I will never forget the time in high school when my 11th-grade English teacher walked into class on the first day of school and assigned a 15-page research paper on George Orwell’s 1984. I had no clue how I was going to write 15 pages of content, especially on a book that, at the time, was pretty challenging. As it turned out, those 15 pages came pretty easily thanks to the help of some secondary sources. Secondary research is just as important in the data collection process of market research. While market research is definitely not high school English, the same concept applies: external secondary research is a tremendous tool with numerous advantages.

Market Research can be separated into two basic categories: problem-identification research and problem-solving research. Problem-identification research helps marketing teams identify what types of problems they might have, while problem-solving research helps identify ways to solve those problems through marketing mix and segmentation. There are many problem identification and solving methods that can be completed through market research. Take a look at the examples below to see which methods can benefit your company.

Consumers are increasingly looking to protein to boost nutrition in their diets. The results of numerous studies support protein’s role in fighting obesity through supporting weight management. Protein also ensures proper growth, immune, heart and respiratory function. According to “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” from the USDA and Health and Human Services Administration, the average male 31 to 50 years of age needs about 56 grams of protein.

As you might have heard, the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicked off last week with Brazil’s win over Croatia. While the outcome didn't surprise many (Brazil was a heavy favorite coming into the game as the third seed), the game itself was of great importance to the rest of the world. The first whistle signified the onset of a world event that has been in the planning process since Brazil was awarded the hosting rights in 2007. Of course, like other major events, countless hours, days, months, and years of preparation have gone into this tournament, along with the $11.7 billion put toward its production, making this years’ event in Brazil the most expensive ever. And, after that $11.7 billion went toward funding the actual games, what about the other industries?

Because of the constantly evolving business environment, it can be difficult to keep up with the pace of all the changes. When it comes to market research, the entire concept of marketing has changed due to technological advancements and the emergence of social media. So, as a business leader, you must make sure your marketing teams are using all of their resources efficiently.

There’s a growing interest in South American foods. While Peruvian cuisine has been a hot trend and tops the ethnic category as voted by chefs of the American Culinary Federation (National Restaurant Association “What’s Hot Survey, 2014”), Brazilian cuisine is also trending. The World Cup in Brazil, as well as the 2016 Summer Olympics, will unleash an appetite for Brazilian cuisine beyond the churrascaria concept. And, new manifestations of culinary dishes from Ecuador, Colombia and Argentina aren’t far behind. Food retailers can draw from these trends to spark innovation and sales within the four walls of the supermarket and producers can leverage them for innovation in food formulation.

Application Programming Interfaces (API) enable network operators to capitalize on existing network infrastructure to facilitate the third-party creation of a an array of business opportunities for carriers on a global basis. Telecom APIs allow carriers to disseminate valuable data to third parties, which they monetize on an asymmetric basis as network operators typically do not provide services to the end-users.  The use of APIs is also causing an evolution of business models within the ecosystem. 

When utilizing secondary data to help make important marketing decisions, failing to check the reliability of that data could lead to inaccurate analyses and poor business decisions.

With today’s accessibility to data via the internet, anyone can publish anything from anywhere, so not everything posted online can be trusted. In order to ensure the accuracy and validity of any external secondary data, you should follow an evaluation process.  

No matter what industry you are in, people are always itching to find out which latest and greatest trends are impacting the market. But, when your market is continually evolving, like the food & beverage industry, it can be difficult to stay on top of the most current trends. Because tracking industry trends plays such an important role in making business decisions and creating opportunities, we have put together a list of the hottest current and emerging trends in the food & beverage industry.

Several vendors have developed a portfolio of products and solutions that act as the building blocks of the Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) ecosystem. Although there are a multitude of companies in this arena, only a few offer the end-to-end solution or, at least, certain key products for the HetNet environment.

In the recent report, HetNet Deployment and Operational Strategies for 4G and Beyond, Mind Commerce has evaluated the key players that are emerging as market leaders, including Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, and NSN. For now, let's focus on Cisco.