The paper presents a new hypothesis about how people perceive and relate to branded goods and services. It also describes some recent research that demonstrates how this hypothesis translates into reality. The findings are particularly relevant to international marketing people grappling with the problems of co-ordinating brand communications activities across borders, while coping with the pressures of updating, stretching, refining or reinforcing such brands in today's competitive environment.
Significant coverage of the dramatic events in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union has elevated the interest in doing business in these areas on the part of business people, government officials, and consumers alike. The importance of this activity to both the once controlled economies and the United States can not be overstated. One mechanism for achieving this business activity - joint ventures - is the focus of this article. All aspects of using research to examine U.S. joint venture activity in Hungary is discussed with particular respect to the resultant joint venture being a good mechanism for entering other markets in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, as well as the European Community.
Due to the expected changes in the fast moving consumer goods market in the 1990's, in terms of the geographical expansion and increasing brand and media competition, it is assumed that advertising decision risks will be higher than ever before. Therefore, the users of advertising research may have to be more demanding, and the credibility of advertising research might face an additional challenge. More than any other aspect of the marketing mix, the advertising business, including advertising research, is characterized by a gap between "theory" and practice, together with - relative to the complexity of the subject - insufficient communication among those involved in the advertising development process. Not rarely is advertising planned, conceptualized, executed, communicated and researched with each of the involved executives having a different theory in mind. On the surface, however, the client, the advertising agency and the researcher seem to work in harmony, due to their agreement on rough denominators; the so-called "common sense", "pragmatism", or the like. The radvesult of this apparent, but not actual agreement, is lack of depth, over-simplification and stereotyped advertising and research practices, which often handicap the real understanding of advertising effects kill advertising creativity and make effective research bearly possible. The suggested "way out" is putting the horse in front of the cart: making the theory a driving force for advertising research practices, not the other way round. In the following report the effects of the current relationship between theory and practice are discussed and suggestions are made to both the users and suppliers of advertising research, as to how the 1990's users can be helped and the validity/credibility of advertising research enhanced.
Huge changes are occurring in South Africa. Change in Africa has occurred, as it has in Eastern Europe, as a result of social, economic and political pressure. Some of these social and economic pressures are discussed in this paper. Thousands of school-leavers are entering the job market each year, many of them with little chance of finding a job because many are under-qualified and there is tremendous competition for each job available. Thousands of Black immigrants are entering the Republic of South Africa from neighbouring territories, either to escape armed conflict (e.g. Angola. Mogambique) or to escape the poverty and lack of employment prospects in their own country. There is a movement from rural to urban areas within the Republic to escape the prevailing economic depression. It is impossible to quantify the inflow accurately, but the growing number of squatter camps and the over-crowding of townships is obvious to any observer. Despite the earlier strict application of apartheid laws, aimed at restricting Blacks to the so-called home lands, people still flooded to the industrial areas in the hope of obtaining work. In the absence of enough work to go around, semi literate and unskilled people who are still firmly steeped in 3rd World Culture are having to adapt or die. The development of the so called informal sector has been the answer. It is nothing short of phenomenal. Its growth appears exponential. It is providing a livelihood for tens of thousands of people who cannot be absorbed into the formal, 1st World Economy. This paper tries to put the informal sector into perspective: its size and extent is investigated. Some of the difficulties of defining unemployment are briefly touched on. By virtue of its being informal and unrecorded, considerable difficulty exists in trying to research or quantify this market. There is always the fear of unlicensed, unregistered businesses being fined or closed down, and thus any information gathered has to be viewed with considerable caution. Various methods of quantifying this market are discussed. The more important developments within the informal sector are then reviewed, which indicate the resourceful nature of human behaviour. The authorities, on their part, have had little option but to suspend and ignore transgressions of licensing and registration. The human tidal wave has forced legislation to be repealed or suspended thus allowing the free enterprise system to develop more fully. The conclusion is that people can change the structure of society. Recent dramatic political developments are also the result of the inevitability of giving human beings the right to work and live where they would like to. Difficult though it is. the informal and often illegal sector can be researched, but special care is required, with many cross-checks to assure validity.
This paper deals with the fusion of two of the largest databases in Britain. The Broadcasters Audience Research Board (BARB) is the standard measurement of television audiences in Britain, with a panel size of 8 homes. The Target Group Index is the largest product and media survey in Britain with a sample of 24 adults per annum. The provision of an enhanced targeting facility such as a fusion of these two databases would offer could radically change the face of media buying in the 1990âs. Extensive exploratory and validatory work has been conducted to ensure that the fusion methodology provides the closest possible matchings, optimising the use of variables common to both databases, and balancing the distance measurement with the donor frequency. Once these findings were validated there are a number of ways in which the fused database could be used in day to day media planning. These include analyses of viewing patterns, conversion levels and assessments of coverage by product categories. The findings indicate that targeting television advertising by product field users can be very efficient and add a new dimension to media buying. The success of this fusion is a confirmation that it can be applied to market research data and should lead the way forward to how other databases are collected and made to work together.
This paper describes a major research programme undertaken by BISCUITERIE NANTAISE and BURKE MARKETING. Itâs primary objective was to develop a modified mix for BN biscuit that would stop declining sales, and rebuild share and volume. Objectives went even further, by requiring a new mix of sufficient quality to justify a major price increase. The first stage of the research programme was made up of a series of studies ; each evaluating a separate individual element of the mix. Then, a BASES test was conducted to evaluate the new mix ; both to estimate relaunch potential, and evaluate wheter a 5% price increment could be justified. The total research programme took about 3 months (end '85 to beginning â86). While evaluation and optimisation of the individual elements of the mix, before testing itâs relaunch potential with BASES, may seem an expensive and time consuming approach, the authors believe that this most "professional" approach was vital, given that the stakes were so high. Following relaunch, BN biscuit sales increased by 17%, and within one year it achieved more than 35% market share, when it had held less than 30% before relaunch. BISCUITERIE NANTAISEâs very precarious commercial position was turned around to one of dominance in this market.
