As one of many largest and most authoritative market intelligence providers obtainable, MarketResearch.com’s Profound resolution is a go-to useful resource for a lot of world funding banks and prime administration consulting companies. Nonetheless, what you won’t know is that Profound is commonly a perfect match for enterprise faculties and tutorial establishments as nicely.
We sat down with Robert Berkman, a former Profound shopper and enterprise librarian—who went on to grow to be a managing editor at a division of MarketResearch.com in early 2022—to listen to why Profound was so helpful at his establishment and the way the logistics of this database labored on a sensible stage. Try our Q&A dialogue under to be taught extra.
Bob, inform us about your background and the way you got here to make use of Profound?
My background is primarily as a journalist, author, and editor. After getting my grasp’s in journalism from the College of Montana, I began a month-to-month journal for enterprise researchers referred to as The Data Advisor’s Information to Web Analysis, which remains to be printed at the moment, and I’m additionally a part-time professor on the College of Media Research at The New College in New York Metropolis, the place I train about rising media, media ethics, and social media. However numerous my writing and analysis has been all about enterprise analysis and knowledge over time. I’ve written some guides and books and articles, and I’ve led workshops and webinars about how you can do efficient enterprise analysis.
When the College of Rochester was on the lookout for a enterprise librarian, my background appeared to suit what they have been on the lookout for, so I utilized and was employed. Considered one of my main roles as a enterprise librarian was to construct up a very good enterprise useful resource assortment on the enterprise college. A lot of the assets that enterprise college students and other people doing enterprise analysis make the most of are databases versus books and e-books, so I used to be ensuring we had the suitable number of databases.
There have been about 50 or 60 high-quality databases once I began—these offered firm data, trade evaluation, market analysis, information, and details about patents, and so forth—and there have been two market analysis databases, too. However once I would get queried from enterprise college students engaged on a paper or mission for a category, fairly often they might go on the open net, and they’d attempt to discover one thing on-line in the event that they couldn’t discover one thing listed within the enterprise useful resource library information, and they’d typically come throughout a market analysis report printed by a third-party market researcher. It is likely to be about the marketplace for electrical batteries for electrical automobiles, or it could possibly be for a sure kind of chemical utilized in a producing course of—very slim, very particular matters—and I’d get a request from pupil saying, “Can I get this market analysis report?” And naturally these analysis stories sometimes price from $1,000 to $4,000 or $5,000 every, and we’d simply must say, “No, sorry, we are able to’t do this,” and I’d must attempt to direct them to different sources. However as I used to be getting increasingly more of those requests, I noticed what we must always actually be trying into one thing in addition to the 2 market analysis databases we already subscribed to, which have been excellent, however they weren’t all encompassing.
I used to be acquainted with MarketResearch.com, as a result of as editor of The Data Advisor, we’d write about how you can do efficient enterprise analysis, and how you can discover and analyze market analysis stories, and I’d cowl what’s on the market. I had coated MarketResearch.com’s databases, Profound in addition to MarketResearch.com, and beginning again in 2000 or so, I had the chance to interview the CEO of MarketResearch.com Rob Granader about what the corporate is doing, so I reached out to MarketResearch.com, and mentioned, “Are you able to inform us about what you supply within the tutorial surroundings for Profound?” I used to be actually specializing in Profound at that time as a result of I knew the person slices of a report can be most useful. We mentioned pricing and all the opposite particulars, and I launched Profound after a yr on the most. I added it in 2017 to the gathering of assets from the College of Rochester.
While you first signed up for Profound, what was the principle attraction for you?
The principle attraction was figuring out it might cowl many, many various market analysis report publishers, rising the percentages that when a pupil can be on the lookout for one thing they might have the ability to discover a good match in Profound. The attraction was, not having to subscribe to lots of of publishers however nonetheless accessing their stories for an inexpensive price.
The second half was figuring out concerning the pricing mannequin and methodology the place you didn’t must buy the entire report, but when there was a desk, or chart or part, you would buy that one piece. Fairly often the coed would solely want a selected piece of data, and I knew the sectional buying would make it way more inexpensive. Sometimes a person obtain from Profound is likely to be $15 to $100, relatively than many hundreds of {dollars} for the complete report.
