How Does Market Intelligence Differ from Market Research?


by Jerry Krasner, Ph.D., MBA
Dolores A. Krasner

How Does Market Intelligence Differ from Market Research?

The topic is market intelligence - a term that you might confuse with "market data". Let me explain the difference and why the market intelligence is a very cost effective way to enhance your marketing, development and PR efforts.

Syndicated research provides an overview of the forest, the environs in which your products and services exist. Custom primary research provides a view of your market niche, the part of the forest where your trees grow and compete with other trees for daylight. And audience feedback research provides the knowledge needed for growing and nurturing the roots of your trees so they are healthy, well grounded and seeding new trees.

The real question is what do you do with the information at hand gathered for understanding the forest, trees and roots? Along with the data, you need the tools and expert analysis to turn the data into market intelligence.

You must look at the results and draw correlations and conclusions. You can see the forest, but with the latest research dashboard tools like ExecStats from Wilson Research Group, you can also see the trees and understand the supporting root system. Market Intelligence provides the tools to establish relationships within the data after the survey is conducted - and without pre-conditioned expectations. In short you can on your own compare this section of the forest with other sections, this kind of tree with other trees, these root systems with other root systems, and plant new trees in the most desirable locations.

Your Market Intelligence program not only gives you the results of an extensive, statistically accurate survey of your current and potential customers, but provides the tools that enable you to examine relationships within the data.

  • As a marketer or PR specialist, you can look at your customers and your competitor's customers and find the advantages.
  • As a developer, you can look at the experiences of many hundreds of other developers working on similar projects.
  • As a concerned manager who must fund projects, you can support your budget requests with real world intelligence and make wiser investments.

The number of potential market segmentations is unlimited and can be done without external support. Wherever you are in the world, you can have access to the data 24/7 as long as you can log onto the Internet.

Market Intelligence involves three steps:

  • A comprehensive and statistically accurate survey
  • An initial series of cross-tabs to give you an overview of the survey results
  • And an interactive dashboard that enables you to explore the data set to determine relationships in the data that can be essential to your efforts

It is surprisingly easy to use - and the user can search the data to examine facts that can be used to support sales, enhance design choices and create a basis for strategic planning.

Adapted from and with permission of Jerry Krasner, Ph.D., MBA and Dolores A. Krasner, August 2009, Embedded Market Forecasters, American Technology International, Inc. www.embeddedforecast.com

Copyright 2009 by American Technology International, Inc, 1257 Worcester Road #500, Framingham, MA 01701. All rights reserved. No part of this paper covered by copyright hereon may be reproduced or copied in any manner whatsoever. Every effort has been made to provide accurate data. To the best of the editor's knowledge, data is reliable and complete, but no warranty is made for this.