introduction to market research industry

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INTRODUCTION TO MARKET RESEARCH

INDUSTRY

HISTORY

Market research was an offshoot of the advertising boom of the 1950s in the USA.

Advertisers began to realise the significance of demographics revealed by Radio and

television sponsorship, and to seek more direct feedback about their markets.

The USA accounts for nearly 39% of the market research expenditures worldwide. About

40% of all market research is conducted in Western Europe and 9% in Japan. Most of the

European research is done in Germany , the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Spain.

With Globalization of markets and post cold war regime the worlds economy is no longer a

simple three way battle the United States, Japan and Germany. Revenue generated outside

these economic giants is becoming a major growth and expansion driver now and the top

market research firms around the world dont want to confine themselves to their premises

alone. With their subsidiaries , branch offices and affiliates they are also expanding their

horizon

HOW TO START A BUSINESS?

For starting up a business, there are some important things:

Market information

Through Market information you can know the prices of the different commodities in the

market, the supply and the demand situation. Information about the markets can be obtained

from different sources and varieties and formats.

Market segmentation

Market segmentation is the division of the market or population into subgroups with similar

motivations. it is a widely used for segmenting on geographic differences, personality

differences, demographic differences, techno graphic differences, use of product differences,

and psychographic differences and also gender differences.

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Market trends

The upward or downward movements of a market, during a period of time. The market size is

more difficult to estimate if you are starting with something completely new. In this case, you

will have to derive the figures from the number of potential customers or customer segments.

But besides information about the target market, you also need information about your

competitor, your customers, products etc. Lastly, you need to measure marketing

effectiveness. A few techniques are:

Customer analysis

Choice Modelling

Competitor analysis

Risk analysis

Product research

Advertising the research

Marketing mix modelling

WHY MARKET RESEARCH?

It is usually said that if marketing would be a train, then market research would be the

locomotive. In other words, market research should ideally be the starting point of any

marketing exercise. Conducting any marketing exercise - be it related to pricing, promotion

or distribution of a product or service, without researching the potential market is as sensibleas setting out to sell sand in the Sahara Desert.

Market research provides the answers to all the questions that generally occupy the

minds of marketers, at every stage of the marketing process.

Will there be a demand for my product or service?

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What should be the ideal price of my offering - one that ensures that I earn themaximum profit?

Should I place my product only in urban markets or distribute even in the rural areas?

What should be the preferable media to promote my offering?

Would it be better if I replaced the pale green packets with bright yellow ones?

Is the fourfold growth in my sales figures a consequence of our latest television

commercial?

How satisfied are our customers with the after sales services we provide?

What image comes to the minds of consumers when they hear our company's name?

It's really crucial to understand your target market before undertaking any marketing exercise,

unless you don't mind risking your hard-earned money and precious time on activities that

might not get you the results you want.

Simply put, ignoring market research before marketing is synonymous with firing a

shot in a pitch dark room, and still hoping that the bullet hits the bulls eye.

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Top ten of the market research sector 2006

TOP

MARKET

RESEARCH

FIRM AND

THEIR

PROFILE

AC NIELSEN

This company

was founded in

1923 in Chicago,

Illinois, by

Arthur C.

Nielsen, Sr., in

order to give

marketers

reliable and

objective information on the impact of marketing and sales programs. ACNielsen beganexpanding internationally in 1939, and now operates in more than 100 countries. One of

ACNielsen's best known creations is the Nielsen Ratings, which measure television, radio

and newspaper audiences in their respective media markets. In 1950 they began attaching

recording devices to a statistical sample of about 1200 consumer television sets in the U.S.

These devices used photographic film in mail-in cartridges to record the channels viewed by

the consumer and thus determine audience size. Later they developed electronic methods of

data collection and transmission. In 1996, ACNielsen split off this part of its operations into a

separate company called Nielsen Media Research (NMR), which operated as an independent

company until it was acquired by Dutch conglomerateVNU in 1999.Another market research

tool is the Home scan program where sample members track and report all grocery and retail

purchases, allowing purchasing patterns to be related to household demographics. Homes

can covers several countries including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the

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Rank Company

Sales in 2006

(million USD) Growth in %

1 Nielsen Company 3,696.0 2.6

2 IMS Health Inc. 1,958.6 8.9

3 Taylor Nelson Sofres 1,851.1 2.5

4 Kantar Group 1,401.4 4.1

5 GfK AG 1,397.3 5.4

6 Ipsos 1,077.0 6.5

7 Synovate 739.6 9.5

8 IRI 665.0 6.6

9 Westat 425.8 0.8

10 Arbitron 329.3 5.9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago,_Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago,_Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Nielsenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Nielsenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Ratingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_markethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Media_Researchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conglomerate_(company)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VNUhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homescanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USDhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Companyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMS_Health_Inc.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Nelson_Sofreshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kantar_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GfK_AGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipsoshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synovatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitronhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USDhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Companyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMS_Health_Inc.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Nelson_Sofreshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kantar_Grouphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GfK_AGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipsoshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synovatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitronhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago,_Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago,_Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago,_Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Nielsenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Nielsenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Nielsenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Ratingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_markethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_Media_Researchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conglomerate_(company)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VNUhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homescanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom


