Marketing Research
Beauty in Every Detail
Results of the Findings
Needs, Wants, and Demands + Brand Perception
Marketing Assignment 2b
In order to understand B&O’s customers better, we identified the needs, wants and demand. We can say that the need is entertainment.
China has one of the fastest growing entertainment industries in the world. The global entertainment industry is expected to show an annual growth of 10% in the next four years, and the majority of the growth is occupied by China. This estimate includes movies, theme parks, media, etc. Hence, we can say that Chinese customers are demanding more choices for entertainment these days.
Chinese people buy different services to entertain themselves, such as going to the movies or going to a KTV. Also, they want products for leisure and entrainment, such as audiovisual products. All B&O products are designed to entertain its customers in a way of design, quality and brand image. We deliver the experience to our customers not only through sound quality, but also the visual experience from our product’s design itself. The demand of B&O exists through the need of entertainment and the want for audiovisual products for customers who have purchasing power. B&O’s offering is quite expensive and targets a specific group of customers that are willing to pay for B&O products.
Because most of Chinese people don’t know B&O yet, we can not say much about the general brand perception of B&O in China. Something valuable regarding brand perception that came from our market research, is that B&O is not purchased for its quality. Our respondents said that for the same quality you can find lower priced products. The added value of a B&O product lies in the design and brand value.
If we take a closer look at the amount people are willing to pay for an audiovisual product, the survey results, especially for the TV’s, are significantly below the average starting price of a B&O product. Although, we also asked them If design, quality, and brand image (what B&O stands for) exceed their expectation, are they willing to spend more than their initial budget? 95 % percent answered ‘Yes’ in this case. B&O is for a lot of people above their budget, but based on the previous finding, if B&O can convince these people of their superb design, quality and brand image, they are willing to pay more than their initial budget.
Let's take a look at the aspect of ‘design’. 86 % of the respondents in our survey found design important or very important when buying audio visiual products. Also if we look at the main arguments what people look for when buying audiovisuals, ‘design’ is on the 2nd and the 2nd place for respectively TV and headphones. Compared to other audiovisual firms, design and especially the Scandinavian design is something that distinguishes B&O from the rest in the industry. With conducting the market survey, we found prove that people are looking for design when buying audiovisuals.
When B&O’s brand awareness can be boosted in the Chinese market, linked to the three key characteristics (design, quality, and brand image), demand for B&O products will rise significantly.
By conducting an in-depth interview with the B&O sales manager in Xintiandi store, we identified two different target groups for the classic B&O line and the BeoPlay line. The classic line attracts high disposable income families or individuals. They usually purchase the televisions, surround systems and telephones. While the less expensive, still high-end BeoPlay products, which mainly consist of headphones and speakers, are more commonly purchased by a wealthy younger generation.
When conducting our survey, we examined both brand awareness and brand perception. We noticed than B&O’s brand awareness is very low among our respondents 19%. We believe that this is one of the main reasons why the brand is currently not selling well in the Chinese market.
