Brand Development | Market Research Plan
Market Research Plan
Effective market research results in more information and information reduces risk in decision-making. AbsoluteBrand's Market Research Plan can help you to reduce risk by asking the right questions. We help you to decide what information is needed to help make more informed decisions without spending unnecessary time and money.Our Market Research Plan will list the information components using internal, external, position, decision and forecast information. We find that often, the information to make decisions is already within your organization.
The market research process is complex, can be expensive and needs to be managed carefully. We match types of research against types of information need. Successful decisions are affected by the quality of the information used, which, in turn, is affected by the quality of the whole research process.
First, we determine what information is necessary. Then we draw up a list of possible internal sources of information matched against specific information needs. We consider sales reports, customer complaints, summaries of press clippings, SEC filings, annual reports and financial statements to start.
Next we consider external sources. Many times, we find that someone else has already done the work. For example, government agencies, non-profit organizations, associations and universities often publish reliable data at inexpensive costs. However, we exercise caution with other people's information until its reliability is tested.
The next step is the application of qualitative methods, such as in-depth discussions or focus groups, to discern the real reasons why buyer buy or don't buy, like or dislike products, services, advertisements and more.
Then we apply quantitative methods with hard data, including statistics buy v. not buy, like v. dislike, aware v. unaware, etc.
Most importantly, AbsoluteBrand applies low tech common sense to all of our workstreams. We have developed confidence in our common sense abilities by observing, asking, listening, talking and understanding your company and its employees.
AbsoluteBrand's Market Research Plan results in an online information resource that links into the Brand Valuation Model.
One option we offer is to place the Market Research Plan online within your intranet. You need the marketing information to get the right to the right people at the right time.
Marketing Activity
Your marketing plan should grasp the relationship between corporate and marketing planning. There are many different types of plans. Corporate plans tend to cover the bigger issues and the longer term. However, planning should be both top down and bottom up. Mission statements can appear in both marketing and corporate plans. There are long, medium and short-term time horizons. Plans must be flexible and revised as needed.AbsoluteBrand's marketing planning analyzes the following:
- Where your company is now, including an internal and an external analysis.
- Where your company wants to go, including key performance indicators, strengths/ weaknesses and sustainable competitive advantage.
- How will your company get there, including tactical details, project management and daily activities?
Marketing Accountability
We analyze marketing activity, particularly focusing on its impact on business value. This helps to appreciate the valuable parts of the marketing function and identify areas for improvement.- Analyzing the impact of marketing activity on business value
- Assessing market research
- Marketing budget allocation
- Interaction with other business value drivers
- Tracking models
- Brand Analysis
- Market Research Plan