Lifetime customer value (LCV) is an idea that each customer should be analyzed in terms of current and future profitability to a brand. When a profit figure can be assigned to each customer, the marketing manager can then decide which customers to target.  The past profit that a customer has produced for the brand is the sum of the margins of all the products purchased over time less the cost of reaching that customer. This is feasible for firms which maintain their customer data like e-commerce firms and businesses selling products & services in an organized retail set-up. For other firms, there is dearth of customer data like businesses... (read more)

The need to better understand customer behavior and the interest of many managers to focus on those customers who can deliver long-term profits has changed how marketers view the world. Traditionally, marketers have been trained to acquire customers, either new ones who have not bought the product before or those who are currently competitors' customers. Today the tone of the conversation has changed from customer acquisition to retention. Now, the question is: “What do managers need to know about their customers and how that information is used to develop a complete CRM perspective?” Market research can provide that information as it... (read more)

My earlier article was about product strategies for brands which look to enter new markets. This article will deep-dive into product decisions which are required basis the lifecycle of a product – introduction, growth, maturity and finally decline. Such strategies increase the life span of each phase and maintain consistent excitement around the product. Product strategy can be divided into 3 components: Product-line analysis, Product-line length, and Line featuring & pruning. I. Product-line analysis To support decisions about which items to build, maintain, harvest, or divest, product-line managers need to analyze the market profile as... (read more)

All products usually pass through a lifecycle – introduction, growth, maturity and finally decline. The longevity of each stage depends on the equity of the brand and varies market-wise. Hence, to diversify risks and grow sales, companies operate in different markets. However, a dedicated consumer research must precede any new market entry in order to have relevant product strategy in place. Companies can either grow domestically or internationally. Either ways, there is a push and a pull which is required to be created around the products to make them successful in a market. A consumer research can provide inputs around the same in order to... (read more)