertainment, mobile devices and communications industries represent an excellent case in point. These are all industries with very clear market leaders that are now struggling to compete with new products and /or systems that are connecting with a new consumer who is on the grid; who is product savvy; who is environmentally concerned and who wants immediate access to the latest of everything that is just a ‘point-and-click’ away. Consumers just want to ‘plug and play’. They don’t want to order or wait for CD’s, DVD’s, videos or have to buy a new device to get new features.

These same consumers make choices and form opinions from Social Utility Networking Applications like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn (primarily a business relationship networking site) and beware, these may also be also the same consumers that have no problem posting positive and negative videos about your company on YouTube.  They will share positive or negative press or reviews about your product on Digg, a social news website. They willingly provide their own interpretation of your marketing or logos on MySpace and at the end of the day, have the power, through Twitter micro blogging, to spread news faster than the New York Times, who is also on Twitter themselves.

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Are the right wing leaning, very conservative Drudge Report or the left leaning liberal Huffington Post relevant internet news hubs?  Well, the Drudge Report, founded in 1997, drew international recognition in 1998 as first news network to break the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal. After Matt Drudge’s report, Newsweek published the story. The DrudgeReport.com consists mainly of a selection of hyperlinks to news websites all over the world. A few years ago, the two man team of Drudge and Andrew Breitbart moved the website from their LA apartment to Drudge’s home in Miami, Florida. This virtual news network will see Gross Revenue for 2009 projected at million. Nielsen NetRatings reports a combined 5.3 million Drudge/Breitbart website visitors per month with visitors spending an average of 66 minutes per visit. USAToday.com has 10.7 million visitors monthly. Is this relevant ? You decide. As that marketing icon Bob Dylan would say, ‘the times they are a changing.’

 This could all seem like bad news, or possibly shock therapy to a Marketing Department but on the other hand it could serve your company well as a competitive advantage. As a key component at the front end of the Strategic Planning Process to either gather market research or to use it as an additional tool to disseminate information to key market segments.

A word of caution should be added to all of this as well. ‘Those who talk don’t know and those who don’t know, talk.’  Validate your sources to be sure the research is qualitative research.

Embracing new technologies like blogging, wiki’s, news networks, social networks and micro blogging can possibly build brand loyalty faster than many traditional methods of reaching consumers in these particular market segments. It cannot be ignored. More e-communication in various forms now takes place between individuals via these networks than through e-mail.

The new consumer is evident everywhere. It is no accident that bricks and mortar video rental stores like Blockbuster and Rogers are giving way to other alternatives. Interestingly enough, over 53% of their rental revenue came from late return charges. Some initial indications of change took place in larger cities like New York, LA and San Francisco. With Real Estate costs at a premium it created the perfect opportunity for NetFlix. Consumers could order their movies; the movie would arrive at their doorstep and then, once viewed, is returned via the mail. A process however, that was still a bit clumsy.

Now, the ‘new and improved’ NetFlix of Cisco Systems Inc. HD broadband Video-on-demand subscribers have video direct streaming access to over 12,000  HD or Blu-Ray titles as well as PVR services like TiVo. Viewers can order online, view online, and even store it online and watch it any time they want. Both NetFlix and On-Demand represent corporate strategies to improve the consumer experience.

With those questions then, what are the answers? The answer to all these questions again is simple: timely qualitative research. It could also be called the 4R’s of Marketing. The right product, at the right time at the right price to the right consumer; AKA the building block derivatives of an in depth strategic planning process.

The Strategic Planning Process is the first step within the discipline of Business Process Management. The follow-up steps are then Business Case Methodology to ensure that each and every meaningful Company initiative is accompanied by a detailed Business Case for Senior Management and/or Board approval. 

The next stage in Business Process Management is either the Product Development Process or the Project Management Process that represents a disciplined, staged workflow process to ensure on time/on budget results. Built into each of the ‘processes’ are ‘go and no go’ check points for timely reporting back to Senior Management/Board.

The final stage of the completion of the project would be its transfer into Operations. The final stage of the completion and launch of the product would be the transfer of product responsibilities into the Product Management Process.

The fact that the marketplace is in transition across each end every industry segment isn’t new. Change and survival are commonplace and at least in concept are not a great deal different than ‘The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection’ by Charles Darwin. Those companies that are best prepared for the ‘New Reality’ will thrive and those that are not well prepared will despair. There is nothing particularly unique about the key components Business Process Management. Similarly, the fact that the ‘excellence companies’ have engrained both the discipline and the fundamentals of Business Process Management into the evolution of their businesses is also not unique.

