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Market research supplement
11
before launching a campaign to “The phrase ‘how long is a piece of find that it can be useful to carry
elicit the depth and quality results you string?’ rings true in answer to the out pre- and post-activity market
need to attain ROI.” question about the ‘typical price’ for ‘dips’ to provide an indication of
a piece of research as it can vary shifts in market perceptions.
Q. At what point of the business depending on many variables including: “There has to be some kind
development process is market The type of research commissioned – of activity to measure and if you
research in the B2B arena most market assessment versus customer are going to market, you need to
appropriate? satisfaction. be sure you are going to do
A. Andrew Dalglish, director at The scope of research commissioned something useful with the information
Circle Research, says: “Market – UK focused versus European you gather or run the risk of
research can provide a significant focused/quantitative versus qualitative. focusing stakeholder attention on
return on investment. For example, Methods used – e-survey versus unaddressed issues.”
imagine the additional revenues telephone versus face-to-face.
and margins generated by pricing Respondent role – marketing versus
exactly at the market’s sweet spot; procurement versus technical.
Quantitative versus
imagine the ease with which the sales “Typically, you can commission a
Qualitative research
force can shift a product that matches qualitative project involving face-to-face
the market’s needs precisely and focus groups or tele-depth interviews for Quantitative research often involves large
is clearly differentiated; imagine around £10,000. This is assuming the samples of people. It is used to measure how
being able to respond to a research is UK-focused. However, in the many people might think, act or feel about a
fundamental shift in the market B2B arena, a lot of projects may need particular issue, a product or a service.
before the competition.” scoping out with qualitative work needing Structured questionnaires are often used for
He suggests that effective, to be carried out upfront to understand the quantitative research and these usually
professionally conducted research lie of the land in a market or to find out the incorporate closed questions with
can provide the information to make issues that customers face and how set responses.
these scenarios a reality and typically they express what is important to Quantitative research might be used
supports the marketing process them. This would be followed by a to measure:
best at four key stages: quantitative stage to measure the • Which groups or types of people like your
Creating an offer plus positioning number of respondents holding a new product the most.
and USP based firmly on market needs. certain view or behaving in a certain • What type of advertising has the most
Identifying core messages and way. This could be carried out via an dramatic impact on a particular group.
language which will strongly resonate e-survey or over the telephone and • Shifts in customer satisfaction with a product
with the market. for this type of research design or service over a particular timeframe.
Identifying the optimum pricing (qual/quant) you would expect to
model and point. pay in the region of £20,000 to Qualitative research is used to help
Monitoring the health of customer £25,000. The average project size understand how people feel and why
and stakeholder relationships. at B2B International is £23,000 but they feel as they do, whether it be
Dalglish continues, “Of course, then out of the 150 projects we carry about a certain product, a brand or a
there are as many other areas to out annually some of these might particular advert.
explore through research as there amount to £250,000 if the focus is Qualitative research uses open-ended
are business challenges. But there of a global nature.” questions and is more concerned with
is also a need to be pragmatic as the collecting of in-depth information
budgets are finite and conducting Q. How important is the issue of on perceptions and thoughts than
too much research can actually timing and when is a good time to straightforward statistical data.
hinder decision making. So by ‘go to market?’ Qualitative research might be used
keeping focused on these areas A. Cara Berry, MD of BPRI, says, to find out:
where a research investment can “The thing to remember is that it is • Exactly what it is about an ad, product or
arguably make the biggest impact, not just a case of how often you go service a person likes or dislikes.
it’s hard to go wrong.” to the market but how much time • Why a person feels a certain way about a
you should leave before measuring particular brand.
Q. What are the pricing options when the responses to your actions. • What kind of service or product would a
commissioning a piece of research? Businesses run the risk of going person would prefer to see?
A. Nick Hague, MD with B2B back to the market too soon. We
International, says, “In today’s world
where information is at everyone’s
“Before embarking on an in-house research
fingertips online and where market
reports can be bought off the shelf,
campaign, pull together internal
it is often thought that market
perceptions of your target audience. Pool
intelligence can be bought for as
little as £3000. This is true if you are
your knowledge base and understanding to
looking for a generic report on a
determine if internal audience perception is
particular industry or sector but when
commissioning ad-hoc market research
based on current trends and information or
that needs to be tailored to a company’s
legacy understanding”
specific brief then the cost of research
can be a lot more. Claire Roy, head of research and marketing, Kingpin Intelligence
B2BM SEPTEMBER 08 – www.b2bm.biz
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