How far can market research help to evaluate the potential of industrial innovation? Here we look at the strengths and weaknesses of its possible contribution: specially for marketers under threat of innovation-by-imposition.

If you have found this podcast to be of use, why not have a look at our podcast called ‘beyond customer satisfaction’.

For more information on this area or for more white papers, please visit our company website at www.b2binternational.com. Visit our b2b-blog for more audio content, free eBook, and much more.This podcast is brought to you by Business 2 Business Market Research Specialists

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 Nursing The Chairman's Baby [7:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Interviewing is the key element in nearly all industrial market research surveys. It dictates the accuracy and depth of information obtained and very often leads to conclusions and recommendations involving thousands of pounds worth of plant and hundreds of jobs.

If you have found this podcast to be of use, why not have a look at our ‘market research conversations’ podcast on the market research industry.

For more information on this area or for more white papers, please visit our company website at www.b2binternational.com. Visit our b2b-blog for more audio content, free eBook, and much more.This podcast is brought to you by Business 2 Business Market Research Specialists

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 The industrial interview [10:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The essential element of the sales manager’s survival kit is good information, particularly in four areas: the company’s sales, the structure of’ the market, detailed knowledge of buyers and the strengths and weaknesses of the company vis-a-vis the competition.

If you have found this podcast to be of use, why not have a look at our podcast on Business-to-business marketing.

For more information on this area or for more white papers, please visit our company website at www.b2binternational.com. Visit our b2b-blog for more audio content, free eBook, and much more.This podcast is brought to you by Business 2 Business Market Research Specialists

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 Market Research and Sales Managers [5:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Companies that sell raw materials or simple components face a marketing problem – how to give their products recognisable benefits which differentiate them from competitors. A popular tactic is to cut prices in the belief that this is the principal motivation influencing buyers; there being little to choose between other features such as quality, delivery and service. The unfortunate result may be a price war, as competitors retaliate in an attempt to maintain market share. It is our contention that to sell non-differentiated products chiefly on a price platform, is both economically disastrous and unnecessary. This article seeks to show how to avoid price cuts by adopting a more professional and profitable marketing stance.

For more information on this area or for more white papers, please visit our company website at www.b2binternational.com. Visit our b2b-blog for more audio content, free eBook, and much more.This podcast is brought to you by Business 2 Business Market Research Specialists

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 How To Avoid Competing On Price [24:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

What does make people switch? What is it that makes someone change their mind or their behaviour? These are crucial questions to any marketer and particularly baffling to the business to business marketer. This is because we b2b marketers operate in a world complicated by the multi-faceted decision making unit comprising buyers, technicians, management policy setters and so on – all who claim to make their decisions rationally. This podcast offers thoughts on b2b switching behaviour and the forces that shape these decisions.

This weeks podcast was written by B2B International Director, Paul Hague.

For more information on this area or for more white papers, please visit our company website at www.b2binternational.com. Visit our b2b-blog for more audio content, free eBook, and much more.This podcast is brought to you by Business 2 Business Market Research Specialists

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 Getting People To Switch [11:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The sizeable sums involved in acquisitions, and the dire implications they have on a company’s future, demand that these decisions are in the hands of the senior team running the organisation. The chairman plays a leading role, assuming a high level of responsibility for directional changes, group growth and corporate strategy.

This weeks podcast was written by Paul Hague, and covers the following topics:

• The traditional approach to acquisitions
• The role of market research in acquisition studies
• Research to guide investment
• Technology transfer
• Summary

For more information on this area or for more white papers, please visit our company website at www.b2binternational.com. Visit our b2b-blog for more audio content, free eBook, and much more.This podcast is brought to you by Business 2 Business Market Research Specialists

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 Guiding Acquisitions and Investment Policy [18:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As already discussed, no agency has in-house fieldwork coverage of the whole of China. However, most major agencies do have 3 offices – one in each of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Head Offices are spread across the three cities, although there are more in Shanghai than in Beijing or Guangzhou. Companies with a strong business-to-business focus tend to be headquartered in Beijing, reflecting the importance of speaking to Government officials in such studies. The most common model is for the majority of research executives and management to be located at HQ, with a limited management presence at the other two offices. It is common for the Guangzhou office to consist of fieldwork operations only, the role of this office being to cover off the requirement for Cantonese interviewing in Southern mainland China and Hong Kong. Clients will find themselves liaising with just one office, depending on the location of the executive carrying out their particular project.

