MKTG 513: Pioneering Innovation: Strategy

Information availability varies depending on your topic. Some topics come with a wealth of readily available information, while others involve accessing sources that may not be available to students for free (e.g., most market research reports and publications from industry associations), proprietary information (e.g., internal documents, trade secrets, private company financial data), and information so niche or new that it can only be gathered through primary research such as interviews, surveys, focus groups, and field observation.

If you have limited time and resources and have to rely on free (to you) secondary data, do a preliminary search before committing to your topic, so that you won't be overly frustrated down the road when you find out that there is very little available information.

Brainstorm! Are there things around you that you want to improve on? Things that you really care about? Do a Google News search for inspiration. Emerging trends? Negative issues? New/niche markets?

Read a few profiles or articles on the industry you are interested in:

• What are the trends, opportunities, and challenges in the industry?
• If your category is so new and niche there is no readily available information, research the broader industry or an "adjacent"/"proxy" industry

Read a few profiles, SWOT analyses, or 10-K/annual reports on the main players in the market you are interested in:

• Are there any gaps in what the current players do? What competitive advantage can you offer vs. what's already out there? What are the "risk factors" some of the public companies identify in their 10-Ks?

Do an environmental scan:

• What are the emerging consumer trends and lifestyle changes and how that may affect your industry?