1. Reporting Template Market Research in Practice:
An Introduction to Gaining Greater Market Insight
Paul Hague, Matthew Harrison, Julia Cupman and Oliver Truman

2. Background

3. The Presentation Should Tell A Story
Your presentation should, like a story, have a theme
It should be interesting
It should have a beginning, a middle and an end
As well as telling a story, the presentation should be a lasting record of the findings
The presentation must be self-explanatory if picked up and read by someone who has not been to the presentation

4. Set The Scene At The Beginning
The presentation should begin with a brief background stating the:
agenda
objectives
methodology
Don’t over do these slides. The audience will be eager to hear the findings.

5. Example Of Agenda Slide
Objectives
Methodology
Key findings
the size of the market
trends in the market
the competition
users needs and un-met needs
Conclusions and recommendations

6. Example Of Objectives Slide
Write in here the main aims/objective of the study e.g.
To understand the awareness and knowledge amongst cosmetic manufacturers of the alternative formulation ingredients
To understand the factors influencing the choice of ingredients used in cosmetics
To establish regulatory influences on the use of ingredients in cosmetics
To establish attitudes towards using different types of ingredients in cosmetics
To explore perceptions towards suppliers of ingredients used in cosmetics
To explore future trends in the use of different types of ingredients in cosmetics

7. Example Of Methodology Slide
Write here the methodology that was used to collect the data
Better still, use a diagram e.g.

8. Analysing Qualitative Data

9. Three Types Of Qualitative Data
From desk research
From an expert interview
From a distillation of depth interviews
This has stood up to public scrutiny
This has credibility depending on the respondent
This needs you to demonstrate that it reflects a wider population
Quoting the source is important here…this is a difficult task (see next slide)...

10. The Source Of Qualitative Findings From Fieldwork
Focus Groups
Individual Depths
By Telephone Or F2F
Output
4 groups generates 120 pages of text and 30,000 words
30 depths generates 300 pages of text and over 100,000 words
Analysis tools
Videos, transcripts in Word, observers notes
Questionnaires, Excel spread sheets, Word documents
Structure guidelines
Proposal, discussion guides, social science frameworks
Proposal, discussion guides, social science frameworks, marketing frameworks

11. A Suggested Approach
For each point or theme, pull them out and present them as a process or diagram. Answer the question “so what”.
Summarize the results as bullet points
Present quotes to illustrate

12. Analysing Quantitative Data

13. The Questionnaire Often Sets The Logical Structure
In quantitative research, the questionnaire follows a theme of opening doors in a logical order
A question by question analysis is a good starting point
You will get a fix on the big picture quickly if you scribble the total percentage responses onto a copy of the questionnaire
In any quantitative survey there is usually a need to cut the data by key segments. These are likely to be demographic factors. In a business to business survey it could be:
size of company measured by employees or consumption
nature of business
geography

14. Not Another Bar Chart!
Unfortunately yes! They are often the best way of presenting research findings
They show order of importance (order the rows with the most frequent mentions first, except for rating scales e.g. very likely through to not at all likely)
If the bars become too messy with too many segments, consider a table

15. % satisfied with each attribute
Oh Good - A Table!
Tables are clear
They hold more complex data and present it easily
They give you the actual data so you can lift it and work it further
BUT - the reader has to work harder
SO - help the reader
by rounding numbers
ordering in declining importance
clearly labelling
And provide a narrative that explains the results.
Overall
Small
Medium
Large
Base
100 49 21 30
Products
80%
81%
60%
90%
Delivery
55%
51%
Customer Service
34%
33%
31%
35%
Relationship
21%
40%
16%
Price
11%
12%
10%
% satisfied with each attribute

16. On The Subject Of Labeling
Labels are important – they need to be there (don’t leave them off)
They should be readable (font size should be large enough)
They should be understandable (should we say “base” or should we say “sample size” or “n=100”?)
Satisfaction With Products

17. Creating Interest

18. Some Drivers Of Presentation Style
Audience: Who they are? What they know? What they want to know? What they will do with the intelligence?
Time: What time is there for preparing the report and for polishing? How long have you got for the presentation itself?
Money: What resources have you got for the presentation?
Location: Where will it be held? What size room? What layout? What projection facilities?
Our imagination: Must it be PowerPoint? What about video? Flip charts? Posters? Props?

19. Pictures Not Words?
A Picture Tells A Thousand Words…

20. Graphs & Quotes

21. Clip Art
Excellent for adding interest. But use carefully. Cartoons work better in training presentations than in client presentations.