This week’s Podcast, written by Matt Harrison, Director of B2B International, looks at the Market Research Industry In China and covers the following topics:

The ‘Typical’ Chinese Market Research Agency
Data Collection In Chinese Agencies
Desk Research
Data Analysis and Interpretation In Chinese Agencies
How Do Chinese Agencies Market Themselves?
Recommendations For Research Buyers

For more information on this area or for more white papers, please visit our company website at www.b2binternational.com. Visit our b2b-blog for more audio content, free eBook, and much more.This podcast is brought to you by Business 2 Business Market Research Specialists

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 Market Research In China - Part 2 [18:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

To most Western companies, the idea of conducting or commissioning market research in China is a difficult, if not daunting, concept to grasp. Frequently, the perceived barriers of researching a Chinese market are seen as so insurmountable that no serious consideration of the potential benefits is even made. Too often, research agencies and potential clients alike are beaten before they begin.

The barriers to researching the Chinese market are, it is true, substantial. Indeed, in a country of over 1.3 billion people (one fifth of the world’s population), 200 language dialects and 57 ethnic groups, it is often difficult to even talk of ‘the Chinese market’ as one coherent entity. And then of course there is the ‘information’ issue – what, Western companies ask, are we allowed to ask, and how reliable will the information be?

This week’s podcast, written by Matt Harrison, Director of B2B International, looks at the Market Research Industry In China and covers the follwing topics:

Origins Of The Chinese Market Research Industry
Market size and sectors
Business-To-Business Research – Size & Sectors
Companies Active In The Chinese Market
Market Research Providers
Over The Next 5 Years

For more information on this area or for more white papers, please visit our company website at www.b2binternational.com. Visit our b2b-blog for more audio content, free eBook, and much more.This podcast is brought to you by Business 2 Business Market Research Specialists

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 Market Research In China - Part 1 [18:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There must be more misunderstood money spent on business to business promotions and advertising than on anything else in the marketing budget. Maybe your promotional spend is excessive; maybe it isn’t enough. What we do know is that it is difficult to measure its effectiveness and very few people even try.

This weeks podcast, written by Paul Hague looks at “Making the promotional pound go further”. The following issues are covered:

How to test the effectiveness of promotions
measuring the effectiveness of other types of promotions
some principles that can be drawn from advertising research

For more information on this area or for more white papers, please visit our company website at www.b2binternational.com. Visit our b2b-blog for more audio content, free eBook, and much more.This podcast is brought to you by Business 2 Business Market Research Specialists

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 Making The Promotional Pound Go Further [13:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Focus groups take their roots in the social sciences and have been adopted by market researchers as a valuable interface between businesses and their customers. Focus group research has been used in the industry for more than 30 years and there is a wealth of published literature on the relative merits of the methodology and its contribution to business practise. Whilst some idea of frequency can be gained from focus groups, in essence, focus groups do not seek to measure; they uncover issues, unravel processes and test reactions and perceptions. They can be used stand alone, and they can augment and complement other methodologies. When choosing this data collection methodology, the purpose of the study needs to be considered carefully.

Today’s podcast, written by B2B International Director Carol-Ann Morgan, is the second and final part of our podcast on ‘Using Focus Groups In Market Research’. You can hear the first part of the podcast by clicking here or by subscribing to the podcast. This Podcast covers the following topics:

• PLANNING AND RECRUITING GROUPS
• Number of groups:
• Venues and Timing of groups:
• Getting respondents to attend:
• THE GROUP MODERATOR
• TOOLS OF THE GROUP MODERATOR
• ANALYSIS AND REPORTING

For more information on this area or for more white papers, please visit our company website at www.b2binternational.com. Visit our b2b-blog for more audio content, free eBook, and much more.This podcast is brought to you by Business 2 Business Market Research Specialists

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 Using Focus Groups In Market Research - Part 2 of 2 [18:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download