IBI’s positioning as a research and consulting brand is based on its core project management capability to handle multi-country business research and strategic intelligence engagements. It is in fact one of our biggest strengths. We manage a significant number of global as well as transcontinental projects involving Asia, Europe and North America. However, since we are based in Asia, a lot of the projects we manage involve the Asia Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand, whether they are two or three-country projects or 14 to 16-country comprehensive Asia Pacific studies. And this goes for all nature of projects that we handle – be it market opportunity assessments, competitive environment research, partner evaluation or customer intelligence engagements.

We pride ourselves on our ability to conduct high-value in-depth B2B interviews across the supply chain, irrespective of industry. And that is because, on average, about 75% of all our market and competitive intelligence usually comes from primary interviews. Therefore, we are generally industry-agnostic when it comes to projects. Our personnel are all adept at getting up to speed with any industry during a project and many of them have worked across multiple industries, either in other research and consulting firms, or in client organizations. In other words, we generally cover most of the client industries – industrial, B2B and B2C – except perhaps the defence sector since primary interviews of the nature we carry out are a touch more sensitive in the defence sector compared to other sectors.

Many of the studies we conduct are in B2C categories for B2C clients. Our B2B specialization is ONLY for our methodology and NOT for the types of industries or clients we deal with. Since we are experts at speaking to companies and at speaking with anyone along the supply chain (i.e., business-to-business contacts), we position ourselves as a B2B research firm and not a consumer research firm.

Most of the projects that involve higher levels of analyses and lasting more than 8 weeks in engagement duration has a sizeable strategic advisory element to it. Usually, projects that have a higher advisory value also have IBI’s Senior Management playing a hands-on role in managing the overall engagement as well as working in close consultation with the client. And proportionally the more consulting-oriented the project is, the more in-depth the analyses and strategic component. Such engagements could last anywhere between 12 to 16 weeks or even longer.

There are no set numbers for the number of interviews for a particular type of study. Since all of our studies are customized for each client, the number of interviews for every study and every client is different. The focus is on achieving the agreed deliverables and not on the number of interviews. The number of interviews in any project usually depends on a range of factors such as the research scope and the extent of detail expected in the deliverables to the client, the industry that we are studying, and of course the client’s budget. We have done market sizing and CI studies with as few as six interviews and we have done much larger studies with as many as 45 interviews!

There are no fixed fees for such studies. Our costing is calculated based on a number of variables such as the time and resources required to conduct the study, the number of interviews required for the study, the scale and scope of research, the difficulty level of securing interviews in a given industry, the level of analysis required, the time spent managing the client, and ultimately also how much a client is willing to spend on the study.

No, they do not. We use a flexible hybrid model whereby, depending on the nature of the project and the country concerned, we decide who would be best-placed to conduct the interviews. Depending on the research scope, some interviews are best conducted by experienced freelance associates or interviewers with relevant industry experience whom we engage for specific projects. On the other hand, some critical interviews may be conducted by IBI inhouse consultants from time to time to ensure quality control, and particularly if the questions are of a sensitive nature. Alternatively, in countries where we have linguistic challenges or we do not have our own associates, we have partner agencies that help us conduct the fieldwork.

Our field interviewers are some of our core assets and are typically individuals who have had at least 5 to 10 years of interviewing experience, if not more, and often hail from professions that have had interviewing as part of their work – researchers, journalists, academics or seasoned industry experts. These are individuals who are good at working the phones as well as going out and meeting respondents in person to conduct detailed interviews. They sometimes have their own primary source network for different industries that they tap into. And our analysts and project management personnel are well-trained individuals who have either been with IBI for a considerable period of time and have grown within the organization, or have worked for other research and consulting firms, or have previously worked in client organizations in strategic or analytical roles.

IBI provides the full spectrum of thought leadership services to run a full campaign, including generation and curation of content, as well as bespoke service modules depending on client needs. For items beyond IBI’s core capability of primary market intelligence and content development, IBI partners with suitable public relations and digital marketing agencies to access the right media mix and deliver a comprehensive thought leadership package to our clients.

Yes, IBI’s Strategic Market Intelligence (SMI)Services are geared towards clients that need concise high-level analysis in the form of whitepapers – often private label in the client’s template – for limited circulation among targeted stakeholders within the company or externally among influencers. Such whitepapers and reports, in addition to research based on published sources, often contain quotes from interviews conducted by IBI with subject matter experts or opinion leaders locally and globally.

