How do you enter a new potential market?

Expanding your brand into new markets allows you to reach potentially vast numbers of new customers and grow your revenue massively. However, the process can be complex and filled with complications.

A market entry strategy maximizes your chances of success when moving into a new market. In this article, we’ll look at some reasons to consider moving to a new market, the differences between domestic and international markets, and some strategies you can use.

Market entry defined

Market entry strategy is a plan to expand the visibility and distribution of a product or service to a new market. Market entry research helps brands to expand into new domestic or international markets where the competitive, legal, political or cultural landscape might be less known. 

Market entry research is the path to understanding a new market. It helps brands identify different success factors, reveal potential challenges, and discover hidden potential opportunities.

Why move to a new market?

First up, why should you consider moving to a new market in the first place? It’s challenging and expensive, so what are the reasons that make it worthwhile? Here are some of the main ones:

  • You’ll gain more customers and make more money – The number one reason to consider new markets is to grow your business and increase revenue by selling more products to more customers.
  • There might be no more opportunities for growth in your home market – If you’ve maxed out what your local market is capable of in terms of revenue, expanding to new markets may be the only way to grow.
  • You’ll reduce risk by diversifying your business – If one market suffers for whatever reason, you’ll have others to keep you going.

Domestic markets vs. international markets

Are you planning to enter a new domestic market or take your products overseas to sell in a foreign country? The approach for each of these will be very different.

Domestic markets

Typically, this will be much easier than entering an overseas market. The culture will be the same, everything will be geographically closer, and things will likely be very similar to your existing markets.

International markets

Global expansion is where things become more complicated. You’ll have to factor in several differences in how you currently run your business. These include:

  • Cultural differences
  • Administrative differences
  • Economic differences
  • Logistical challenges involved in transporting goods abroad

Things to consider

Before you enter any new market, it’s crucial to take some time to confirm whether you can afford the move. Can you afford the costs of exporting, working with intermediaries, tax, and all the other expenses involved? And what proportion of the market can you realistically expect to be able to serve? 

You must also consider if the product or service will work in your intended market. Market research (both online and offline) plays an important role here — ensuring demand for your product justifies the export cost.

Risks of entering new markets

There are also numerous risks involved in entering a new market, including:

  • Country risks, like the possibility of political unrest, sudden changes, or financial issues that could impact your business.
  • Foreign exchange, such as the possibility of currency exchange rates changing, could seriously affect your bottom line.
  • Cultural risk, which essentially means the possibility of your new business venture running into challenges due to significant differences in culture and customs.
  • Weather unpredictability. Are you moving into a market where natural disasters and weather conditions could cause damage to your facilities and cost money?

Once you have carefully researched your new market and weighed the potential risks, you may decide it’s worth entering. If so, there are several different strategies you can employ, each with its pros and cons.

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Different market entry strategies

Direct exporting

Direct exporting is where you ship your products to the new market directly. You’ll have to handle all aspects of the process independently, from transport to payments to operations in the new market.

This method requires more resources and time compared to working with an intermediary. You’ll need to create an exporting infrastructure, train employees, and make and receive international payments, among many other challenging tasks.

On the plus side, this approach maximizes your profits as you don’t need to pay any third parties. You’ll also have complete control over your sales and marketing processes.

Indirect exporting

Indirectly exporting involves working with an intermediary. It has some advantages, such as:

  • Much lower risk. An experienced third party will take care of the exportation process, which minimizes the risk of failure.
  • You can focus on your own business and domestic markets without being occupied by your new ones.
  • Fewer resources are required on your part.

On the other hand

  • Profits are lower since you have to pay your intermediary.
  • You’ll be disconnected from your customer base, so you’ll miss out on important insights and lessons.
  • You’ll lose complete control over sales and marketing abroad.

There are several different options when it comes to indirect exporting. Here are some of the most common ones.

Indirect exporting with buying agents

Buying agents are representatives of foreign companies that want to buy your products. You’ll work through them when selling your products to your new market.

They’re usually paid by commission and will try to negotiate the lowest possible price. Sometimes, buying agents are government agencies.

Indirect exporting using distributors

You can sell your product directly to distributors or wholesalers, who will then distribute the product to retailers.

Indirect exporting through the management and trading companies

Export Management Companies (EMCs) exist to take care of all your export and sales processes in your new market.

It’s worth taking some time to research and find the correct EMC, as most specialize in a particular market and region. They’ll help you identify markets, find customers, handle all shipping and logistics, and more.

Indirect exporting through piggybacking

Piggybacking is where you allow another non-competing company to sell your product. This can work exceptionally well if the partner company already has a customer base and distribution infrastructure in your target market.

You’ll get immediate access to your new market but for a fee.

Producing products in the target market

Another option is to manufacture your products within the target market. This saves you the cost of transport and the many logistical challenges involved in exporting your product abroad.

However, you’ll also need to consider the many challenges in manufacturing your product abroad, legal issues, costs, possible risks, and more. Depending on your situation, this could be a good option.

(For more information on the most effective strategies for entering a new market, check out our top four marketing strategies article).

Franchising / Licensing

While franchising is often associated with fast food or quick-serve restaurants, it can successfully aid expansion in many different categories. 

Franchising is where a semi-independent business owner (the franchisee) pays fees and royalties to the franchisor to use a company’s trademark and sell its products or services.

While franchising and licensing are both business agreements where certain aspects of the business are shared in exchange for a fee, a licensing agreement is typically more limited.

Entering a new market can be extremely rewarding and allow your business to move to the next level and achieve new growth. It’s essential to research all the options and ensure the export strategy you deploy is the safest and most effective for you. You’ll also need to thoroughly research the market to understand its potential and position your product for success, something we cover in our Ultimate Guide To Market Entry.

Kadence can help you do that. We have extensive experience assisting businesses by conducting game-changing research to create effective strategies for market entry. To find out more, learn about our market entry services or get in touch.

Many global economies are defined by stagnant growth, falling populations and saturated markets, making growth for brands a tricky proposition. In many ‘emerging markets’ there are still big opportunities grow… if you keep your eyes open.

Many businesses are looking to fast-growth, high-energy markets outside the so-called ‘developed’ economies to fuel their expansion. Unlike congested and sometimes shrinking economies in ‘the west’, many parts of the world are seeing rapid population growth, fast-rising incomes and are adopting transformative technologies without the burden of legacy investments. The result? Vibrant new opportunities for businesses.

But while entering any new market is a challenge for brands, moving into these more dynamic economies – often with very different cultures, business practices and consumer expectations – can be particularly tricky. Berlin isn’t the same as Birmingham, but many of the norms in both markets are recognisably similar. Head to Beijing or Bamako, and the assumptions you make about brand, product and business practices will be challenged.

Take a phased approach to understanding the opportunity afforded by new markets

The best way to understand your opportunity in different markets is to take the traditional phased approach to research. This involves the following considerations.

  1. Which markets might we look at? Consider the number of consumers, the country’s income levels and the stability of its economic and political structures. You can also examine the maturity of business practices and think about geographic location, transport links and accessibility in-market.
  2. What’s the macro environment like in a market we want to enter? Revisit all the above, in more detail. Focus on specifics – such as the transport and tech infrastructure; and business support networks (such as accounting firms or legal protections on IP) – and how the trends are evolving in those areas.
  3. How does the competitive landscape affect its attractiveness? Pay attention to other outsider brands and how they’re doing; but also domestic rivals and potential competitors poised to move into adjacent markets.
  4. What are the practical issues for market entry? In new markets further afield, transport links, language barriers, different cultural norms and local regulations can throw up roadblocks.
  5. How do we adjust our product, service or messaging to optimise our offer there? As above, but remember that very different cultures and climates can challenge even the most basic assumptions about how a product will perform.

Step away from the generalisations

It’s vital to acknowledge that ‘emerging markets’ aren’t as uniform as the term suggests. Far from it. There are so many variations by region or category that talking about common features of ‘emerging markets’ is a dangerous over-simplification. And there are as many differences within countries as between them. This particularly true in countries where rapid urbanisation has seen a break with traditional cultures outside cities.

(That’s true for any generalisation, of course. Alcohol brands, for example, can’t even treat the US and Canada the same. North of the border, there are drinking-age laws set province-by-province, massively complicating online alcohol sales. They might look the same in terms of development and even geography and demographics. But they’re not.)

That’s not to say there are no rules that apply to entering markets that share particular attributes. The pace of economic or population growth, or the expansion of middle-class consumers with disposable income, might always be a feature of your selection process for target markets.

But in many categories, consumption is growing so quickly that only the real beneficiary of a ‘toe in the water’ market entry is likely to be knock-off brands and domestic substitutes able to adjust output more responsively to local conditions, especially where legal protections for intellectual property are less secure for global players.

All these caveats mean that in-depth research into new-market consumer appetites, infrastructure and competition is just as important in growth areas as it is in more mature markets.

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Assessing new markets – 5 key considerations

All that being said, knowing the likely biggest points of difference when entering markets with strikingly different fundamentals is still important. Five things to consider:

1. Affordability 

In many emerging markets, disposable income may be much lower for large parts of the population. For global products, that means understanding the more affluent segments better and targeting marketing appropriately. For localised or commodity products, the question is cost. Can you use local manufacturing, logistics and even branding to deliver your product to a mass market?

2. Distribution 

Getting product to consumers might be more challenging. For brands that rely on developed economy logistics partners, understanding infrastructure constraints, developing local contacts and ensuring quality of service is crucial. When Haagen-Dazs first entered China, it set up its own warehouse and delivery network to ensure the product reached consumers correctly.

3. Localised branding and marketing 

What works well in Boston, may not succeed in Beijing. Cultural understanding is key to ensuring that your marketing and branding hit the spot further afield. Caveat: remember the urban/rural split. Many urban consumers are ‘world citizens’ and expect to be treated as such.

4. Watch for local rivals

The cachet of being a global brand can help enter emerging markets. But cost, customisation and the risk of ‘brand colonialism’ can make more assumptive Western brands seem out of touch and vulnerable to local alternatives.

5. Native teams

As a global market research agency, we benefit from having local teams in the markets we evaluate for clients. This means we understand the cultural context, consumer trends and broader macro situation. It is possible to enter emerging markets at arms’ length. But having local people in decision-making positions is the surest way to avoid clumsy cultural or operational missteps.

Look for leapfrog opportunities

There are plenty of upsides to emerging markets, too, beyond simply vast numbers of new customers. In some cases, our research will throw up opportunities that just aren’t available in mature markets at all.

Look at the way different platforms have developed to cater to the nuances of local markets, for example. In many fast-developing economies, traditional channels have been leap-frogged by the adoption of newer technologies. This often happens where older tech infrastructure has attained much less penetration, allowing a newer tech to fill a void.

In many African countries, for example, low population density and long distances between conurbations means traditional copper or fibre telecoms can be limited. But mobile telecoms are more practical and affordable. They offer a plethora of additional over-the-top services that have led to an e-finance and e-commerce boom. Entering those markets will require different thinking about distribution – as well as marketing and payments using creative local solutions.

