George Terhanian writes about the democratization of market research and asks what will happen when market research becomes streamlined and open to all?
Every product you interact with has been filtered through the$32-billion global industry. Every business of consequence values and demands the research because it’s vital to “innovation and competitive advantage.” He says the downside is the complexity, time and cost.
But now he sees a world where “just about anyone could pose questions to a target population and receive unfiltered, immediate answers they could trust.” It’s already happening when you post a picture on Facebook or ask a question on Twitter. The feedback, while lacking scale, coverage and diversity can be worthwhile and influence your decisions.
He expresses admiration for a variety of new tool for the more adventurous including Toluna’s QuickSurvey (Mr. Terhanian runs Toluna) which enables you to select the respondents and write the questions for a small fee, with a credit card, in minutes.
The DIY survey market is in $500 million range, he says, which includes companies like SurveyMonkey and Polldaddy, which sell subscription services to its survey engine. He likes survey more than the first movers because his product gives the customer “access to its community of four million prescreened responders in more than 30 countries. The business model is akin to selling a printer at low to no cost, and making money by selling the ink.”
He sees a lot of growth in this DIY market, but says it will depend on the quality of the information the DIY approach can produce and on whether or not people are willing to change their buying habits.
Learn about our company and the services and products we offer: http://www.marketresearch.com
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Market Research is Necessary Even for Small Local Businesses
A professor at the Jim Moran Institute at the College of Business at Florida State University implores people in a new article to do market research before embarking on new product.
Your feelings, your gut, or those of friends and family are not a sufficient measure of future demand. He also says passion is not enough, saying market conditions should be your guide.
He writes about a couple who went personally bankrupt after launching their pet business without realizing the saturation of competitors in their market.
He calls market research "due diligence," which will decrease your chances of making a bad decision on a new venture. He does admit there is “a price tag,” on this data, but then argues the value of it.
“Knowing the demand for your product or service allows you to accurately assess the viability of a business and limit your risk of failure.”
To prepare an accurate forecast you need to employ a market research firm and follow one of the following three approaches: Phone surveys of potential customers, a focus group or conducting a survey via mail or email.
Learn about our company and the services and products we offer: http://www.marketresearch.com
Your feelings, your gut, or those of friends and family are not a sufficient measure of future demand. He also says passion is not enough, saying market conditions should be your guide.
He writes about a couple who went personally bankrupt after launching their pet business without realizing the saturation of competitors in their market.
He calls market research "due diligence," which will decrease your chances of making a bad decision on a new venture. He does admit there is “a price tag,” on this data, but then argues the value of it.
“Knowing the demand for your product or service allows you to accurately assess the viability of a business and limit your risk of failure.”
To prepare an accurate forecast you need to employ a market research firm and follow one of the following three approaches: Phone surveys of potential customers, a focus group or conducting a survey via mail or email.
Learn about our company and the services and products we offer: http://www.marketresearch.com
Market Research in the Fields
The Indianexpress.com website writes this week about a group of students from the Punjab College of Technical Education who performed some hands on market research in poorly developed areas as they attempted to understand rural business models. They spent part of the week living and watching the people as they struggled to resolve their business problems.
From this work the students developed ideas to provide commodities at cheaper rates for these residents without compromising margins.
One of the students worked on making Indian mattresses by using scrap from the Ludhiana textile market. The student said they will make 100 per cent profit by adopting this model.
Another group designed a solar bulb, another student, after having spent a night at a vehra, where painters and masons live, decided to launch a product with a shaving cream in a sachet with a cap on it. His sachet with shaving cream would last three shaves.
After spending two nights in a village on the outskirts of the city a group decided to launch a soya milk product after noticing gross health neglect of both kids and adults.
Learn about our company and the services and products we offer: http://www.marketresearch.com
From this work the students developed ideas to provide commodities at cheaper rates for these residents without compromising margins.
One of the students worked on making Indian mattresses by using scrap from the Ludhiana textile market. The student said they will make 100 per cent profit by adopting this model.
Another group designed a solar bulb, another student, after having spent a night at a vehra, where painters and masons live, decided to launch a product with a shaving cream in a sachet with a cap on it. His sachet with shaving cream would last three shaves.
After spending two nights in a village on the outskirts of the city a group decided to launch a soya milk product after noticing gross health neglect of both kids and adults.
Learn about our company and the services and products we offer: http://www.marketresearch.com
Market Research in the Fields
The Indianexpress.com website writes this week about a group of students from the Punjab College of Technical Education who performed some hands on market research in poorly developed areas as they attempted to understand rural business models. They spent part of the week living and watching the people as they struggled to resolve their business problems.
From this work the students developed ideas to provide commodities at cheaper rates for these residents without compromising margins.
One of the students worked on making Indian mattresses by using scrap from the Ludhiana textile market. The student said they will make 100 per cent profit by adopting this model.
Another group designed a solar bulb, another student, after having spent a night at a vehra, where painters and masons live, decided to launch a product with a shaving cream in a sachet with a cap on it. His sachet with shaving cream would last three shaves.
After spending two nights in a village on the outskirts of the city a group decided to launch a soya milk product after noticing gross health neglect of both kids and adults.
From this work the students developed ideas to provide commodities at cheaper rates for these residents without compromising margins.
One of the students worked on making Indian mattresses by using scrap from the Ludhiana textile market. The student said they will make 100 per cent profit by adopting this model.
Another group designed a solar bulb, another student, after having spent a night at a vehra, where painters and masons live, decided to launch a product with a shaving cream in a sachet with a cap on it. His sachet with shaving cream would last three shaves.
