Market research news
The blog of the market research agency IntoTheminds lists opinionated articles, examples of alignment with marketing theory, highlights and bad buzz, carefully selected by Pierre-Nicolas Schwab, his team and influential experts.
The criteria used by banks to give or refuse loans to entrepreneurs
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
The post we dedicated to our latest experience with banks led to many reactions and –this is also an interesting byproduct- to a peak in terms of visits. We’d like to thank here the readers who retweeted or shared our…
Crowdfunding: the consequence of banks not financing startups
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
We have dealt already several times with crowdfunding on this blog. As I explained in a post not so long ago several alternatives exist (in terms of business model). I explained the model of Look&Fin (a relatively –yet with good…
Lessons learned on starting up a new store
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
On Nov 4th 2013 we attended the Grand Opening of Ethnik, a client’s project which became reality after 13 weeks of intensive work. In lower-ranked locations, leverage customer loyalty Ethnik will enjoy an AAA location that we found near the…
Have customers become unsatisfied about low-cost services and products?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
There is something strange happening on the low-cost market. There is a rising wave coming in our direction and we begin perceiving the first signals of it. Camping sites, Ryanair, Supermarkets are all experiencing the same problems on the market…
Moving a shop to another location also requires market research
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
When you set up a shop or small store, its profitability may be at stake when your immediate environment changes. Moving your store to another location may be the safest move to make but it requires that market research techniques…
Trendspotting: What is nomadism?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Market research is partly based on the investigation of past, current and future consumption trends that may support business activity. Trends research can be seen as a component of the PESTEL analysis which aims at studying all aspects of a…
Three criteria to differentiate good and bad prospects
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Over the years I have developed a sixth sense for recognizing uninteresting prospects, those who consume your time and will have a zero ROI. Criterion 1: The emergency factor A prospect contacts you. It is urgent. He/She needs your offer…
Meeting with a great entrepreneur, Alain Milliat
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
If you wonder what it makes to see his name printed on millions of products, just ask Alain Milliat how he feels. He’s managing the Alain Milliat company which produces 2,5 million bottle of juice per year. Alain is one…
Be responsive: a business strategy that works … if you apply it!
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Here’s a true story that many of you have already experienced and which resulted in a incredible feeling of frustration. It’s the story about looking for a company to provide a service or a product you need. Sending a request…
Will Ryanair really improve service quality to satisfy its customers?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Michael O’Leary, the arrogant yet charismatic CEO of Ryanair, announced last week that the company would strive to improve customer service. "We should try to eliminate things that unnecessarily piss people off" and "A lot of those customer services elements…
Emerging trend on the food market : raw chocolate
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Among the 200+ exhibitors of the Gourmet Food&Wine fair in Paris on Sept 23rd and 24th 2013, our attention was caught by Rrraw, startup launched by Frédéric Marr to exploit the raw chocolate market trend. After having sold his previous…
The soon collapsing delicatessen market
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
After visiting the Gourmet Food & Wine fair in Paris a strange feeling remains in my head: that of an endless repetition. I got bored. From booth to booth noting emerged as really different; everything was alike : exotic spices…
« Clic and walk » reinvents the customer satisfaction survey
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
The social media rise has launched a new era in customer satisfaction measurement; twitter, Facebook and the like have allowed marketers to collect more primary data to evaluate whether clients were satisfied or not. Yet the multiplicity of sources makes…
How to create a concept store with a limited budget?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
After having visited the SMETS concept store in Brussels and the subsequent definition of the innovation factors of this type of outlet, I visited Le Dressing. Le Dressing is a small concept store that openly claims to be part of…
Black money hunt makes Ferrari sales drop
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Tax evasion remains very popular in Italy (and in Belgium too by the way) but since January 2013 the Monti and Letta governments are testing a new approach. The latter , as you will in this article, continues to fuel the great…
Ryanair’s CEO better at provocation than Abercrombie&Fitch’s CEO
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Mike Jeffries, Abercrombie&Fitch CEO, was under fire this summer about his declarations on excluding people from his targeted clientele. Back in 2006 he declared : "We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive, all-American kid with a…
How a postcard can create high customer satisfaction
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Here's one example of how a company can increase its customers’ satisfaction and loyalty by paying attention to details. This example is inspired by Werner Bruyns, the CEO of Coolblue whom I met at a bpost event earlier this year.…
BNP Paribas Fortis: how their hotline make them lose customers
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Websites have become nowadays a tool to attract and retain potential customers. They either allow the visitors to perform certain actions by themselves or get a trigger to call an agent. This mechanism is especially important in B2C transactions where…
The market of recycled devices grows with the crisis
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
There are some markets which benefit from the crisis. The market of recycled electronic devices is one of them. With the growth of smartphones and a diminishing buying power, consumers tend to look increasingly for bargains in the second-hand market.…
Get inspired by concept stores to improve your marketing strategy
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
I was called in mid-July by the Belgian TV Channel RTBF to explain what concept stores are. The 3-minute television report was filmed –obviously- in a concept store located in Brussels : SMETS. I went back to the store later…
Even century-old firms die … because they don’t adapt
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Darwin was right … those who adapt will survive and in the race to survival smaller species seem better placed. This seems also to be true for firms. The biggest ones are not –always- the most resistant to shocks and…
Positive return for subsidies to innovative SMEs
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
A recent press release by the European Commission has brought some interesting statistics about the effectiveness of subsidies to SMEs. More specifically the European Commission measured a series of performance indicators in eco-innovation SME which had received funding via the…
Is crowdfunding the best option for your savings ?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Several crowdfunding platforms have emerged in the last months in Belgium. One of them (MyFirstCompany), although very promising, already ceased operations earlier this year. The legal problem mentioned on their website seems not to have impeded another platform (Look&Fin) to…
The holiday period has arrived …
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
We published our last post on Friday and kept on our promise made in January 2013 to publish 3 times a week in both English and French. The time has now arrived to take a step back, reflect on the…
