How market research is more than just hiney hygiene!

I can’t think of any classy way to say this, so I’ll just say it straight out. When you think of toilet paper you think of - - well -- hineys, bums, tushies, a caboose, keister, arse…. the list goes on. OK I admit it; I actually looked up slang words for buttocks!

But I digress. Procter & Gamble is the undisputed leader in the U.S. toilet paper market. Charmin toilet paper has been around for 70 years, so clearly it has wiped the cheeks of everyone from Harry S. Truman to Lady Gaga. They probably know everything there is to know about butts! Maybe there’s piped music blaring through their offices by Sir Mix-a-lot. "I like big butts, and I cannot lie!" Alright, maybe not, but how great would that be!

Advertising in Education - Old School or New School?

Marketing and advertising evident in a 1910 Schoolhouse

If you think that advertising in schools is a relatively new phenomenon, look closely at the wall of this 1910 restoration of Rosehill Schoolhouse at the Cherokee Strip Museum in Oklahoma. Along with the wood burning stove, well worn desks and dusty chalk boards you will notice a handful of advertisements for local businesses. Direct marketing in schools has been around for at least the last century; it is an interesting exercise to see how some of the marketing efforts have changed.

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The UK Pub Scene

After living in London for a year I can tell you that the British Pub is still the center of after-work activity, and in many parts, during work activity. But the Pubs are under siege from low-priced super-market beer, taxes and the living room.

According to a market research report by Marketresearch.com partner IBISWorld, the Pub and Bar industry got caught between legislative changes that bumped up the operating costs and the “crippling economic recession" that started in late 2008.

Apple and Market Research...I knew it

I knew it.
For years Apple claimed, or at least Steve Jobs did, that market research was something he just didn’t do. He famously said that he knew what the public wanted, not the customers.
However, the Wall Street Journal reported that in the patent war with Samsung they found studies entitled Apple Market Research and Analysis, surveying customers on iPhone preferences. Say what??

God Save the Queen (and Europe)

With celebrations across the land for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee ordinary subjects are enjoying their four-day weekend, street parties, fairs and a 1000 boat trip down the Thames. But economists are raining on the Queen's parades, derbies and big Balcony wave.
While the sale of bunting, teacakes, Royal gnomes and everything British are reaching record levels in the run up to the festivities, economists are saying this could prolong the European troubles. While the boost in consumer goods will help a little, the added bank holidays could reduce gross domestic product by .5% this quarter. Last year's Royal Wedding gave the economy a similar dip.This comes at the same time the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe announced the findings of its Mediascope Europe market research study which found nearly 430 million Europeans use the internet, spending an average of 14.8 hours per week. Significantly for merchants, the study of more than 50,000 people found 96% use the internet to research purchases online while 87% make online purchases.

So perhaps Brits will stay home during the four day weekend and shop online keeping the economy from going through a triple dip.

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Pinterest as Market Research

Pinterest as a place for sharing pictures, yes. But for Market Research? Well, yes.
If you don’t know Pinterest, it’s the hugely popular site that calls itself the online pinboard. It’s online social photo-sharing platform. Kaila Strong on Search Engine Watch astutely finds a number of ways to use it for market research. Calling market research social listening, a term I like very much, she says that knowing the kinds of images your customers like is helpful when developing products and putting together a marketing strategy. She looks into four areas where Pinterest can help you start your market research, following the direction of how Pinterest is set up. The site organizes “pins” into categories so a market researcher can look and see the most popular pins, the fonts that people like best, search in areas on the site where they want to launch their next product and see the latest, most popular pins in that area. There is also a gift section, where you can browse through what others (the competition) are doing. You can also see what terms people use to describe items on your current site. And finally you can scan the user boards to understand how your customers like to organize their information, using that insight to organize the navigation on your site. Lots of companies are still struggling with how to incorporate social networking into their sales and marketing strategies. But it is clear that companies can learn a lot about how their customers act based on their use of these sites. Pinterest for Market Research, pin that on your wall.

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