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Question by MrsB: Do you know of any legit market research companies?
I’m looking for paid market research studies. Are there any reputable ones that you’ve used? I’m in the Philadelphia, PA area, but many companies have offices in multiple states. I’ve use J. Reckner a few times.

Best answer:

Answer by snare chikka
im not sure… i wish i could answer but uhm you seem like you could help with my marketing problem…

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ard_uzpmAQHk.2QQFi6TUhjsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20100122125903AABfqJm

Add your own answer in the comments!

Commercial real estate in India – recovering from the downtrend

Commercial real estate in India was hit the worst during the economic meltdown in the second half of 2008. Commercial rentals in top metros plummeted by more than 30-40%. Lately, following the residential segment, the commercial segment has started showings signs of recovery. With the economy back on a high growth trajectory and the ambitious hiring plans of outsourcing services and KPO companies, the demand for commercial space is poised to rise. Market research depicts an additional demand for ~243 mn sft of commercial space across India to be generated during 2010-2013. While Bangalore leads with the highest demand for commercial space, NCR (National Capital Region) is catching up owed to the emergence of outsourcing services, data management, equity research, analytical research, market research, business analysis and research companies in Gurgaon and Noida over the past few years.

India’s outsourcing services/off-shoring industry – an introduction

The genesis of outsourcing services lies in the fact that labour can’t be freely traded in the global market, while commodities and capital can. The trend towards outsourcing services to India and other low cost destinations began in the early 1990s. It was primarily driven by the cross border arbitrage that these destinations offer. Many international outsourcing companies reaped the benefits of this arbitrage by sourcing their production or service operations (initially low-end data management to more complex KPO services like equity research, analytical research and investment research etc) to lower-wage emerging-market country like India.

In 2009, India’s share of the global offshoring market valued at USD 94 billion was nearly 51%; thus, providing immense potential for expansion, as the global offshoring market is still a small fraction of the global outsourcing services industry valued at USD235 billion as on 2009. This provides a huge scope to the Indian IT, outsourcing services and KPO companies to create new service offerings and widen their geographical reach by entering newer regions. In the next few years, we expect the labor cost arbitrage offered by India to generate stronger interest for the outsourcing services / KPO companies to enter into the country.

The Indian KPO services industry is expected to reach ~USD6 bn in revenues in 2010-11 and ~USD10 bn by 2013-14. These KPO companies provide a wide range of solutions including data management, research analytics, equity research, market research, investment research, business analysis and business research etc. It is expected that in the coming years both the volume and complexity of the work (especially equity research, market research, analytical research etc) being outsourced to Indian KPO companies, will increase.

Corporate real estate driven by outsourcing services/off-shoring industry

Commercial real estate is further subdivided into Corporate (Office), Retail and Hotels. Corporate real estate still remains in its infancy in India with the first ‘A’ grade classified office only dating back to the mid 1990′s. Currently, all major Indian metropolitan cities boast a substantial amount of ‘A’ grade office space. The initial waves, in the early 1990′s, of Western companies outsourcing services to India were accompanied by an acceptance of any kind of facility available, irrespective of the cost. However, these companies were not accessing the quality of corporate real estate and services available elsewhere in the world. Only recently the local property developers started to fully comprehend the workspace specifications required for IT-enabled outsourcing services or KPO services. This local development, in addition to greater exposure from international service providers, is beginning to enable the delivery of quality real estate solutions at economical costs suitable for BPO/KPO companies.

Business outsourcing – overall impact assessment

In 2006, the total supply of commercial office space (grade-A, non-captive) in National Capital Region (NCR), Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai together was recorded in the range of 40–45 million sq. ft (according to E&Y estimates). The absorption was primarily driven by the IT/ITES industry, which accounted for almost 70–75% of total absorption. Thereafter, a whopping 47 million sqft of absorption was seen in 2007 of which ~70% was absorbed by the IT/ITES sector. Office rentals have been rising in harmony with demand at 30-40% per annum from 2005 to 2008. However, during the recession a geographic de-concentration of the real estate activity was observed 1) from large metros like Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and NCR to tier II and tier III cities (such as Chandigarh, Chennai, Jaipur, Pune, Hyderabad, Kochi and Visakhapatnam) and 2) from Central Business Districts (CBDs) to Secondary and Peripheral Business Districts (SBDs and PBDs). This transition has been driven primarily by the shift of IT-BPO & KPO companies to these less expensive destinations.

