This document summarizes a presentation by Susan Saurage-Altenloh on integrating market research and shaping marketing strategies. It discusses the importance of understanding customers and leveraging customer insights for stronger positioning, loyalty and profits. It also outlines the market research process, including defining objectives, developing a research plan, collecting and analyzing data, and presenting findings to inform strategic decisions. Examples of how market research was used in different industries are provided.

1. Copyright 2014 by Saurage Research, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without permission in writing from Saurage Research, Inc.
Susan Saurage-Altenloh
May 2014
Shaping Your Strategy:
Integrating Market Research

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• Know [everything] about
customers and how they make
choices
• Convert any and every thing you
know into advertising strategies
that expand the business
• Leverage [all of] this knowledge
for stronger positioning, greater
share of wallet, enhanced
customer loyalty and a stronger
bottom line…in any economy
The strategic communication challenge…

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• Know [everything] about
customers and how they make
choices
• Convert any and every thing you
know into advertising strategies
that expand the business
• Leverage [all of] this knowledge
for stronger positioning, greater
share of wallet, enhanced
customer loyalty and a stronger
bottom line…in any economy
• …on a “reasonable” budget
The advertising communication challenge…

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Today's Growing Need for Marketing Information
• Rise of global marketing
• New emphasis on buyer's wants
• Fast paced growth in social media and consumer
engagement
• Trend toward non-price competition

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Market Research
• The systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting
of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing
situation facing a company
• (Companies typically budget marketing research at 1-2
% of sales)

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Reasons for Market Research Insights
• Identify market opportunities,
emerging trends, shifts, etc.
• Aid in preparing sales forecasts
• New product or service
development
• Estimate future demand for
product or service
• Measure effectiveness of ad or
marketing campaign

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Metrics for Successful Audience Engagement
• Revenue Metrics: Marketing’s aggregate impact on
company revenue
• Marketing Program Performance Metrics: The
incremental contribution of individual marketing
programs
• Customer Profitability: Lifetime value of an
incremental customer
• Web Analytics: Measures Web visibility to target
audiences against potential audiences, and compares
against industry and competitor benchmarks
• Advertising & PR: Measures impact of communications initiatives
• Product Performance: Comparatively measures the total sales and margins of
individual products
• Brand Preference and Health: Assesses brand preference in relation to preference
for competing brands
• Sales Tool Usage: Measures which product marketing materials are being used the
most
Marketo.com’s “Definitive Guide to Marketing Metrics”

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The Market Research Process
1. Define the challenge or issue and research objectives
2. Develop a research plan to gather data
3. Collect the data
4. Analyze the data
5. Present the findings
6. Decide strategy

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The Objectives
1. Define the challenge or issue and research objectives --
What do you want to know and why?
• Some research is exploratory -- shed light on what's
really going on and suggest some possible
solutions
• Some research is descriptive -- calculate or
measure numbers data
• Some research is causal -- tests a cause-and-effect
relationship

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The Research Plan
2. Develop a research plan to gather data
• Sources: secondary, primary or both kinds of data
• Approaches: observation, focus groups, surveys,
behavior and experiments

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Insights are gathered in many forms…
Quantitative
• Measurable, structured, projectable, expressed in numeric form
• Format: Statistics (metrics)
• It asks: How many? What caused it?
Qualitative
• Subjective, exploratory, open-ended, anecdotal
• Format: Metaphors, symbols, stories
• It asks: What? Why?
Competitive Intelligence
• Gathering, analyzing, and managing external information that
affects plans, decisions, operations
• Format: Interviews, info retrieval, market analytics, empirical data
• It asks: Status, history

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13Image from ProvalisResearch.com ad in AAPOR 2013 conference guide
 Text analytics
 Content / sentiment analysis
 Integrating data and images
 Social media metrics
 Neurosensory research
[SCARY EXPENSIVE NEW CONFUSING STUFF]

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Gather and Analyze
3. Collect the data
4. Analyze the data
5. Present the findings
6. Decide strategy

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Case 1 – Expanding Customer Base (B2B)
• Understand true customer – completely
• Identify selection influencers – situational, regulatory,
cultural
• Integrate all insights with internal stakeholder objectives
• Measure using established empirical data
Cable Management Solutions Company

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Case 2 – Responding to Changes in the Market (CPG)
• Industry data and scanning – significant consumption changes
• Define the product space – attributes, grocery shelf
• Reposition the brand – packaging, messaging, delivery strategy
• Measure impact of strategic actions taken
Beverage Manufacturer

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Case 3 – Renewing a Brand (retail)
• Understand true customer – completely
• Identify retail dynamics, brand churn, gaps
• Test concepts, strategies
• Gather empirical data – evaluate bottom line impact
• Implement ongoing linear measurement
Electronics/Home Furnishings Store Chain

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Case 4 – Encouraging Different Choices (program)
• Baseline behaviors of customers
• Identify triggers for change – emotions, hopes
• Implement programs that utilize / reflect triggers
• Gather empirical data on new program usage
• Measure customer recognition of program availability
• Regear programs
State Employee Benefits Program

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Case 5 – Defining Brand Equity (service)
• Understand the offering – completely
• Identify and profile promoters and detractors of the brand
(NPS)
• Build marketing strategy based on new insights
• Track changes in awareness and NPS against marketing
initiatives
Valve Service Network

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Consider…
• Internal (empirical) data – put it to work for you
• Understand your market – industry scanning
• Establish ways to proactively listen to customers
• Measure what is useful, effective, important, actionable
• Build cache of insights and knowledge

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Does your marketing measure up?
ssaurage@SaurageResearch.com
http://pinterest.com/saurageresearch/
http://twitter.com/RealitySpikes
http://www.linkedin.com/company/saurage-research-inc.
https://www.facebook.com/SaurageMarketingResearch
http://www.saurageresearch.com/category/blog/
Explore the research possibilities:

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About the Presenter
Susan Saurage-Altenloh specializes in designing research
strategies and producing results that meet clients' information
needs – completely and exactly. Susan has gathered
actionable data for a client list that includes nationally known
medical facilities, large manufacturers and refineries,
prominent financial institutions, municipal and national
governmental agencies, and advertising/ marketing firms.
The most notable ones – Tenet, Conoco, Cameron, the EPA,
HP/Compaq, Chicago Board of Trade, BP, Exxon, Dow,
Siemens Transmission Products and McDonald’s – include
several Fortune 500 companies.
Susan has authored several articles appearing in national and
regional business publications and regularly appears on
television as an expert in market information and research
trends. She is a graduate of the MBA program at University of
Texas at Austin and graduated Magna Cum Laude from
Houston Baptist University.