Remember, e-commerce is not the same everywhere

The Philippines is another good example. In other countries, Facebook might be just part of your online marketing toolbox. But there, Facebook has attained an absolutely dominant position in e-commerce – for one simple reason. With lower average incomes, Facebook and local mobile companies realised their penetration was constrained by the cost of network data. So almost every plan has free Facebook data regardless of contract status. For market entry success in the Philippines, Facebook is going to play a big role.

But we need to distinguish between being available on those platforms on the one hand; and entering a market on the other – which involves boots on the ground. Yes, that’s more investment. But you’re also surrendering less of your margin to platform owners and logistics providers.

A staged approach to entering less well-understood markets, starting with the more popular local social networks or e-commerce platforms, allows you to refine the consumer profile. Companies also get time to get to grips with the legal and financial frameworks that might shape future involvement; and see how local fulfilment clarifies their operational options.

Don’t assume that tried and tested e-commerce strategies from the US and Europe will work everywhere in the world, however. Amazon, for example, simply doesn’t have a presence in some markets. In others, consumers can use the site, but limitations on distribution and other logistics mean delivery times, cost and availability are prohibitive. Local research about the best platforms for reach and fulfilment is a must.

Lazada, Shopee, Zalora and Carousel, are some of the top e-commerce sites in South East Asia. These names may not be familiar to firms outside the region. But they can play a crucial role for testing in these markets. Again, it’s worth working with people who understand how to optimise those platforms, as well as interpret the effectiveness of marketing on them; and what the results say about the potential for deeper market entry.

Understand the technicalities of new markets

Even online entry into a very unfamiliar market can be daunting. Moving in for formal distribution, licensing or agent agreements or even setting up locally or buying into a native business brings with it additional issues that need to be researched.

European companies with experience of entering new markets in the EU can find the regulatory and legal considerations in countries farther afield a challenge. Even in the US there are federal laws and individual state regulations over companies and property to contend with. This can make establishing a new business relatively tough. And that’s considered a ‘developed’ market.

In parts of South East Asia, many European companies report lengthy delays in registering businesses. Others discover that in some markets domestic firms have particular benefits. This could be a form of protected status, or reserved access to certain kinds of contract. This is worth exploring in due diligence especially if you plan to sell to government agencies that are often required to ‘buy local’.

Don’t make any assumptions

Most of the key factors for market entry will depend on exactly which market you’re looking to enter. There are very few hard and fast rules that apply across the generalisation ‘emerging markets’.

But there is a common theme from this guide that should frame your thinking: these markets change – fast. Before committing to entering any market – and especially ones evolving so rapidly – it really pays to research the opportunity fully. This is something that Kadence has helped many clients with, allowing companies to succeed in lucrative emerging markets. Find out more about our market entry services, or get in touch to discuss a project.

It makes sense to open up new markets for a successful product or service. But how do you know whether it’s worth the investment? What makes for a potential buyer in your home territory might not apply in a new location where the total addressable market could be much smaller or many times the size. Enter the market researchers. We explain how to calculate market potential.

Estimating sales can be a chore even when you have historical and well-honed market instincts to work with. But in a new market this is even harder. There’s no historical data to review and it’s challenging to estimate the kinds of expenses and risks that might crop up.

An inability to judge sales makes the decision of whether to enter a new market much harder. Without a decent estimate – of both sales and likely profits – it’s almost impossible to decide on how you might enter and what kind of investment to make there.

What’s the market really worth?

The starting point is to get a handle on the existing market for your brand or product in the new territory. A basic market analysis is a great starting point. Typically it breaks down into:

  • Market sizing (current and future)
  • Market trends
  • Market growth rate
  • Market profitability
  • Industry cost structure
  • Distribution channels
  • Key success factors

But within each category, there’s lots to research. A more superficial look at the data can be helpful for a ‘first cut’ look at which new markets you might want to enter. But a deeper dive into the numbers will be essential if you’re going to properly evaluate the strategy for what looks like a high-probability candidate.

That more sophisticated analysis could take the form of a total addressable market (TAM) analysis. This looks at both the TAM itself, as well as serviceable available market (SAM). This is the portion of TAM that your company’s products or services play inside; and serviceable obtainable market (SOM), the percentage of SAM which your might realistically reach.

Best guesses?

But getting to SOM for a brand new market isn’t a simple calculation. It’s not exactly easy in markets where you’re a known quantity and understand the competitive environment, either! For businesses in mature categories and with previous experience of being a new entrant to markets, it’s possible to make educated guesses. This can be refined with local research on factors that might shape consumer behaviour.

In some industries that data might be possible to obtain – from industry associations, for example, or government agencies. In others – and particularly in product segments that a relatively underdeveloped in the market you plan to enter – sales figures might be harder to come by.

Then there’s the difficulty of calculating market share. You will know what it might cost in contracts, infrastructure and marketing to build share in existing markets. But the assumptions may be way off-base for a brand new market.

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Talk to people

At this point there are two avenues:

Research sales results that have been achieved by other companies like yours. They don’t even need to be in precisely the same line of business. The lessons of other companies looking to sell into the new markets can reveal both the optimum routes in, the barriers to adoption and the appetite for new brands.

That might even mean contacting other businesses to ask their experience of making the adaptation to the new market – as well as learning about potentially important busy and slow seasons, noteworthy business practices and quirks of the system that might not have a direct bearing on the size of the opportunity, but will allow you to adjust your assumptions.

Talking to local partners, however, is probably the best way of calibrating your expectations. Even if you plan to enter a market by establishing a local entity and investing in your own facilities and marketing, you’ll still be working with many different counterparties. This can span everything from local professional services firms such as lawyers and accountants, to warehousing, distribution or media buying agencies.

They ought to be able to offer anecdotal evidence at the very least; at best, they’ll have insights into the size of the market and chances of capturing that crucial market share. And if the route to market entry is contracting with a local distributor, licensees or franchisees, their sense of the opportunity could be invaluable.

But above all, rigorous quantitative and qualitative market research will reveal a great deal about attitudes and appetites for your brand or product. The more you can contextualise the hard data on existing spend and potential market growth with consumer insight, the more realistic your evaluation will be.

Focusing on behaviour

One other way to address uncertainties about how a new market might embrace a product or service is to think not about that category, or even look at domestic rivals’ sales and strengths. It’s to create a strategy based on consumer behaviours.

If you can analyse why your brand, product or service is successful in its existing markets and break down the results into some key motivators or even behavioural traits of your consumers, it might be possible to assess where those traits are visible in a new market before you enter. In what situations is your product used? What type of people love it? What are those customers’ attitudes across different domains? What role does it play in their lives – and why?

That will require some pretty deep insight into the market you want to enter. Clearly it’s a more useful investment to make if there are other positive signals to encourage you in – fundamentals such as infrastructure, spending power or pre-existing local interest in your brand or product.

How good is your cost analysis?

Knowing your potential sales, market share and growth are all important. But the scale of the opportunity isn’t just sales – it’s profit. And even seasoned businesspeople can misstep when it comes to keeping costs under control in their market entry strategy. Here’s a brief list of costs that won’t affect domestic-only businesses:

  • Shipping costs – which can also fluctuate wildly, as we’re finding out during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consider, also, capacity. Shipping out of markets with a high balance of trade deficit (Europe, US, UK) to major exporters (China, for example) is much easier than going the other way.
  • Legal expenses – from registering a business in a new location, sorting out licensing, contracts, the right insurance cover… and complying with local regulations on everything from product labelling to anti-bribery laws.
  • Foreign taxes – and other local accounting quirks, which might be different depending on your headquarters domicile and the mode of entry into the market.
  • Translation services – for everything from contracts and technical specs, to instruction manuals and marketing.
  • Recruitment and HR – even a light-touch market entry will benefit from putting some employees into the new market to oversee set-up and manage local relationships.
  • Travel expenses – for the above, but also for ongoing check-ins with local teams or business partners.

What do you know about rivals?

Some lucky businesses will find an overseas market where there are few local rivals, legal and business structures that allow them to port across their defensive attributes from existing markets and a ready but as-yet-untapped consumer base. But those will be rare. So to properly understand the market potential, you’ll need competitor analysis. Our typical approach to this considers:

  • Who are your rivals in that market? Not just currently selling what you want to sell, but addressing your potential customers, too.
  • What is their range of products? How easily might they change?
  • How do they pitch their consumers? What messages are they using? Which channels?
  • What is their competitive advantage? What’s their cost base like? What could you replicate – and where can you out-compete them?
  • What’s their market share? How fragmented in the competition? What opportunities does that present either in terms of the industry cost-base or even acquiring smaller rivals?
  • What is their company structure? If they outsource (for supply or support) or license (to address the market), could those be vulnerabilities increasing your potential strength?

In summary

A lack of prior experience and knowledge can make it challenging for companies to assess the potential of new markets. We help lots of business overcome this – not just through the use of primary and secondary market research, but also by having people on the ground in many countries and regions to add specific local knowledge.

This creates a much more rounded view of the market potential – and the optimum ways to tap into it – than simply applying a cookie-cutter approach to market entry. The key steps:

  • Understand the demographic and economic drivers that underpin the total market for your products or services.
  • Think laterally about the broader factors – such as the types of consumer and cultural attitudes – that dictate market size.
  • Analyse existing market activity to deduce a TAM, SOM and SAM.
  • Conduct consumer research to evaluate your specific opportunity in the market.
  • Competitor intelligence will help you test assumptions about potential market share gains.
  • Rigorous local insights into costs and risks will reveal the profit potential – the ultimate rationale for market entry

Find out more about our market entry services, read our expert guide to market entry or get in touch with us to discuss a project with our team.

How you enter a market often dictates whether you’ll be successful there. Different approaches all have pros and cons – and deciding which to choose is as much about market insight as it is financial logic. So what are the four market entry strategies?

Export? Licensing? Franchising? Partnering? JVs? M&A? There are many ways to get into a new market. What situations typically suit each variety? What do you need to know about the market to select the most appropriate options? How do we assess the strengths and weaknesses – and their long-term effect on your business? Here’s our brief overview of your options for an entry strategy into a new market.

Early exposure: the passive way in

Online retail – and social media these days – mean brand exposure in new markets has become relatively easy. Social media shopping, for instance, is becoming an increasingly popular entry point for brands into new markets, particularly if they’re picked up by influencers. This could be by traditional media outlets (like fashionable magazines), web-based trend-setters (such as popular tech review channels on YouTube) or specialist social media influencers on global platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Most markets have their own versions of these channels – and there are plenty of popular global options, too.

(Caveat: many global influencers, and those within markets, may need inducement to feature products or services. While ‘accidental’ market exposure is possible, you’re still likely to need some kind of strategy for this kind of introduction.)

But e-commerce can be a double-edged sword. Yes, consumers might get exposure to a brand online. But if it’s not available in their market, they can end up buying the next best thing that is available. Your brand could be doing an excellent category building job for local rivals.

It’s also worth looking out for platforms that are not global. In many markets, local e-commerce platforms have emerged. Any attempt to exploit the market will rely on having access to it. (We look into that further in our guide to entering emerging markets.)

