Everyone is suffering from media overload!

And, at the same time, as developers, marketeers, and sellers of high tech equipment, we critically need information to help us build saleable, cost-effective products.  So how do we get our equally harried, frantic potential customers to sit down and provide us with solid direction?  MME has the solution:  WEB-BASED MARKET RESEARCH

The WEB is great!!

In the old days of paper surveys, we had to wait for weeks for the mail to reach our test audience, then weeks to get enough of a response to provide valid statistics.  The immediacy of the web has changed all of that.  We can now launch a survey and get preliminary results, often within 24 hours!  We normally like to run our surveys for 2 weeks, sending out the original launch invitation then a reminder about a week later.  The increasing availability of good quality email lists from the trade press means that we can invite larger numbers of people, resulting in better statistics and, for new market niches, larger "early contact" lists.   Web based research also provides  solid data on key points, from pricing to applications to new directions for technology development.

We support you from the very beginning to the very end.

• First, we help you clarify your objectives.
• Then, we work with you to write the questions to elicit the information so critical to your new product development or new market penetration.
• At the same time,  we locate a list that matches the profile of your target audience.
• Next, we create, load and test the questionnaire.  You get a chance to see it and test it before it launches to make sure that it's exactly what you want.
• Launch!  As the data comes in, we provide you with a private link.  We have to warn you, watching the numbers build is addictive! 
• At the end of the survey, we download the data, import it into our built-for-purpose survey analysis software, and generate a detailed numerical report.  Depending on your needs, we typically analyze the data from a number of perspectives including Type of Lab (Academic, Industrial, Governmental, Clinical, etc.), Title (Prof vs Lab Manager, Researcher, etc.), Type of Work (Basic or Applied Research, Failure Analysis, QA/QC, etc.) and Discipline (Biological vs Materials Science, Medical/clinical, Environmental, Pharmceutical, etc.).  For easier reference, each perspective is placed in its own chapter, with the choice of perspectives agreed upon early in the process so that the data is most useful to you.
• Finally, we put our years of strategic and launch experience into a written review of the data, using the data to point out trends, barriers, and opportunities for your success in that particular market.

We've become well known for researching markets that don't exist yet.

Historically, our clients have had revolutionary ideas and we suspect your company is no different.  First and foremost, you need to know whether your concept is just great engineering or whether someone is really going to pay money for it, so most MME customized surveys include feasability tests and an estimate of the market potential.  We've developed a unique method for writing questions that takes your study audience from their current experience to your advanced technology to make that estimate more realistic.

Next, you need to know which applications the target audience perceive as being most important.  Since Microscopy & Imaging is a real "Show Me" market, this data provides the core information for a successful launch. 

Finally, you need to know specifics:  What price should you charge?  Does the new technology need to meet the ultimate in resolution, speed, low light level, etc., or is the audience more interested in reliability, economy, ease of use?  Understanding these sorts of parameters can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars during development and get you to market faster, with a more saleable product.   

Which brings us to a very important point: THE TIME TO DO MARKET RESEARCH IS NOW. 

Time and again, we've seen entrepreneurs and even veteran companies fall so in love with their technology that they go to market before understanding what their customers really need.  If you are thinking about bringing a new technology to market, you need to do market research before you begin your CadCam drawings, before you build your prototype, and long before you begin to schedule your first tradeshow or write your first ad.  Why?  Our guest contributor and long time colleague, Ralph Grabowski, can tell you best.  Ralph is a brilliant MIT graduate engineer.  Many years ago, he was thrust into marketing when his manager launched a product without understanding the market.  The results were disastrous.  Not only did the product fail, Ralph's manager committed suicide.  Equally committed to not repeating his manager's fatal mistake, Ralph began to research aggressively.  Over the years, he has developed an interesting metric:  the Marketing:Engineering (M/E) ratio.  The Marketing part refers to how much a company has invested in getting to know its target customer:  early stage market research.  The Engineering part is how much the company has spent on Research, Development, and Engineering (RD&E).  Ralph has spent the past 20 years collecting M/E data on companies as diverse as Keithley Metrabyte, Becton-Dickenson, Intuit software, and Molten Metal ... and he has summarized his findings for you in one, neat chart.  The results are astounding: For every dollar spent on RD&E, many companies spend less than a dime getting to know their customers!   And, as shown by Ralph's findings, those companies ALWAYS FAIL. 

What's the key to SUCCESS? Parity.  Those companies which spend at least as much on early-stage market research as they spend on RD&E WILL SUCCEED.  (The actual ratio is closer to $1.25 M/ $1 RD&E).  The interesting fact is that companies who do their market research early get to market faster and more economically, gain revenue faster and in larger quantity, and conserve engineering and financial resources.  Don't just take our word for it.  Here's Ralph's full article, "Who Is Going to Buy the Darn Thing?", complete with details and case studies. 

MME's services don't stop with market research

Because we make the OTHER part of our bread-and-butter by launching and branding products, MME understands how market research should be used:  it needs to be concrete and actionable to turn the vagaries of a market into well defined direction and plans.   MME has been conducting market research since 1991 and has been successfully launching new products  for over a quarter of a century.  Our launches cover the full sphere of Microscopy and Imaging:  from light sources and cameras to Raman AFMs and scanning white light interferometers, from image analysis and processing software to microarray readers for biotech. 

For us, market research is a critical first step for our customers because it lays a foundation of knowledge that reduces risk and saves time and money.  But it is just the first step. Give us a call today.  We can discuss how MME can help you with larger projects such as  market research and turnkey market plans or small projects such as articles, press programs, sales support materials and training, and web content.
 

(Photo credit for Clock image, Courtesy of Ajay Singh: "Clock 2")