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United States. In 2004, ACNielsen chose the Cipher Lab CPT-8001 as its data collection

terminal for the Home scan program throughout Asia

IMS HEALTH INC

IMS Health is an international company that supplies the pharmaceutical industry with sales

data and consulting services. IMS Health was founded in 1954 by Bill Froch and David

Dubow. Today IMS has operations in more than 100 countries, a global workforce of 7,600+

employees, and revenues of $2 billion. It recently moved its headquarters from Fairfield, CT

to Norwalk, C

TAYLOR NELSON SOFRES

London-based Taylor Nelson Sofres plc is the world's fourth largest market research

specialist, with 150 offices in over 40 countries. The company, which leads the United

Kingdom and French markets, has extended its reach to a further 20 countries through a

series of strategic partnerships. Taylor Nelson Sofres provides customized market research

and analysis to many of the world's leading multinational corporations; the company has also

developed a series of branded research products and services, including the Miriad

information system; the customer commitment and loyalty scale Conversion Model; Need

scope, used for understanding the customer-brand relationship; FoQus2, for measuring

customer satisfaction; and Optima, for the management of brand portfolios. The combination

of Taylor Nelson AGB and Sofres in 1997 created a global market research company

specializing in such categories as consumer panels, a segment in which the company is

worldwide leader; television audience measurement, using the viewer ratings system People

Meter to challenge industry leader A.C. Nielsen; the automotive, healthcare, and

telecommunications industries; media monitoring; and information technology. In 2000, the

company moved to increase its position in the growing Internet market, with the US$88

million acquisition of Competitive Market Research from rival VNU Marketing Information,

Inc. The company's move into the Internet market has been further bolstered by the creation

of a dedicated Internet division. Taylor Nelson Sofres has grown strongly since the last half

of the 1990s, building its revenues from just 80 million in 1995 to more than 380 million in

1999.

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ARBITRON

Arbitron specializes in gathering data related to consumer usage of broadcast media. Arbitron

collects data related to radio listening and television viewing habits that is used to assign

ratings to particular stations and programs. When we hear that a particular news program is

the top rated station in your market, the assertion is likely based on data collected, complied,

and evaluated by Arbitron.

GFK GROUP

The GFK is a multinational market research corporation with more than 115 operational

businesses

each of which is focused on providing top notch research services to clients in more than 90

different countries worldwide. The firm offers services in five primary business divisions, as

follows:

Consumer Tracking (data collection related to consumer behaviour)

Custom Research (strategic marketing across all sectors)

Healthcare (focused on pharmaceutical research)

Media Usage and Reach

Retail and Technology (consumer goods retail sales)

MARITZ MARKET RESEARCH

Maritz Research is widely recognized as one of the top market research companies. The

company's goal is to help its clients understand, enable, and motivate their customers.

Maritz's approach to research focuses on helping customers understand issues related to

customer choice, service experience, and loyalty.

The firm emphasizes providing data that helps clients answer the following questions:

Choice: Why do customers choose to do business with your organization?

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Experience: What actually happens when customers interact with your organization?

Loyalty: What factors cause your customers to return or choose to do business with your

competitors instead of you?

SYNOVATE

Synovate is a multinational market research firm, operating offices in more than 50 countries

around the world. The company specializes in helping customers around the world

understand the issues that impact their ability to succeed in the marketplace.

NPD Group

The NPD Group has been involved in market research since 1967 and is today one of the top

market research companies in the world. The firm specializes in helping its clients understand

and capitalize on trends in consumer buying behaviour. The company offers custom research

services, and also provides clients with data gathered from its consumer panel and point of

sale purchase tracking services.

INDIAN MARKET RESEARCH FIRMS

D Cross Tab - Online market research agency

Delphi Research Services - Market research organisation

Diksha Research, Coimbatore - Online market research and public relations services

IMRB International, Mumbai - Market research agency

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http://www.synovate.com/http://www.npd.com/http://business.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Sales_Reportshttp://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=978206113http://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=978206113http://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=968970712http://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=968970712http://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=961761200http://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=961761200http://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=935851038http://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=935851038http://www.synovate.com/http://www.npd.com/http://business.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Sales_Reportshttp://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=978206113http://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=968970712http://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=961761200http://www.searchindia.com/cgi-bin/search/index.cgi?ID=935851038


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introduction to market research industry

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