The Five Step Marketing Research Approach

This presentation discusses the Five Step Marketing Research Approach and its significance in marketing. It explains each stage of the approach and how it can be used to gather information for making strategic decisions. The presentation also covers the concept of product differentiation and how it can help re-position Upper Peninsula Supply Co. The target market for the organization is defined as youth culture aged 14-24. The presentation includes examples of differentiation and how it can lead to improved sales.

The Five Step
Marketing
Research
Approach
Enjoli Hill
MKT/421
February 16, 2019

Agenda
• Define the Five-Step Marketing Research Approach and discuss the
importance of research in marketing.
• Describe each stage of the Marketing Research Approach and
explain how each stage should be implemented to generate the
information needed to eventually make the best remedial strategic
decision to solve the declining revenue problem.
• Define the target market that you are striving to attract to your
organization.
• Define product differentiation. Provide an example that illustrates how
your enterprise can use differentiation to help increase the target
market's interest.
• Explain how this differentiation can help re-position the Upper
Peninsula Supply Co. as perceived by your target market and generate
incremental revenue.

Importance of Market Research
Increased Sales
 You gain valuable information that helps you identify how
successful your product/service is likely to be, what the best price
you can set, and which customers are interested in purchasing the
product/service.
Better Customer Management
 Use tools of marketing campaigns (questionnaires, meetings,
discussions, messaging) to reach a large audience of customers,
reduce the time within which your product/service reaches the
customers, investigate current and future needs, and expectations
of the customers to achieve higher customer satisfaction.
Business Growth
 Sales tends to an increase and your customers grow. Your
company gains an opportunity for further expansion.

Step
1
Define the problem:
 This step is the most important and you should set aside a
decent amount of time to think about it.
 In order to do any research and collect data, you have to
know what you are trying to learn from the research.
 In marketing research, defining the problem you need to
solve will determine what information you need and how
you can get that information.

Step 2
Develop Your Research Plan:
 Interview customers
 get the best feedback by using this tactic because you’re going
straight to the source.
 Conduct a survey using SurveyMonkey or another tool.
 Run tests on your website
 This is a cost-effective study that can provide a lot of insight
about how your customers or potential customers behave or
respond to something.

Step
3
Collect Relevant Data and Information:
 When collecting data, make sure it’s valid and unbiased.
 Good marketing research is scientific and creative.
 Try asking both open-ended and closed-ended questions
(for example, a multiple-choice question).

Step 4
Analyze Data and Report Findings:
 Study the information you gathered carefully.
 It’s important to look for trends as opposed to specific
pieces of information.
 While analyzing your data, don’t try to find patterns
based on your assumptions.

Step 5
Take Action:
 Present your findings and take action.
 Briefly highlight some of the key points that were uncovered
in your results.
 Your research will prove very useful in developing your
business strategy.
 Your conclusions and recommendations should be based on
the data that you have gathered.
 Developing and improving your product or service, and
determining a market segment.

Market Target
Youth culture ages 14-24
 Youth marketing can be used on TVs, radio, social
media sites, and word of mouth
Sponsoring athletes, musicians, and high school sports
teams as a way to insert my brand into youth culture.
Youths make valuable consumers because they
influence the purchasing decisions of their friends and
family.
If a product or brand is popular with young people, it
gains an image of being “cool.”

Product Differentiation
Is a marketing process that showcases the differences between
products. Differentiation looks to make a product more attractive
by contrasting its unique qualities with other competing products.
Products can be physically identical and be priced widely
differently just because of "brand“ (Caress vs Equate)
Exactly the same branded product can be priced differently
depending on the distribution channel (Walmart vs Pick n Save)
A perfectly identical product in the same shop can have two (or
more) prices at the same time (reward card owners vs. non-
owners).

Production Differentiation
Product differentiation determines what sets one
product apart from other similar products, and it uses
that difference to drive consumer interest. Product
differentiation is often subjective, aiming primarily at
altering customer perspective on one item when
compared to another.

Examples of Differentiation
Offer exclusive products and limited-edition styles through their
direct channels in order to encourage consumers to purchase
their products from the U. P. Supply’s stores and websites.
Launch our first retail mobile app to make the customer’s
shopping experience great in the palm of their hands and
convenient.
Start selling athletic footwear instead of just apparel worn by
most athletes.

Improved Sales
Young people are key to numerous markets, from mobile, fashion
and technology to alcohol, snack foods and entertainment.
We know young people are big users of social media. Using this
channel for traffic to our own website and for increasing brand
awareness.
Convenience is highly valued and is what the majority like most
about buying online. People want things that work with the
technology they own.
Thanks to social media, these days we see pictures of sneakers
and the more we want it in our collection. When something is
glorified with nice angles and sharp filters, it makes us like it.

Improved Sales
Young people make such valuable consumers because
they influence the purchasing decisions of their friends
and family. In addition to being consumers themselves,
teens can affect where their family goes on vacation,
the car they choose to buy, and the clothes that their
friends wear. If a product or brand is popular with
young people, it gains an image of being “cool.”

References
Ferber, R. (1963). Market research (1st ed.). New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Title – 5
Kerin, R., & Hartley, S. (2017). Marketing (13th ed.).
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Your Guide to Project Management Best Practices © 2019.
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et-research-explained-or-why-you-should-research-markets
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https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/product_differentiat
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