Thoughts on technology start-ups in Scotland
May 1, 2013 1 Comment
Did you know that the term ‘market research’ means different things to different people?
If I speak to someone at a networking event I have to be very clear about where my expertise lies, because they may assume that I do one of two very different things.
I find that this can get rather confusing, so I felt it might be useful to set out what we mean by each.
March 8, 2013 1 Comment
On 5th March I attended the Enterprising Women Panel at the University of Edinburgh Business School, which an international Women’s Day event.
The speakers were women who had set up successful businesses:
I’ve listened to many entrepreneurs speaking about their businesses but somehow there was something different about a panel consisting entirely of women. Not just that this was unusual in itself, but also in the manner in which they approached things and the perspective that they held.
First and foremost, the enterprising women were unassuming and self-deprecating:
“I’m just an ordinary person, I’m nothing special at all”
“There’s people sitting at home that could have done it better than me, the only difference is that I went out and shouted about it.”
Despite this, the enterprising women were very passionate about what they were doing and the panel spoke about being prompted to start their business by life events and things that they cared about deeply. Families featured heavily in the discussion, as did the importance of inventing something that would make a difference to real people.
What the women emphasised was that they wanted to inspire others to do what they had done themselves, and it was certainly inspiring to step outside the usual male-dominated suit-dominated environment and hear the stories of enterprising women who had succeeded on their own terms.
October 12, 2012 Leave a comment
Jane Frost, CEO of the Market Research Society, writes in the Guardian about ways that small businesses could benefit from working with a professional market researcher.
September 4, 2012 1 Comment
Event report: Edinburgh International Marketing Festival
Creativity and innovation are fundamentally interlinked. Creativity contributes to innovation, and innovation contributes to creativity.
Edinburgh International Marketing Festival’s Innovation in Marketing and Communications afternoon commenced with the assertion that the marketing sector has a lot to learn from Silicon Valley. These days marketing isn’t all about persuasive adverts and fancy metaphors. These days marketing and branding are intrinsically tied up with the product and the technology. The marketing crowd were told that – like technologists – they need to come up with ‘products’ that are forward looking, commercially focused and always in beta.
February 7, 2012 Leave a comment
At some point along the road to success it is likely that an entrepreneur will have to convince people that there will be a demand for their product. They may need to convince:
When the tough questions are asked the entrepreneur who can conclusively ‘prove’ the demand for their product will find it easier to progress, and primary research is a systematic way of doing this. Would you rather be Entrepreneur A or Entrepreneur B in these scenarios?
Retailer: I like the product, but will people actually buy it?
Investor: I wouldn’t buy the product for myself, so why should I invest?
How can you get this magic information?
