Rathinavel.

C
Business Manager -
IBM
Market Research’s Value and Introduction
 What is Market Research?

Without a clear direction we slow down, uncertain of where to head. Market Research
provides direction with clarity that allows for focused effort and speed.
Its all about the customer-- the more you know about the customer the more likely it is you can offer
the right product, at the right time, at the right place, with the right price

 Purpose Knowledge is the antidote to

 The aim of market research is not knowledge for fear.
the sake of knowledge but knowledge for the sake Ralph Waldo Emerson
of action.
 Thinking, seeing, measuring and investigating.
What we see depends
 Evidence Based Marketing mainly on what we look
for.
 Decisions
John Lubbock
 See Market Directions White Paper on Evidence Based
Marketing
 Benefits of Market Research
 Discovers what your customers want
and value
 Discovers loyalty drivers
 Discovers competitive position
 Basis for marketing plans
 Gathers evidence in support of actions
 Keeps marketing plans on track
 Did we meet our goals?
 Were our goals reasonable in relation
to market?
 Do we need to change direction as
environment changes?
 Applies universal findings to sample
markets and segments
 Enables you to benchmark
 Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities,
Threats--- relative to competition
 Avoids cost of bad marketing campaign
 Saves costs by targeting right message to
right audience
 Improves effectiveness of marketing
campaigns
 Is a learning and educational tool.

After hiring an experienced, qualified market research firm you should be able to
understand your customers better, identify market opportunities, make informed
marketing decisions, formulate business planning and use the data to justify more
creative and bolder business decisions.
 Market Research is considered when:
…. unexpected challenges or problems arise or
…. considering future (unknown) opportunities and growth.

Discovery

A new idea An event or

Evoke or product change occurs Provoke
evokes which provokes
action.
action. Trends
Insights
Research – More than nice to know.
Problems
Opportunity Challenges
Evidence
Are observations supported by data?---
Patterns/associations/ behavior?
Hypothesis
Are we ready to go where the
Proactive evidence/data points? Reactive
•New Products •Decrease Revenues
•New Markets What is the plan of action? •Customer Dissatisfaction
•Customer Satisfaction •New Technology
•Mature Product Life Cycle •Legislative Change
•New Marketing Strategies Is Benefit > Cost? •Economic Change
•Competitive Intelligence Final thoughts can
•Mergers/Acquisitions
go here
 Market Research Identifies Value –

– Reliability – Literal
– Price – Feature & Benefits
– Ease of Use – Quality
– Operating – Service Levels
Costs
– Expected
Outcome

Value – Benefits derived from burdens endured.

It is what each customer perceives it to be.
 … for you and your customers
Creating a Value Proposition
Offer Delivery
Product/Service Channel/Pro
• Evaluation Process cess
ROI for the
1. What do we do for our customers? Business
2. What’s in it for the customer?
3. Who is our target market? Business
Goals Value
Customer
4. How can customers be identified? Goals
Return on
5. How do we reach our customers? Experience
for the
6. How do we want to be perceived? Customer
7. What’s in it for us?

• Market Research Answers Questions With

1. Internal Surveys v Customer Perceptions
2. Observation/Surveys
3. Secondary Research
4. Information Analysis
5. Media Analysis
6. Internal Surveys/Interviews
7. Financials—Pricing, Margin, ROI, etc.
 Value Proposition
• Is not • Is
– Elevator Pitch – Essential
– Tag Line – Deliberate
– Company Messaging, – Specific
i.e. mission statement – A commitment
– Product Positioning, – Profitable
i.e. “We are the Best” – Relevant
– Internally Driven – Measurable
– Customer Centric – Competitive

Value Proposition – A commitment to deliver a specific experience,

profitably and competitively.
 Uncover Your Value Proposition– with
Market Research

• Determine- • Benefits of Value Proposition

– your customer’s definition of – Differentiate Offering
value
– your customer’s principal – Enable Customer’s
purchase criteria Justification
• Why, Who, Where, When, How
– Shorten Sales-Cycle
– buyer’s success criteria
• How do they measure? – Value Pricing
• How are they measured?
– Increase Customer
• Characterize-- Satisfaction
– who your customers/prospects
are: – LTV of Customer Increase
• Market Segment
• Industry
• Decision maker Its all about the customer-- the more you
know about the customer the higher the
• End-user
probability that you can offer the right
– decision process product, at the right time, at the right place,
• Group with the right price.
• Individual
• Budgeted
 Market Directions’ Value Proposition–
Our promise to you.

“We Accelerate Growth”

In order to accelerate your growth, Market Directions equips you with
information to help you build and sell offerings that your customers value.
The result of our work will help you understand your customers and your
business in a whole new way by experiencing your products and services
as your key customers do. Market Directions’ customized solutions,
proactive communication, high quality data and exceptional project
management is your solution for cost effective market research with
competitive advantages that deliver optimum client satisfaction.
 Research Design: Definition

• A research design is a framework or

blueprint for conducting the marketing
research project. It details the procedures
necessary for obtaining the information
needed to structure or solve marketing
research problems.
 Figure 3.4. A Classification of Market Research Designs

Research Design

Exploratory Research
Design Conclusive Research
Design

Descriptive
Causal Research
Research

Cross-Sectional Longitudinal
Design Design
 Uses of Exploratory Research

• Formulate a problem or define a problem more

precisely
• Identify alternative courses of action
• Develop hypotheses
• Isolate key variables and relationships for further
examination
• Gain insights for developing an approach to the
problem
• Establish priorities for further research
Methods of Exploratory Research

• Survey of experts (discussed in Chapter 2)

• Pilot surveys (discussed in Chapter 2)

• Secondary data analyzed in a qualitative way

(discussed in Chapter 4)

• Qualitative research (discussed in Chapter 5)

 Use of Descriptive Research

• To describe the characteristics of relevant

groups, such as consumers, salespeople,
organizations, or market areas.
• To estimate the percentage of units in a specified
population exhibiting a certain behavior
• To determine the perceptions of product
characteristics
• To determine the degree to which marketing
variables are associated
• To make specific predictions
Methods of Descriptive Research

• Secondary data analyzed in a quantitative as

opposed to a qualitative manner (discussed in
Chapter 4)
• Surveys (Chapter 6)
• Panels (Chapters 4 and 6)
• Observational and other data (Chapter 6)
 Major Types of Descriptive Studies

Descriptive
Studies

Consumer Market
Sales Studies
Perception Characteristic
And Behavior Studies
Studies

• Market Potential • Image • Distribution

• Market Share • Product Usage • Competitive

Analysis
• Sales Analysis • Advertising

• Pricing
 Uses of Casual Research

• To understand which variables are the cause

(independent variables) and which variables are the
effect (dependent variables) of a phenomenon

• To determine the nature of the relationship between

the causal variables and the effect to be predicted

• METHOD: Experiments
 Some Alternative Research Designs

Exploratory
Conclusive
Research
(a) • Secondary Data Research
•Descriptive/Causa
Analysis
• Focus Groups l

Conclusive
(b) Research
•Descriptive/Causa
l

Conclusive Exploratory
(c) Research Research
•Descriptive/Causa • Secondary Data
l Analysis
• Focus Groups
 Tasks Involved In a Research Design

Define the Information Needed

Design the Exploratory, Descriptive,

and/or Causal Phases of the Research

Specify the Measurement and Scaling

Procedures

Construct a Questionnaire

Specify the Sampling Process and the

Sample Size

Develop a Plan of Data Analysis