Imagine company “X” has an idea for a product or service – say a new widget. It’s just at the concept stage. Little or no money has been spent on its development. So company “X” decides to probe to assess if their target market is interested in the widget, whether people are willing to pay for it, and how much they’re willing to pay. So they commission a piece of market research.
Imagine a negative outcome – that the research shows that there is no money to be made from selling the widget. Company “X” has incurred the cost of the market research. But they’ve saved the costs of developing and marketing the widget.
Earlier this year I read a provocative article in the Irish Times by Shane Hegarty. In it he said that it’s “amazing how many of these surveys release headline results that correspond precisely with the marketing needs of the people who commissioned them”. but think about that a little – that’s entirely what we should expect. Company “X” would have been foolish to launch the widget and tell the market that there’s no interest in it!
Now imagine a positive outcome – that there is interest in the widget – and that the market is willing to pay a price that would make it profitable for company “X” to develop and market it. So company “X” develops the product and begins a marketing campaign. And in that marketing campaign they make use of the results of the market research. Sounds reasonable I think!
If you have an idea for a product or service, and if you see merit in exploring whether there is a market for that product or service, then get in touch to explore if I can help you get those answers – before you invest a lot of money!
