Cases portfolio

CONTENTS INSURANCE – BUSINESS LIABILITY CONSUMER GOODS – HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER— HEALTH CARE MARKETING FINANCIAL SERVICES FOOD SERVICES SAAS EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY START-UP HIGH TECH TELECOMMUNICATIONS GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY

PORTFOLIO Boston Market Directions

617-3231862

Contact: Mary Malaszek mary@marketdirectionsmr.com

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

LIABILITY • HIGH-LEVEL EXECUTIVES

COMMERCIAL INSURANCE CARRIER

The Company and the Project A leading global commercial and consumer insurance company wanted to introduce a new liability line to its commercial portfolio. The Company hired Market Directions for an in-depth dive into who makes insurance purchase decisions and to gain insight into their thoughts on a Commercial Liability Insurance Product. In additional new logo and product collateral materials were to be tested.

Details The difficult aspect of this project was to recruit the correct individuals within various business organizations at a high level who were willing to participate in a focus group. Market Directions targeted the correct decision makers and compelled them with messaging that resonated with them to gain their participation in a focus group.

Company Action Based on the results of the focus groups the insurance carrier was able to understand the pain points of executives that make liability insurance purchase decisions.

They developed a sales campaign that dealt directly with these challenges and the product had a successful launch and sales campaign.

The messaging stressed the importance of the having the right amount of liability insurance and stressed an educational portion of the focus group. We offered the correct incentives, correct venues and time of day that made it convenient for high level executives to participate.

Prepared by Market Directions

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS

FOCUS GROUPS TELLS ALL The Company and the Project

A leading global consumer goods company with a strong portfolio of well-known brands and manufacturer of cleaning tools and supplies developed an innovative product to compete directly with SwifferÂŽ--- the leading disposable cleaning system. The Company hired Market Directions for an in-depth dive into who purchases cleaning products and to test the product concepts with target consumers.

Details Market Directions examined the purchasing behavior of consumers within households they make purchasing decisions for household cleaning products. The analysis consisted of those who purchase disposables v reusable mops and brooms and their price points.

Demographic and psychographic profiles were established.

Once a target consumer was determined focus groups around the country were conducted to gain valuable feedback on the acceptance of the product. Could reusables compete with SwifferÂŽ within a market of those who do their own cleaning?

COMPANY ACTIONS Based on the results of the focus groups and the price point of the product tested the company determined that there was not a market for its new concepts at the price point determined.

Market Directions determined the target audience, recruited the participants, planned, administered and conducted the focus groups.

Collected paper surveys and input for results and analysis.

Prepared by Market Directions

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

EQUIPMENT MFG.

HOW DO YOU COMEPTE IN A SATURED LOWQUALITFY MFG. MARKET?

Company Actions

The Company and the Project

A 100 year old high-end Asian salon equipment manufacturer was facing stiff competition in the U.S. from an influx of eCommerce companies that offered products at lower prices and quality. With the company’s mission to exceed the expectations of their customers by delivering world class products and services through quality, reliability, and integrity, price competition was eroding their market share. The company has major distribution centers in the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia. The Company hired Market Directions to do qualitative interviews with five U.S. Target Groups, and a competitive and SWOT analysis of the market.

Details

Telephone interviews were conducted with a global logistics expert, an online ordering systems expert, an online marketing expert, salon owners and salon distribution experts. The company’s goals were achieved by conducting competitive intelligence and doing a SWOT analysis. A strategic marketing plan was developed and is being targeted toward increasing online sales, increasing logistic efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Prepared by Market Directions

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

An e-commerce web site was re-launched to bring high quality products to customers even more quickly and efficiently than before. Once the correct strategy was determined, marketing tactics were executed that beat client and equipment projections by over 10%.

We developed an online marketing campaign to educate customers about the advantages of owning stylish, dependable, durable salon equipment. Recommendations for improvements to the inventory, customer ordering and forecasting systems to increase revenues and customer satisfaction we made based on the competitive analysis.

The corporate office in Japan is partnering with local distributors to create web sites and facebook pages to increase sales, brand awareness and customer loyalty in the communities.

HEALTHCARE MARKETING

Three Healthcare Cases

EXPERIENCE IN HEALTHCARE—CUSTOMER CARE

HEALTHCARE CASE STUDY #1 MARKET DIRECTIONS ASSISTED A HEALTHCARE COMPANY IN SETTING AND MEETING ITS CUSTOMER SERVICE OBJECTIVES. An independent, Upstate New York Health Care Services organization with over 50,000 members needed help when its regulators rated them as not up to standard in the area of customer service, including call answer time, hold time and other measurements.