A substantial downsizing of operations became the order of the day for the outsourcing companies hit by the recession. Consequently, the absorption of commercial space fell drastically to 37mn sft in 2008 and further to 26mn sft in 2009. Most micro-markets across the country witnessed a 15-25% decline in rentals in 2009, as compared to 2008. However, the story took a new turn in 2010, wherein the decline has slowed to almost zero and new projects have been announced.

The future looks vivid with promising growth forecasts

The Global IT outsourcing services industry is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% to USD 292 bn in 2013 as companies riding out of recession harness the need for information technology to retain competitive advantage. With the Indian economy estimated to grow above 7% in the near future, robust demand for office space is expected from companies, particularly in the IT/ITeS, KPO outsourcing, and analytical research services. Outsourcing services or BPO & KPO companies has emerged as key drivers of commercial real estate in India’s metro cities and is expected to generate a demand for 100-125mn sft of office space over the next five years. Market research pegs returns from realty in India at an average of 15% annually with a tremendous upsurge in commercial real estate on account of the Indian BPO/KPO services boom.

Lease rentals have been picking up steadily and there is a huge demand for quality infrastructure. Market research forecasts office rents to appreciate by mid-2011 and that more outright purchases would be made by MNCs and private equity firms. Additionally, IT/ITES and outsourcing companies will continue to account for 60-70% of office demand, further emphasizing the impact of the outsourcing services/KPO services industry on the commercial real estate market in India.

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The significance of market research is truly undeniable in the present day where competition prevails. It is vital for every business enterprise to know the factors that affect their business. This research is basically an analysis of the data collected through various methods. A good research helps to assess the behavioural pattern of the consumers.

How Does Market Research Help?

Market research is quite useful in augmenting business in many ways. Through a systematic collection of data, companies can analyse various aspects and improve their products accordingly. Different strategies are implemented by the companies to upgrade their products and services.

With the help of such an effective research, evaluation of consumer behaviour is possible. Consumer satisfaction is analysed through various types of researches. These researches are considered a vital and integral part of product development. It is also an important market strategy.

Growing Importance of Research

There has been a substantial increase in the need for market research as it allows companies to formulate policies that prove to be beneficial. Companies can easily evaluate their present performance and introduce changes for effective sales and increased profits.

According to the data collected, different types of marketing campaigns can be introduced which target the potential consumers, identify their preferences and make alterations accordingly. These researches aid in understanding the choices of the consumers. In addition to evaluating the existing markets, companies can also identify other opportunities available in the markets.

Market research also enables to identify the existing competitors and their business strategies. The effect of the strategies adopted by the competitors can also be analysed with the help of these researches. It is also an effect communication tool as companies can interact directly with the potential consumers to understand their preferences. Products can be manufactured according to the requirements of the potential consumers.

Market research is vital in reducing unwanted losses as it targets potential markets by analysing the exact demand of the consumers. It is essential in weighing the present success level of a company and analyses its drawbacks or pitfalls.

Types of Market Research

There are mainly two types of market research- the primary research and the secondary research. Methods of research are chosen according to the objectives of the research. Primary research involves collecting the data from the source directly. This is usually done through interviews, group discussions and surveys.

The primary research is further divided into quantitative and qualitative research. The quantitative research involves collection of data through surveys which are numerical. This method of research is less expensive and consumers are expected to answer questionnaires which consist of close ended questions.

The qualitative research on the other hand includes collection of information through group sessions or interviews. This involves time and money.

The secondary research involves analysing and using the data collected by magazines, government sources, libraries and internet. There are various sources which provide the required information for a research.

In short market research is crucial for companies to introduce latest products into the market, analyse the demand of existing products and identify opportunities.

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Frequently I am asked “how do you get information about the competition?” Most people are surprised when I tell them that getting useful competitive intelligence is actually the easiest part of managing successful business competition. One of the best methods to gain valuable competitive intelligence is so simple, straightforward, and productive that I have put it on my list of Business Competition Best Practices: Win Loss Research.