22. Messages

23. Impact
SPAM
Some say “no more words than you can fit on a t-shirt”. That said, in general, market research presentations have to be heavy with content.
Provide a message that is relevant to the audience
Always keep the message clear and simple
Memory cues using mnemonics help strengthen a message e.g. SWOT = strengths, weaknesses etc., PEST = political, economic, social, technological

24. People Read From Top To Bottom
Opportunities are missed by not working headlines harder
The headline contains the most important words on the slide so think carefully what you say
Think of the headline as if it was a headline in a newspaper

25. Keep it in the present tense
Messages Connect
First of all think about what you want to say
Then think about what the audience is interested in
And turn your message so what they want to hear comes first
Instead of saying: 69% of all factories had 2 or more production lines
Consider saying: There is an opportunity to sell multiple lines in over two thirds of all factories
Keep it in the present tense

26. Arriving At Conclusions

27. What Are Conclusions?
They conclude, they wrap up, they bring the presentation to an end
And they do it in three ways:
they summarize (remember the adage: “tell them what you are going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you have just told them)
they interpret the findings
they arrive at a way forward
Conclusions should not include any new material!!

28. Summarizing The Findings
Parcel it into two or three slides e.g.: “What we have learned about the market”, “What we have learned about the competition”, “What we have learned about their attitudes to Company X”
Pull out only the key learnings

29. Interpret The Findings
Use marketing frameworks wherever you can
A SWOT analysis is often helpful:
strengths are internal to the company
weaknesses are also internal to the company
opportunities are external in the market place
and threats are also external

30. And Arrive At A Way Forward
Some people want a single over-riding clear message
Others want a check list of 10 things to do as a result of the research
A 4P strategy is often appreciated

31. The Devil’s In The Detail

32. Let’s Start At The Beginning
The title slide should have the author’s address and contact details on
The name of the presenter(s) should be on the title slide
The date of the presentation should be on the title slide
The number of the first page should be suppressed but the rest of the document should have page numbers
Don’t try to be too fancy. Clarity is the watchword
The likelihood is that the document will be copied as a handout with two slides per page - it should be readable!

33. Some Points Of Detail That Take The Gloss Off Good Work
There is often lack of consistency in:
labelling (e.g. numbers v percentage, axes on graphs etc.)
using a copy of the question above the diagram
the font size and emphasis of the font (bold or underline) on the question
the presentation of quotes
the attribution of quotes
use of capitals in the title
spelling of company names (Andersen and Anderson)
colors
different figures for the same data at different places in the document (e.g. values that haven’t been changed during editing)

34. Other Things To Watch Out For
Spelling and grammatical errors – such as it’s/its, their/there, too/to - don’t rely on the spell checker
The author of the presentation should be responsible for their own detail, otherwise the final editor will spend all their time correcting and checking and not improving the content

35. Check List For Reports
Decide on your story and what data you want to show
Decide what graphs or diagrams best communicates what you want to say
Keep the data tight – if in doubt, miss it out
Be concise and succinct
Break up the report with chapters
Avoid large chunks of prose
Keep the reader interested – case studies can add impact and be memorable
Every slide should be relevant
Keep things simple
Use frameworks to locate and make sense of the data
Proof read, and get someone else to proof read
The final page of the report must leave the reader feeling fulfilled

36. Appendix – Useful Frameworks

37. Position On The Life Cycle
Consider creating a context by positioning the company or product on its life cycle
Pre birth/
Introduction
Youth leading
to growth
Maturity leading
to slow down
Old age leading
to decline
Time
Sales

38. Position In Ansoff’s Grid
Consider using Ansoff’s grid as a context for the company or product

39. The Strategic Position - Porter’s 5 Forces

40. SWOT Analysis
Consider drawing conclusions with an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the product/company and the opportunities and threats in the market

41. The Diffusion Of New Products
Consider using Rogers diffusion theory for the adoption of new products
Innovators
Early adopters
Early majority
Late
majority
Laggards
Time
Number of new adopters

42. Alternative Courses Of Action
Consider using a framework to show alternative courses of action

43. Communication Effectiveness
Consider using the AIDA model to show how communication can be made more effective

44. The Four Ps
Consider using the 4Ps to make recommendations. Remember that the 4Ps are like different levers that can be used in different degrees to achieve the same objective
Product – customer value proposition, product features, packaging, sizes, varieties
Price - discounts, rebates, terms of payment
Promotion - advertising, exhibitions, PR, direct marketing, selling
Place – channel to market, geographical focus, distributors