One of the new developments in the field of market research during the last decade is the construction of fusion techniques. We developed a procedure called VENUS. This method was applied in the Netherlands several times, and a cumulation of experience has led to new insights in application possibilities and validation procedures. The data has enabled us to test the adequacy of our fusion procedure, not only at an aggregate level but also at an individual level. Emphasis in this paper is on the evaluation of the procedure. Three concrete cases will be treated: a. injection of psychographic data into a readership survey, b. fusion of psychographics with readership data, c. fusion of tv-watching data and radio-listening data. The presented analyses show that fusion is a very acceptable solution. If single - source measurement is prohibited by financial and practical aspects, fusion and injection are under-utilized tools. Another important conclusion from our research is that the success of simulation is dependent upon: (a) the variables for which scores are simulated and (b) the segment to which donor and recipient belong. Behavior is better to simulate than attitudes, but within behavior the general activities are more difficult to simulate than specific activities. Furthermore it is easier to find a similar donor for lesser educated individuals than for higher educated people.
The Du Pont Company is one of the world's largest producers of Textile Fibers for Apparel End Uses. Major products include nylon, DACRON® polyester, ORLON® acrylic, and LYCRA® spandex. Its Textile Fibers are manufactured and marketed around the world and go into a large variety of apparel as well as other end uses. Among its many sources of information, Du Pont relies heavily on information from a leading soft goods diary panel company in the U. S. This information is focused on what consumers buy, where they buy, and how much they pay. The consumer diary panel data is compared with producer data and other industry data to help assess inventory fluctuations and shifts in the supply/demand balance. Consumer diary panel information is subject to a variety of errors. Because the diary is filled out by respondents in the privacy of their homes, there is no good way to assure the validity or reliability of the information. This paper reports on a study done to assess the accuracy and precision of the information. Two approaches were taken. The first of these was a "Monte Carlo" simulation of the diary process. Relying in part on drawing random numbers from specified probability distributions, the process of making purchases, recording those purchases, submitting diaries, and calculating projections was simulated on a computer. The second approach was a statistical analysis of comparative data from two competing diary panels on 47 apparel categories. Findings suggest that sampling error is only a small part of the total error and that the method used to disaggregate and project reported transaction data adds to the overall error. Furthermore, errors in period-to-period data do not "cancel out" to the extent we previously believed. Very large differences in precision exist between apparel categories. While diary information has value, it cannot be relied upon to assess overall levels of or trends in purchases with the degree of precision normally required and must be supplemented with other information for planning purposes.
Due to the accelerating pace in which technological developments occur nowadays, technology is becoming an increasingly important strategic aspect. Therefore an increase in impact of technological issues on competitive relations can be observed. It makes the incorporation of technology in corporate strategy and the marketing function essential. In strategic business literature, this has not received enough thorough attention up to now. Most managerial approaches to technology take the concept itself as a starting point. This is incorrect from a marketing and strategical point of view. Marketing and strategy start their analyses from the customer and the environment respectively. It is the purpose of this article to gain greater insight with regard to the link between technology, strategic management and marketing. We commence with an overview linking these elements. The familiar categorization of strategic management into corporate, business and operational level is used for this purpose. Furthermore, an integrated instrument of analysis for management is formulated. The authors propose a management approach to the firm's resource base and competitive position, which uses a market-based classification of technology in addition to the traditional typology of technology. This theoretical framework makes the translation of developments of technology push and market pull into potential distinctive competences, which form the firm's basis of sustainable competitive advantage.
After more than two years of marketing research and brainstorming a new pipe-smoking concept was introduced in Amsterdam: TATTOO, a precious individual characteristic. It features a colourful modem pipe and a tobacco case in a small, handy box. A life-style advertising campaign was presented in print and movie to position and promote the new product. What made this new product interesting enough to present a paper on the subject? In the first place we have to realise that the pipe tobacco market has been declining considerably over recent years. Secondly, pipe smoking has a very old-fashioned image. Notwithstanding this development, a team of specialists in the fields of tobacco marketing, sales, advertising, design, and marketing research was formed. With close teamwork and financial and emotional investments the product launch was extremely successful.
The central thesis of this paper is that a perspective is needed in introducing new products and services in "hot areas" such as high technology. Artificial Intelligence has been around since the mid-1950s, but has remained largely an academic research pursuit. Then in the 1980s, its best-known subfield, expert systems (ES) --more correctly: knowledge-based systems-- came into its own with high expectations. But predicted growth rates of around 60% per annum soon gave way to pessimistic scenarios of small increases in revenue from commercial applications. Neither the optimists nor the pessimists proved to be right. As we enter the 1990s, the market is nearing $200 million/year in the USA
Berlin wall demolition is such a historic act as the Fall of the Bastille was. Reforms in the East indicate the stalinist and dogmatic socialism breakdown, the birth of the market economy and radical change of the property relations. Bureaucratic resistance to the economic system changes is still great. Reformers in Yugoslavia and in the other socialist countries have not yet got clear vision of the new socialist and economic system. Starting with Marx's class teaching and Galbraith's new socialism, the authors of the paper points out to four points of support of every economic reform in countries in the East.