Market research is a complicated process which involves 6 different steps to be conducted for each market research process that is carried out. There are many market research companies which conduct research for top brands across the world. There can be small business marketing companies, large corporate marketing companies, product specific marketing companies, etc. However, in general, market research companies are not divided on the basis of the market research work that they conduct. Rather, they are divided on the basis of clients that they take up. Let us understand the 3 different types of market research firms with examples.
Syndicated market research firm – Syndicated market research companies are the ones who look the market requirements and prepare their reports accordingly. For exampe – A.C Nielson is a market research company, which knows that other top companies are looking for consumer behavior studies, buying patterns etc. Thus, A.C nielson regularly presents reports on buying patterns, industry analysis and sectory analysis which is then sold at a cost to all companies. Simplifying the example even further, say you are the product head in P&G for Tide detergent. You need a report on the detergent market. Such reports will be ready with A.C nielson as it carries out research reports for the open market, and not for specific companies. Thus, you get ready made reports at a given cost.
Custom market research firm – Now, taking the above example, instead of wanting the complete market analysis, you want to know just how well Tide and your particular brands are doing in the market. What is the thing missing in these products and what can be features added? For such a purpose, you will hire a custom market research firms. As the name suggests, these custom market research firms will be ready to do the custom jobs that you give them. Thus, initially many market research firms start as custom market research firms, and then move on to specialty or syndicated market research firm.
Specialty market research firm – Once a market research firm has a grip on one specialty, then the firm may be known as a specialty market research firm. Many a times, such market research firms also depend on the team of directors leading them. If, for example, the team of directors or the proprietor is an advertising guy, the firm might specialize in advertising research because the team and the experience is ready with the specialty market research firm. On the other hand, if the top brass is from product development, then the market research firm can take jobs of pillot testing, etc. In general, specialty firms are the one who are involved with in depth analysis of your specific requirements. So, tomorrow if you want to analyse whether the pilot product which you are going to launch will be accepted or not, you will approach a specialty market research firm, whose specialty is conducting market feasibility studies.
Thus, above 3 are the main market research firms in the market. However, with the advent of social media and due to ever increasing presence of the internet, there is a 4th type of market research firm which is slowly but surely cropping up fast.
The online market research firm – There are dozens of online market research firms. However, online market research firms might be more useful for other online marketers like Ebay, Online e commerce portals, top bloggers etc. MOZ and search engine land are few of these search marketing firms. There are many such online market research firms. These firms help the website owners, as well as the brands, to connect to their desired users and at the same time conduct online analysis. This online analysis then helps the corporates land up on top in search engines, better their own existing product lines, and in general get to know what is the gist of the brand in the online community. Thus, you will see that top websites like Facebook, Twitter are now showcasing “Trends” on their website. These trends are market research information, and many a times companies can act on these “trends” and see a broad picture. The google trends report for example, will show you exactly how a trend has increased or decreased in its popularity over time. Thus, although these are not traditional market research firms, a lot of market research data can be derived from such websites.
Thus, the above 3 main types of market research firms, along with the fourth, low key market research firms are the main type of firms involved in market research.
Hitesh,
We’re a company that manufactures large, custom inflatables for marketing, promotions and events. Do you know of marketing companies or agencies that focus on this type of thing for their clients?
Dear Dan,
The data you require depends on the country you are located in. So you will have to search locally. I think your best bet will be event marketing companies which will require this. Along with this, any agency which handles FMCG or personal care / cosmetics clients will also require these products. Because these 2 are the sectors which use inflatables. You can also check the movie circuit though they would already have their material providers ready at disposal because movie sets are made of inflatable material also. But in a theatre or mall, before the movie launches, these people do advertise with inflatables. In general, target these three sectors which will give you maximum returns. FMCG, consumer durables and personal healthcare or medical.
Hope this helped. :)