Both periodic and ad hoc executive management briefs can be provided to clients who work with us on a retainer-basis for market monitoring services. These engagements are typically yearly contracts that require us to deploy resources who can track the client’s industry on an ongoing-basis and provide timely briefs to the Management on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. Additionally, we provide updates on topical or hot-button items when there are sudden developments in the industry. Such management briefs not only cover latest market developments, product launches and regulatory or policy changes etc., but also have strategic pointers such as early warning signs and potential competitor reactions and moves that we flag up.

IBI provides back-end market intelligence for IPO-listing prospectuses. We have provided such capital markets research support to intermediaries such as legal and accounting firms that help take companies public, as well as corporate finance teams at headquarters of companies that are potentially considering a listing option in the future.

Sure, we can provide high-quality moderators and expert interviewers on request. We have worked with clients, especially those with inhouse research and strategy teams, that need professionally trained moderators to handle group discussion panels or to conduct expert interviews globally on behalf of the client. The interviewees are typically C-level executives who need to be interviewed by well-experienced interviewers.

Absolutely. This is in fact one of our specialties. It is a known fact that a lot of market information and competitor intelligence usually already exists within a client organization, and part of our job is to harness that intelligence from key stakeholders within a client company by conducting targeted and detailed interviews. That process usually involves interviewing internal stakeholders at length, be it senior executives or key sales personnel, who usually have their share of external market knowledge and competitor information which sometimes needs to be prompted and elicited.

We gather our intelligence through a combination of primary B2B industry and marketplace interviews (50 to 80% of information), complemented by desk research to access published information from official sources as government statistics and databases, or private sources such as economic institutes or annual reports of companies. The interviews happen in the nature of semi-structured open-ended discussions as opposed to using a structured questionnaire. The data and metrics are validated through a process of multi-point cross-referencing with multiple sources during the interviews as well as by triangulating data across primary and secondary sources.

Yes, we do market monitoring or tracking studies for clients based on their needs. The findings of such studies are shared with the client in the form of monthly tracker reports or they be bi-monthly or quarterly reports depending the scope of study and client requirements.

Most of the market intelligence deliverables we provide our clients with go well beyond data and metrics. They usually have a strategic analysis (or conclusions and recommendations) section where we synthesize what the data and findings mean for the client. Depending on the nature of the engagement, the strategic analysis section could be lean or extensive, with strategy consulting projects obviously having a much more robust analytical and advisory component.

Yes, we do work on market opportunity assessments for frontier markets such as Myanmar, Cambodia, Bangladesh etc. However, we are somewhat cautious on the research scoping for such markets as well as the industries we work in so that we set realistic expectations for the client. And this is because of significant limitations in data reliability, or lack of published data, in such markets and one has to often rely entirely on anecdotal primary intelligence to connect the dots and come up with the metrics as well as the big picture opportunity analysis.  

Yes, market entry roadmaps are standard deliverables for most of our market entry consulting projects, and it often involves a robust market opportunity assessment exercise as well – prior to coming up with an entry roadmap. On top of this, for clients that need full-on market development strategy and action plan, we treat that as phase two of the project that usually involves IBI’s Senior Management working very closely with the client on strategy development and market development action points.

Depending on the nature of the market and the strategic roadmap we agree with the client, we lay out all the available market development options that suit our client’s priorities and goals for a given market. And if a merger or acquisition is the optimum way forward, or one of the concrete options, then we also help identify and analyze potential M&A targets as part of our deliverables to the client.  

There are no set timeframes for such engagements since it depends on factors such as the research scope and the industry the client belongs to, the number of field interviews we need to carryout, as well as the number of markets covered in the study. As a rough estimate, a full-blown market analysis and strategy consulting engagement could last anywhere between a minimum of 10 – 12 weeks for a single country study to a maximum of up to 20 – 24 weeks for a multi-country study.

Certainly. IBI has a long track record in studying the global production capabilities of companies in industries ranging from, but not limited to, commercial air conditioners to paper to LCD glass substrates to audio equipment to a range of pharmaceutical and healthcare products. In fact, when we study competitors, especially larger corporations, we often end up studying them as global companies – including their global operations and capabilities.

As Competitive Intelligence (CI) or Corporate Intelligence, as an important and organized function, is found only in a minority of global corporations, our CI process consulting practice helps client organizations put internal structures and processes in place to have a systematic approach to monitoring and gathering and analyzing information on competitors. And this information comes from both internal and external sources. As the CI task force leader or representative is often part of a larger market intelligence or research & analysis team in client organizations, we work very closely with clients to help them formalize their CI function and build internal capabilities over time.

