Handbook on Market Intelligence
Get an insider’s look at how some of the world’s most respected international companies use Market Intelligence.
Q&A about the book
Authors for the book, Hans Hedin, Irmeli Hirvensalo and Markko Vaarnas talk about why the Handbook of Market Intelligence is the definitive guide to world class intelligence.
About the Handbook of Market Intelligence:
3. Can the book help me assess my market intelligence skills?
4. How was the World Class Market Intelligence Roadmap developed, and how does it apply to me?
6. How did the idea for the book come up? Who is it written for?
7. How were the 40 case companies selected for Handbook of Market Intelligence?
About Market Intelligence:
8. Is market intelligence the same as competitive intelligence or business intelligence?
11. Which industries and countries tend to be most advanced in market intelligence? Why?
About the Handbook of Market Intelligence:
1. There are other related books available on Amazon, why should I pick the Handbook on Market Intelligence?
Vaarnas: “Most of the existing literature on Market Intelligence addresses very specific aspects of the activity, ranging from information collection techniques and analysis methods to perfecting the intelligence process.
However, the most important Market Intelligence-related questions are rather strategic and organizational than tactical and focused on methods and techniques.
For instance, CEOs and boards will ask questions such as “How are other companies conducting Market Intelligence and how do we compare?” or “Are we investing just enough or too little in Market Intelligence, in order to be world beating?”.
Market Intelligence professionals on the other hand, need answers to questions such as “How do we go about organizing and resourcing a capability that enables us to systematically make well informed decisions?”, “What are the expected benefits and the required investments?” or “How can we measure progress, once we have started our own programs?”.
This book provides an umbrella view over the entire Market Intelligence program - why set one up, whom to serve, how to do it, and how to assess the results.”
2. We have an intelligence program that seems to be running fine. What can I learn from this book that I won’t already know?
Hedin: “The results of the Global Market Intelligence Survey 2011 by GIA revealed that only 10% of large companies currently run what can be called a world class Market Intelligence program.
While every company naturally defines their own ambition level in Market Intelligence development, the survey results also strongly suggest that once the decision has been made to invest in a Market Intelligence program, it pays off to set the ambition level high from the very beginning.
The differences in perceived efficiency of decision-making were much more pronounced between companies with world class and just average Market Intelligence programs. In brief, a “just fine” Market Intelligence program may cost as much as a world class one.
Another result from the survey was that the world class Market Intelligence programs didn’t have more resources on the average than the rest - yet the results may not be nearly as impactful.”
3. Can the book help me assess my market intelligence skills?
Hirvensalo: “ Yes, the book provides GIA’s World Class Market Intelligence Roadmap, which can be used to assess, plan and further develop your Market Intelligence Program.
Bringing each of the framework’s six Key Success Factors in a Market Intelligence program to world class levels requires skills that range from assessing the intelligence needs of high profile executives to conducting analysis assignments and advising their users based on the results.
While one person typically will not possess all the skills necessary in Market Intelligence overall, those responsible for setting up an Market Intelligence program and making it run smoothly will get an idea of the combination of skills that are needed from their team as a whole.
On the other hand, perfecting one’s analytical skills, interviewing techniques or other very specific competences for instance is beyond the scope of this book.”
4. How was the World Class Market Intelligence Roadmap developed, and how does it apply to me?
Hirvensalo: “The World Class Market Intelligence Roadmap can be used to benchmark your Market Intelligence program against peer companies and world class companies. It can also be used to benchmark the development of your Market Intelligence program on an annual basis compared with the status of previous years.
The World Class Market Intelligence Roadmap was first introduced by GIA in 2005 as a result of the authors’ effort to pull together the required elements of a professional Market Intelligence program into one framework. The content of the steps in the Roadmap have evolved just slightly since then.
The fact that a large number of global companies have adopted the framework as their Market Intelligence development tool, speaks volumes about its applicability in virtually any industry and organization.”
5. I face challenges in demonstrating the value of market intelligence to my bosses. How can this book help me do that?
Hedin: “This is a common challenge for many strategy planners and Market Intelligence professionals.
Case studies typically work best when anyone needs to be convinced about the value of Market Intelligence, and there are plenty of those in the book.
Secondly, the Global Market Intelligence Survey 2011 results provide lots of evidence about the value of Market Intelligence.
Thirdly, the neat, step-by-step Market Intelligence Roadmap makes it easier to explain the value of Market Intelligence. The topic is often perceived as ambiguous and intangible, and the World Class Market Intelligence Roadmap brings about a great deal of necessary simplicity to communicating the big picture of professional Market Intelligence development to busy executives.“
6. How did the idea for the book come up? Who is it written for?
Vaarnas: “The idea of us writing a book for those responsible for establishing and running professional Market Intelligence programs is in fact, an old one.
