What are the key challenges and opportunities for market researchers today? Quirk’s Corporate Researcher Report 2016 offers a wealth of data and analysis on this topic. Based on an online work-life survey conducted in June 2016, this independent study focuses on client-side marketing research and insights professionals. 

The report tackles a variety of important issues including budgets, outsourcing, pain points, effectiveness of new methods, and more. Read on for a quick synopsis of several key findings.

Tempur-Sealy International, a leading manufacturer of sleep products such as mattresses and foundations, received a rather rude wake-up call September 28. Tempur-Sealy’s shares (NYSE:TPX) fell over 20% that morning after the company announced that it expected full year sales to decline between 1% and 3% from 2015 levels. While Tempur-Sealy cited lower-than-expected third quarter sales for the revision, the company did not provide an explanation for that decline.

Competing manufacturer Select Comfort Corporation’s stock price (NASDAQ:SCSS) also fell on the news, suggesting that investors are concerned about the outlook of the broader industry.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency issued new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) targets in August 2012, which increased the fuel economy requirements of light vehicles to an industry average of 35.5 miles per gallon (mpg) for model year 2016. The expectation for CAFE in model year 2025 is about 50 mpg.

As light vehicle manufacturers continue to increase fuel efficiency, they are scrutinizing input choices, including sheet metals such as steel and aluminum, in an effort to reduce vehicle weight and fuel consumption. These shifts in the motor vehicle industry are of particular import to sheet metal suppliers; transportation equipment represented the largest market for sheet metal in 2015, and motor vehicle stampings account for a large portion of the demand.

The expansion of natural gas production in the US has changed the landscape of thermoplastics. The largest building block in the industry, ethylene, can be produced from derivatives of crude oil or natural gas. Over the past few years, the increased production of natural gas in the US, supported by technological improvements related to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, caused the price of natural gas to see average annual declines of 11% between 2005 and 2015. This price shift, along with elevated oil prices throughout the past decade, caused many thermoplastic producers to prefer natural gas over oil in their production of feedstocks.

Marketing effectively in a digital world requires innovative solutions and approaches. Today’s marketing professionals grapple with a wide variety of unique challenges, such as:

• Achieving scale in content marketing
• Capturing the interest of image-conscious consumers in the era of the "selfie"
• Marketing to the iGeneration (also known as Gen Z)

You may be eating one right now. And you’ll probably eat a few later on today. In fact, many health experts recommend consuming multiple servings of these foods each day.

So put down that cereal, pasta, pizza, sandwich, or organic/whole grain/quinoa snack chip that you’re eating, and let’s talk about … grain-based foods.    

Shipments of grain-based foods from US bakeries and factories are forecast to reach $110 billion in 2020, representing annual increases of 2.0% from $99.8 billion in 2015. Population growth will drive demand for such foods, since many of these products serve as dietary staples.

Today’s consumers are looking to fill their grocery carts with food made from clean, natural ingredients. As a result, big brands are modifying their products in hopes of winning over health-conscious consumers, and the baking aisle is no exception.  

“A trend that has really burst out in the last year is what I’ve been calling the ‘better baking trend,’” explains Kara Nielsen, a food trendologist and professionally trained baker. “This makes a ton of sense, when you consider a lot of the baking mixes, jarred frosting, and other items in the baking aisle are very family centered. Kids are the main consumer in many cases.”

Among all of the services and capabilities we offer at Freedonia Custom Research, the most common are market sizing and competitive landscape studies. Important strategic decisions rely on valid data and clear market analysis. Clients come to Freedonia for our reliable and trustworthy market research process and our high level of collaboration. 

These services and capabilities include:

Many participants in the US repair services industry, particularly small independent repair shops, have faced mounting challenges over the last decade. During this period, one key trend has been manufacturers’ increasing control over the repair of their products. Recent events, however, have given pause to this trend and even promise to reverse it.

For many people, marriage is a blessed arrangement, a dream within a dream...

For the jewelry industry, it’s a major driver of sales.

According to some estimates, 95% of couples exchange rings along with marriage vows, and the “gold standard” for the majority of US brides is a ring encrusted with at least one diamond.  

Thus, US personal consumption expenditures (in nominal terms) on jewelry are expected to advance 3.1% annually to 2020 as the number of new marriages continues to grow.