How did Profound meet your expectations on the College of Rochester?
It actually crammed the hole that I hoped it might fill, as a result of after subscribing to Profound, once I would get emails from college students saying, “I discovered this report on the net, and it seems to be prefer it has what I want. Are you able to get this for me?” And I’d say, “No, we are able to’t get that exact report, however there’s a superb likelihood there could also be others overlaying the identical knowledge, and let’s work collectively to go looking the Profound database.” That was fairly useful for the coed, and it was useful for me to assist the coed discover what they wanted.
How did Profound work in follow? How did you deal with the buying?
As a result of Profound works in another way than most databases in an educational surroundings—the place you pay a flat price and renew it yearly and have limitless use of no matter that database has—I needed to arrange just a little little bit of a special system, when it comes to making it clean each for myself and for the coed looking for the data, in addition to administratively for monitoring the usage of Profound.
The way in which Profound works is that you’ve got a sure amount of cash you pay up entrance primarily based on how a lot analysis you suppose you will have over the course of a yr. There have been a number of completely different pricing ranges obtainable. You might begin on the minimal to strive it out, and if it appeared actually priceless, you would improve your dedication the following yr. You might customise your finances primarily based on what the precise use was, in order that was a plus.
Should you wished to pay $5,000 up entrance, that quantity can be in your “financial institution” to attract down throughout that yr, and the steadiness would go down everytime you made a purchase order.
As soon as the finances was arrange, the very first thing I did was estimate how a lot expense I may allot for every pupil. I calculated what number of college students sometimes want market analysis stories a yr. I don’t bear in mind what my quantity was, however possibly I got here to one thing like 20 requests a yr. I divided that by our finances quantity. I allotted for any pupil that was permitted to obtain as much as $300 most, and that might be versatile relying on a pair elements. However in my thoughts, that was an affordable most.
So first, it was figuring out how a lot any pupil or pupil analysis staff may have obtainable to them in a finances, so it wouldn’t all be used up if somebody wished to spend $2,000 at first of the yr.
The subsequent half was how you can finest present entry to the database. I couldn’t allow the scholars to go on the platform and obtain analysis with out permission as a result of it might draw down the finances with none controls. However I may arrange entry in order that college students have been ready to go online and do all of the looking out they wished at their leisure, however they needed to contact me instantly get permission to buy and obtain analysis.
I defined very clearly to the scholars that this database labored just a little bit in another way than different databases. I mentioned to them, “While you discover one thing that you simply suppose seems to be actually good and related, let me know what you discover, and I can check out it.” So then I’d take a look at what they discovered as a result of we didn’t wish to use the cash if we didn’t must. I arrange standards for whether or not it might be okay to make a purchase order. Clearly, it wanted to appear to be it was related to what they have been on the lookout for, and we had to make sure there have been no different free assets both by certainly one of our different databases and even on the open net. If that’s the case, there wouldn’t be a lot purpose to make use of up our finances on one thing we may get some other place. More often than not, it might not be obtainable some other place as a result of what was wanted was sometimes very particular, granular knowledge, that more often than not was not duplicated anyplace else.
However once we obtained to the purpose the place I’d say, “Okay, sure, it’s related, it doesn’t appear to be this knowledge is obtainable anyplace else, and also you’re staying inside the finances; you’ve recognized these tables or sections, and it prices $80 or $150, or $250, or no matter,” we may go to the following step. I’d go onto Profound myself because the administrator, obtain the info, and simply e-mail it to the coed. It was sometimes a PDF. And that might be the transaction.
What did you consider the customer support that Profound supplied?
I discovered the customer support very useful and essential. It isn’t all the time completely apparent, even from the little excerpt or desk of contents whether or not the part focused by the coed may have precisely what that pupil wants. So to examine, I’d typically contact MarketResearch.com’s customer support and ask if the info or data was within the part we have been about to obtain they usually have been in a position to look and both verify it was or was not.
