The Strategic Importance of Market Research
“A scientific approach [to market research] ensures more accurate results and leads to finding information that helps managers make the right marketing decisions.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I am very interested by the events that unfolded during World War II. Being the passionate marketer that I am, I feel it important point out how market research turned the tides of the war in favour of the British and their allies when all hope seemed to be lost.
Market Research & World War II.
Historians agree that market research played a crucial role in deciding the fate of World War II. The British Army had a strategic division whose sole purpose was to generate intelligence reports and decode cryptic German messages. British spies were able to infiltrate the Nazi army and confirm the accuracy of these intelligence reports. The latter helped the Brits to anticipate German attacks, discover strategic German positions, and improve the efficacy of their own strategic military planning. Ultimately, market research enabled the British army to outsmart the Nazis and helped them win the war.
Market research plays the same role in the marketplace today. It is crucial for companies to invest in market research to remain competitive in their industry. Very few companies are proactive in finding key insights about their customers, their target market, their competition and the industry as a whole. Yet, just as the British Army demonstrated, market research can help a company to gain the upper hand on their competition.
Why do so few businesses invest in market research?
Perhaps, there are immediate budget constraints. Understandably, but like any marketing activity, market research is an investment. Making good use of the key information it provides will generate even more revenue.
Maybe they don’t possess the expertise or don’t have time to conduct market research. Then hiring professionals would be a sensible solution in this case.
It is possible that businesses do not know what to look for. Asking the right questions will help identify issues that can be solved using the appropriate market research medium. (I.e. Are my customers satisfied? Use a customer satisfaction survey to find out)
How useful can market research be?
Very. A lot of managers make decisions based on limited knowledge and mainly intuition. Managers should learn from statisticians, mathematicians and scientists. They must read the situation, recognize the problem, identify variables, and use the right formula to solve it. A scientific approach ensures more accurate results and leads to finding information that helps managers make the right marketing decisions.
In short,
If your company …
• Operates in a fast changing marketplace
• Is looking to grow
• Wants to remain competitive
• Needs to solve a problem
• Is looking for key insights about customers and competitors
Then your company should invest in market research. It just may play a crucial role in determining the fate of your business’ marketplace success.
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Meet the author.
Taro Abarbanel-Uemura
Marketing Strategist
Meet Fortified Marketing's founder and lead marketing consultant. Taro loves reading fascinating articles on various marketing-related subjects, just as much as he enjoys writing about them. When he isn’t savouring a latte while working on his newest blog post, he can be found at a coffee shop in Ottawa's Little Italy, or marathoning shows and documentaries on Netflix.