Market Research Plan

Market Research Plan

Joshua T. Kennard

Grantham University

The lip balm industry is a massive one, no doubt about it. The company I work for has tasked me with developing a market research plan for our future endeavor. In this paper, I will show present to you my thoughts and how I went about doing all of my research. I will provide the steps I used and the reasons behind them.

I used both primary and secondary methods for collecting all of my data. Both have their advantages and since I am not limited in collecting any data, I decided to pursue them individually resulting in my end product. I reached out to my friends letting them know I wanted to ask them a weird question. I questioned them on what type of lip balm/ Chap Stick/ lip gloss they preferred and why. I got a ton of responses with different brands and various flavors. Some I had never even heard of but they were definitely useful in what I was trying to accomplish.

The feedback I got from my FB friends led me first to the lip balm itself. I researched the different ingredients and why I thought someone would use a particular brand over another. Most have the same base ingredients, really. I use Carmex and the ingredients in this include petroleum, lanolin, beeswax, salicylic acid, among a number of others. Secondly, I started looking at the different companies that manufactured these numerous brands of lip balms. Among a few notables are Carmex, Vaseline, Chap Stick, and Burt’s Bees. I took a look at the companies and read up on how they got started, where they were started, who started the company and how they operate today.

Another subject I was interested in understanding was how the companies determined their target audiences. Chap Stick, for example, comes in a humungous variety of flavors and colors. The average male adult is not going to be walking around with Watermelon lip balm. At least not any male adults I know. This can be assumed that their target...