Your customers can tell you why they buy, but they can’t tell you how the industry landscape is changing, which conglomerates are entering the market to steal market share, or what the biggest threat is to your profit margin.
To be an insurgent brand and a market disruptor, your company must be a student of the industry, all the time.
Part three of this six part series by creative strategist Tyler Leahy focuses on how to observe the market and the competition once you have already done research to gain insights about your target customer.
This is part three in a series of six about what it takes to be an industry disruptor. Need a refresher? Say no more:
Market trends, untapped opportunity
Changing market trends keep many of us awake at night…but they also present untapped opportunity. If you truly want to disrupt your industry, it’s your company’s responsibility to have an ongoing industry pulse. Forecasting “what’s next” requires being a student of the industry, all the time.
Why: If you can compare what buyers are saying with the inner workings of your industry, you’re essentially reading between the lines. Sometimes that in itself presents the opportunity.
Here’s another food example (food is particularly trend-driven). Noosa Yoghurt founder Koel Thomae was already passionate about her idea of bringing an Australian favorite to an American audience when Noosa was launched in 2010…but she knew the business opportunity by understanding what was happening in the yogurt product category.
“Everybody is doing Greek yogurt, as it’s what has driven the growth in the category. But people want to try something new.” — Koel Thomae, Dairy Reporter, 2015
Chobani had paved the way for Greek yogurt; droves of other brands followed. Greek yogurt became a saturated category subset, quickly. Industry insiders were looking for “the next big thing,” and consumers were, too. That’s where Noosa’s timely disruption came in, by design.
Your customers can tell you why they buy, but they can’t tell you how the industry landscape is changing, which conglomerates are entering the market to steal market share, or what the biggest threat is to your profit margin.
- What’s the five-year industry outlook?
- Where are competitors investing for the future, and why?
- What are the most prevalent talent and resource gaps?
- What are the industry’s current “best practices”?
- What media is your target demographic consuming? How is new technology influencing their buying behavior?
Here’s what you do:
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Make a list of common practices shared across the industry and hold it up against the qualitative data you’ve already collected. What do the inconsistencies tell you? How can they help you forecast what’s ahead? Where are “best practices” failing to make consumers happy?
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Embrace cognitive dissonance. You’ll likely find conflicting information when researching, which will be good food for thought for you and your team.
Here’s what you don’t do:
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Make on-the-fly changes. Just study. You’ll be taking action soon!
By also building traditional quantitative research into your business’ culture and comparing it with qualitative data you collect by talking to your target audience, you’re seeing the whole field.