Most Valuable Brands: Image taken from Gymssty.com

This information was posted by Ellie Schwartz (Market Research/PR professional) who extracted the data from Wall Street 24/7. It is evident that the increases and decreases this year definitely reflect the state of the economy – value increases are more modest that they would be in a stable economy. But look how much luxury brands are decreasing and value adding brands such as McDonalds are increasing. Interesting stuff…
The 100:

Coke $64.7 billion plus 3%

IBM $62.5 billion plus 6%

Microsoft $54.3 billion minus 8%

GE $47.8 billion minus 10%

McDonald’s $33.5 billion plus 8%

Nokia $33.o billion minus 8%

Intel $30.3 billion minus 3%

Toyota $30.0 billion minus 12%

Disney $29.3 billion flat

Google $27.4 billion plus 7%

Hewlett-Packard $25.1 billion plus 7%

Gillette $24.3 billion plus 7%

Cisco $22.4 billion plus 5%

Marlboro $20.8 billion minus 3%

Mercedes $20.5 billion minus 20%

Louis Vuitton $19.7 billion minus 9%

BMW $19.6 billion minus 16%

Samsung $18.4 billion plus 4%

American Express $18.0 billion minus 18%

Apple $16.4 billion plus 20%

Honda $15.8 billion minus 17%

Oracle $15.0 billion plus 9%

Nescafe $14.9 billion plus 14%

Pepsi $13.8 billion plus 4%

H&M $13.8 billion flat

SAP $12.7 billion plus 3%

Recently I was reading an article by John Quelch who is a Lincoln Filene Professor at Harvard Business School about the steps small businesses can take to weather this recession.

He suggests the following 8 steps – guess what?! Market research makes the TOP of the list.

1. Research the consumer
2. Focus on family values
3. Maintain marketing spending
4. Adjust product portfolios
5. Support distributors
6. Adjust pricing tactics
7. Stress market share
8. Emphasize core values

(1) Quelch explains that instead of cutting the market research budget, businesses need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Price elasticity curves are changing. Consumers take more time searching for durable goods and negotiate harder at the point of sale. They are more willing to postpone purchases, trade down, or buy less. Must-have features of yesterday are today’s can-live-withouts. Trusted brands are especially valued and they can still launch new products successfully, but interest in new brands and new categories fades. Conspicuous consumption becomes less prevalent

(3) Quelch affirms that this is not the time to cut advertising. It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times. Uncertain consumers need the reassurance of known brands, and more consumers at home watching television can deliver higher than expected audiences at lower cost-per-thousand impressions. Brands with deep pockets may be able to negotiate favorable advertising rates and lock them in for several years. If you have to cut marketing spending, try to maintain the frequency of advertisements by shifting from 30-second to 15-second advertisements, substituting radio for television advertising, or increasing the use of direct marketing, which gives more immediate sales impact.

Read his full article here

See some of our free market research resources to help you get started here

This might be an interesting study for salon owners. A study commissioned by Totalbeauty.com determine the cities to experience a “good hair day” and “bad hair day”

The study examined average humidity levels, pollution, rainfall, wind speeds, water hardness and demographics, and took into account the number of beauty salons per capita to determine rankings for the cities with the best – and worst – conditions for healthy, stylish hair. (marketingcharts.com)

Santa Barbara consistently has clean air, near-constant, hair-friendly weather, a young population, and not much rain or wind, reported TotalBeauty.com.

Cities at the other end of the weather spectrum made the best list as well. While Anchorage, Alaska doesn’t have year-round warmth, it lacks pollution and wind, while having soft water. Similarly, New York, N.Y.’s clean, soft water and abundance of salons help make it on the list, and Miami’s lack of pollution and soft water compensate for the city’s notorious heat and humidity.

Cities with low rankings were typically characterized as hair-unfriendly because of their  humidity, hard water and a lack of hair salons.

Totalbeauty.com attributes the high humidity levels in Corpus Christi as one of the factors that make it the top “bad hair day” city in the US, while the dry/hot weather and hard water in Albuquerque, Las Vegas and Phoenix contribute to those cities’ low rankings.

We have broken down what market research is – providing a full description of the different types of market research that exists and the advantages/disadvantages of each type so that you can select the most appropriate method for your business issue.

We have also included an extensive web resource list of various sites where you can extract free research data (demographics and industry specific information) for your research needs. If you have any questions about the guide please email Sasheec@insciteresearch.com

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