We are looking to gain a better understanding of our target market to make sure there is a need and demand for our product. This will allow us to determine if we are targeting the right segments to be as profitable as possible. We want to ensure that we are offering the appropriate solution and targeting the right problem, customer segments, and ways to market to these customers.

Tasks:

Primary Research

• Design and conduct a survey to gather feedback from potential users and stakeholders.
• Identify specific places, both online and in person, to find the right people to speak with and create an engaging intro for the survey.
• Conduct follow-up 1:1 interview questionnaires to gather in-depth insights from a variety of individuals. OR Create a survey and interview questions for empirical interviews to be conducted by our company’s management to gain feedback on our brand, products, and services. (If students unable to conduct interviews, then follow option 2 here)
• Analyze survey and interview results to create recommendations on how to improve our positioning, branding and products/services.

Secondary Research

• Assess the size of our market with metrics such as sales data and number of direct & indirect competitors, and compare them to the size of our customer base to determine our market share and how many potential customers we could obtain.
• Analyze our current offerings and the positioning of our brand.
• Conduct the TAM/SAM/SOM calculations
• Conduct SWOT analyses

What tasks will learners need to complete to achieve the project goal?

By the end of the project, students should complete the following list of activities (this is basically a retelling of the steps above):

• Assessed our market size and share to determine the amount of potential customers we have.
• Analyzed our current offerings and the positioning of our brand.
• Created (and completed) survey and interview questions to gain feedback on our brand, products, and services.
• Analyzed the survey and interview results to create recommendations for next steps.

Bonus steps would include:

• Researched the most effective marketing strategies for our segments to include in the report and recommendations.

Final deliverables should include

• A report including research, survey data trends, and recommendations for next steps for our branding and positioning. Visuals such as tables, graphs, charts are important.
• A 20 to 30-minute presentation.

How will you support learners in completing the project?

Students will connect directly with us for mentorship throughout the project. We will be able to provide answers to questions such as:

• What is the problem we are solving? Where are we targeting?
• Are we happy with our current positioning and marketing strategies for that segment?
• Input on choices, problems or anything else the students might encounter.

Skills

• Learn market research, market analysis, and market validation skills

Resources

We can provide students with:

• Our previous market research
• Our current marketing strategies

The founder is available for meetings on a regular basis and is open to sharing all relevant documentation, research, and tools to students and instructors.