In addition to working with local platforms, brands need to consider carefully how to fulfil orders and handle customer relations. Managing all these elements through third parties in a straight commercial relationship can work well. That said, there’s a massive gulf between entering a market virtually via e-commerce and getting ‘boots on the ground’.

That’s not just about commitment. Each of the third parties you work with is taking a chunk of your profit margin. And in some cases – particularly with perishable or heavyweight products, and especially services – the arm’s length approach just won’t work. To access that pool of consumers, you’re going to need a local presence. Here are some main routes in.

1. Structured exporting

The default form of market entry. Consumers and companies in other markets can easily buy your products wholesale, sort out logistics and handle local marketing. Increasingly, brands can ship internationally – riding the kind of passive market entry discussed above – but assigning a local trusted distributor to conduct transactions with your buyers, and even partnering directly with major wholesalers or retailers, is a perfectly good way in.

Working with the right partners can be a make-or-break decision. So thoroughly researching the key players, their terms of trade and their local reputations is vital. Even seemingly innocuous business practices can have a big effect on the way products are handled, sold and supported.

Having local agents doesn’t mean you can ignore the nuances of the local market. It still pays to get under the skin of local retail, for example, understanding any patterns of consumption and thinking about local tastes and behaviours that might shift how a product is presented. Even in an arms-length distribution agreement, it pays to tailor a product to local preferences. Chocolate brands, for example, must cater to both local biases on the flavour and texture of their product – but also the local climate. Getting under the skin of target consumers in new markets is something we’ve supported many businesses with as they’ve entered new territories.

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2. Licensing and franchising

Licensing is giving legal rights to in-market parties to use your company’s name and other intellectual property. Any licensee can produce and sell products under your name or offer services using your brand. In exchange, you get royalties or other payments. It can be an effective light-touch way of entering a market, especially if you’re a service business that needs a local workforce; or your products would benefit from local manufacturing.

But it’s not all plain sailing. How a licensee behaves towards customers, the quality of their output and the local spin they put on your product can affect the brand. That means thorough due diligence is needed on potential partners, and brands that come to the table with detailed research on their new market are much more likely to be able to tie down any important factors affecting those decisions into a contract.

Franchising is similar to licensing but requires a lot more heavy lifting up front. As well as researching any new market before entering it, brands should think about how they will structure any franchise agreement – which will require additional research into local legal structures and potential franchisees; working out what the franchise buys (for some businesses it’s little more than a licence; for others, it’s a suite of processes, marketing support materials and even hardware that come with the deal); and how they might be able to handle disputes with franchisees later.

3. Direct investment

For many companies, setting up a fully-fledged operation in the new market is a big commitment – but also brings huge advantages. This kind of ‘greenfield’ investment – ‘greenfield’ meaning the establishment of new facilities – means complete control over the operations in the new market. Many countries welcome foreign investment of this kind.

Some companies will choose only to enter new markets where this kind of investment is possible – for a variety of reasons. If the product is particularly sensitive to different kinds of handling, for example, or needs to be manufactured to particular tolerances, ownership provides a reassuring level of control.

If that’s the case, the legal and regulatory burden of different potential markets should be a factor in the due diligence process right at the outset. Having local legal and financial advice, in additional to in-market research expertise, is essential.

4. Buying a business

International M&A is still fraught with risks and paperwork, but even in a bad year – 2019 is the last we have figures for, and we might expect 2020 to be an outlier one way or another – cross-border acquisitions accounted for $1.2 trillion. (A ‘bad year’? That was a third lower than the US$1.8 trillion in deals in 2018.) The reason? Buying an existing business is a genuine fast-track for foreign companies to enter a new market.

Market research plays an even more important role in due diligence when you’re buying a business in unfamiliar territory. The traditional metrics you might assess – and even the gut feel of key decision-makers – have to be translated through completely different lenses of cultural and market norms. (Due diligence isn’t easy on domestic M&A deals; it’s much tougher abroad…)

That’s also true, to a lesser extent, with buying a minority stake in a business in your new market. This might mean less up-front investment albeit with less control, too. But in both cases, you’re also buying into local market expertise – which can be invaluable.

That’s also the big benefit of setting up a joint venture­ (JV) – a new partnership between your company and one or more parties where the ownership is shared. You get the benefits of a greenfield start-up; a lower investment than M&A or setting up on your own; local expertise baked in; and legal status as a native in the new market. Many businesses see a JV as a turnkey project: each party brings existing expertise and capabilities to bear for fast deployment.

But be warned: joint ventures only thrive when the contractual commitments of each partner and the beneficial ownership structures are crystal clear. And some big brands have come unstuck in joint ventures where the local partner’s vision for the product or service deviates from their own. Conflict resolution mechanisms are a must. Unsurprisingly, joint ventures are more common in time-limited projects where several contractors need a legal entity to collaborate on a very specific mission – and have clear terms for the joint venture’s dissolution.

Building your intelligence network

The choice of entry route will be dictated by many factors, then – consumer habits, culture, legal status, taxes and tariffs, local business practices, the transparency you can attain around potential partners and more. As a rule of thumb, the less exposure to cost and risk you have, the less control and margin you can secure.

Arms-length surveys and analysis can only tell you so much, however. Working with international agencies who have their own people on the ground in a new market not only means better access to the nuances of consumer behaviours and local trading rules – it also means dealing with people who have first-hand experience of running a business in that market. This approach has enabled to us to successfully support clients in entering new and lucrative markets.

You can learn more about our market entry expertise, or get in touch to discuss a potential project. 

Entering a new market can lead to a massive boost to sales, brand strength and long-term profits. But there’s more to a market entry strategy than great products or services. Understanding the local market – its distribution channels, culture, economic and social trends – through a market research-driven due diligence process is crucial. And sometimes the most valuable insight is the hidden reason why you shouldn’t proceed…

The art and science of market entry

Over the past 40 years globalisation has redefined what it is to be an international brand. For decades, a handful of dominant players in markets such as food and drink (driven by marketing prowess) or automotive (reliant on economies of scale) had been able to enter new markets in ways that most businesses simply couldn’t imagine.

The rapid growth of global trade capacity, and particularly the ubiquity of the internet, has levelled the playing field. Today, a business in Bolton has myriad options for selling in Beijing; an Australian specialist retailer has lots of ways into the Austrian market.

But the process of choosing which markets to enter, how and why remains fraught with danger. The rewards of opening up a new market are potentially great. On the other hand, the cost can be significant, and the list of powerful global brands that have failed to successfully enter new markets is a long.

The factors to consider are varied: there are economic and social dimensions, competition from local companies, the quirks of regional distribution channels, cultural mismatches… and much more. That means undertaking a market-research-driven due diligence project before entering a new market is a must.

Why look elsewhere? The reasons for market entry

What motivates companies to investigate entering a new market? Every organisation will have its own reasons. Exploring them in detail is a useful first step in defining the later market entry strategy.

Brand growth 

A huge proportion of value in modern enterprises is wrapped up in intangibles. That means increasing enterprise value requires diversification of the brand. Some very strong domestic brands can move into adjacent markets (Dyson, for example, can leverage its reputation for air-moving engineering from vacuums, to hand-dryers, to room fans and even hair straighteners). A select few can jump into non-adjacent categories (Virgin, for example). But opening up a whole new geographic market can establish a brand with many more consumers, boosting its value.

Saturation of existing markets

Once you have gained significant market share and consumer penetration domestically, it’s easy to see growth stall. Launching new products to address existing customers is costly and high risk. But taking proven products or services to a new market can create fresh upside for growing brands.

Optimising overhead costs

As businesses grow, they build up overheads – around head office functions, for example. They also build up niche skills and experience – in fields such as logistics, legal or financial. These scale well: the more times you can put your experts to work in a new market, the more productive they are. And the more markets you have, the lower the amount each one pays to meet head office costs.

Strategic partnership

Globalisation has meant businesses can easily work with partners in new markets – creating new opportunities for blended products and services. Local distributors, for example, might be pathfinders for a brand into a new market – demonstrating the potential for a more structured entry into that market.

There are plenty of other motivations, often overlapping. Knowing which is driving the decision to explore new markets will help frame the strategy for successfully entering one.

A phased approach to market entry

There are different phases to a market entry project. You need to size the opportunity to judge whether it’s worth entering a new market. There ought to be concept testing, especially for new categories or innovations in that market. Many clients focus on competitor analysis when they’re dealing with less well-known rivals.

Market entry has many dimensions – and no business is too big to skip them.

We work with a number of high-profile Japanese brands, global names that are already present in different countries in some form of another. But they still need to tailor particular products or brands to the local markets they’re looking to exploit; and understand the specific needs of consumers in those categories.

Market entry projects usually involve a series of questions, and typically each of these is a discrete engagement.

Key questions for any market entry project

  1. Which markets might we look at?
  2. What is the macro environment like in a market we want to enter?
  3. How does the competitive landscape affect its attractiveness?
  4. What is the best way to enter the market in practical terms?
  5. How do we adjust our product, service or messaging to optimise our offer there?

While market entry studies are a vital tool in successfully growing a brand somewhere new, sometimes their value comes from showing that entering a new market will not be successful. Around 50% of these projects results in a recommendation not to go ahead as planned. That finding can emerge at any one of the stages above. Far from being bad news, it’s often the most valuable insight a brand can get. Market entry can be costly and complex – not doing so when the conditions aren’t right can save massive amounts of money and time.

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The world is your oyster. But where’s the pearl?

A crucial first step in investigating markets for entry is to analyse why a brand, product or service is successful in its existing markets. How is it used? Who are the type of people that love it? What are those customers’ attitudes across different domains? What role does it play in their lives – and why?

The next step is to look for markets where groups like this already exist. A good starting point can be detailed desk research – using tools like the CIA World Factbook for demographic information, or understanding cultural similarities to your home market through cultural awareness studies like the Hofstede Insights Culture Compass. But ultimately, it’s approaches developed precisely for the brand or product that will reveal good matches. Narrowing down the high-probability markets is hugely valuable for brands that don’t have other clues to go on.

Sometimes brands do have a clear idea from the outset which markets they want to enter. We worked with a company producing ceramics which had a light-touch arrangement with an international distributor. They started to notice a significant uptick in orders from Korea – which was obviously a strong signal that entering that market could pay dividends.

But that also meant understanding why was key to a successful market entry. Closer research revealed that an increase in purchasing power among the country’s middle class had made the designs more attractive; plus online shopping had taken hold and made previously hard-to-get products more visible.

Target acquired. Now what? Next steps in a market entry project

Specific country research starts with fundamental market insight and competitor intelligence work. Initially, that’s secondary research, analysing available insights for the particular category in question. After that, we might move on to interviewing people whose knowledge of the market will provide more nuanced insights.

Companies usually see this as their feasibility study, helping them understand who else is operating in their category, what regulations might be applicable, what the domestic distribution and supply chain infrastructure is like, and what investment they’re likely to need to make under different scenarios.

