This week – fruitsofsuccess- is celebrating Marketing Week.
There will a new post each day on a marketing related topic . Today’s
subject is....
Marketing Research part 1
"Fools say that they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by others experience"
- Otto Von Bismarck
It is a powerful quote by a famous political leader and both an argument for education and training. Elsewhere I have heard 'experience' defined as merely mistaken related competence. Bismark's approach is also a useful attitude for marketers to adopt.
The military have always known the importance of spies and intelligence.
The quotation " Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted" is attributed to many military leaders, Clausewitz, Wellington and Montgomery to name just three.
We marketers may not have to fight wars in the military sense but competing in markets requires similar approaches when in comes to developing marketing insight.
I guess this the reason why many of the classic book lists on MBA courses are likely to include the classics of military strategy Sun Tsu, Clausewitz et al.
Marketing insight involves reconnaissance into
·
what HAS
HAPPENED in the market
·
what is
HAPPENING NOW in the market
·
what people
THINK and FEEL
·
what people
SAY WILL HAPPEN
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
- Sun Tzu, the Art of War
Some Information Marketers Require
· your buyer's needs,
preferences and requirements
·
size
of (potential) market in terms of buyers, sales volume and sales value
·
geographical
distribution of the market
·
types and
classifications of buyers
·
competitor
details (e.g. market shares, pricing policies, promotional methods etc.
·
environmental details (e.g. taxes, laws etc.).
Sources of Information
Information can be obtained from a variety of different
sources including:
· your sales
force
·
other
employees (e.g. service engineers)
· distributors,
agents etc.
·
competitors
·
trade
associations
·
government
bodies
·
internal
market research departments
·
market
research consultants
·
general or
specialist publications
·
buyers and
potential buyers themselves
Methods of Obtaining Information from (Potential)
Buyers
Information can be obtained by web surveys e.g. Survey monkey, mail surveys, telephone
surveys, personal interviews or focus group discussions. Usually this will require
statistical sampling methods to minimise error:
a) Random
Samples are based on totally random selections from the target population; to
allow for the resultant potential error, random samples usually need to be
larger than other kinds.
b) Quota
Samples are carefully designed to ensure that the sample include a fair
selection of the different types of buyer in the market.
c) Customised
Samples are even more precisely designed so that the final sample is as nearly
exactly representative as possible of the actual buyer population (in terms of
things like age, wealth, education, type of industry, size of company etc.).
d) Multi
Stage Samples are carried out regularly over a longer period of time so that
the information is constantly being kept up to date, and allowance is made for
any changes in attitudes or preferences over time.
A different approach which can be used is Test
Marketing where a product is actually offered to a section of the market to
test demand and buyer reaction. This
approach has the benefit that it is not dependent on what people say they will do, it is based on what they actually do do.
When choosing a method it is necessary to trade off
the cost of the method against the accuracy and reliability of the result.
Sources of Error in Surveys
Quite
apart from any inherent mathematical sampling errors there are several
potential practical sources of error.
·
people saying what they think they should say rather than what they really
feel.
·
biased or distorted samples.
·
inherent communication problems which exist in all human communication
processes (e.g. different interpretation of words).
·
questions or questionnaires being biased in the way they are phrased.
·
varying degrees of conscientiousness or subjectivity in researchers or
respondents
·
respondents with certain characteristics replying more readily than other
types of people.
·
poor timing of surveys.
Managing Your Marketing Research
All marketing research must be
cost effective and so it must be well planned and well managed. Here is a suitable sequence.
1) Identify
the problem and the exact objective(s).
2) Clearly
agree terms of reference with the parties involved.
3) Plan
the timing of the research itself and potential actions resulting from it.
4) Carry
out the actual research activities.
5) Analyse
and interpret the data carefully, looking for inconsistencies, biases, errors,
time distortions etc.
6) Summarise
and report as quickly as possible.
7) Make decisions and implement action where appropriate.
8) Review
the accuracy of the research in retrospect so that future research can be
improved.
9) Continue the research and update the information wherever
possible.
In the 1962 movie " Lawrence of Arabia", General Allenby (Jack Hawkins) says to T. E. Lawrence
(Peter O'Toole) that "I fight like Clausewitz, you fight like Saxe",
to which Lawrence
Maurice, count of Saxe "It is not big armies that win battles, it is the good ones!"
A good conclusion for this post
Related Links on Marketing
Related Links on Marketing
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