Not only did this health care insurance provider not meet the standards set, they also did not have the technology in place to implement any new call center operations. Additionally, the firm also faced problems with the inability to communicate with clients whose first language was not English. o Customer Service objectives were set by a regulatory agency and even though the standards were known, Market Directions also did a benchmark study against similar sized firms in the area. o Once the firm knew where it stood Market Directions:  looked at the skills of the personnel who delivered the service  looked at the customer base—determined a demographic profile

Healthcare Marketing Often time’s health care marketing is viewed as an invasion into some of the most sensitive areas of people's lives. We are very sensitive to our clients and their customers/members. We protect the client and their patient’s privacy. Thus, the details of the case studies above may seem ambiguous which is intentional to protect sensitive information that cannot even have the appearance of being handled indiscreetly.  looked at the technology which assisted in delivery • Finally, we made recommendations for implementation which included new technology, training and coaching of customer service reps ….. including management training.  Additionally, we recommended call centers that had attendants with various languages.

Prepared by Market Directions

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

HEALTHCARE CASE STUDY #2 MARKET DIRECTIONS BENCHMARKED A CALL CENTER’S CUSTOMER CARE AGAINST ITS PEERS. More than 37,000 people work within the Longwood Medical Area, 15,000 students attend school there, and each year more than one million patients visit the area’s hospitals for medical care. This small area generates over $3.4 billion in annual revenues. Our Client contributes to that success by facilitating the flow of traffic, coordinating development plans, serving as a liaison with the Greater Boston community and acting as a general community planner for the LMA. And when, Our Client needed an objective third party to benchmark it services against other, similar firms, they hired Market Directions who: Performed benchmark studies by interviewing key personnel • Computed, reported and presented the results in graphic format • Performs the studies annually •

HEALTHCARE CASE STUDY #3 MARKET DIRECTIONS CONDUCTS HEALTHCARE SURVEY FOR PRIMARY PRACTICE A community-based, multi-specialty group practice affiliated with HEALTH CARE FIRM with fifteen primary care and six specialty practices attended various seminars provided by the major consultancy firms. But when they needed to implement their patient satisfaction measures, they came to Market Directions to objectively implement a survey which gathered data, created metrics to be used today and in the future, and provided the group with the skills and knowledge to implement themselves on an as needed basis.

HEALTHCARE CASE STUDY #4 Market Directions conducts focus groups for major healthcare insurer.

Market Directions worked with the health care services of a $40 Billion insurance firm to “rebrand” some of their health care coverages amongst various market segments in Tier 1 cities across the U.S. Market Directions performed focus groups and implemented the project with the following tasks: • • • •

Booked Facilities in the Major Cities Recruited Participants Prepare Moderators Guide Report and Analysis of findings

As a result of the focus groups, INSURANCE COMPANY went ahead with its rebranding including

Prepared by Market Directions

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

FINANCIAL SERVICES

INDEPENDENT • SATISFYING BROKERS

The Company and the Project An established independent financial broker dealer wanted to install new software to help their brokers better service their investment customers. They hired Market Directions to discover if the brokers were open and capable of using the software.

Details Quantitative: Mail survey of brokers with telephone follow-up.

Developed questionnaire.

Follow-up calls to ensure participation.

Participation of brokers at 95%

Company Actions

Company gained real insight into broker attitudes--- on more than just new software.

Challenges at hand were addressed and cooperation from brokers made software install a success.

Collected paper surveys and input for results and analysis.

Prepared by Market Directions

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

FOOD SERVICE

FRANCHISE • SATISFYING EAST COAST CUSTOMERS

The Company and the Project A west coast restaurant franchise comes to the east coast. They needed to know about preferences and expectations of customers. They hired Market Directions to field patrons as they were exiting restaurant.

Details Quantitative: Field study to gain insight into restaurant experience v. expectations.

After thorough discussion with the restaurant management team --- the team at the New England Location and the team at the management headquarters— specific objectives were established: • Measure customer feedback on service categories.

• Measure customer feedback on atmosphere Determine customer profiles.

• Determine if there is any specific entry that is not appealing to a majority of patrons.

• Determine if patron would recommend restaurant to a friend or revisit.--NPS

Prepared by Market Directions

Company Actions

Company gained real insight into who the customers are, their diversity, expectations, satisfaction levels and overall experience. They adjusted menu and services according to expectations. Also, a base NPS was established to measure trends over time.

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

Opening A Candy Store • I want Candy The most fun we ever had with a project Because of Market Directions marketing experience and expertise in providing insights to clients on their target market--- We helped open a candy store.