That industry analysis and expert insight helps generate a strategic overview of the market tailored to the client. Often that’s enough to substantiate the decision on whether and how to enter a market, especially if it’s a close match with the brand’s existing markets.

A good example is some work we did with an electronics brand looking to launch a new product in the US. The group already has a huge presence in America – but not for its new product, a battery system for domestic renewable electricity.

Our project involved interviewing a range of potential stakeholders – such as real estate developers, housing associations, planning authorities and environmental regulators – to get a holistic view of how that market might evolve. That enabled the client to take a realistic view of both the existing appetite for the product and current regulations; and how the landscape might change as they developed the product.

It’s not uncommon for a company to walk away at this point – there might be competitive, regulatory or infrastructure barriers that no mode of entry can overcome cost-effectively.

Frameworks to assess a new market

A structured framework can be valuable in assessing a new market. You might see great consumer interest – but if the regulatory stance is hostile, you have to think twice. One way of conducting a thorough overview of a market to pick up all those factors is to analyse the environment through different PESTLE lenses:

PESTLE

  • Political – how stable is the country? What’s the prevailing ideology? What biases – intervention in markets, say, or taxation – do politicians have?
  • Economic – how rich is the country? How is wealth distributed? What’s growth like, and where is it likely to continue?
  • Social – what’s the culture in the country? What are the typical social structures – family, work, community? What about religious norms? Education levels?
  • Technological – what’s the infrastructure like? How wired is the country? How lumpy is technology penetration? What about population ‘techiness’?
  • Legal – what rules are there about business ownership? How about liability laws? What recourse do overseas businesses have in the courts?
  • Environmental – how might the local climate affect the product or service? What about use of resources? Or end-of-life disposal of products?

Porter’s Five Forces

The next step is to get a grip on the competitive landscape, and that’s where tools such as Porter’s Five Forces come in. Michael Porter worked at Harvard University, and in 1979 he published a paper aiming to describe the ‘microenvironment’ for the attractiveness of any given industry – or, in this case, a new market.

There are three forces from ‘horizontal’ competition:

  • The threat of substitute products or services – what’s the alternative to your own offering that people might use? How are they achieving the same goals now, and what might shift their views?
  • The threat of established rivals – bearing in mind that in a new market for you, there will be lots of players who know how to operate there better than you do.
  • The threat of new entrants – being a new entrant to a market doesn’t mean others won’t follow, too. And if you’re establishing a new category in a market, that might tempt others in, or prompt local businesses to muscle in.

Two forces come from ‘vertical’ competition:

  • The bargaining power of suppliers – opening up a new market might help you gain economies of scale from higher sales volumes. But it also makes you more reliant on suppliers – especially around issues such as logistics.
  • The bargaining power of customers – understanding the broader competitive landscape will help you see what choices customers have; but, especially in the initial phases, they might need to be tempted to switch brands or try a new category.

Digging into the nuances

Those kinds of analytical tools mean companies can enter a new market with their eyes wide open. But they’ll still need to develop a sophisticated view of customers, competitors and regulations – the kind of insights that will tell them how they might enter a market, not just whether it’s a good idea.

That’s when they’ll commission more in depth market research and run projects like a market segmentation analysis to dig deeper into nuances they can exploit later to optimise their market entry.

At this point, they’ll be starting to research more detail on potential partners; exactly how they would use infrastructure to import, manufacture and distribute in that market; what specific customer niches exist; and even financial planning to take into account the kind of regulatory and cost-of-trade analysis they revealed in the feasibility study.

But above all they need to understand how their brand might be received. It’s not a given that you can simply transplant over your image or core messages.

Culture and behaviour: getting the key variables right

Cultural fit is hugely important. In this phase of the project, we would drill down into the local factors that might help a brand; or create barriers for its acceptance. This is typically a traditional market research exercise, exploring the behavioural aspects of consumers in the new market.

For example, we worked with a Japanese food manufacturer looking to expand into new Asian markets. But in the Philippines, it quickly became clear that there was no appetite for the more subtle flavourings and preservatives in the Japanese product. It was the perfect case of a potentially costly market entry being avoided through strong research findings.

That’s a lesson Pret a Manger learned in Japan, where it opened 14 sandwich shops across greater Tokyo in 2003. Just 18 months later, the company withdrew after its local partner, McDonald’s Japan, pulled out citing heavy losses. Superficial research indicated that Japanese people would love the convenience and novelty of eating-on-the-go sandwiches. But once the novelty wore off, sales dipped quickly. That combination of financial and cultural barriers hadn’t been picked up.

Speaking the language

As well as deciding whether the consumer will use the product, it’s important to explore the way in which it’s marketed. This is particularly important for brand with an established global image – the logos, slogans and even colour palettes that they’ve invested in heavily to define themselves – because those might have unexpected connotations in a new culture. Take, for example, the beauty treatment marketed in Japan as “for clear skin” – which translated elsewhere in Asia as “ghostliness”.

There have been plenty of cases of companies that didn’t do their market research with disastrous consequences:

  • Clairol’s ‘Mist Stick’ curling iron flopped in Germany: ‘Mist’ is slang for manure.
  • Coors’s slogan ‘Turn It Loose’ translated into Spanish is slang for diarrhoea.
  • KFC is known globally for being ‘finger-licking good’ – which translated as ‘eat your fingers off’ in China.
  • Also in China, ‘Pepsi Brings You Back to Life’ was interpreted as ‘Pepsi Brings You Back from the Grave.’

But rival Coca Cola entered the China market much more deftly. Initially, signs produced by local distributors for ‘ko-ka-ko-la’ (using symbols for the closest phonetic translation) were translated as ‘bite the wax tadpole’. But the company was developing its own local brand positioning, and settled on the symbols ‘K’o-K’ou-K’o-lê’ – which means ‘to allow the mouth to be able to rejoice,’ a far more apt trademark that it registered in 1928.

The money question – how to approach pricing

The other marketing fundamental that research can steer is pricing – a factor every market entry project needs to examine. Where is the competitive price point for consumers in the new market? What volumes and margins might you expect, based on the market opportunity? How does the new market stack up cost-wise – are you importing or manufacturing locally, for example – and what does that do to your opportunity to flex prices?

More broadly, the profitability of different business models often dictates whether and how to enter a new market at all. For some businesses there’s relatively little financial penalty to operating exclusively through local distributors. But at a certain point, issues such as volume of sales, cost of distribution, tariff levels, changes to local taxes and so on will shift the financial rationale. For example, we’ve already seen many UK businesses enter EU markets directly as a mean of offsetting post-Brexit tariffs, staffing, distribution and other costs.

The financial calculations can also dictate the viable means of getting into a market. At one level, that’s purely a ‘treasury’ consideration. How will profits be repatriated? What are the currency risks associated with the new market? How does banking and taxation work there? But how much you can control the brand locally – rather than relying on local agents – is also a factor. (We’ll look at the different modes for entering new markets in more detail in a separate guide.)

Know when to hold… and when to fold

All these factors are a reminder that even strong and established global brands don’t always have an easy time expanding into a new market. They might have some leverage with their global brand name. They have the resources to invest in market penetration. But to do so effectively – and without incurring higher opportunity costs elsewhere – they need data and insights to ensure their entry is tailored.

Even brands that take precautions to adapt to local culture can miss valuable clues as to their viability in a new market. Starbucks famously waited 47 years to open its first branch in Italy – wary of the very particular approach to coffee there. In 2018, its first shop opened in Milan. But the brand has struggled in the country. Limited research into new markets had affected the brand before, with its Australian business failing to meet the demands of local coffee-lovers; its Israeli operation closed in 2003 within two years of launch.

Granular, holistic research is the key

To gain the right insight to inform your market entry strategies, you’ll need to work with external agencies. For some very fast-growing and global brands, there might be a case for building an in-house team with the kind of expertise and experience needed to evaluate new markets in sequence. But when it comes to local research expertise and cultural understanding, the insights can often be two-dimensional.

McDonald’s Japan is a great example of using local insight to tailor what is, on the face of it, a universal brand. Every country has their tiny variations in the McDonald’s menu. But visitors to Tokyo will find radical departures such as Ebi Filet-o (a burger with breaded shrimp); Teriyaki McBurger; and even chocolate fries.

For many businesses – and business models – international expansion is likely to be a multi-year project with long pauses. That means bringing agencies to advise and evaluate each market entry is the only practical solution – especially if they bring specific knowledge on particular markets to bear.

At Kadence, with offices spanning Europe, the US and Asia Pacific, we are well positioned to support brands with market entry research. Find out more about our market entry services or get in touch to discuss a potential project.

Introducing market segmentation

There is no product or service which fits every consumer uniformly. Sometimes there needs to be variation in products to suit different people – compact smartphones for people with smaller hands, for example, or simplified apps for those not so good with tech. It could be different ways of selling a product – appealing to some people with an emotional message and others with a technical pitch.

Knowing the ways consumers behave, feel, think and make decisions can help any business tailor its products and its pitches to meet their needs more fully. By breaking down the market into segments – which share certain traits, are identifiably different from other groups, or have similar attitudes – we can find efficient and effective ways of targeting products and services.

Market segmentation is one of the most commonly used market research and analysis tools. When you call your mobile network provider, for example, you can be sure you’ve been categorised into a tailor-made customer segment, and that the interaction you have with the call centre is at least in part defined by the persona you’ve been assigned. It helps them understand how to talk to you, what behaviours you’re likely to exhibit, and the types of need you’ll have.

There are three reasons organisations typically commission a market segmentation project:

  1. They feel they don’t know enough about their customers.
  2. They have some basic ideas about the types of customers they have but they can’t apply that knowledge to meet their marketing needs.
  3. They have a successful segmentation analysis but they’re finding it’s flawed in some way and needs updating.

A segmentation doesn’t just shape the way businesses deal with target customers or existing clients, it informs the design of new products and services and will dictate how they decide to reach you and with what messages. It can shape marketing campaigns and entire brand strategies.

What is market segmentation?

Once upon a time, all business was local. Consumers bought products and services from nearby providers – people from their own communities who understood their needs. There were crude forms of segmentation but they were instinctive and obvious. Salespeople from the dawn of time have tailored their messages according to who they were addressing.

About a hundred years ago, that started to change. Mass-produced goods and emerging global business models meant companies needed to understand in more detail the different markets they might address. Mass media accelerated the trend. When you could reach anyone via a newspaper ad or a TV commercial, understanding who might buy your product, why they might like it, where to reach them and what to say to them became much more important.

Then in July 1958, consultant marketer Wendell Smith wrote an article in the Journal of Marketing titled ‘Product Differentiation and Market Segmentation as Alternative Marketing Strategies’ – the first time the word ‘segmentation’ had been used in this context. He argued that understanding the basic facts, personality traits and needs of different groups of potential customers – and tailoring products or messaging to suit – would increase sales.

By the 1970s, Smith and his colleagues were using what became known as ‘psychographics’ (psychology plus demographics) to come up with classic market segmentations, such as the Values Attitude and Lifestyle Study (VALS) – featuring segments such as “innovators” (high-income, motivated by status and exploration) and “thinkers” (well-educated, thoughtful decision-makers open to new ideas). 

