Consulting

Select a case study from the below:

• Product design and development analysis
• Growth strategy study
• Multi-variate forecasting model and sales pipeline development
• Benchmarking and decision-making analysis
• Qualitative research
• Market analysis and forecast

Case Study 1
Product design and development analysis

The assignment
A global blue chip financial services supplier was looking to expand its product offering in a number of African countries. The company wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the existing competitive landscape and decision making processes employed by key purchasers — banks — in each market.

Approach and delivery
Phase one gathered existing open-access information and proprietary Timetric intelligence on the market landscape for each market. This included identifying the correct purchasers and influencers for each bank in each of the markets, identifying existing supply-chain, current and future customer demands and concerns, and regulatory threats and opportunities.

Phase one enabled the client to make informed decisions on resourcing the next stage of research: prioritising target markets.

Phase two involved — using analysts with local language skills — interviewing banks, regulators and suppliers in each of the target markets to update currently available information and to gather information according to a structured set of questions developed with the client.

The third and final phase of the project entailed holding a number of live events in each of the target markets with leading prospects. At these events Timetric was able to present content based on the research to the market and gather further intelligence live in front of the client, who was then able to network with these prospects.

Impact and benefits
The research shortened the product development cycle for the target markets. It also shortened the sales cycle for the client and led to a number of multi-million dollar contracts being signed.

Case Study 2
Growth Strategy Study

The assignment
Our client was a major international financial services operator in the consumer payments sector. The organisation wanted to identify and prioritise regions and territories for expansion. We were asked to provide information on relevant historical macroeconomic consumer factors and were also asked to provide forecasts for these factors.

The client also asked to understand the financial regulatory landscape for each region and territory with an understanding of policy developments and how they might affect service provision and demand. We were also asked to provide a competitive landscape looking at the existing suppliers in the market with an analysis of their supply chains.

Approach and delivery
We were able to use a combination of existing proprietary databases and reports to provide data and information which is not widely available. Our team of market-specialist analysts were able to use their well-established network of market contacts to extract further project-specific exclusive data and information and easy-to-understand regulatory narratives.

- The information was assembled into a number of territory and regional analysis presentation slides which were summarised using a proprietary weighted scoring system to rate the opportunities.
- Ongoing support was provided by our analysts as the client utilised the report.

Impact and benefits
The client was delighted to receive a right-first-time set of data that clearly backed up the conclusions presented by our analysts. The research was integrated into the client's annual strategy proposal and was used as a basis for defining customer offers, market entry strategies and timings, and developing cost-effective supply chains in the territories and markets chosen for development. The research also helped the client understand the risks associated with some of the territories which have not been prioritised for development.

The client was able to deploy parts of the research through our information services to generate leads through demonstration of validated thought leadership.

Case Study 3
Multi-variate forecasting model and sales pipeline development

The assignment
Our client, an emerging asset finance strategy consultancy, was interested in prioritising sales leads in a major European asset finance sector. It had a specific need to understand how clients are changing the ways in which they finance assets. It needed to understand historical splits between lease and other methods of financing on a country-by-country basis. It also required forecasts with well-defined and understood assumptions in order to create several models of future market shape.

Approach and delivery
The approach was evolved in close consultation with the client and consisted of:

• The construction of a multi-variate forecasting model that integrated variables driven by emerging regulatory and solvency scenarios.
• The development of future scenarios through interviews with leading policy and regulatory experts.
• The acquisition through primary research of market shares for leasing of a particular asset class across the major European economies.
• Development of risk-weighted forecasts.
• The delivery of data for the client to use in its own presentation and marketing materials.
• The data and conclusions were reworked with the client and delivered through Timetric's information services, conferences and roundtables to provide audience reach and networking opportunities.

The client received exclusive, inimitable data and risk analysis on time and to budget. This provided the opportunity for the client to develop thought leadership in its market, providing it with the ability to leapfrog its rivals in the defined sector. We were able to provide targeted networking access to more than 10 client-identified service purchasers and dozens of other prospects and purchasing influencers. 

Case Study 4
Benchmarking and decision-making analysis

The assignment
A multinational professional services organisation required a way of benchmarking its financial performance against its competitors on a monthly basis in a number of high-profile developed and emerging companies across the world. It required the ability to deploy the analysis instantaneously and unambiguously to its global partners.

Approach and delivery
Over 200 interviews were conducted across more than 20 countries with competitors and partners in order to secure data matching non-published benchmarks for revenue, earnings and cost effectiveness. A web application was developed to facilitate round-the-clock access to live data. The application allowed the client to manipulate the data using a variety of graphical visualisation scenarios. The application supplied filtered background market news, analysis and intelligence through effective meta-tagging initiatives.

Impact and benefits
The client used the data to update its strategic initiatives and develop tactical responses to competitor developments. It also allowed the tool to validate its own data and that supplied to it from regional centres as a key part of its corporate governance.

Case Study 5
Qualitative Research

The assignment
A rapidly growing service supplier to the global banking industry required support in breaking into emerging economies in Africa and Eastern Europe. With little presence and experience in dealing with these markets, the client required a way of engaging senior decision makers in each of the markets to understand the cultural barriers to entry and establish intellectual credibility.

Approach and delivery
Timetric developed a white paper that linked the dynamics of each specific target market to the new service offering. Analysts undertook screening interviews as part of the research effort and leveraged the publication’s brand to encourage participation in a roundtable to discuss the white paper findings, with the client on hand as a co-author of the paper.

Impact and benefits
The client was introduced to decision makers covering 80% of each target market and was able to interrogate cultural and emotional responses to the service offering and its potential place within each bank’s development plan.

The white paper was reused by the client in a series of presentations where it could use insights from the roundtable to build a thought leadership position in each economy among the decision makers’ peer groups and influencers. The programme resulted in six new multi-million dollar contracts in the target markets – significantly shortening the sales cycle.

Case Study 6
Market Analysis & Forecast

The assignment
Our client, a Ukrainian brick manufacturer, was struggling to understand their marketplace in the face of an unprecedented collapse in construction activity within Ukraine in recent years. Timetric was commissioned to:

1. Analyse why the market had collapsed
2. Understand the current market position
3. Create a forecast for the wall building materials market in light of this knowledge

Approach and delivery
Timetric proposed a systematic analysis of the construction value chain in Ukraine from sponsors through to developers and onwards through to material manufacturers and suppliers. This required:

• Research and analysis of the macroeconomic drivers underpinning the construction markets:
  • GDP
  • Fiscal policy
  • Government, commercial and consumer debt
    
  • Access to finance

• Valuation and forecasting of the construction markets:
  • Commercial
  • Industrial
  • Infrastructure
    
  • Institutional
  • Residential
    

• Analysis of the current and forecast position of the construction markets in light of the macroeconomic drivers and the overall operating environment:
  • Review of major projects
  • Analysis of the financial and operational performance of the leading contractors
  • Review of the competitive moves in reaction to the slump
    
  • Identification of the key economic, social and competitive factors expected to influence market performance over the next five years

• PEST analysis of the Ukrainian construction materials industry.

•  In light of all the above, a contextualized analysis of the wall building materials market, including:
  • Market valuation by product category
  • Market forecast by product category
  • Analysis of current trends by product category
    
  • Prediction of future trends by product category
    
  • Identification of potential opportunities