Advertaising homework part 3
6
The Research Findings Report
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Introduction
Research is done to get closer to establish a picture on what the respondents do in their real world considering that what they say may not be always reflect their actions. Reporting the research results will help in identifying the potential consumers’ issues concerning given products and take appropriate actions to improve the market based on their needs and preferences. This report evaluates the research objectives, methodology that was used to gather information pertaining to research, and the research findings including those collected from individual interviews, ethnography, expert interviews, and key findings in culture, audience, category, competition, client, or brand.
Research objectives
The research was conducted to enable Tom’s of Maine to attain both business and project objectives. Once the customers’ views concerning the product has been learned, then it would be easy for the business to strategize on how to boost its sales and widen their market. There are two business objectives that Maine wish to achieve. One of those goals is to boost sales by around 30% by first quarter 2020 and to attract the potential customers. Secondly, currently the sales of Tom's of Maine toothpaste increases gradually by around 2% per month on average even though there is no thorough advertisement by the company. Hence, the research was conducted to gather information that would help Tom’s Maine business achieve the following objectives:
· To learn the extent of product awareness for Tom's of Maine toothpaste and consequently devise strategies that will boost it among the target market.
· To identify the extent which the marketing campaign impacts the market and consequently create new ad campaign that will be designed to grasp all the key elements and benefits of this product.
· To learn whether the business objectives would be easily achieved based on the current state of the market.
· To learn the customer preferences concerning toothpaste product that Maine distribute. This would be achieved by evaluating customer issues pertaining the current products that reaches their ends.
Methodology used for research
The research methodology used for this research was a qualitative since there was a need to learn by combining the ethnographies such as in-homes or external usage, and group evaluations. For instance, many parents could evaluate their children using the product individually at the comforts of their homes and we would wish to learn their experience about it. Also, parents could evaluate the experience of using this product as a group and we would engage them to share those experiences. The qualitative process involved various research questions which required the respondents to give their views concerning the issues that this research intends. Some sample questions included in the research methodology included the following: Have you ever heard about Tom's of Maine toothpaste? If yes, have you ever used them? Who referred you to this product and what were their argument about it? And what is your experience using this product? Among others (See Appendix 1)
Also, a category expert interviews and OG and the brand manager whom we believes have knowledge concerning the raw materials and the whole process for Tom's of Maine toothpaste’s production was involved. For instance, the stakeholders of Maine were involved in researching the market and experience for this product. This step was considered crucial considering that there was a need to have financial aid and other support for the product. Some precise stakeholders who were involved included the company’s executive and others in the external market such as the involved advertising agencies.
The participant screening criteria
The screening criteria that was used to participate in the research study included those with the following specifications: US children, the future generation aged 15 and below, the parents whose children use Tom's of Maine toothpaste, and those who had spent at least 2 years in the US. This screening criteria was determined upon the evaluation of the research objectives and the target market. Hence, despite collecting information from all the people who were present at the interview, the feedback from only those who suited this criteria were jotted down.
The participant sample composition
The participant sample composition for this research was based on the focus groups as follows:
Group 1- 5 participants: 3 children with 12 years from US and 2 15 year-old ones from US but from different states.
Group 2- 5 participants: 4 parents aged between 35 and 50 years who uses Tom’s of Maine’s Toothpaste and 1 parent aged 46 years old who does not use this product.
Group 3: 4 participants: 3 non-English speaking parent aged between 35 and 50 years and a child aged 15 years.
Primary Research findings
Individual interviews
Findings from individual interviews conducted: the preference of toothpaste from Tom’s of Maine business varies, but the product is preferred by a significant number of users.
The consumers of toothpaste product from Tom’s of Maine use it on daily basis. However, some users choose to use this product occasionally while comparing it with others substitutes or similar products from Maine competitors. The price and taste were noted to be the two key factors that consumers consider while making a choice of the product to use.
The following presents precise responses from the focus group participants pertaining to the questions raised for the interview.
Focus group questions: how often do you use the toothpaste from Tom’s of Maine?
The participants’ responses
“I use this product on daily basis and sometimes use it even more than twice”
“I use toothpaste from Tom’s of Maine around twice a week as I am currently not used to it than other toothpastes from other producers”
“I have never used this product before”
“I only use this product when I miss the toothpaste that I am used to and prefer more than this”
“I wanted to try using this product once but I found no appealing reason to try it. So I lost interest and have never tried it yet”
Ethnography
The research further combined the ethnographies such as the following:
· In-homes usage for the product
· The external usage of the product
· Using the product as a group while evaluating it against other similar products in the market.
This research noted that many parents could evaluate their children using the product individually at the comforts of their homes. Hence, it was easy to learn their experience about it. Also, we noted that parents could evaluate the experience of using this product as a group and we would engage them to share those experiences.
Therefore we would easily learn the consumer behavior both individually and as a group. For instance, we could easily jot down the issues pertaining to one parent or a family member and later focus on those affecting consumers who are under group evaluations.
Expert interviews
· The brand manager noted that it would take sometimes before the target consumers adapt the product based on what he termed as ‘rigidity’ in using a given product.
· The current regular users would promote the product indirectly and there is a need to focus much on them
· The potential customers would have unlimited choices from a given product and the business may not need to consider all of them provided that a thorough research was conducted prior to the production of those products.
· The product’s preference is determined by the first price chosen by business and how the first users experience it in terms of tastes.
Key findings in culture, audience, and competition and client
The interview noted that there is no specific culture linked to the usage of Tom’s of Maine’s product or any other product meant for healthy provisions. Also, the targeted audiences are not meant to come precisely from a given region or expected to hold given values as long as they would prefer the product. Hence, the research conducted is not limited by any cultural values, category of audiences, or completion but it is meant to cut across all scopes.
APPENDIXEX
Appendix 1: A moderator Guide
This interview will be conducted with the guidance of questions mainly considering that the process need to achieve its goals implying that lacking a proper plan would compromise it. The crafted questions for this market research are crafter below and they will target the parents and not children considering their knowledge about the product and are the one deciding whether their children would use them or not. Before starting engaging the parents with the questions, we would open with simple, easy, fun, and compelling piece that will attract them especially when in groups to participate.
Some guiding questions will include the following:
i. Have you ever heard about Tom's of Maine toothpaste? If yes, have you ever used them?
ii. Who referred you to this product and what were their argument about it?
iii. What is your experience using this product?
iv. Do you want anything improved in this product?
v. What do you feel about the price of Tom's of Maine toothpaste’s?
What will happen after the questions have been asked to the appropriate members?
The interviewer will hold a small gathering associating parents within a given geographical scope and stimulate their interests on Tom's of Maine by sharing the company’s brand and other useful materials containing the products’ benefits to children’s health as a natural brand and the company’s commitment to make it easily accessible and affordable for everyone.
Some entertainments with this product’s theme shall be conducted to stimulate participation of the audiences and improve Tom's of Maine’s awareness. For instance, the winners of a given dance as determined using the audiences shall be awarded upon answering simple questions concerning the product. Later, the interviewer will remind the audiences of the day’s activities prior to dismissing for a different target market.