After spending two nights in a village on the outskirts of the city a group decided to launch a soya milk product after noticing gross health neglect of both kids and adults.
Market Research as Competitive Intelligence
Market Research goes by many names, one of which is competitive intelligence, or CI. A new book pushes the value of CI saying that it’s about staying ahead of the competition.
The book, New Directions: A Competitive Intelligence Tale, is written by CI industry vets David Kalinowski and Gary Maag, who want to help CI analysts over-come the typical problems they face. The book is written as a case study, that according to the authors “reads like a mystery novel.”
A good primer on how to perform competitive intelligence and identifying the necessary components to help your business. Additionally there is a do’s and don’ts section and a process for showing how to integrate it into your business.
Learn about our company and the services and products we offer: http://www.marketresearch.com
The book, New Directions: A Competitive Intelligence Tale, is written by CI industry vets David Kalinowski and Gary Maag, who want to help CI analysts over-come the typical problems they face. The book is written as a case study, that according to the authors “reads like a mystery novel.”
A good primer on how to perform competitive intelligence and identifying the necessary components to help your business. Additionally there is a do’s and don’ts section and a process for showing how to integrate it into your business.
Learn about our company and the services and products we offer: http://www.marketresearch.com
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Plunkett on Market Research
Long time MarketResearch.com partner Jack Plunkett was recently interviewed for a nice spread in the Atlantic. Jack is CEO and publisher of Plunkett Research. The topics ranged from Jack’s thoughts on sustainability, transforming his publishing business to a digital one and our fresh water needs.
Publishing more than 20,000 pages a year Plunkett said he is becoming well known “for explaining potentially difficult technical and financial trends in a manner that readers of most types can understand.” These topics include nanotechnology, globalization, solar power and water conservation. Plunkett said the worldwide financial crisis is the most significant factor impacting sustainability because of lack of investment. “There's a growing focus on backing long-term winners, rather than pursuing sustainability simply as a statement about how green and caring a corporation is, or how eco-sensitive a government agency might be.”
One misconception he tackles is that people assume his costs are down because he can deliver his content electronically instead of printed. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Printing a book is a relatively simple, inexpensive process. Building and maintaining a subscribers-only website, with multiple servers, backups, relational databases, custom user tools, redundant power and Internet lines, along with the engineers and experts to keep it up to date is an immense cost.”
The biggest challenge, not currently on the radar screen is the challenge and shortage in sustainable water. “Someone is going to make an immense fortune by solving or improving on this problem, while making the world a better place,” he said.
You can read the whole article at http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/10/a-conversation-with-jack-plunkett-market-research-publisher/246014/
Learn about our company and the services and products we offer: http://www.marketresearch.com
Publishing more than 20,000 pages a year Plunkett said he is becoming well known “for explaining potentially difficult technical and financial trends in a manner that readers of most types can understand.” These topics include nanotechnology, globalization, solar power and water conservation. Plunkett said the worldwide financial crisis is the most significant factor impacting sustainability because of lack of investment. “There's a growing focus on backing long-term winners, rather than pursuing sustainability simply as a statement about how green and caring a corporation is, or how eco-sensitive a government agency might be.”
One misconception he tackles is that people assume his costs are down because he can deliver his content electronically instead of printed. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Printing a book is a relatively simple, inexpensive process. Building and maintaining a subscribers-only website, with multiple servers, backups, relational databases, custom user tools, redundant power and Internet lines, along with the engineers and experts to keep it up to date is an immense cost.”
The biggest challenge, not currently on the radar screen is the challenge and shortage in sustainable water. “Someone is going to make an immense fortune by solving or improving on this problem, while making the world a better place,” he said.
You can read the whole article at http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/10/a-conversation-with-jack-plunkett-market-research-publisher/246014/
Learn about our company and the services and products we offer: http://www.marketresearch.com
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Market Research Pioneer Nielsen, Dies
Market research pioneer Arthur C. Nielsen Jr., died this week, leaving a legacy that made his name synonymous with television ratings.
The 92 year old rose to run the company started by his father 88 years ago to revenue of more than $680 million. He was introduced to computers during his work in World War II when he constructed a building to house a computer. That building was used to calculate metrics for accurate firing of artillery guns. He recognized the value in this for the Nielsen Company which at that point was measuring sales for food and drug stores and some radio station audience measurements.
The company jumped into numerous markets including tracking subscription data for magazines and oil and gas wells and was a pioneer of scanning technology. However, the Nielsen name is best known in the media measurement world with a near monopoly in the television ratings arena.
A company retirement policy forced him out in 1983. The next year he helped structure the sale of Nielsen to Dun & Bradstreet for $1.3 billion in stock. Dutch publisher VNU has since bought it, but retained the well-known Nielsen name.
Learn about our company and the services and products we offer: http://www.marketresearch.com
The 92 year old rose to run the company started by his father 88 years ago to revenue of more than $680 million. He was introduced to computers during his work in World War II when he constructed a building to house a computer. That building was used to calculate metrics for accurate firing of artillery guns. He recognized the value in this for the Nielsen Company which at that point was measuring sales for food and drug stores and some radio station audience measurements.
The company jumped into numerous markets including tracking subscription data for magazines and oil and gas wells and was a pioneer of scanning technology. However, the Nielsen name is best known in the media measurement world with a near monopoly in the television ratings arena.
A company retirement policy forced him out in 1983. The next year he helped structure the sale of Nielsen to Dun & Bradstreet for $1.3 billion in stock. Dutch publisher VNU has since bought it, but retained the well-known Nielsen name.
Learn about our company and the services and products we offer: http://www.marketresearch.com
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