We have been producing White Papers on Market Intelligence topics since year 2000, worked with hundreds of companies to take their intelligence programs towards excellence, and organized countless local and international seminars and webinars over the years about Market Intelligence topics.
In the early days of GIA’s existence, we used to produce market studies for companies that wanted to map out the competitive landscape in market territories outside their traditional home market. These exercises were obviously strategic in nature, and it was perhaps the close link to strategy and its implementation that first got us interested in Market Intelligence.
We soon learnt that few of our customers had any systems in place that would ensure continuity of the Market Intelligence effort. Once a market study had been conducted, it was shared among a small team of decision-makers, then shelved or easily forgotten. However, the same Market Intelligence needs remained: How can companies make sure they would continuously stay on top of the market developments in the chosen new market territories? Who else in their organizations would benefit from this market study or Market Intelligence in general? What for? How often? In which format? Who should produce the deliverables? Who should organize and run the activity?
Hence, we also became Market Intelligence process consultants, advising our clients on how to systematically orchestrate Market Intelligence programs – without compromising cost control.
With this immense pool of thought-leadership, it felt only natural to condense this experience into a book. The timing is also right as the topic continues to be even more relevant as ever for businesses around the world, and the approaches we discuss are proving their worth in many global companies.”
7. How were the 40 case companies selected for Handbook of Market Intelligence?
Hirvensalo: “The case companies were not selected based on any strict criteria or how they rank in the World Class Market Intelligence Roadmap.
However, all of them do run a systematic Market Intelligence program – some are still in the early phases of Market Intelligence development while others have been running their Market Intelligence programs for decades.
All companies are sizable enough to operate a full-blown Market Intelligence program meaningfully, and they are also relatively spread across industries and geographies. Most importantly, all the cases in the book provide examples of how the various approaches to the development of Market Intelligence.
Hence, readers do not need to re-invent the wheel with their own Market Intelligence initiatives.”
About Market Intelligence:
8. Is market intelligence the same as competitive intelligence or business intelligence?
Hedin: “The reality is that each company that runs an intelligence program has a term of choice for it, and all of the above exist. However, Market Intelligence and Competitive Intelligence are most frequently associated with the program that supports strategic and operative decision-making with information about the company’s external business environment.
Business Intelligence, in turn usually refers to the numerical data – and the related data-mining software - that is collected and processed in-house.”
9. The results of the 2011 Global Market Intelligence Survey show that the function is more recognized today than say, five years ago. What has changed since the early days?
Hedin: “Market Intelligence has simply become more strategic in organizations. The world around us is increasingly complex, and the supply of data has virtually exploded. Market Intelligence programs help companies manage this increased uncertainty by taking a greater responsibility for strategic analysis by utilizing methods such as scenario analysis, megatrends analysis, War Gaming, etc.
At the same time, executives are supposed to make decisions that are backed up with well considered facts – and correct facts. Delivering those is increasingly challenging, hence the ones who do it – if they do it well - are increasingly recognized in organizations.
Naturally, internal marketing has also contributed to the recognition of intelligence programs. Five years ago, much fewer companies had an established Market Intelligence program than today.”
10. How does a world class Market Intelligence program impact a company’s day-to-day operations? Any examples?
Hirvensalo: “First of all, only 10% of the surveyed companies in the 2011 Global Market Intelligence Survey were “world class” in terms of Market Intelligence.
Whereas the definitions of the “Futurist” levels in the World Class Market Intelligence Roadmap give an indication of what “world class” should look like on a day-to-day basis, the Global Market Intelligence Survey results also indicated that companies with the best Market Intelligence programs had their Market Intelligence professionals closer to decision-makers.
Also, they work in a more regular fashion than the rest, get more out of the resources they invest in, are more centrally organized and are generally more networked in their organization than companies with more average Market Intelligence programs.
All of this is rooted in the day-to-day Market Intelligence operations.”
11. Which industries and countries tend to be most advanced in market intelligence? Why?
Hedin: “Today, how advanced a company is in Market Intelligence tends to depend more on its size and strategic ambitions than its industry or geographical location.
In the 2011 Global Market Intelligence Survey results, Northern Europe, Western Europe and North America were the geographical areas with the longest Market Intelligence traditions. While Asian, Latin American and African lag behind, the differences will likely even out over time, as the primary focus of global companies’ Market Intelligence efforts already is clearly in these areas.
From an industry perspective, we know that pharmaceutical companies, telecom companies, consumer goods companies and industry companies tend to focus heavily on intelligence.”
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