Articles
ACR TODAY: Research and the DIY Approach
Previous articles have focused on why market research matters and how it works. It is important to establish just what a company can do for itself and just when it needs to use a specialist. This article focuses on how a company can help itself. With markets and customers continually changing their needs it is important to keep abreast of how these changes effect the marketing strategy to be adopted. Many text books refer to the need for companies to keep a Marketing Intelligence System (MIS) internally that can be used as an important source of management information. But what does a Marketing Intelligence System need to comprise, because in this day and age companies often do not have the human resources available to collect and maintain information that is not absolutely necessary. I would suggest that the following information can be categorised as need to know;
- Market: Published information relating to the market in which a company is operating. This may be published research from companies such as Key Note, Mintel, MSI and Frost and Sullivan etc. This could also include surveys published in relevant trade journals or published papers with statistics relevant to the market.
- Customers: Information about key customers or groups of customers which may indicate who is growing, declining, being taken over or merged. This information is often available from regular review of key trade journals or financial papers such as the ´FT´.
- Competitors: Competitors information which would incorporate company literature and financial accounts often available through organisations such as Intercompany Comparisons (ICC) and Dunn and Bradstreet, which also provide performance levels against the industry average. Additional information on competitors activities, promotions etc. can be obtained through sales force feedback, including such items as discounting activity, new product introductions and special offers. This information helps to gain a clear understanding of how the enemy is attacking the market and what it's strategy and tactics appear to be. From the information obtained a product comparison can be drawn up sector by sector to analyse where a company stands against it's competition. These comparisons could include technical benefits, prices, literature effectiveness and profitability etc.
Although there are many other items that could be included in an MIS these 3 elements are the most vital and eliminate the need for this work when the information is needed in a crisis
. In addition to an internal MIS system it is quite possible for a certain amount of desk research to be conducted internally, most of which can then be inputted in to the MIS system. However, when contacting key customers and competitors it is almost impossible for a company to conduct desk research legitimately ie. when they reveal their identity. This is where an external specialist is really needed.Another area for comment when talking about DIY research is the Internet. Much has been said about the potential of the Internet as a means of generating new enquiries and customer visibility, but not so much is published with respect to the Internet as a research tool.My own company uses the Internet as a preliminary research tool in conducting desk research but for anyone who has used the Internet they will be aware that in many respects it is still an "information jungle" What I mean by this is that it is not structured in any meaningful way for a professional researcher, but here are a few hints and tips for anyone researching on the Internet.
- Conduct the research through more than one search engine/directory.
- The major search engines/directories are the following; Yahoo, Altavista, Infoseek, Lycos, HotBot, Webcrawler. Users need to be aware that each search engine and directory has its own different characteristics and they do change over time in the way they work.
It also should be noted that individual search engines may find information that other search engines do not, so you need to check at least two or three. The big problem of course is finding information that is specific to your needs and even with some sophistication in search techniques a lot of irrelevant information can be generated from the search. Below I have summarised in a small table some of the techniques for ensuring that your search does not generate too much wasted material:MATCH ANYThis is a search for pages containing any of your search words, rather than all of them. For example, you may want to find pages with references to both Air Conditioning and Ventilation.
| COMMAND | USED BY | EXAMPLE |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic | Altavista, Excite, Infoseek, WebCrawler | Match Any is automatically done. No special commands are needed. |
| Via Menu | HotBot, Lycos, Open Text | Match Any can be specified using the menu systems. |
| OR | HotBot, Lycos, Open Text, WebCrawler | Air Conditioning OR Ventilation |
MATCH ALL This is a search for pages containing all of your search words, rather than any of them. For example, you may want to find pages with references to both Air Conditioning and Ventilation on the same page.
| COMMAND | USED BY | EXAMPLE |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic | HotBot, Lycos, Open Text | Match All search is automatically done. No special commands are needed. |
| + | Altavista, Excite, Infoseek, Lycos | +air conditioning + ventilation |
| OR | Altavista, Lycos, WebCrawler | air conditioning AND ventilation |
EXCLUDE All the search engines allow you to exclude documents that contain certain words. This is a helpful way to narrow a search.For example, you may want a page Air Conditioning, not Ventilation. By excluding those that mention Ventilation, you will get better results.
| COMMAND | USED BY | EXAMPLE |
|---|---|---|
| - | Altavista, Excite, Infoseek, Lycos | air conditioning -ventilation |
| AND NOT | Altavista, HotBot | air conditioning AND NOT ventilation |
| NOT | Lycos, WebCrawler | air conditioning NOT ventilation |
| BUT NOT | Open Text | air conditioning BUT NOT ventilation |
| Via Menu | Excite, HotBot | Exclude can be specified using the menu systems. |
In conclusion you will see that there are different areas in which research is a potential DIY activity, but there are also areas well left to the professional. It is a question of time and resources that you are prepared to devote, as opposed to paying an external professional. Which ever way you choose it is dangerous to do neither as research is the bedrock of good decision making.
