This paper shares some ideas on the ways the Market Research Department can operate under various budget structures. Such structures are subject to pressures both from the changing demands of the Company, and from within the department. The question is raised "would the interchange of such information and experience between market researchers in Companies be helpful, and if so how could ESOMAR further such interchange?"
Quest International is an Anglo-Dutch Company and one of the largest suppliers of fragrances to the worldwide consumer goods industry, having been formed recently through the merger of PPF International and Naarden International. PPF has been working with RBL-Research International UK for a number of years on worldwide market and product mapping studies which illustrate how a standardised but highly diagnostic data collection and analysis procedure can be applied to study international brands in any market of the world. Few businesses are more internationally-based than the supply of fragrances to the world's fmcg companies. Although Quest is one step removed from the ultimate consumer, it is only by understanding the latter's relationship to brands that they keep the business of their own clients. Clearly Quest cannot match each of their client's worldwide research resources and budgets. Instead Quest must use its market research budget with considerable efficiency and skill in order to remain in touch with the worldwide consumer. Brand mapping enables them to do this.
My purpose for being here today is to present the findings of communications studies conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, my parent company, among industrial customers. Opinion Research Corporation does not suggest itself as expert in such detailed problems as industrial pricing strategy and product line decisions. What is presented are the insights gained from studying a variety of industries. We hope that a contribution might be made toward constructing communications systems for the industrial marketer that will include consideration of the psychological aspects of industrial marketing. The research evidence for this presentation is gained from two sources. The first source is personal interviews conducted among top executives, technical personnel, and purchasing agents and directors of case study companies. These companies were chosen to represent a wide range of industry problems. The typical, or more usual, approach to such a study would be to talk to purchasing people exclusively. This study includes these 3 key groups and looks at industrial purchasing and communications problems in depth. The second source of research evidence is ORC's background of experience in conducting industrial marketing studies for individual clients.