Market Directions assisted with the inventory and selection of vendors. We also publicized and organized the grand opening. Doing everything from designing and creating flyers to standing on street corners and distributing them. Social media was established for the store along with a website and local advertising.

The grand opening was a neighborhood hit along with the store’s current success in meeting and exceeding its sales goals.

Ethnic Food Distributor An Eastern European maker of meats and other ethic specialties wanted to get their products into food, grocery and specialty stores around the country. They wanted to target stores that had locations where there was a concentration of Eastern European ancestry.

Market Directions, using U.S. Census Bureau data provided the food manufacturer with data by ancestry, households, age, income, etc. We developed a database and updated it quarterly. This database was used in sales calls to influence buyers and show market potential for their products. It was successful and sales exceeded expectations.

Prepared by Market Directions

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

SaaS • LMS

EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE The Company and the Project

When a European digital learning management system (LMS) company, the largest learning platform in Europe and one of the four largest in the world wanted to increase U.S. k-12 sales, they called on Market Directions to understand the buyer, the influencer and the market.

Their system has over four million active users worldwide with many users in the United States.

Details Methods: Quantitative On-line Survey Qualitative In-depth telephone interviews Interviews: 30 Surveys:

200, 20% completion rate

Outcomes: Qualitative: An understanding of the buying process along with an understanding of who had the most influence in purchase decisions for LMS Software.

Additionally, an in-depth look at how the software is used and its strengths and weaknesses in the classroom Quantitative: Understanding brand awareness, use of competitive products, preferred features and satisfaction levels.

Prepared by Market Directions

Results

Company Actions

As a result, the LMS company understood who to invite to product demos, who owns the product and who they should target to get their foot in the door to build a relationship for a sale. They also had a clear view of their place in the market-- identifying their strengths and weaknesses and then exploiting appropriate actions for each.

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

SITE LOCATION • RURAL PA

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Results

The Company and the Project A new entrant into the purchase of excess bandwidth in rural Pennsylvania entered the market and needed to determine the best location for their wireless service. They hired Market Directions to explore and discover population and business density of the best physical location for line of site service.

Market Directions examined the demographics of two cities within 2 Counties. These cities were studied in order to determine the economic centers, population density, business density, trends, growth and any unique characteristics. A drive through the communities of interest uncovered any geographic barriers to a central hub location.

Density areas were determined, central points were mapped highlighting a three-mile radius from the center point and an analysis was conducted to determine the number of businesses within the service area. Additionally, cell towers and radio towers registered with the FCC were mapped in order to assist in determining the plausibility of co-locating.

Major employers are examined to determine what types of industries impact each City. The major employers were also examined to determine if they 1. are within a plausible geographic center 2. have more than one location to be connected, or 3. are large enough to affect the site location.

Prepared by Market Directions

After our initial research, which determined population and business density, we examined two economic centers for location of a Hub: Oil City and Franklin while the smaller economic centers were given a more cursory review.

The demographic make-up of both Oil City and Franklin are very similar and therefore the report gives reasons for locating in both Cities.

It was determined that Clair and Forest County do not have the market potential that Venango County offers.

The report provided aggregate picture of Venango County, with an examination of the two major economic centers’ demographic make-up followed with recommendations of location based on the criteria of business density and geographic plausibility.

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

START-UP • COMPETITIVE MARKET

GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY

The Company and the Project A start-up offering services to eCommerce retail companies needed to understand their full go-tomarket strategy for entrance into a space with a complex technology buying process. They hired Market Directions to discover from the customer POV the best Go to market strategy with actionable, realtime insights into their customers, top opportunities, and their full market potential.

Details Quantitative: Online survey of perceived decision makers.

Company Actions

Company gained alignment by targeting the right customer segments and connected with them effectively with the right message to the right segment by creating tailored messaging that resonated with each audience.

Qualitative: In-depth interviews of end users from a wide array of industries.

Deep dive into competition.

Prepared by Market Directions

www.marketdirectionsmr.com

SaaS • M & A FOR GROWTH

TECHNOLOGY

The Company and the Project A top Fortune 500 company’s growth strategy is merger and acquisition of small firms that have established themselves as a technology leader in their industry. Once acquired, the acquiring company know little about the acquired customer and the buying process. They hired Market Directions to gather data in order to build customer personas.

Details Quantitative: Online survey of brokers who sell product to end user.

Deep dive into customer database to segment by similar characteristics: product, firmographic, longevity, amount purchased, demographics, etc.

Qualitative: In-depth interviews of end users.

Prepared by Market Directions

Company Actions

Built personas of five separate decision makers within company segment. This helped the acquiring company to understand and influence the buying process. Increasing sales by understanding the everyday challenges of their buyers.

www.marketdirectionsmr.com