The benefits that win loss research routinely delivers include:

o Increasing your rate of successful wins in competitive sales situations

o Enhancing your product management and development initiatives

o Reducing the level of uncertainty involved in sales forecasting

o Strengthening top and bottom line results for your business

o Improving the efficiency of your sales cycle process

o Setting the stage for future business growth

Win loss research is a succinct, guided discussion with decision makers and who have been involved in your recent win and loss sales decisions. The goal is to learn what key distinctions they saw between you and your competitors, the importance of those distinctions and the value they assigned to each competitor. While the focus of this research is on gaining insight into how your competitors operate and how you fare in comparison, it is inevitable that you also gain valuable customer information in the process.

Win Loss Research drills down beyond standard pricing issues and gets into territories such as: decision process, sales team approach and professionalism, company reputation, product attributes, service issues, and handling of proposals. Although pricing information is involved, it should not be the centerpiece of the research unless it becomes apparent that it really was the key issue that drove the decision. The goal of Win Loss Research is to provide you with competitive insight you can act upon – actionable competitive intelligence – for sales process improvement and better results.

Typically this research is conducted either over the telephone or in a face-to-face interview. The latter is more common in places and cultures where that is the preferred communication modality. Getting the results that you want out of Win Loss Research is a combination of art and science; art being the skill of the researcher in eliciting the intelligence that you need; science being the development of a research guide that facilitates the discovery of actionable competitive intelligence.

As with almost anything worth doing, focusing on Critical Success Factors (CSFs) increases the likelihood that you will get what you need. For win loss research, focusing on the following CSFs will greatly increase your likelihood of obtaining productive competitor intelligence:

1) Selecting the optimal mix of win and loss opportunities to research is a reasonably complex task which must be done correctly to ensure that you are gaining insight from the target markets that matter most.

2) Development of a stimulating research survey that operates as a guide rather than a questionnaire is the backbone to outstanding results.

3) Using trained researchers who are skilled at eliciting useful information will usually provide more actionable intelligence.

Perhaps not surprising, the tone and quality of the initial research request can make or break your ability to get robust participation.

A common pitfall among companies that report doing win loss research is that they have their employees, typically the sales representatives, perform the research. You do need to have your sales people find out what happened. This should precede Win Loss Research which goes beyond the limited conversation from your sales reps’ debriefing. However, if the problem emanates from the quality of your sales person’s professionalism, it is not likely that you will learn this critical piece of information unless you use other resources for your research. It defies human behavior to think that the customer will feel comfortable being candid with a sales rep who has not met their expectations or that the sales rep will be candid in passing along information that may be construed as unfavorable to them.

An extraordinary thing about win loss research is that any size or category of company should be able to implement this as an ongoing business practice and see steady gains in their customer acquisition and sales. This form of research is not particularly costly or difficult to do, yet it does take a certain willingness to expose yourself to news that may make you uncomfortable at times.

One of the most frequent comments our researchers hear is a compliment to our clients for taking the time to learn and improve from their experience. Once you establish a practice of doing win loss research routinely and take action on the results, your company will realize the benefits of implementing this business competition best practice.

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Question by elasticity: How important would the knowledge of Logit regression analysis be on a cv for a Market research job?
I have studied economics and my knowledge of marketing is sketchy. I know about cross tabs. Basically I am looking for a Market research job where I use my data analysis skills . What would be the name of such a position?

Best answer:

Answer by AKD
Database analyst– regression skills are key for direct marketing analysts.

Give your answer to this question below!

Question by Julien I: How can I get free market research online?
I’m trying to find market research or an industry trend analysis for the Cosmetics industry and the Nutrition Industry. Any resources would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Best answer:

Answer by RandyH
I think you can find info like that @ NASDAQ you should find a page on sectors. Its not what I use …bbut you did say freeeeeeeeee

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Question by elmeroguapo: How much should I charge for a market research report?
What is a good price to charge a company that wants me to do a custom market research report on the pharmaceutical industry for a medium-sized country?

I realize that the price you might recommend would depend on the parameters of the study, but if you could suggest a range?

For example, 5k for a 10-page briefing of the main players, 10k for a 20-page report including interviews, etc.

Best answer:

Answer by Dr. Richards
Well you have it about right in your example I would say.

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Question by JaneK: Where Can I find the market and marketing research reports?
Who can suggest me that the companies in USA that can provide me the paid reports of “market research” and “marketing survey” in infant furnishing (as stroller, high chair…etc)? And the companies are stable and believable.

Best answer:

Answer by Qs_and_As
http://www.marketresearch.com is a clearinghouse of market research reports from many different companies.

What do you think? Answer below!