The forms of segmentation have evolved over time, as have the specific categories and personas that companies target. Sometimes it’s as crude as defining a target audience as a particular age group but it can also be a sophisticated analysis of deep emotional needs. Methodologies have adapted and diversified, too.But a couple of things remain constant for market segmentation projects. First, they look for definable truths about customers – reliable information that enables you to group them in useful ways. And segmentation remains a cornerstone of marketing campaigns. Segmentation allows companies to target high value consumers and position their product or brand in ways to maximise their performance. That ‘STP’ approach remains fundamental to good marketing.

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Different ways of segmenting your customer base

There are four main categories of information we can use to segment a market:

  • Geographic: where do people live? What is their environment like? What local factors might influence them?
  • Demographic: how old are they? What social groups do they fall into? How educated are they? How big is their family?
  • Behavioural: how do they make decisions? How do they use products? What are their attitudes to brands?
  • Needs based: What are their needs? What are their attitudes and values?

One of the most obvious ways to approach market segmentations is by generations. But people quickly realised that simply looking at age groups glossed over huge variation in attitudes and needs within generations. There are relatively few ways in which an age cohort behaves uniformly. You must ally demographic with behavioural and attitudinal insights to create segments that are truly useful.

This is illustrated by the rise and fall of the concept of ‘Millennials’. There have been a number of  well publicised marketing fails of companies targeting millennials. Lumping them all together – rich and poor, graduates and school-leavers, different countries and cultural backgrounds – is a major misstep. Millennials are hardly homogenous and treating them as one group risks alienating your customer base.

Why ‘needs’ make for compelling segments

We believe that identifying segments by exploring the needs of your potential customers is much more valuable than thinking about any demographic aspects. And this is why the vast majority of market segmentation projects are now needs-based. 

For example, you might discover that there’s a portion of the population whose prime need is for low-cost products; another seeks quality or status from their purchases; and some need to have products that meet exacting technical specifications.  Once you have those needs-based segments mapped, you can cross-reference by demographics or behaviours if that looks like a useful way of finding other people who might fall into those need groups.

Behaviours are harder to use in a predictive sense. They can change rapidly, especially as a result of external influences. Attitudes and needs, on the other hand, are more revealing and often more predictive. For example, we worked with one academic institution to segment their alumni in order to target graduates with a high propensity to make donations. The value of ‘attitude’ was illustrated by two graduates who both worked in finance in the City. They were the same age, had similar jobs and backgrounds. But one had enjoyed their time at the school and saw it as a springboard for their career; the other had not relished their time there and was considering a career change. The demographics said they were the same segment. But attitudinally, they were poles apart. Creating a segment of ‘inspired graduates’ made more sense than one of ‘rich bankers’.

Getting granular: what really makes a difference when it comes to market segmentation?

Working towards a granular market segmentation is important. If your category is too broad (e.g. ‘millennials’), it’s likely that you’ll capture too many different attitudes to be able to develop compelling strategies. When you mash together a lot of different colours, you just end up with brown. You need to be able to pick out individual colours – those different attitudes and needs – so they can be addressed in a compelling way. 

How you’re planning to address your different segments should also help frame your market segmentation strategy. For example, if you’re planning to promote a product through newspaper advertising or on TV, there’s a limit to how granular you need to get.

But as new ways of interacting with customers have evolved – particularly in the digital era – the value of finer segmentations has risen sharply. Today, using tools like email, targeted advertising, or big data analytics, the subtleties between segments can really make a difference.

Imagine you have a product to help pensioners release equity in their homes, for example. There’s an obvious demographic segmentation: you’re only interested in the over-65s. You need to conduct an inspection of their home when they apply and your valuers only cover the South East of England. In this situation, a geographic segmentation is a no-brainer. 

But then you know from your existing customer data that people with grandchildren are much more likely to want to free up cash so differentiating between them and the childless elderly is worthwhile. Financial literacy is also a key factor and how trusting of financial services companies they are. Risk appetite can’t be measured demographically but it might define your segmentation.

How to use market segments

So when companies debate which kinds of factors will define the customer personas – and how finely to segment their audience – the most useful question to ask is: how are you actually going to use the segments?

You might be a global business, looking to understand how the same six segments present in multiple countries. Will you actually be able to tailor the product or service around those segments? Can a central marketing function use them in the same way in every country? Or will local teams who understand the nuances of their own markets offer more valuable insights, and perhaps even more relevant segmentations of their own? 

Or if you have 15 market segments, for example, and identify seven of them as high priority targets, are you going to tailor your product around every one of them? If not, might there be more value in a more limited approach?

We were approached by a large global business who had segmented the entire personal care market in the UK, which resulted in a lot of different segments. These included people who did the minimum to appear presentable, using the cheapest products infrequently. At the other end were big spenders on grooming who were the real target for that brand’s products. 

How might that segmentation have been done differently? In terms of time and money, making a first cut to eliminate the parts of the market that have never shown propensity to buy the brand’s categories of product creates headroom for a deeper segmentation of those more lucrative parts of the population, allowing for more effective targeting.

Embarking on market segmentation? Start with what you already know

The first step of that segmentation journey is looking at what you already know about your existing customers. What is your data telling you? If you’re a pay TV network, for example, your database contains a lot of raw material for market segmentation. You can analyse by frequency of contact, whether someone has switched away and come back to you, whether they opt in to promotional emails, etc. Those kinds of factors alone are a good start to segmentation.

For example, we worked with an online dating service to comb through their database, identifying key segments based on usage patterns and other behaviours, then assigning all existing members to one of those segments. It was a powerful tool for the company’s call centre operators who quickly got a sense of the type of member they were talking to from the persona that popped onto their screen, as well as targeting email marketing and much more. The segments became a lens for the business to view its own customers but also gain insights into the wider market of potential users.

A high-quality customer relationship management (CRM) system is obviously a big help. You need to be in compliance with GDPR and be responsible in how data is used, of course. (And bear in mind: if you formally assign customers to a segment, they might one day see how that’s defined thanks to GDPR’s focus on subject access rights). But allying CRM analysis with an attitudinal, needs-based market segmentation can help extrapolate the behaviours you see in existing contacts to potentially untapped audiences, too.

Many traditional (typically pre-digital) businesses have started to accumulate a lot of data about customers but struggle to make the connection between what they know about them and how that might fuel a market segmentation project. Conversely, online-only businesses are typically built from the ground up around careful segmentations, whether they emerge organically from CRM data or are built as part of a formal project.

Why market personas must be instinctive

It’s important to create segments that are meaningful. The key to a really good market segmentation is that anyone can use it. 

  • It should be intuitive – so the personas you create from your segments are recognisable and understandable.
  • It should be useful to people in different functions – whether that’s new product development, marketing, communications, sales, customer service or even the finance function.
  • It should work as well for people in the boardroom as it does for people at the front line.

That means how you brand your segments is actually a very important part of the process. We all know some famous segment names – DINKYs (Dual Income No Kids); Yuppies (Young Urban Professionals); Mondeo Man and Worcester Woman in the UK, and Soccer Moms in the US. They’re memorable and self-explanatory.

When you’re working on a market segmentation project, you need to bear in mind who’ll be using the segment analysis. That should be everyone, from the board to the call centre operative. Without their buy-in (and their insights) it’s much harder to make the segmentation intuitive. Each segment must make sense to them and tell at least part of the story.

At Kadence, we also have a graphic design team in-house. The use of visuals to bring a segmentation to life is critical, not only to make it live on in the organisation but to frame an understanding of the segments. We often produce documentary videos to show what kind of people are in each segment and how they behave or react.

The impact of market segmentation

What difference does market segmentation make to key decisions? Which decisions does it most affect? We see many different benefits from market segmentations. For example:

Incremental gains in congested markets. Successful products and services rely on fine-tuning to gain market share or increase sell-through with existing audiences. Segmentation allows you to identify how to exploit opportunities in underserved areas, or segments where rivals currently outperform.

Product evolution. Segmenting the market allows you to see what other underserved needs exist in groups that are already customers, allowing you to fine-tune your offer, especially if the product or service has flexible elements built in.

Targeted communications. Even email costs money (and goodwill, if it’s perceived as spam). Identifying common traits among high-propensity segments not only allows for less wasted communications, it also allows those comms to be fine-tuned for maximum impact.

Smarter automation. Customer service and call centres are increasingly reliant on automated systems. A solid market segmentation can help ensure those interactions are properly tailored and high-value segments are prioritised.

Extrapolating from the existing customer base. Market segmentation can help identify traits in existing customers that might be shared by other segments that don’t seem at first glance to be fertile markets.

New product development and launch. You might already have an idea of the types of customers a product will work for, or situations where it might be applied. You might not even need a market segmentation in the development phase but once a product or service has launched, the need to optimise its performance becomes much greater. Who’s actually using it? How? Why? Those early adopters (another classic segment) can help define and exploit other segments of consumers.

The role of market segmentation within your long-term strategy

A market segmentation project, done right, is extremely valuable but it’s also a significant undertaking. Segmentation studies aren’t designed to be done every year – ideally it should have a five or even ten year shelf life.

Even then, some events are so huge as to require a fresh look at segmentation. The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted many businesses to refresh their buyer personas. For the bulk of 2020, people’s lives have been artificially constrained. How someone behaves or reacts, what they prioritise in life, and even what values they have, are all affected by ‘not going out’. 

Even when lockdowns (hopefully) abate in 2021, how the market breaks down for previously predictable products – from personal grooming and alcohol, to cars and holidays – is going to be quite different to what went before. And it’s very unlikely the old segments will move to adapt to the new reality in precisely the same ways.

We’ve already seen some significant pandemic-inspired segmentation projects, with brands wanting to understand how their market breaks down now that people are eating out much less and work-from-home consumers are shopping differently. Previous segments might not be helpful: do you need to re-cut by job status, for example, given higher unemployment?

It doesn’t matter whether you’re targeting niche markets and need to understand where to find them, or want to tailor a broad-based approach to maximise penetration among different personas, an effective segmentation will set you up for success. Find out more about our experience in running market segmentation studies, or get in touch with our team to discuss a specific challenge. 

Looking ahead to the trends that will shape the coming year is a critical exercise for any business. But in 2021, this is perhaps more significant than ever. Consumer behaviour has been transformed as a result of Covid-19, as many shifts in behaviour have accelerated. This blog post summarises 5 key trends from our latest report Consumer Trends in Asia: 2021

  1. Vocal for local – Consumers are looking to support brands closer to home
  2. Looking for action – Consumers want to see brands having a positive impact on the community
  3. Racing towards a digital future – Online shopping is booming, ushering in new innovation
  4. Seeking value – Consumers are prioritizing value and saving more
  5. Health is wealth – We’re seeing a marked change in diets as consumers focus on health

Read the summary below or download the full report to learn more about consumer trends in Asia in 2021 and what your business can do to capitalise on them. It’s packed full of insight and analysis from local experts across our 8 Asian offices – China, India, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan – and contains inspiring examples of brands successfully tapping into these trends.  