IBI has always had strict standards in information gathering since we work with global corporations who have very strict compliance standards when it comes to gathering information on competitors, irrespective of geography. As experienced Competitive Intelligence (CI) practitioners, we sign confidentiality and compliance clauses as part of our contracts with all CI clients. Additionally, as part of our ethical CI practice code, we are clear that we only gather information that is available in the public domain using published sources. And when we carry out source interviews for any of our CI projects, be it with former employees of target companies, or former partners of competitors of our clients, we are transparent about the purpose of research and careful to turn down information that may be deemed sensitive or detrimental to our client’s compliance policy.

Given the customized and sensitive nature of CI projects, the project teams are usually a mix of inhouse project managers and analysts supported by freelancers and/or industry experts. The experts often help us with access to their network of contacts and are also a good sounding board to validate various pieces of information as we collate them into actionable intelligence for our clients. We also make a conscious effort to keep our CI teams as small and lean as possible, typically no more than 3 or 4 personnel, in order to protect the confidentiality of our findings, given that they inform strategic decisions for our clients.

IBI prides itself on its CI approach and methodology which combine highly professional secondary research skills with primary source interviews from very credible industry sources. Due to our intense focus on our methodologies, we are more or less industry-agnostic as the same competitive intelligence methodology can be adopted for any industry. Our staff are very quick learners in case they need to deal with a new sector or vertical. And for scenarios where we need specific insider knowledge of an industry or operations of major players in the industry, we engage external subject matter experts who can lend the necessary expertise in terms of a specific industry, function (such as production or marketing or M&A) or geography.

In order to provide intelligence on operational capabilities of target companies, we normally triangulate data and inferences using a combination of published secondary data and primary intelligence gathered through source interviews within the industry. These sources are typically former employees of target companies, former consultants to the companies, subject matter experts as well as former value chain partners, distributors etc. so that we are compliant with ethics and compliance standards that most client organizations have to adhere to these days. We do not speak with current employees or partners of such companies.  

Yes, the current base of research findings from the customized study would serve as a useful starting point for the tracking study next year. And ideally the tracking study should start within a year (maximum) of the current study being completed because then the same network of human sources cultivated for the initial study can be used for the tracker as well. This would result in much better data reliability as well as consistency and ease of research execution. Such an approach would also result in cost and time savings for the client since less time would be spent by IBI as well as external sources getting familiar with the topics being studied and tracked.  

We certainly can. The very same methodologies we use for standard CI projects, combining published information and private industry sources, would be used for a competitor M&A tracker as well. The project will in all likelihood comprise two phases with the first phase being an initial audit of all recent M&A activity from the last 2 to 3 years in order understand competitor decision-making and movement patterns as well as to create an initial foundation of M&A intelligence. The second phase of the project will involve ongoing/periodic tracking, with intelligence being shared on a regular basis depending on competitive M&A activity and client requirements.

Yes, we do provide price tracking studies across multiple competitor products and/or product categories as well as across multiple markets. The methodologies employed for price tracking would be a combination of field observation (in case of retail products) and periodic interviews with sources cultivated in the industry value chain. Such sources would typically have information on price changes along the value chain starting from ex-factory prices to pricing at distributor as well as wholesale and retail levels. Price tracking reports or updates can be provided on a monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly basis depending on client needs.

Yes, this is precisely what we are good at – as long as WE (IBI and the client) go into field research with an open mind. Such projects cannot be bound by a rigid scope since the scope will be constantly evolving based on intelligence we discover as fieldwork progresses until a clear and organized picture emerges at some point. So yes, we can carry out a comprehensive competitive environment mapping for you combining whatever little existing bits of information there are with considerable fresh intelligence that IBI would gather by interviewing primary sources across the industry. The scope and extent of detail would depend on the sophistication (or lack thereof) of the industry and market we are studying. Therefore, many such studies, especially in emerging markets, end up being conducted as open-ended best-efforts based exercises where we gather everything that we can and usually we end up achieving 75% or more of the agreed research scope, which is considered extremely good by most clients in such circumstances.

IBI can certainly help with competitive intelligence for preparing client prospectuses for public listings or entities seeking funding from investors. We have helped clients put together information memoranda and prospectuses for investors and their intermediaries. The very same methodologies that we use for providing the necessary market opportunity analyses for such prospectuses are used for competitive intelligence that goes into such documents.

