The Role of Market Research to New Products

The ever-changing behavior of the market explains the

relevance of executing market research to all businesses.
More particularly, in a fast-moving consumer goods
(FMCG) industry in which products are continuously
distributed and bought quickly at competitively lower
costs. Looking at the successful FMCGs brands in the
Philippines, we can infer how they become very
effective in positioning themselves regardless of the
high competition of the market consisting of domestic and international brands. One successful brand in
the country who stayed firm to its market position is Lucky Me. Some of you may know that this brand is
able to create brilliant advertisements. Despite facing controversies recently, still, the brand efficiently
recovers and retains its image among many Filipinos. All of Lucky Me’s business decisions throughout
every cycle, market research plays a vital role.

Considering myself as a marketing manager of the said industry, my major job is to lead and
conduct market research. This job became even crucial when the company is introducing a new type of
product among existing and new markets. A publicly known information indicates that our NEW collagen-
infused beverage can have an edge in the market. The increasing purchases of healthy beverages and the
current trend of collagen products by consumers due from the influence of popular personalities are
determining factors that our new product is going to be relevant to the preferences of the market. However,
this information isn’t enough to conclude that the product will compel consumers to purchase, especially,
it is a new type of beverage. The consumers may purchase it at the introductory phase of the product. Still,
the very question is: Will the product sustain in the market relative to what is expected? All of these are
what our team wanted to answer. Through market research, I will be able to gather data and create useful
information to conclude with the most definite decision before and after the launch of the said product.

Market research isn’t simply research. Similar to scientific research, market research can be done
in different manners, quantitatively or qualitatively. Therefore, selecting the right type of market research
is significant because each type produces distinct information. Before the company will officially launch
the new collagen product, our team needs to finalize the whole aspects consisting of it and my contribution
as marketer plays a huge part on it. One way to derive useful information at the youth stage is to do
exploratory research. The major role of this research is to find out what are the strong and weak points of
collagen beverages. I wanted to know: which part of the market is in need of this product and how will the
team design and revise the product? Personal or telephone interviewing with medical experts and target
consumers is a good example of a data gathering instrument to use. Additionally, descriptive research is a
helpful approach as well. Unlike the exploratory market research that identifies what are the issues and its
causes, descriptive research provides a more detailed understanding about the target market. For instance,
this research identifies the consumers’ demographics, usage patterns and attitude towards healthy beverages
& collagen products. Information such as the reasonable price consumers expect from that kind of product
can be derived also from descriptive research. With these two research approaches, I can create a useful
basis in finalizing the product. After the team launched the newly collagen-infused beverage to the market,
another market research must be employed. Upon approaching the maturity stage of the product, it is
necessary for every marketing manager to monitor how the product is currently performing considering
what was done to effectively launch the product. Commonly, customer satisfaction research is a primary
approach to address that. It is primarily done through surveys (online surveys) that not only measures the
level of satisfaction of consumers but also the level of dissatisfaction. This aids us to identify what aspects
of the product needed to retain, strengthen and improve. Is it the packaging, delivery, physical stalls or the
taste? Whatever it is, accomplishing a regular customer satisfaction survey is extremely beneficial to create
timely and relevant changes. Another good example of market research in the post-launched of the product
is product positioning. Typically, data is acquired in the form of surveys as well that assess the product
from its competitors. Specifically, it compares various key performance indicators such as perceptions,
attributes and benefits, to name a few. With all of these comparisons, I can form useful information critical
in establishing competitive advantage in the fast-paced market. Furthermore, it is essential to remind
ourselves that the importance of doing market research after it was introduced in the market is as much
important when doing research prior to it.