1. Vocal for local – Consumers are looking to support brands closer to home

The economic turmoil of Covid-19 has made consumers more conscious than ever of the impact of their purchase power. In light of this, we expect one of the big consumer trends in Asia in 2021 to be supporting local brands.

In some markets this is manifesting itself in a wave of support for national, rather than global brands. India and China are two markets where this is happening. In India, Prime Minister Modi’s strategy to aid economic recovery in the country is to focus on local manufacturing and supply chains and to encourage Indian consumers to support Indian brands. In response local brands have leveraged this messaging in their marketing campaigns, further promoting the concept. In China, we also see consumers looking to purchase from homegrown brands rather than global companies. This trend was already underway, due to international trade tensions and the growing popularity of Chinese brands, but it has been accelerated further by Covid-19.

In other Asian markets, we’re seeing the emergence of hyper-localisation. Now spending more time at home and recognising the companies that helped them during the height of the pandemic, we are seeing consumers looking to support businesses in their local neighbourhoods through challenging economic times.  This is very much a continuation of the behaviours of the behaviours we saw at the onset of the pandemic. In Japan, for instance, the 応援消費  (consume to support) movement went viral, and whilst in Indonesia, consumers were encouraged to #belidariteman (buy from a friend). This sentiment is likely to be important in 2021 and beyond, particularly in the food and drink industry as our research Understanding the impact of Covid-19: Food industry trends for 2020 and beyond indicates. When asked which of the behaviours they’d adopted in the pandemic that they’d continue in future, 42% of Asian consumers told us they plan to continue supporting local food and drink brands, the second highest of any behaviour.

2. Looking for action – Consumers want to see brands having a positive impact on the community

When we think ahead to 2021, we mustn’t underestimate the impact of the pandemic. Covid-19 has caused many people to reconsider what is important to them and this has extended to their relationship with brands. Our Brands Exposed research, exploring how Covid-19 has changed expectations of marketing and brands, found that 63% of Asian consumers think that brands need to re-evaluate their role in society in a post-Covid world.

There’s also an expectation that brands need to do more to support the communities they serve, a trend that is more prevalent in Asia than it is in the West. 63% of Asian consumers believe that organisations have a responsibility to contribute financially to their communities, compared to 43% in the US and 51% in the UK. They’re also appetite to see brands going further, leading meaningful initiatives in their communities – 58% of Asian consumers believe this to be importance, compared to just 41% in the US and 46% in the UK.

So what does this mean for brands looking to make their mark in Asia? One thing’s for sure – brands need to be prioritising actions over words, providing evidence of the steps they are taking to make a difference and the impact that this is having. And this isn’t just confined to the B2C space. Our recent work with Bloomberg understanding the attitudes of business decision makers across 6 markets in Asia and Australia found that 56% are looking for brands that are protecting the underprivileged and vulnerable and a further 56% want to see brands using their resources to give back to society.

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3. Racing towards a digital future- online shopping is booming, ushering in new innovation

Seismic regional and global events have often act as a catalyst for behavioural change and innovation – and Covid-19 is no exception.

In response to regulations, businesses and consumers have adopted online solutions at a rapid rate. In some markets like India this has been accompanied by governmental action to provide digital connectivity in remote rural areas and to low income groups, enabling the delivery of basic services during this time. As such, some demographic groups have experienced the benefits of online shopping for the first time.

Others, already accustomed to shopping online, are doing this more and spending in new categories such as grocery and personal care according to a survey of digital consumers in 6 Asian markets from Bain and Facebook. The research suggests that this represents a permanent shift in behaviours. 83% of those surveyed said they are likely to continue increased spending online after the pandemic. These behaviours aren’t just confined to younger people. There are significant numbers (35%) of older people – aged 55 and over – that share this sentiment.

In response to the rapid growth of online shopping we’re seeing innovation in this space. From shopstreaming in China to a new breed of influencers in Japan, you can read more in the full report.

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4. Seeking value – Consumers are prioritizing value and saving more

The Bain and Facebook study also provides interesting insights into consumers’ attitudes towards personal finance in this period. 57% of the consumers surveyed are prioritising value for money in their purchases. They are also saving more. The study found that 60% are planning to put more money aside in future and that Asian consumers are two times more likely to start saving more after the crisis than their American counterparts. We see this reflected in our own data, as consumers cut back on non-essentials in Thailand.

Against this backdrop, companies across all sectors will have to work harder to get consumers to part with their cash, clearly articulating the benefits and value of their products, and focusing on building customer loyalty to avoid switching.

5. Health is wealth – We’re seeing a marked change in diets as consumers focus on health

Health has been a big focus in 2020 and we expect this to continue, with it being one of the big consumers trends in Asia to watch for 2021. Our research with Bloomberg reflects this, with 67% of business decision makers across Asia and Australia telling us that taking care of their personal and family’s health is more important than ever.

This is playing out in a number of ways, first and foremost in diets. Our report, Understanding the impact of Covid-19: Food industry trends for 2020 and beyond, found that 59% of  Asian consumers believe that what they eat and drink has changed from the better, with only 6% stating their diet has changed for the worse. This represents a marked difference to Western markets – where just 24% of Americans and 34% of Brits believe what they’re eating has improved. In line with this renewed focus on health, the majority of consumers are also cooking more for themselves and consuming more fruit and vegetables than before the onset of the pandemic. This indicates a opportunity for food and beverage brands to develop healthier versions of their products and support consumers in cooking healthy meals from scratch – be that through recipes or product launches.

But health goes beyond just diet. There’s also a greater emphasis on fitness and on mental health, with PwC reporting that in China, 87% of consumers are focused on taking care of their mental health. There are numerous opportunities for brands to support consumers in these areas, which we analysis in detail in the full report.  

To learn more, download the full report: Consumer Trends Asia: 2021

To learn more about how these trends are playing out in each market, our analysis of the implications of these trends and success stories of brands making inroad in these areas, download the full report.

Alternatively, if you’d like our support in understanding the changes taking place in your key markets and how you can capitalise on these, please get in touch.

The arrival of Covid-19 has brought with it dramatic changes in food and drink purchase patterns. Shelf-stable food like pasta, rice and canned goods flew off the shelves. Immune system boosting ingredients were top of the shopping list. But which behaviours will stick and what are the longer term food industry trends to watch?

We spoke to consumers in 10 countries, as well as our own internal food and beverage experts to understand the global picture and the local nuances and trends in each market. We wanted to understand how people are eating and drinking in this new normal, and what implications this has for the future.

We’ve summarised the key global and local trends in this blog post but for the full findings, download the report: Understanding the Impact of Covid-19: Food Industry Trends for 2020 and Beyond.

Global food industry trends for 2020 and beyond

The pandemic has improved eating and drinking habits across the world

Over half (53%) of the consumers we spoke to told us that since the onset of the pandemic, what they eat and drink has changed for the better. Some countries like India and Vietnam have seen a big swing towards healthier diets, whereas others like the US, UK and Japan have been more consistent. Overall, very few people (just 6%) believe their diet has changed for the worse.

People are cooking more at home and they’re eating more fresh fruit and vegetables

With more time at home, and health high on the agenda, it’s unsurprising that half of consumers globally (51%) are now cooking more for themselves and their families. This trend is more prevalent in some Asian markets, such as India, China, Thailand and Vietnam, than it is in the US, UK or Japan. But even in this market, consumers have found an innovative workaround to sourcing home-cooked meals. Over the past few months, professional chef / dietician delivery services like Sharedine have boomed in Japan. This is where a personal chef will come to a customer’s house and cook a number of dishes from scratch that can be reheated over the coming days. The service even includes grocery delivery!

At a global level, people are also more conscious of what they eat, with a real focus on fresh produce. Half of consumers globally (51%) tell us they are eating more fresh fruit and vegetables. This is more significant than any other dietary changes, such as eating more grains and nuts (adopted by 29%) or eating more meat-free products or dairy and cheese (practiced by just 16% and 13% respectively).

Health-conscious consumers are looking to boost their immune systems and brands are responding

Even now long after the onset of the pandemic, immune-boosting solutions are still at the top of consumers’ shopping lists. Consumers in markets like India are looking to natural ingredients. But others, like those in Thailand and China are making use of a new range of RTD products that have sprung up to meet this need. The “water plus” category has boomed in Thailand, with brands such as Yanhee Vitamin Water, B’lue, VITADAY Vitamin Water and PH Plus 8.5 Alkaline Water coming to the fore. In China, product launches have included milk with immune globulin, Vitamin C fruit tea and Chinese jujube drinks.

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Worries about the origin of food are one of the key food industry trends for 2020 and beyond

When asked which of the behaviours they’d adopted in the pandemic that they’d continue in future, being conscious of where the produce I consume originates from for safety / health reasons came out top. We see this reflected in consumer behaviour. Some people in countries like Vietnam and Indonesia have moved away from visiting wet markets, opting instead for mini supermarkets or online solutions. In some markets, there are also significant groups of consumers that are opting to eat more meat-free products, perceived to be less prone to infection. This amounts to 32% of consumers in Vietnam, 28% in India and 23% in China. With these concerns top of mind for many consumers, it’s the brands that prioritise hygiene and safety that will come out on top. We’re already seeing some great examples of this happening, with the help of technology. One example is Haidilao. This hotpot restaurant in Beijing has installed smart robotic arms to prepare and deliver raw meat and fresh vegetables. It’s also introduced technology to track and dispose of food that has passed its expiry date.

Supporting local is a key consideration for many consumers

Across the world people are doing their bit to keep local food and beverage brands afloat. This looks set to continue in future. When asked which of the behaviours they’d adopted in the pandemic that they’d continue, supporting local produce and food and beverage brands came out second highest.

In Japan, this trend has manifested itself in the 応援消費 (Consume To Support) movement. This initiative that went viral, ranking first amongst the top 10 consumer trends in the first half of 2020 according to Rakuten, an online retail giant and Nikkei, a flagship financial newspaper. The term was first created and gained popularity in 2011 when a 3.11 earthquake shook the eastern part of Japan and people showed their support through making purchases from the damaged areas. In the pandemic, we saw a resurgence of this. Consumers purchased from the food and beverage brands hardest hit – farms, manufacturers and restaurants with excess stock – thanks to innovative apps like Pocket Marche and TABETE.

We’ve seen similar movements in other markets. In Indonesia #belidariteman (buy from a friend) was promoted by the Association of Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs (HIPMI) encouraging people to support local. In the Philippines, the traditional value of “Bayanihan” which translates as “spirit of communal unity” has seen Filipinos shopping from local food and beverage brands in these difficult times.

With local being an important purchase consideration for consumers both now and in the future, brands will do well to emphasize their heritage and role in the community going forwards.   