So, what you are essentially looking for is a reliable distribution partner (or partners) and a logistics partner as well. The former would take care of the supply relationships with retail partners at various levels of retail (department stores, hypermarkets, exclusive outlets etc.) and the latter would ensure timely transportation of products. IBI can very much deliver on this as well as provide advisory work on optimizing the value chain involving these two sets of partnerships. We have done plenty of such work with B2B brands as well as consumer facing brands. The stages involved in partner evaluation would be a fairly straightforward broadlisting and shortlisting of partners based on criteria agreed with the client. However, post-shortlisting it becomes a team effort with the client through three-way evaluation meetings involving the Client, IBI and the potential partner, until the final candidates are chosen and contracts are signed. Such engagements typically last between 4 to 6 months.

Yes, this is totally up IBI’s alley. This is typically a project that involves in-depth interviews with sources among multiple parties along the supply chain. A lot of the interview responses will be anecdotal, or come in bits and pieces, that need to strung together to arrive at objective conclusions. In other words, it involves a very high level of interviewing and elicitation skills as well as tremendous analytical skills to execute such a project. Overall, this is the sort of challenging project that we at IBI enjoy working on because such projects are challenging and enjoyable since it involves reading patterns among interview findings as well as watching out for specific bits of competitive intelligence coming out of interviews. And at the end of the day, such findings are highly valuable for any client as well.  

This is a common problem that our clients come across in emerging markets in different parts of the world. IBI helps such clients gather practical intelligence about potential distribution partners through its human network in the target market as well as relationships it cultivates during the project, especially where cultural and linguistic issues need to be overcome before companies start sharing information. Such research also includes identifying tangible and intangible variables that would drive an ideal partnership for the client in a given market. The client’s priorities for the market are then factored in when we carry out our strategic fit analysis for potential partners before final recommendations are made to the client.

IBI’s Value Chain Consulting practice is geared to address such client needs. Over the years, we have helped hundreds of clients understand distribution landscapes and value chain structures in various industries all around Asia. In fact, this is one of the specializations of our affiliate, Asia Market Advisors, where we handhold clients through complex value chain maps, especially in emerging markets in North Asia and South East Asia, where distribution structures are often unclear and have considerable overlaps between various tiers of distribution till the product reaches the customer. These studies have often been carried out as part of larger market opportunity analyses and consultancy projects or as standalone value chain consulting work. In either case, we deploy our tried-and-tested primary research methodology of solid in-depth interviewing and analysis to arrive at a robust picture of the value chain that clients can utilize to put an effective distribution structure in place.

Sure, we can definitely help with filling out the account profiling gaps by providing comprehensive Key Account Profiles validated through anonymous interviews. We can also do the same for potential customers who are not currently your customers, or are your competitors’ customers, thereby making it a highly-useful lead generation and competitive intelligence exercise simultaneously.

Yes, certainly. Just like Key Account Profiling described earlier, we are very good at conducting elaborate B2B customer satisfaction studies through probing respondents at length. We are comfortable doing such studies on customers of our clients, as well as on those of their competitors if there is a separate sample quota for them.

IBI has, over the years, carried out detailed end-user needs assessment and behavioral surveys across a wide range of industries and are therefore in a good position to fill in the likely gaps in your customer intelligence spectrum. We normally prefer to do such surveys using an anonymous approach so that the responses from end-users are neutral and unbiased.  However, we also do non-anonymous studies where it helps with respondent cooperation and transparency, and the respondent is aware that we are surveying on behalf of our client. In such cases, it is usually made very clear by the client to the respondent that IBI is being engaged for our professional interviewing and investigative capabilities, so that the respondents are less likely to perceive us as threats having competing interests.

B2B or Enterprise customer lead generation and account profiling are key offerings in our Customer Intelligence & Needs Assessment services portfolio. All of our customer research services use similar methodologies combining telephonic or in-person interviews (with respondents within and outside a target company) supplemented by desk research as applicable. The first phase of a lead generation project usually involves creating a broadlist of targets from multiple sources, which is then whittled down to a shortlist based on a set of screening and evaluation criteria agreed with the client. The robustness of the account profiles of shortlisted and client-vetted customers then depends on the quality of interviewing and customer-intelligence-gathering we carry out in the subsequent phase of research. Being one of our key service offerings, IBI has an enviable track record in lead generation and account profiling, especially in Asia.

When it comes to B2C research, be it needs assessment or satisfaction studies, we partner with consumer fieldwork agencies with CATI facilities or online research agencies that have the scale and panels to carry out surveys across hundreds or thousands of respondents. However, if the sample sizes are relatively small – of up to 300 respondents – we sometimes carry out such work inhouse as well, depending on availability of resources.

