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.
L’imprimerie, a new kind of customer experience
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
I was fortunate to meet an atypical entrepreneur, Nicolas Guthart, who started several businesses that are highly complementary and propose an innovative value proposition for brands. How a new marketing concept was born To make a 10-year story short(er),…
How design can help increase your revenues
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
The Paris Chamber of Commerce organized this year a contest dedicated to the best design initiatives in retail environments. As we explained in an earlier post we started taking appointments and visiting as many stores as possible that applied (even…
Examples of vertical integration and definitions
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Vertical integration is a relatively rare business strategy these days. Few companies still practise it because the time has come to reduce structural costs and cut costs. Among the large groups that continue to practice it, we could mention Samsung,…
Delhaize seems to be happy about the results of The Cube barcodes scanning campaign
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
When Delhaize launched The Cube earlier this year we were warning that it wouldn’t be as successful as expected. However in a recent press release Delhaize said it was a success and that online sales increased 22.6%. So in the…
Niche markets are sometimes larger than you expect. The case of Pedon.
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Pedon is one of those brands that has a solid market share but is not known very well, even in Italy, its home country. A manufacturer of dozens of private labels product, Pedon has also its own lines of products,…
Innovation at its best at SIAL 2012 food and drink fair
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
As every two years we visited the SIAL 2012, which took place in Paris from Oct 21st until Oct 25th, the largest fair for professionals in the food and drink industry. With almost 6000 exhibitors this fair is one of…
Meeting with a genius: Enric Ruiz Geli
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Sometimes you meet up with people that can inspire you for the rest of your life. This happened to me when I met Enric Ruiz Geli, the architect of the MEDIA ICT building in Barcelona 2 weeks ago. I’ll not…
How design can enhance business innovation
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
I spent 4 days in Barcelona in a workshop at ESADE business school practicing techniques used by designers to create. And the least I can say is that those techniques DO help make a difference in business. Let me explain…
SIAL deadline is approaching: innovations in the food and drink sector
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Every two years the world's biggest trade fair for the food and drink sector is organized in Paris. The SIAL will atract ca. 140,000 visitors and we welcome more than 5000 exhibitors (!) during 5 days, from Oct 21st until…
Rolls-Royce’s extreme segmentation
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Sometimes brands can go very far as far as segmentation is concerned. In the luxury business the growth path goes through Asia and in particular therough China. I recently came across a crazy example. Rolls Royce actually prepared a limited…
When the consumer interacts actively with the store window
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
To follow up on our latest post on future store windows, we publish today this example we found in Portugal in an ICT store. Located at the bottom of an office building in Lisbon, this store proposes a window with…
Do you want to do business or not?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
This post is a little be off-topic but it’s a kind of therapy for me. Writing is good for the peace of mind, isn’t it ? Over the last few weeks I’ve been disappointed several times by potential suppliers and…
From ready-to-eat to ready-to-prepare, a new product experience
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
An important aspect of the work of a marketing agency is that we must detect, track and follow nascent trends in a broad range of industries. This knowledge is required by our clients who expects from us that we have…
Has Delhaize already given up?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
We reported a few weeks ago about the innovation launched by Delhaize in Brussels to allow consumers to shop "virtually". The "Cube", as it is called, had been installed in the Central Station in Brussels and we were were skeptical…
For its anniversary Carrefour sells at prices of 50 years ago
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Carrefour launched last week a advertising campaign on Rome, Italy, that got a broad press coverage. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Carrefour decided to advertise and sell a series of products at the prices of 50 years ago. A series…
What is the future of luxury brands in Asia?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Specialized media flood us with figures all the more crazy than the others. Prada plans to open 160 new stores in Asia to support its growth, PPR (Pinaud Printemps Redoute) plans to open 100 new outlets, the Swedish group H…
Lytro will fail and go bankrupt, unless …
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Do you know Lytro ? Most probably not. The technology behind this new product is still in its infancy and distribution of the product has remained confidential. Yet it is a disruptive technology. What is Lytro ? There is a…
Is Germany an ecosystem for SMEs ?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
In a recent column published in Le Figaro, Jean-Pierre Robin echoed a column by 2008 Nobel Prize of Economy Paul Krugman in the New-York Times. In his article Krugman was dealing with Apple’s industrial model, based on outsourcing. At the…
Drawing some parallels between Volkswagen and Swatch: two very similar strategies
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
If you are reading economic newspapers those days, chances are high you come across articles on Volkswagen and Swatch. Both groups are profits champions and analysts just love them. On the one hand Volkswagen became the world’s #2 car manufacturer…
The most beautiful ways to display products. Part 6: Patrick Roger
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Patrick Roger is a chocolate maker who has become pretty famous in France. He won the France Best Craftsman (“Meilleur Ouvrier de France”) contest in chocolate making. Unlike most winners Patrick Roger opened several shops with a vision. What I…
Delhaize launches virtual shopping innovation in Brussels
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Tesco started it in South Korea in 2010; Delhaize is doing it now in Brussels. Four boards depicting 300 products were set up last week in Brussels Central Station, allowing travelers to order products with their smartphone. Each product picture…
Low-cost and high-profits: business models reshaped
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
In times of economic crisis it is well known that price sensitivity increases. One visible consequence is that low-cost business models like Ryanair, Aldi, Colruyt, Ikea and the like are doing very well. They outperform actually older players and you…
Unicredit explicitly warns investors about national currencies reintroduction scenario
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Very few people have noticed it but readers of this blog will be aware of an event that recently took place in Italy, when Unicredit launched a capital increase on the market. The bank edited a 300-page leaflet which sums…
Repetto’s store in Paris: always a pleasure to visit
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Do you know Repetto, the world's famous ballet shoes? This old-yet-modern brand has always something to surprise me. This time, passing by their store of Rue de La Paix, I was amazed once again by the creativity they showed in…
