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.
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…
Pay What You Want
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
In 2009 a paper was published in the Journal of Marketing on a new concept called “Pay What You Want” (PWYW) which seemed to be interesting for firms. This research showed counterintuitive results, namely that consumers will exploit their control…
The coffee capsules war will not happen
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Sara Lee launched last year its Nespresso-compatible capsules. In Paris only 100000 samples were given for free. In August Sara Lee announced that they had reached the 100m$ revenues with this product. Still, the question remains for me whether this…
An ice way to promote its products and store
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
First of all my thanks to David Katz for sending me the pictures he took at last week's ice Sculpture fair in Yorkville, downtown Toronto, Canada (more details here). Such fairs exist in many countries (at least countries with temperatures…
New trends in advertising techniques
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
The advertising industry is undergoing deep changes; on the first hand technological changes which lead to the raise of digital advertising; on the other hand legal changes in France which will change the landscape and the habits of advertisers. The…
1855.com : how long can they survive?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Life is sometimes hard, especially for losers. Within a few days I read two different articles about 1855.com. The first one was published in the magazine "la Revue du Vin de France" which is a magazine specialized in wine and…
Happy New Year
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
It's time to resume posting. But first of all, allow me, on behalf of IntoTheMinds, to wish you a happy new year. I hope 2012 will be for you an inspired and inspirational year. We'll start the year with a…
Why am I writing this blog?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
I was in a meeting with a client a few weeks ago and one of his employees asked me where I was getting my inspiration from to write 3 posts per week. Well, it has certainly to do with curiosity…
Sabine Laruelle, Belgian ministry of SMEs, on the importance of entrepreneurship
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
I was listening on Dec. 13th to an interview of Sabine Laruelle, the Belgian Ministry in charge of SMEs, on a local Belgian radio (Twizz). In a crisis context like the one we are currently going through, it is perfectly…
A PESTLE analysis may have helped the eco-construction sector
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
One of the decisions the Belgian government took to reduce the debt was to cancel the 40% tax deduction on works carried out to reduce energy consumption (isolation, double-glass windows, …). The consequence of this decision will be to change…
How to announce a bad news: the example of ING
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Today’s post is far away from marketing but was triggered by a communication issue, which remains a central topic is modern marketing. ING announced within 30 days that it would reduce interest rates on both its current account and its…
Impediments in business transfers (#rentconference)
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Yvonne Slots and Loek Swelsen presented at the RENT XXV conference in Bodo, Norway, a piece of research on business transfers. Their research was conducted in the region of Parkstad, The Netherlands, at the borders with Germany (Aachen) and Belgium.…
Does Mobistar follow best practices for complaints management?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Successful business practices regarding the management of customers complaints include the diffusion of the information within the organization. After I reported on my fight against Mobistar, I was wondering whether their most exposed (in terms of visibility) customer service would…
Paul bakeries: when service and brand image do not match
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Paul … an oasis of gastronomy in a culinary desert. Everything is made to remind you the long forgone past of tasteful products: sales point are covered with oak-like veneer, decorated with pieces of furniture that could fit in your…
Meet first the legal requirements first, then speak about customer service: the Mobistar case
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
First of all please allow me to mention than by sharing this post on Facebook and twitter you will help other individuals. The purpose of this post is to write about my fight against Mobistar in an attempt to enforce…
Dexia: you’re not alone
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Everyone has heard about Dexia's problems. The French Belgian bank was eventually nationalized last week and it seems that customers had withdrawn an amazing 1b Euros since early September when they starting loosing confidence in the bank. Coincidently the bank…
Is this what marketing in the wine industry looks like?
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
A friend just offered me a bottle of wine. It was just wonderful. Thank you. What surprised me was the tag attached to it, which claimed the 94 points obtained from Robert Parker in the Wine Advocate. Well, ok everyone…
Off topic. This is what I call leadership
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
If I had to choose one concrete and tangible example of leadership it would be this one. It so much energizes me. It's Al Pacino in City Hall. Have a look at this extraordinary example of leadership. I just have…
A call for an open-minded attitude in marketing innovation
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
Sometimes I really get the impression that I don’t get understood. Not long time ago I had a meeting with the marketing manager of a big and renowned Belgian company. I came there to present an innovative consumer behavior-related idea…