Yes, our SMI Process Improvement services are designed specifically for this purpose. We can help you put a structure and process in place so that the market information flow from the internal sales and marketing reps get systematic and streamlined. This usually also involves the participation of the sales and marketing personnel so that everyone is trained in the process and the information flow right up to the Management happens in a timely manner to help with either tactical or strategic decision-making.

Absolutely. We can create a team for you within IBI that can work as YOUR team – either exclusively or on a set manhours-per-week/month basis – that can work with you and deliver research and analysis outputs that you may need on an on-going basis. You will also have the option to absorb this team into your organization later on if you decide to move this function inhouse.

IBI can set up a team in our offices to work closely with your organization and manage all MI and CI inputs from multiple Asian countries at one central location. The local market inputs from various countries can come from the client’s inhouse (market facing) personnel as well as external sources identified by IBI. Additionally, IBI’s affiliate, Asia Market Advisors, has market sources on the ground in key Asian locations to help with ad hoc requests as and when needed.

Yes, under our BOT (build-operate-transfer) model, you can very much acquire this team from us and make them your full-fledged internal market intelligence unit. Normally it takes about six months for such a team to be set up and go fully operational, and about a year until the team is comfortable with the client organization’s processes, operating procedures and personnel.

Our fee structure for our process improvement and turnkey services (BOT model) normally works on a monthly or quarterly retainer basis, followed by a flat acquisition fee for the individual or team – based on parameters such as number of personnel, seniority/experience levels and existing compensation package.

Yes, we do train client personnel in project design as well as research and consulting vendor management. We can design a customized training package for you depending on your organizational needs and the types of B2B projects that you may need to conduct. Such training can be imparted either through a workshop (if there is a whole team or several personnel involved) or can be through one-on-one sessions.

Certainly. Project goals and outcomes are best achieved when vendor management by the client is done effectively and efficiently. It is, in fact, as important as project management is for research and consulting firms.

Sure, this is one of the main reasons IBI has the SMI Training and Workshops practice. A lot of our clients and marketing or research teams do substantial amounts of work inhouse, either through speaking with their own sales and marketing teams in Asian markets, or by speaking with external sources. And in cases where there aren’t client personnel who have prior agency or consulting experience, IBI usually steps in to train key personnel in managing research and intelligence assignments in Asia.

Yes, we certainly can. Even though the essentials of research management may be similar worldwide, managing research engagements in different countries in Europe and in North America has its own specific dynamics when it comes to interviewing approach, compliance issues and respondent behavior. Since IBI manages quite a lot of international multi-country projects that involve work in North America as well as EU and the UK, we can easily transfer our expertise to client teams during workshops and training sessions.

Yes, we certainly can. Even though the essentials of research management may be similar worldwide, managing research engagements in different countries in Europe and in North America has its own specific dynamics when it comes to interviewing approach, compliance issues and respondent behavior. Since IBI manages quite a lot of international multi-country projects that involve work in North America as well as EU and the UK, we can easily transfer our expertise to client teams during workshops and training sessions.

These services are offered through our affiliate Asia Market Advisors where our clients are typically SMEs looking at entering Asian markets, overseas trade and investment promotion bodies as well as investors (private equity funds and venture capital firms) looking to help growth stage businesses expand their Asian footprint.

For further details, please visit: asiamarketadvisors.com

IBI has been working with clients and pubic institutions in a range of technology sectors including clean energy, biotech, healthcare, fintech and ICT over the last 15 years. Given the increased focus on clean energy, fintech and healthcare technologies worldwide, lately a lot of our new tech work have focused on these three sectors.

Yes, we work with start-ups and their founders as well, particularly those funded by PEs, VCs, Angels and private individual investors. For such start-ups we provide a range of customized services depending on individual client scenarios. These include market briefings about specific geographies or industries; workshops and training on commercialization and market development; partner evaluation services for technology or product licensing etc.

Very strong. We have been working with clients and intermediaries in the green energy and healthcare technology sectors for many years. These networks cover the UK, EU, North America and key Asian countries.

Yes, we do. We tap into our existing network and resources of our affiliate, Asia Market Advisors, for such leads.

For additional information, please visit: asiamarketadvisors.com

Yes, we do. Such market development workshops are usually tailor-made depending on specific client situations and the target geography. Sometimes such workshops involve preliminary market data gathering ahead of a workshop, especially if it is an emerging market where IBI does not have readily available market intelligence off its own shelves.

Yes, we can. We have worked on such engagements in markets such as UK, US, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and India before. We have capabilities to cover most of the key international markets for such services, either on our own where we have our personnel or through our network partners, depending on markets preferred by the client or ones that offer significant opportunity.