Consumers are looking to food and drink as escapism to create occasions at home

As people spend more time at home, there’s a real opportunity for brands to help consumers create special occasions with their loved ones through the power of food and drink. This could be through providing inspiration for at-home events and special recipes for consumers to cook themselves. It could also be achieved by creating products, services and experiences that can be delivered at home. There are some great examples of this emerging around the world. In Singapore, bar and restaurant, Tippling Club, is offering virtual cook-along sessions with its in-house chef. In Hong Kong, Café Earl Grey is delivering restaurant signatures with simple instructions to cook and assemble at home. These dishes are accompanied by an extensive selection of curated wines and bottled cocktails. And in the Philippines, restaurants are delivering uncooked ingredients so that people can cook their favourite dishes at home.

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Online shopping is on the rise but this is playing out differently in different markets

Food and beverage brands have had to innovate to survive in the wake of local restrictions. Online has played a critical role in this transformation. Consumers across markets have experienced the benefits of online shopping first hand, accelerating its growth. But this has played out differently in different markets. In Vietnam, ghost kitchens have been set up to meet the growing demand for meal delivery. In Indonesia, a jastip service allows consumers to make and receive orders from local wet markets via WhatsApp. And in the UK, where online grocery is more well established, growing numbers of older customers are moving their grocery shopping online. In 2019, just 8% of over 55s in the UK had bought food and essentials online. This figure has now soared  to 25% according to the How Britain Shops Online report.

Country specific food industry trends

Food industry trends in the UK

One of the key global trends we see in the UK is the shift towards supporting local. Office workers in the UK have been encouraged to work from home for the majority of 2020, meaning that food and drink spend has been concentrated closer to home – and we expect to see this continue as working patterns shift as a result of the pandemic. According to Mastercard data, it’s been people shopping and eating out locally, rather than spending money in Central London, that has driven the economic recovery in London. Other key trends in this market include the growing number of silver surfers that are embracing to online grocery shopping as mentioned above and rise of at-home food and drink occasions. As in other markets, brands are anticipating consumers will spend more time at home, and catering to this with services such as online cooking classes and delivery collaborations.

Food industry trends in the US

We expect to see consumers continuing to eat and drink more at home in the US too, as many office workers continue to remotely, and city dwellers flee to the suburbs. Whilst consumers are enjoying cooking at home and planning to do more of it in future, they’re are also ordering more takeout, and looking to meal kit companies for ease and convenience. Attitudes towards health in the US depart from the global trend. Whilst 53% of consumers globally tell us that what they eat or drink has changed for the better, in America only 25% think this is the case. In the US, consumers are viewing health more holistically. Whilst some are looking to food and drink to support physical health, others are using food as a tool to support their mental health, with two thirds of Americans eating more comfort food than before.

Food industry trends in Singapore

Global trends such as the rise of online shopping and a growing focus on health and wellness are reflected in Singapore. In fact, an AIA survey conducted prior to Phase Two of safe reopening found that Singaporeans are allocating the highest portion of their expenses on healthier meal choices. One trend that is more specific to Singapore is the growing importance of sustainability. When it comes to sustainability efforts, Singapore falls behind many other nations in terms of recycling, plastic-use reduction, and food wastage reduction, and this has come into sharper focus as a result of the pandemic, alongside more recent government efforts to achieve a Zero Waste Singapore. In response, we’re starting to see the rise of more sustainable packaging, “ugly” produce and bulk food stores.

Food industry trends in Vietnam

Vietnam has seen big changes in the channels people use for shopping. Online meal delivery has boomed as restaurants have pivoted, and ever more Vietnamese consumers are turning to the mini supermarket, as worries about food safety and origin come to the fore. In line with this, organic food is also growing in popularity, although high prices mean that at present this trend is confined to the middle class.

Food industry trends in China

In China and Hong Kong, global trends around health and eating at home are particularly important, with 86% of Chinese respondents acknowledging their desire to eat at home even after the pandemic ends according to Nielsen. Concerns about food safety are also front of mind, and in response we’re seeing a growing trend towards automation and contactless processes in manufacturing and distribution.

Food industry trends in Thailand

As in Vietnam, meal delivery in Thailand has boomed, accelerating the adoption of online and mobile banking and contactless payment methods. The global trend towards an increasing emphasis on health is evident in Thailand, too with 71% cooking more for themselves and their families and 62% consuming more fresh fruit and vegetables. Many Thai consumers are also looking towards beverages as a way of looking after their health. Drinks containing Vitamin C have seen 47% growth compared
to last year.

Food industry trends in India

Like their counterparts in Thailand, Indian consumers are looking for immune boosting products, but many of the specific trends we see playing out in this market are driven by food safety concerns. As mentioned previously, a significant number of Indian consumers are eating more meat-free food due to worries about infection, and they’re also buying more packaged food. Against this backdrop, street food vendors have had to pivot, elevating their offering, leading to the emergence of gourmet street food.

Food industry trends in Japan

As mentioned above Japanese consumers have been quick to support local brands through the 応援消費 (Consume To Support) movement. This is a trend that we believe will persist in Japan, albeit not as prominently as it does on a global scale. Our research shows that 1 in 4 consumers in the country say they will be more conscious of supporting local produce and food and beverage brands in future, compared to 4 in 10 globally. One emerging trend that is quite specific to Japan is the move towards stocking up on food. In most countries this behaviour peaked at the height of the pandemic and has since subsided but in Japan 41% of consumers plan to ‘stock up’ on essentials rather than buying day-to-day in future and 35% are intending to buy more frozen or tinned produce. This can be explained by looking at the specific experience of the Japanese people. In response to natural disasters like earthquakes, typhoons, flooding and landslides, Japanese consumers are used to having to stock up.

Food industry trends in the Philippines

We see this trend towards bulk buying emerging in the Philippines too, where 48% of consumers say they plan to ‘stock up’ on essentials instead of buying day-to-day. Global trends around eating more healthily are also important in the Philippines, which is significant given that the traditional Filipino diet is higher in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol than most Asian diets.

Food industry trends in Indonesia

Trends in Indonesia closely mirror those seen globally. There’s been an uptick in online grocery shopping, with a large proportion of Indonesian grocery shoppers (59%) having used e-commerce sites for this purpose according to a Snapcart survey carried out in May. People have also started to adopt online shopping in new categories, such as OTC, multivitamins / supplements, herbal products, and even RX drugs. Cooking more at home, and supporting local food and drink businesses are also key trends in this market.

To learn more about the food industry trends in each market, download the full report – it’s packed full of facts, stats and examples from each country. Alternatively, if you need further support in understanding changing consumer behaviour in your market, please get in touch with us. We have a wealth of experience in food and beverage, having worked with the likes of Mars, Unilever and Arla, and would be happy to share our expertise.

The polls have failed again. The result of the 2020 US Presidential election has not even been confirmed, and there are various news sources claiming that the polling companies have got it all wrong, again. Polls predicted that Biden would win various states comfortably. They either picked the wrong winner, or the race was far, far closer than the polls suggested. It was not supposed to be like this. After the 2016 disasters of Brexit and Trump winning defied the predictions from polling companies – there was supposed to be change – more accuracy in how data is collected and norms calculated.

Political polling is perhaps one of the more visible uses of market research for the average consumer. Polling is a subset of market research and there is a danger that market research as an industry receives negative association from yet another public failing. The Atlantic has published an interesting piece on the ‘disaster’ of the polls and highlights 2 potential arguments to the polls results – that is also the argument for market research as a whole:

“First, many pollsters insist that their polls are snapshots, not predictors. If their snapshots are so far off, though, where were they aiming the lens? Why bother?”

“Second, the analysts will protest that they’re only as good as the polls, but who cares? Whatever the instructions on the bottle, the public uses opinion polls to try to understand what happens. If the polls and their analysts don’t offer the service that customers are seeking, they’re doomed.”

This is similar to the argument that I have heard a few times from senior stakeholders in large companies. “Steve Jobs didn’t use research, why do we need a research company”?

Market research is critical in the uncertain world we live in now. And the mistake that people are making when commenting on the accuracy of the polls, is the same mistake that people make in business. The expectation that there is one data point or one piece of research that will predict the future.

Looking back at the polls, whether a particular result has 51% Biden, or 49%, is not as important as understanding that there is a clear divide. Digging down to uncover the reason for the divide and looking for ideas as to how to change perceptions is what should be most meaningful for anyone looking to illicit change.

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Whilst commenting on the Brexit result (and the failure of the polls) in 2016, I commented that research should be used for Inspiration, Measurement or Predictions – but not by asking for a single score! Instead, market research should be looked at the same way that you have a golf coach, or a piano tutor. You are looking to improve your skills over a period of time, by having someone provide you with the ideas and confidence to get better. Market research, at its best, draws upon multiple sources. Some primary, some secondary, some direct, some passive. What you need is the understanding of what is going on – not just a snapshot.

In the corporate world, marketing has traditionally been the function that ‘owns’ the researchers. How well CMOs can ensure their products and services are relevant to their customer justifies the work they are doing.  The future of market research needs to look more holistically. Marketeers should look to understand trends that are happening. This could mean getting insights from other industries or other markets. Market research is an ever changing, but every relevant industry. Right now, marketeers and decision makers can look at mobile applications, AI analyzed digital diaries, big data and text analytics to get an insight into consumer needs and habits. Understanding consumers has never had as many possibilities as it does today. The skill of the researcher, and the goal of any research agency is to bring together the best people, with the best tools, to advance an idea or to provide confidence.

Understanding the underlying situation is critical for decision makers to be able to create a program of change. Whoever wins the US election, the hope is that they understand the patterns and the needs of the nation to create change. For the market research industry – the focus must be on showcasing the story of change – and encouraging all to follow.

Every marketer knows the stat: 80% of new products fail. Or 90%. Or 95%. The precise number differs, but the story is always the same. 

By anyone’s standards, those are daunting odds for businesses that want to innovate and stay ahead of the curve. How can companies buck the trend and increase their success rate? How can you make sure your product is part of the 20% (or 10% or 5%?)

Clearly, it’s vital that any new product or service has to be just right. The question is, what does just right look like? And unfortunately, the answer to that question is not up to you. 

It’s up to your customers.

That means it’s important to find out at an early stage whether or not your concept is going to attract customers to buy or not, and if so, how you can make the most of it.

This is where concept testing comes in.

What is concept testing?

Concept testing is how businesses evaluate and optimise ideas before taking them to market.

The concept in question can be a lot of different things. It might be a totally new breed of product that no one has ever seen before. Or it might be a redesign or rebrand. 

Business questions that concept testing can address include:

  • Does the concept meet customers’ needs? Do they ‘get’ it? Do they find it appealing? Does it give them something they want?
  • Is the price right? What are consumers willing to pay? Is the product commercially viable?
  • How should it be positioned? Where does your idea fit in relation to competitors? Does it suit your brand? What’s your natural place in the market?
  • What details need to be tweaked? How can your concept get better? Is everything working right? Are any features missing?

Concept testing is not a single one-size-fits-all technique, but a whole range of methods that can be combined and tailored to fit the demands of each individual project. 

Why concept testing matters

There’s no avoiding it: conducting proper concept testing requires an investment of time and money. But that’s nothing compared to the potential cost of not testing concepts early on in the development process.

Failed products or services cost businesses not just in terms of wasted investment, but in the opportunity cost of what could have been achieved instead. The same goes for a bad ad or a bad logo design.