That was actually essential since you knew you have been paying for the specified data, and also you had just a little little bit of a assure in a way. After I referred to as our contact at MarketResearch.com, I’d get somebody straight away. I may rely on getting anyone to assist me who was educated. It wasn’t simply anyone in customer support who was midway internationally who didn’t care or know something. I obtained good assist from actual folks. That was essential as a result of market knowledge is pricey and kind of held on this black field, in order that reassurance is absolutely crucial.
How did you observe the finances for Profound?
I’d hear from my account supervisor Lisa Raker frequently relating to how a lot I had left within the finances. That will assist me if I wanted to replace or change the finances. Let’s say we didn’t have too many requests, and it was the center of the yr, I’d bump up the quantity I’d permit every pupil to spend.
Conversely, if it was close to the top of the yr, and I noticed there was solely $500 left within the finances, I’d be just a little additional cautious. This actually wasn’t burdensome as a result of I’d solely get a request a couple of times a month from a pupil the place it might actually be related, so it wasn’t one thing I needed to keep on prime of often, and it was simple. All of it labored out very nicely.
What did you hear again from college students about Profound?
I’d normally get again one thing like, “Thanks that is nice. That is actually useful.” I do know they appreciated it as a result of for these initiatives and papers, college students typically had to make use of projections. Should you’re creating a brand new enterprise, it’s a must to know the forecast mannequin for the precise market, or demographic knowledge, or no matter it is likely to be. You want good onerous knowledge to justify what you might be doing and cite an authoritative supply.
One other factor to bear in mind is that Profound additionally saves college students time; they do not must scroll by a 300-page report to search out one piece of information. They’ll simply obtain precisely what they want and streamline their analysis course of.
What’s good too, is that though Profound is a robust and complicated database, it is vitally straightforward to go looking. And seeing the place your key phrases are highlighted in a report made it straightforward to extra exactly zero in on discover what you wanted. All of it labored rapidly, very intuitively. The platform by no means had any technical glitches.
How troublesome and time consuming was it to handle any such subscription, given that you simply had to offer permission for downloads?
It was no harder than doing the rest it’s a must to take into consideration on the job. Lisa Raker would ship me a daily replace about how a lot we had left in our finances, and it was straightforward to get in contact together with her anytime if I had questions. It was no large deal. There was nothing to cram over and determine. There wasn’t a lot to it.
How did you promote Profound? How did college students even understand it was there?
Profound was actually geared to college students within the Simon enterprise college—it was for a selected subset of people that would wish market knowledge that was just a little extra superior. So I wasn’t selling it to the entire college, simply to the enterprise college—to graduate-level college students incomes their MBA, or grasp’s in finance or enterprise analytics.
A method I promoted was in a professor’s class as typically I’d be invited by a Simon College school to provide a presentation for the scholars to allow them to know concerning the library assets and how you can conduct good enterprise analysis. The presentation could possibly be anyplace from 30 to 60 minutes sometimes, and I’d present them our library analysis information and present them the place to search out firm data, trade data, and demographic knowledge on varied databases. I’d present them Profound for in-depth market analysis knowledge.
Our analysis information additionally listed the assets college students had obtainable, so in the event that they went to the information, they might study Profound and discover it themselves with out me telling them about it. Then they may ship me an e-mail and ask me questions on the way it labored. So it was a mix of issues.
Would you want to the touch on how your relationship has modified with MarketResearch.com prior to now yr?
Sure, on the finish of December this previous yr, I left the College of Rochester, and I began right here at MarketResearch.com because the managing editor at Simba Data, which supplies data providers for organizations and firms that serve the schooling market. Now we have a bi-monthly publication, with information, developments, and knowledge for firms like McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Pearson, or Cengage have to find out about.
We additionally concern in-depth market analysis stories, overlaying all the things from ebook adoption developments to what’s taking place with open entry to Okay-12 finances and coverage and all the things folks serving that market have to know. I simply began, so now I’m working at MarketResearch.com, and I’m more than happy to be right here.
to be taught extra about Profound? Obtain our brochure, and make contact with the Educational Account Supervisor Lisa Raker at lraker@marketresearch.com or name +301.461.8703 or +1.240.747.3025.
