Case Study 1
John Daniel, a researcher at Georgia Metro Research, made the following notes about several of
his clients to you, a newly hired trainee who has just graduated from college:
Client A is a consumer packaged goods manufacture with a well-established brand name. The
client has focused on manufacturing and distribution for years, while the marketing program has
been set on auto-pilot. All had been working fine, but there was a hint of emerging problems
when, in the preceding year, market share fell slightly. Now, our client has reviewed the current
market share report and noticed that over the previous 12 months, the companys share has
gradually eroded 15%. When market share falls, clients are eager to learn why and to take
corrective action. In the situations, we know the problem is that we dont know what the problem
is. There are many possible causes for this slippage, so we need to determine the most
appropriate research design.
Client B is a manufacturer of baked goods products sold in grocery stores throughout the
country. Marketing is divided into five regional divisions within the United States. The five
divisions have had total autonomy over their advertising, though all of them have used TV
advertising almost exclusively. Each division has tried several different TV ad campaigns, some
of which were thought to be successful and others less o, but no one had ever formally evaluated
the ad expenditures. A new marketing VP now wants to evaluate the advertising. She is
interested in knowing not only the sales of the clients products sold during the different
campaigns, but also what happened to sales of competitors brands. In this case, the client needs
us to describe sales by SKU in the clients product category for each TV market, and for each
time period associated with each ad campaign. What research design do you recommend?
Client C is in a very competitive category with equal market share of the top three brands. The
client is convinced that it has changed every marketing-mix variable possible except for package
design. Since the three competitive brands are typically displayed side-by-side, Client C wants us
to determine what factors of package design (e.g., size, shape, color, texture) cause an increase in
awareness, preference for, and intention to buy the brand. What do you recommend for the
appropriate research design?
1. Describe what research design you would recommend for each client.
2. For each research design you selected for the three clients, discuss why you believe your
choice of design is the correct choice.
3. Please send a word document to Dropbox by 5pm, Sept 21.