Market research one on one - Theory of 'Applied Insights'

Having worked in the business of sports & entertainment on all sides of the equation I have built a good understanding how data can drive the sponsorship business. Unfortunately for many, the market research space is still a bit of an unknown and there is a lack of understanding what can (and cannot) be accomplished with market research. So I want to tackle this knowledge gap.

Topics I will address in the next coming weeks: What is market research? Why do we conduct market research? What are the different types of market research? Where the heck do I start?

But before going into the why's and what's, I want to start with a basic but critical piece to the market-research puzzle. The difference between a data-point and an insight.

Let's start with the basics: what is market research?

Market research is any organized effort to gather information about target markets or customers (or fans, participants).

Pretty simple right? For the sake of keeping things easier, I am putting (traditional) market research, market intelligence and valuation all under the bucket of 'market research'. I won't dig into the definition but it is important to have a common understanding.

Theory of Applied Insights

I haven't come across anybody looking at market research this way, but i think it makes a lot of sense. I've put together below slide that explains the process and should be pretty self explanatory.

It's not difficult to access market research / market intelligence / media data / valuations BUT if you're not able to apply that insight it is just a bunch of numbers or text (and basically a wasted investment). The trick is to identify how you can apply the market research against your objectives. Whether it is selling more, servicing better or identifying gaps in your fan-base or as a brand identifying the right property, what the value drivers are and how to effectively activate it; it all boils down to ensuring you have a very good understanding (and internal alignment) of those objectives.

Another consideration to make is to assess your internal capabilities to dig into the data and translate them into applicable insights. If you don't have those resources internally you can either ensure your provider works with you on that 'translation' or hire a third party to assist. Make sure you keep this in mind when looking at budgets, otherwise you run into the risk of ending up with ... just data!

Once you have figured that part out you can then start looking at the different options in market research, which I will address in one of my following posts.

As always, comments are welcome...

Happy reading!