Market research for a product in the tobacco industry : A strategy- and product analysis

Abstract: Abstract When companies want to grow and gain market shares in a competitive industry it is im-portant to find out more about their potential market opportunities. This is often done by first conducting a market research. The tobacco industry is a very tricky environment to operate in and that is in terms of the health aspects and the superstition within the industry. In fact, the tobacco industry companies are moving towards more flexible production with smaller batches and need efficient handling equipment for this. And at your hand, you have a company that is manufacturing just this particular equipment, isn’t that perfect? The purpose of this thesis is to do a market research for a company, in this thesis referred to as Bintech, and to examine the market for their product in the tobacco industry. The research was conducted both quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative part con-sists of a numerous telephone calls all over Europe to every cigarette manufacturer that were to find. Out of 240 calls there were 80 relevant. The qualitative part consists of four in-depth discussion interviews with people involved in the tobacco industry. There is a hard competition in the tobacco industry that is forcing the tobacco companies to make changes in their production lines. Bintech is a company that has the facilities to manage customer communication in terms of developing new products after customer de-mand. The product in the tobacco industry the bin is in the material plywood and that have seemed to be a good choice. The sales strategy that suit the bin the best is the differentia-tion focus were Bintech should try to be unique for their customers and they are on their way. Even though the Bintech bins are at the higher price level, the users for sure will earn more money on having these bins than any others.