PART I: MARKET RESEARCH
1. The world of market research
What is ‘Market ‘research’?
- Roughly you have 3 types of research, that different by their fundamental purpose and
intention.
- Market research is research to explore a market…
o Market research consists of systematically gathering data about people or companies (a
market) and then analyzing it in order to better understand:
What that group of people needs
How they experience and evaluate certain products and services
How they perceive the image of a company and its competitors
What drives them to behave in a certain way
…
o The results of market research, which are usually summarized in a report, are used to
help business owners make more
informed decisions about the
company’s strategies, operations
and potential customer base. It
helps a company to better plan and
focus its efforts.
o “What information and knowledge do
I need to perform better in my
business?”
1.2. The objectives of market research
- Market research is applied when…
o A company or organization has a question, and they want to know the answer(s) to this
question as the answer will help them to perform better in their business.
Perform better =
More sales
Consumers are more satisfied
Improvement of the image
Better performance of an application
The win of time and effort in a process (cost-efficiency)
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- The need for market research always comes from a business need or business objective:
- Examples
o Business objectives:
Lu wants to raise the awareness of its new cookie brand from 20 to 30% in the
Belgian market and wants people to know it is a healthy and tasty cookie.
Proximus wants to improve the satisfaction of customers of the help desk.
CCE wants to let grow the market share of Coca cola zero in the market of soft
drinks with a new communication.
Start-up X wants to launch a new application in the area of business communication.
o Research objectives:
Lu wants to measure the current awareness of my new cookie brand in Belgium in
the target group of 15-65 years old.
Proximus wants to understand what makes a customer feeling helped and satisfied
when having contacted the Proximus helpdesk.
CCE wants to explore what the typical Cola Zero moment is.
Start-up X knows its target group, but they are not sure whether the app covers all
needs that these companies might have.
o Research questions:
Do people know Brand x? Are there differences in age groups/region? What do
people know about the brand?
For what reasons do people contact the Proximus call center? What do expect
from this call? What makes them satisfied? What makes them dissatisfied?
On which moment do people drink soft drinks? When do they choose for Cola Zero?
What does the target groups think of the new app? How feels the navigation?
What is missed? What can be improved?
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1.3. How to answer research objectives?
- How can research questions be answered? 3 main methods:
- Curation
o Annotation
The data get tags and comments so it can be organized by communalities and
differences.
o Interpretation
The organized data gets meaning by analysis, insights and conclusions.
o Presentation
The insights and conclusions are presented in a visible and easy to read way.
o What is the difference between desk research and curation?
Desk research just refers to the fact you search and find information from behind
your desk, without going into the field.
Curation is the new term that refers to the organization and analysis of big data.
Big data refers to date with sizes that exceed the capacity of traditional usual
software to process within an acceptable time and value. The data is often
gathered through the use of products and services by its customers.
E.g.: Google, Facebook, use of your phone, use of a loyalty card, usage of energy
…
o Method: deep dive in different sources of data, in information that is already out there:
Google
Big data – Internal data
Academic research
Trend watchers
User generated content
Newspapers, magazines
Existing (academic) research
o So, curation is doing research on data that is already out there. But it’s not a copy/paste!
You have to analyze and interprete the information and data.
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