We continue to show you the ways of analyzing the company's activities. It can be very useful for you when studying marketing and writing relevant research papers. As you remember, such papers require full involvement in the work process as here you deal with precise economic information. Regardless of whether this subject is your cup of tea or not, such research may also be useful for your future work. If you are able to analyze and collect data by yourself, and then filter and place it in the right order to get a full picture of what is happening, then you do not have to contact expensive specialists if necessary. In addition, such experts are often not interested in the outcome and do their work somewhat superficially, without going into detail.
So, our task is to obtain detailed information on the factors that influence it. These factors include information about the dynamics of the market, the main competitors, and key trends. There are also unmanageable factors that cannot be taken into consideration because their influence is unpredictable and cannot be fixed. The only thing you can do is taking into account the possibility of their influence and prepare if not preventive measures then at least the ones that mitigate the aftereffect, if it is undesirable.
Let us consider the analysis of each group of factors in detail.
Key Market Indicators
We offer you the following steps. Their sequence can be arbitrary:
- Determine the actual and potential market size in terms of money and quantity. Estimate the dynamics of market growth for 3-5 years;
- Describe the structure in terms of the product and price segments, functional characteristics of the product;
- Determine the average price and the average rate of profitability for the market;
- Assess the dynamics of growth in the size of the market, its key segments, prices and profitability for 3-5 years;
- Estimate the level of coverage (penetration) of goods in the market: the number of consumers in the entire mass of the target audience.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it is necessary to describe these points. If there is a need to involve some other indicators in your particular example, you can include all relevant information into this section. The main thing is to do it in the most concise and clearest form in order to avoid verbosity, which is unacceptable for the papers of this kind.
Competitive Analysis
Identify the main competitors in the industry. Assess their position in the industry by: sales volume, growth rates, profit level, target markets, assortment, price level and production, distribution, promotion, and pricing opportunities. Study your competitors. Make a forecast for new players that may appear in the next 3-5 years.
Economic Growth and Stability
Describe the economic situation in the country, region, city, where the company operates. Assess key trends regarding exchange rates, economic welfare, inflation, and unemployment. Describe the economic situation in the company's industry, the growth rates of the market and individual segments, key trends relative to the cost of raw materials, prices, possible acquisitions, and mergers.
Political Trends
At this stage and in this section, you need to conduct some kind of independent research. What political measures and decisions affect the conditions and profitability of the industry? Do not think that the answer is very simple and short. This can be described for a very long time. Use only facts and formulate present them in a list. If you are not very knowledgeable about politics and understand that you are unlikely to adequately compare and state the necessary facts, contact the specialists from crazyessay.com.
Legal and Regulatory Issues
- Make a list of all state documents that regulate the activities of the industry, and a list of the latest decisions of the government in your industry;
- Make a list of documents that are under consideration or initiated for consideration by the authorities in your industry;
- Define the latest laws in the field of tax policy of the country, social deductions and promotional activities;
- Assess the threat of tightening requirements or the likelihood of their mitigation.
Technological Achievements and Product Trends
- Compare the existing technology to create a product with common market technologies. Assess the level of innovativeness;
- Make a list of the latest innovations and the work methods ways in your industry that help a client save time and money and provide more effective fulfillment of needs. Are all buyers happy with these changes?
- Identify the latest innovations that have improved the process of production, distribution, delivery, and promotion of the product and have significantly reduced the cost of goods and improved customer relationships;
- Highlight the main trends in improving the appearance of the product and the ways how it is used;
- Evaluate the development of technology and products in the industry in the next 3-5 years.
Socio-Demographic Trends
Assess key changes in socio-demographic indicators of the audience for the next years. Assess the changes in attitudes, lifestyle, and behavior of the target consumers.
Media Trends
- Identify the key media channels that are used to support the goods;
- Assess the level of competition, budgets, efficiency, and cost of contact in each communication channel;
- Identify the key changes in the methods of communication of competitors;
- Analyze support programs;
- Analyze key creative materials and product support programs in the industry;
- Highlight the main changes in the communication channels used;
- Highlight the main changes in creative concepts and ideas of advertising messages;
- Identify underestimated communication channels: low competition, high efficiency at relatively low cost.
Trends in Distribution Channels
Estimate sales changes. Assess the dynamics of the level of competition in each channel. Evaluate the demand and the emergence of new ways of selling in the industry.
Trend Analysis Summary
The overview of trends is an important and time-consuming process, requiring, at first glance, a high level of competencies. Add the other aspects of the firm’s activity that are closer related to economics and finance, design and packaging, technology and innovation to the evaluation of trends.
Evaluate how the identified trends (in the field of economics, political forces, regulatory documents, technology, product and consumer preferences) can affect the sales and profits, properties, appearance and distribution of the goods, price, promotion, collection of feedback, and requirements for personnel.
So, we have finished our paper. If you find information for each section and correctly structure it, then you comprehend the essence of writing such report. Make sure that your paper is not too verbose and does not contain long subjective reflections. In works of this type, there is not even a section of conclusions because it is not a full research paper, but some kind of a calculation on the basis of which decisions will be made later.
Your task is to demonstrate your awareness in each section, the conditions of which you will have to model by yourself. In our previous articles you will find other examples of the sequence of actions for such tasks. If you follow our advice, you will succeed.