GIA Global MI Survey 2008: Europe and North America leaders in Market Intelligence, Latin America to increase investments in MI

Europe and North America have progressed furthest in the field of Market / Competitive Intelligence compared to the global average, while especially Latin America will see strong developments over the next few years. These results were obtained from the Global Market Intelligence Survey 2008, conducted by the Global Intelligence Alliance. The Global Market Intelligence Survey 2008 is the most extensive global MI study conducted to date. Responses were collected from 439 participants on five continents, representing mostly large and mid-size companies.

The rapidly developing economies in the Latin American countries attract foreign investments and competition that in turn drive the demand for systematic Market and Competitive Intelligence efforts in the local companies. Indeed as many as 80 percent of the survey respondents from Latin American countries anticipated the investments in Market Intelligence to increase in their organizations over the next few years. The global average was 60 percent, indicating that while European and North American organizations also intend to increase their investments in MI, their Latin American peers consider their MI operations less mature in comparison and therefore in need of more investments.

Thomas Rideg, Associate Managing Director, Business Intelligence at Kroll-InfoAmericas (www.infoamericas.com) comments on the developments: “Appreciating currencies combined with increasing access to credit at decreasing interest rates is fueling consumption in Latin America, especially in countries like Brazil and Mexico. Everyone wants to be part of this action, and the already established companies are as concerned as ever to understand the consumer demands and trends. The trends are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and the competitive behaviour is becoming more intense and often non-differentiated. As a result, our clients are in need of systematic competitive monitoring more than ever in order to stay ahead in this game.”

To download the Global Market Intelligence Survey 2008 for free, and to contact the local GIA companies in different parts of the world, visit www.globalintelligence.com.

About Global Intelligence Alliance
Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA) provides clients with a single source for customized Market Intelligence services: market monitoring, business research projects, the Intelligence Plaza™ software, consulting and training. Through its full-range service offering, GIA helps customers set up and conduct Market Intelligence activities that serve both strategic and operative decision-making. The GIA network consists of GIA Group companies and independent Member and Research Partner organizations that operate in more than 100 countries.