There is an interesting management quote: Do not expect the output to change if the inputs remain the same. This is true for organisational transformation as well as transformation of the insights and analytics industry. This paper examines this aphorism in the context of volume forecasting for ecommerce launches, looked at in the specific context of a vitamin and mineral supplement launch.
This presentation discusses cutting-edge research methods for predicting consumer behavior including qualitative and quantitative research and methods that measure subconscious response. A case study from a major US women's apparel retailer illustrates how these methods, drawn from multiple disciplines including Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology and Neuroscience, combined to deliver data that accurately predicted sales over the Mother's Day weekend, 2010. A thorough discussion of the methods used, and guidance on how to successfully integrate research methodologies, is included.
The effectiveness of three commonly used methodologies for market size estimation, as well as their accuracy in explaining the future behavior of the automobile market in Ecuador, is addressed in this presentation. These methodologies are Delphi forecast based on local expertise, Cross sectional linear regression, and Time series modeling of sales. Data of car sales ranging between 1990 and 2009 was used to compare the performance of these three methodologies. We found that Experto Forecast performs very well in the short term, while Time Series Modelling fits better the behavior of the market for medium term predictions.
This presentation reports on early, but very promising, research results toward an innovative media selection factor. Media Ad Xponent(SM) isolates a program's contribution to a commercial's ability to motivate incremental brand sales, above and beyond its ability to deliver recent category purchasers. This new learning evidences the economic value of single source data and supports our belief that it will soon return to the marketplace.
As the world becomes a smaller place, and brands become increasingly global, it seems almost evident that we are living in a single continent rather than many. There seems no better benchmark to this phenomenon than youth across the world. Seemingly, they look the same, they dress similarly, the personalities seem to be congruent and their expressions of issues remain largely identifiable across the globe. They have given birth to global brands like Levi's, McDonald's, Nokia, Coke/Pepsi, Nike, and many others. They say that food is a very local differentiator, but youth today have blurred this dimension too with their adoption of global tastes and brands. Hence marketers can be led to believe that global strategies will succeed phenomenally well when addressing youth as a target group.However, this cannot be further away from truth, especially when dealing with youth in emerging markets of the world like India, China, Mexico and Brazil. On the one hand, each of these markets has been facing a deluge of western influences in the last decade, but on the other hand they have a very strong traditional backbone which is ingrained in the youth at a very early age and influences his/her thinking and behaviour.This has led to a clash of global and local cultures within the emerging markets. We have observed this clash with a keen interest. Through five different studies conducted in these markets, we have been able to gauge the extent of the clash.
In recent years, China has surpassed Japan and the major European car markets, and rapidly become the second largest automotive market in the world. Only in the United States of America are more vehicles sold every year, and even this will change in the future. With a projected annual growth of approximately 20%, China is destined to become the number one auto market in the world within the next three years. Indeed, even with far more conservative expectations, the Middle Kingdom will gain the global top spot not later than 2015. As one of the fastest developing car markets with huge potential for further growth, China has attracted virtually all car manufacturers to produce and sell their vehicles on the mainland. China has rapidly transformed from a seller market into a buyer market in which consumers can now choose among more than 60 car brands. The Middle Kingdom has therefore become the most competitive car market in the world - a fact which poses particular challenges for marketing strategies of car manufacturers, including the management of their distribution networks as well as individual dealer performances.
The main focus of this paper is to illustrate how one Asian automotive manufacturer applied an innovative qualitative research approach utilizing several methods from a number of disciplines across multiple dimensions to gather critical customer input during the creation and development of both vehicle interiors and exteriors for the 2010 year models. This approach consisted of using ideation, innovation, and triangulation methods which were developed in conjunction with experts from multiple disciplines in order to fully assess the future "needs" and "wants" of the next generation of consumers. This essay will attempt to illustrate how this research design was developed, tested, and applied in the advanced product development process. There will be an attempt to illustrate how this qualitative approach is much more than the simple application of various/random traditional qualitative techniques, but rather an integration and application of key methods and techniques which were utilized to illustrate and highlight critical aspects of the product design cycle from the customer point of view.