Market Research Spotlight: Applied Marketing Science

Applied Marketing Science (AMS) is a leading-edge market research and consulting firm that offers insights for innovation and litigation support.

We spoke with John Mitchell, President and Managing Principal, to learn more about their work.

Ivy Exec: What is Applied Marketing Science and How did it get started?

John Mitchell: Applied Marketing Science provides market research, consulting and expert insight in two categories: product innovation and customer-experience creation, and in complex litigation. Clients choose us for our systematic methods developed by leading scholars in marketing science and management, adapted for practical application and refined over decades in real-world cases. Founded in 1989 by Prof. John Hauser of the MIT Sloan School of Management, AMS remains true to our academic roots. Of our nearly 30 consultants at AMS are five PhDs, a JD, and numerous MBAs.

IE: What are your company’s main differentiators in the Market Research space?

JM: Clients consistently praise us for our responsiveness to client demands, our flexibility in our approach, our deep knowledge of both industries and marketing problems, and our ability to move extraordinarily fast.

We help corporate clients innovate. We have deep expertise in the art and science of using market research to develop better products and distinctive customer experiences. Clients rely on us to identify and size market segments, find new customer needs, envision and test new product concepts, measure market demand, and forecast product adoption. We apply a broad toolset of qualitative and quantitative research to answer these important questions.

Not only do we deliver valuable research, we also help clients build their own innovation capabilities.

In addition, we are one of the few expert providers of market research to provide evidence for legal cases, working with the nation’s leading law firms. Our methods and analyses are examined every day by academic experts, opposing attorneys, judges, and juries. Such scrutiny establishes a high bar for attention to detail and quality control, which permeates all our work.

IE: What Industries and Sectors do you cover?

JM: For nearly 30 years Applied Marketing Science has completed a wide variety of market research projects across almost every type of industry vertical. This experience gives us the knowledge and understanding companies are looking for. Not only can we speak the language of any industry, but we also understand the complex and technical subject matter. Some of the (nearly one hundred) industries AMS has worked in include: aerospace, banking and financial services, construction, consumer goods, health-sciences, insurance, computer technologies, utilities and more. You can see a full list of the industries we serve here.

IE: Where do you see the B2B Market Research industry heading in the next 3-5 years?

JM: B2B market research, like all categories, is trending toward understanding the whole of the customer experience. Industrial marketers realize that customers choose them not only because of the technical performance of their products, but also because customers value a relationship with suppliers that feels like a partnership. Whether a company is selling a basic commodity or standardized components, or highly-customized capital equipment, delivering an exceptional customer experience can often make the difference in who wins the contract. Market research, specifically research that helps companies understand the whole span of the B2B customer, is an increasingly valuable asset, yet many in the market-research field do not have the practical expertise needed to execute B2B research. Firms with such experience, built up over decades, will be at an advantage.

IE: What advice would you give to people looking to enter the Market Research space professionally?

JM: Market research has always been an exciting and fast-changing field, but the pace of change has accelerated in recent years as new technologies and new data sources become available and as clients have demanded information faster and faster. Agile firms are those that will succeed. A person entering market research must be agile as well, able to flex their thinking and find new ways to make information a competitive advantage for clients. Success requires a wide range of intrinsic skills – analytical ability, problem-solving, and the ability to turn data into a compelling story. It also requires knowledge of what is happening in our field—new methods, changing client demands, and new opportunities for insight opened by new technologies. AMS devotes considerable energy to exploring these areas, and we encourage readers to explore our webinars and articles, or attend one of our many workshops to learn more about our perspective. You can visit our workshops and webinars page to register.