In fact, in the worst cases, businesses can suffer reputational damage or harm to the value of their brands by launching a product concept that wasn’t right for the market. Marketing history is littered with examples of products and ads that were wide of the mark. 

In 1985 Coca-Cola famously introduced New Coke – its answer to blind taste tests where rival Pepsi came out top. But the success of brands and products is about more than blind tests, and New Coke flopped. Decades later, it’s still remembered as a major marketing misstep.

Remember Juicero? No? Not many people do. Investors pumped $120 million into the $400 Wi-Fi-connected juice maker in 2016 – even though users could get the same effect by just squeezing the juice pouches by hand. Consumers saw through it, and within two years Juicero had been scrapped.

In 2005 ESPN launched an innovative mobile phone service that incorporated its exclusive sports content. But the price was all wrong, and the lack of handset choices also put people off.

Concept testing reduces the risk of costly failures like these, and increases the chances of hitting on a runaway success.

Ultimately, it’s about proceeding with confidence.

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9 Use cases for concept testing

1. Check whether your ideas will really fly 

Just because an idea feels right to you (or your boss, or your friends, or your mum) doesn’t mean it’s commercially viable. Rigorous concept testing research shows you whether you’re really on to something or not, so you can put a rocket under the ideas that have potential, and not waste time on the ones that don’t.

2. Settle arguments and objectively evaluate ideas

Everyone’s got an opinion, right? Great concept testing can cut through corporate politics, putting everyone’s ideas on a level playing field. It busts groupthink and unites teams behind ideas that have a real chance.

3. Compare rival concepts

Pit your ideas against each other and find out what consumers prefer. Once you’ve narrowed down your choice, you can focus on the ones that performed well.

4. Define your list of features and benefits

Particular capabilities and attributes can have a make-or-break effect on the success of a product. Find out which things consumers really care about (and which ones they can do without)

5. Figure out how to make it profitable

Knowing how to manage your costs and prioritise the investments consumers care about is crucial to success.

6. Improve concepts iteratively

Hone and tweak your concept in response to consumer feedback, then test again. Research might even throw up brand new ideas which you can develop and test.

7. Determine who to target

Concept testing can give you clear pointers as to which demographic groups, geographies or market segments will get as excited about your idea as you are.

8. Decide your communication approach

Setting the right tone and getting the key points across is not something that should be based on guesswork. Try your ideas out in the wild and get valuable feedback.

9. Refine after launch

To hone your offering, and keep it ahead of the competition, testing can continue post-launch. 

Does concept testing really work?

Some in the business world feel that intuition and inspiration ought to be enough to develop great products. True innovation, they claim, comes from maverick geniuses like Henry Ford, who supposedly said that if he’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have said “faster horses”.

The thing is, Ford was right. And that’s why at Kadence International, concept testing is about much, much more than just asking people what they want. 

Good concept testing doesn’t have to mean missing out on ground-breaking innovation or settling for mediocre ideas. It means getting under the skin of your customer and letting their feelings and needs inspire solutions with the most potential.

Sure, asking people what they want or what concept they prefer is part of the story – but only part of it. You also need to tap into the psychology and emotions that drive real world consumer behaviour, and put it all in the context of the trade-offs that consumers make regarding prices, benefits, and competitive offerings.

Concept testing the Kadence way

Concept testing is one of Kadence International’s many market research specialisms. We’ve got many years’ experience of testing concepts in numerous categories, and driving the creation of successful products and services.

Toiletries

What fragrances of shower gel would appeal to young teenagers, and what kind of imagery and language could bring them to life in a way that feels fresh and different?

We conducted research in two iterative stages. First, we ran an online survey among the target demographic to screen a set of early-stage concepts and identify the ones with the greatest appeal. The winning concepts were then explored and further refined in face-to-face focus groups, with an element of co-creation, providing the client with a robust set of high-quality concepts to develop.

Takeaway coffee

A major food and drink brand wanted to know what kinds of iced drinks could prove a hit with customers over the summer.

We ran a creative workshop with the client’s product development and research teams, to develop a series of new concepts and then visualise these with the help of our design team.  We then screened these in an online quantitative test. This allowed us to isolate the most popular concepts and acceptable price ranges. We followed up with focus groups to refine and enhance the most appealing concepts, giving the client a set of strong, worked up concepts to take into development.

Travel advertising

What kinds of imagery, messaging and language would be most effective in ads aimed at grabbing the attention of high-value travellers and attracting them to a holiday destination?

We ran an online quantitative test to evaluate a series of creative routes, looking at a number of different metrics. We began by measuring a baseline level of interest in visiting the destination, so we could identify the option that gave the greatest uplift in interest. The client was then able to create an ad campaign with the confidence that it would have the impact they wanted.

Food

A major food manufacturer wanted to gauge interest among its B2B customers in purchasing via a direct-to-customer (D2C) model, instead of through wholesalers.

We conducted a series of qualitative depth interviews looking at a set of concepts for potential D2C models. This helped the client establish which options resonated, and how they could be further enhanced.

Research methods for concept testing

At Kadence we employ a wide range of concept testing methods, including qualitative, quantitative, and combinations of both. Every project is different, and we always work with the client to come up with the right blend of techniques. 

We always begin by carefully considering what the client really needs. What do they already know, and what stage are their concepts at right now? Do they require high-level responses to a selection of concepts, or detailed feedback on one in particular? Do we need qualitative inspiration or quantitative rankings? It’s questions like these that guide our choice of methods.

Surveys

Online concept test surveys are a powerful tool. They can reach thousands of carefully targeted and engaged consumers, providing rich data that can be statistically analysed, ranked and compared. Online surveys can present choices in a way that mimics real purchase decisions, and use statistical techniques to unpick the relative effect of different attributes such as features and price. Our market research experts design the structure, hone the questions, identify the right respondents and analyse the results to pull out the key insights.

Focus groups

Focus groups – are a tried and tested way of getting rich qualitative input. We bring a small group of consumers together – face-to-face or online – and conduct a carefully guided discussion, often with prototypes or other stimuli to spark conversation. Our skilled researchers know the questions to ask that get to the nub of the issue, how to read between the lines of people’s responses, and how to understand the group dynamic.

Depth interviews

For more detailed investigation, we conduct depth interviews with individual respondents, to explore themes and topics in a way that isn’t possible through other methods. It’s a great way to dig into what really drives people’s decisions and behaviour.

Ethnography

Ethnographic research is the market research equivalent of going on safari. It’s about observing consumers in their natural habitat. We ask consumers to share pictures, make videos and keep diaries, or we simply spend some time with them one-to-one to get a window on their real lives.

Online communities

Online communities are a great way to get wide-ranging feedback from consumers. We run dedicated short-term communities specifically for your research project, where participants can explore concepts, discuss them, and contribute in text, image or video form, just like in any online community environment. We can put them in groups, set them tasks, and ask them questions. The responses we get are rich and immediate. And because communities run over a period of days or weeks rather than hours or minutes, they allow concepts to be iterated as the research progresses.

The role of design 

At Kadence we always approach concept testing with creativity, drawing on our in-house design skills..

Often the early-stage concepts we are asked to test are only roughly sketched out – it might be a selection of words on a Post-It note, or a collage of images found online. No problem. Our in-house designers and creatives flesh out the concept into something that consumers can get to grips with.

It might be a mock-up of an ad, a visual piece of stimulus to represent a new service, a model or prototype of a product, or a piece of test copy for an ad or website. We’re even piloting an augmented reality (AR) tool that will allow us to create digital 3D prototypes, so research participants can use their smartphones to see how a product would look in real life, in their own home, or wherever they happen to be. Compared to a static image, this immersive new method will take things to the next level, and we expect it to be a highly cost-effective way to deliver richer, higher quality insights.

As well as bringing design skills to our concept testing research, our approach is guided by the principles of design thinking.

The five stages of design thinking are:

  • Empathise: Start by seeing the world through your consumers’ eyes.
  • Define: Set out in clear, simple terms the challenge that you’re trying to address.
  • Ideate: Generate ideas based on what you’ve learned. (This is often the point our clients have reached when they get in touch with us – but that doesn’t mean we won’t return again to the first three stages later, to generate new ideas based on the results of testing.)
  • Prototype: This is where it gets real. Create a version of your product, service, ad or design that consumers can see, feel and provide feedback on. 
  • Test: Here’s where concept testing gets going in earnest. When it’s done, you can revisit the earlier steps and come back with something even better.

We believe this approach is a key part of what makes Kadence different.

10 Top tips for successful concept testing

1. Set clear objectives

It’s important to be as specific as possible about what your aims are. What exactly do you need to find out and what is it going to help you do or decide?

2. Don’t fall too in love with your ideas

The whole point of concept testing is to see which ideas are going to work and which aren’t. If you’re too wedded to a particular idea – or too set against another– then you risk heading down the wrong path. Let the consumer voice guide you, and have the courage to let a great idea go. It’s not the last great idea you’re going to have. 

3. Find the right people

It’s important to test concepts on a relevant group of people – those who represent the potential target audience. Kadence International has been running this kind of research for many years, and we’re experts at finding and recruiting participants – even the most  hard-to-reach audiences. Whether you’re looking for a cross-section of your potential audience, a specific subgroup or a handful of super-engaged brand advocates, we can help.

4. Bring it to life

Create stimuli that bring the concept to life in a way that feels tangible and engaging for your consumers.

5. Iterate, iterate, iterate

It can take a few tries to get a concept right, but it’s worth it (remember those stats on how many new products fail?) At Kadence, we have an in-house design team at hand who can bring ideas to life, and then iterate new designs and prototypes at speed, so we can rapidly respond to feedback, make adjustments and test again.

6. Be agile

Concept testing is different for every project, and doesn’t have to follow a rigid path. Expect to revisit and repeat the various steps until you’ve got your concept right. You never know what new ideas, issues and inspiration will come up when you put your ideas in front of consumers. Go with it.

7. Read between the lines

What consumers say out loud is the tip of the iceberg. We also need to think about how they say it, why they say it and what they don’t say. Professional market researchers are trained to see through to what consumers really think and feel – and what that means for what they will buy.

8. See the big picture

Concept testing isn’t just about scores and rankings for metrics like appeal or consideration. Look at concepts in context – think about the emotional response they elicit, what they mean for the direction you’re taking your brand, or how they might overlap with other offerings you already have on the market.

9. Work with a partner with the right processes in place to protect your early stage ideas

One of the most nerve-wracking things about concept testing is putting raw, untested early-stage designs and ideas in front of consumers. What if details end up in the wrong hands? Be sure to work only with trusted partners that have secure procedures and technologies for both online and in-person research. We’ve been doing concept testing research for years at Kadence, so we have stringent processes in place, and our research platforms include built-in security features that allow images to be watermarked, and videos to self-destruct after viewing. In over a decade, we’ve never seen a leak.

10. It’s never over

Once your product is launched and out there for real, you’re bound to learn new things, or want to make changes to adapt to fast-moving markets. Be ready to test out new ideas and keep iterating, so your product can keep getting better and better.