Market landscape research can provide rich insights into where your brand should go and what the journey will look like. The knowledge gained through this research helps stakeholders develop a deep understanding of the most valuable areas of the market, and portraits of the consumers who live there — rich information that can help a brand have meaningful impact.
Exploring the landscape often requires a multi-phased approach with qualitative and quantitative research, which can take time. To maintain momentum throughout the research process, it’s important to keep teams engaged and thinking about various aspects of what we’re learning along the way with an eye for how they’ll ultimately integrate the findings into their growth strategy.
Multiple points of contact create opportunities for deeper collaboration.
At the beginning of a Market Landscape research project, we conduct stakeholder interviews to gain visibility into the team’s activation goals and inform our research approach. Throughout the project, the interviews serve as a reference point to keep us grounded on goals. The information also motivates our team to constantly evaluate the research for insights. Sometimes, insights are strong enough for brand teams to activate against even before the final research is in.
During embedded stakeholder activation activities throughout the program journey, we share these ongoing learnings and insights. This feedback loop keeps the project relevant and helps us continually evaluate our research approach.
Examples of Activation activities we recommend along the Market Landscape Journey:
Before the research is conducted: Stakeholder interviews or workshops to unpack current market intel and assumptions, key learning goals and knowledge gaps. This approach helps stakeholder teams align and prioritize top learning goals from the research and establishes what strategies and actions the research will be used to inform.
Activate-as-we-go during the qualitative phase: Market landscape research can often start with broad, foundational qualitative research. Here, it can often be helpful to embed stakeholder workshops throughout the qualitative phase to synthesize what we’re learning and modify our questions or stimuli as needed to ensure we’re getting the best learnings. This also helps stakeholders understand key insights and implications in real-time to strengthen activation planning.
Market Landscape research provides a great deal of value to stakeholders to guide overall strategy. Early-stage collaboration and regular check-ins calibrate expectations to ensure that we will deliver insights that thoroughly address each activation goal set by the team.”
Activation between qualitative and quantitative phases: While Market Landscape studies often use qualitative research to inform a Quantitative phase, foundational qualitative learnings can stand on their own and be used to inform strategic plans. Our clients find value in an activation workshop between these phases that explores:
- What have we learned from the qualitative research?
- What can we do based on these learnings?
- Where are there still gaps or areas that need to be quantified?
Post-research meetings and Looking Glass™ Activation workshop: After all research has been completed and reported on, we re-group with all stakeholder teams for check-ins, including an in-depth strategy session where research insights provide a springboard for generating quick-win and long-term action plans. This is an opportunity to ensure specific teams including internal marketing, brand, or product teams, for example, understand how the insights impact their planning and fit into the bigger picture.
Planning and collaboration lead to strong activation opportunities.
Market Landscape research provides a great deal of value to stakeholders to guide overall strategy. Early-stage collaboration and regular check-ins calibrate expectations to ensure that we will deliver insights that thoroughly address each activation goal set by the team. These sessions accelerate activation when the final research results are in, and we work closely with teams in Looking Glass sessions, small groups, and additional-touch bases to continue to foster adoption so that the brand can optimize products and services to meet current market trends.
Want to learn more about our approach to Market Landscape research?
