Market Research & Analysis

Workspace Context

Read bootstrap context before asking questions: strategy/brand.md for brand, audience, offer, channels, tools, constraints, and metrics; about/me.md for personal voice; content/ideas.md and content/calendar.md for content planning. Use legacy product-marketing context files only as fallback. Save generated drafts to content/<platform>/drafts/YYYY-MM-DD_short-topic-slug.md, and route durable learnings back to strategy/brand.md, about/me.md, or content/ideas.md.

Operating Contract

This skill is self-contained for its frontmatter scope: use its local instructions, references, scripts, and assets as the playbook; ask only for missing task-specific inputs; hand off to adjacent skills instead of expanding scope; and return an actionable artifact, decision, plan, draft, or diagnostic.

Expert market research skill — from market sizing and competitive analysis through consumer research and professional consulting-grade reports with LaTeX formatting and visual generation.

Quick Start

Choose your workflow:

1. Market Sizing — TAM/SAM/SOM calculations
2. Competitive Analysis — Landscape mapping and positioning
3. Consumer Research — Surveys, interviews, behavior analysis
4. Professional Report — 50+ page consulting-style report with LaTeX + visuals

Market Sizing (TAM → SAM → SOM)

Step 1: Define Scope

• Product/service being analyzed
• Geography (target regions)
• Customer segment (who specifically)
• Time frame (current year or 5-year projection)

Step 2: Calculate TAM (Top-Down)

TAM = Total market demand at 100% market share
= (Total potential customer base) × (avg contract value)

Data sources: Gartner, Forrester, IBISWorld, government statistics, trade associations

Step 3: Calculate SAM

SAM = Portion of TAM you can realistically serve
Apply filters: geographic constraints, product limitations, customer size constraints
Typically 5-20% of TAM

Step 4: Calculate SOM

SOM = Realistic near-term market share (1-3 years)
Conservative benchmarks:
  Year 1: 0.1-0.5% of SAM
  Year 2: 0.5-2% of SAM
  Year 3: 1-5% of SAM

Step 5: Bottom-Up Validation

Bottom-up = (realistic target customers) × (conversion rate) × (ACV)
If top-down SOM / bottom-up > 3x → revisit top-down assumptions

Competitive Landscape Analysis

Competitor Categories

Competitive Intelligence Sources

• Company websites (pricing, features, positioning)
• App store reviews (G2, Capterra — look for "appears X times" keywords)
• Crunchbase (funding, valuation, growth trajectory)
• Job postings (what they're investing in)
• LinkedIn (employee count trends, key hires)
• Gartner Magic Quadrant (market positioning)

Positioning Map Template

Create a 2D matrix:

• X-axis: Price (Low → High)
• Y-axis: Feature complexity / target segment (Simple → Advanced)

Plot all competitors. Look for gaps — unserved or underserved quadrants = market opportunity.

Core Analysis Frameworks

Porter's Five Forces (rate each High / Medium / Low)

1. Threat of New Entrants — Barriers to entry, capital requirements, brand loyalty
2. Supplier Power — Concentration, switching costs, substitute inputs
3. Buyer Power — Concentration, price sensitivity, switching costs
4. Threat of Substitutes — Alternatives, switching costs, price/performance tradeoff
5. Competitive Rivalry — Number of competitors, industry growth, differentiation

PESTLE Analysis

SWOT + BCG Matrix

For competitive landscape: map competitors on BCG Matrix (market growth vs market share) to identify Stars, Cash Cows, Question Marks, Dogs.

Consumer Research

Survey Design

Van Westendorp Pricing: Ask customers 4 questions to find optimal price point:

1. At what price is this too expensive to consider?
2. At what price is this so cheap you doubt the quality?
3. At what price does this start to feel expensive (but not off the table)?
4. At what price is this a great value/bargain?

Plot cumulative % — OPP (Optimal Price Point) = intersection of "too expensive" and "too cheap."

Anti-pattern: Never use leading questions ("Don't you think our innovative product..."). Always include negative response options.

Interview Framework

For qualitative research:

• Define clear research objectives first
• Minimum 5-10 interviews for directional insight, 15-20 for patterns
• Focus on jobs to be done and pain points, not feature preferences
• Capture verbatim language — exact phrases are more valuable than summaries

Quality Checklist

• Research objectives clearly defined and measurable
• Sample is representative of target market
• Mix of qualitative (why) and quantitative (how many) methods
• No leading or biased questions
• Insights are actionable, not just "interesting facts"
• Limitations acknowledged

Professional Market Research Reports

Generates consulting-grade reports (50+ pages) modeled on McKinsey, BCG, Gartner deliverables.

Report Structure (~66 pages target)

Front Matter (~5 pages): Cover page · Table of Contents · Executive Summary (investment thesis, key findings, top 5 recommendations)

Core Analysis (~35 pages):

Strategic Recommendations (~10 pages): Opportunity matrix · Implementation roadmap · Investment thesis

Back Matter (~5 pages): Methodology · Data tables · Company profiles · Bibliography

Visual Generation (generate 6 priority visuals first)

# Batch generate all core visuals
python scripts/generate_market_visuals.py \
  --topic "[MARKET NAME]" --output-dir figures/

LaTeX Compilation

# Initialize project structure
writing_outputs/YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_market_report_[topic]/
├── drafts/v1_market_report.tex  ← use assets/market_report_template.tex as base
├── figures/
├── references/references.bib
└── final/

# Compile
cd drafts/
xelatex v1_market_report.tex && bibtex v1_market_report
xelatex v1_market_report.tex && xelatex v1_market_report.tex

Use \usepackage{market_research} (from assets/market_research.sty).

Colored box environments:

\begin{keyinsightbox}[Key Finding]...\end{keyinsightbox}       % blue
\begin{marketdatabox}[Market Snapshot]...\end{marketdatabox}   % green
\begin{riskbox}[Critical Risk]...\end{riskbox}                 % orange
\begin{recommendationbox}[Recommendation]...\end{recommendationbox} % purple

See assets/FORMATTING_GUIDE.md for complete LaTeX reference. See assets/market_report_template.tex for the full report template.

Report Quality Standards

• Data: No older than 2 years; all statistics attributed; projections state assumptions
• Writing: Specific numbers over vague qualifiers; insights first, then data; active voice
• Visuals: 300 DPI minimum; colorblind-friendly palette; all axes/legends labeled; sources in captions
• Length: 50+ pages — if under, expand appendix data tables and add regional breakdowns

Pre-Submission Checklist

• Cover page, ToC, List of Figures, Executive Summary
• All 11 chapters present (no placeholder sections)
• 6 core visuals generated and rendering
• All statistics sourced; projections include assumptions
• PDF compiles without errors; cross-references work
• Page count >50

References & Assets

• scripts/generate_market_visuals.py — Batch visual generation for reports
• assets/market_research.sty — LaTeX style package
• assets/market_report_template.tex — Full report template
• assets/FORMATTING_GUIDE.md — Complete LaTeX formatting reference
• references/report_structure_guide.md — Detailed chapter-by-chapter guidance
• references/data_analysis_patterns.md — Analysis patterns and common calculations
• references/visual_generation_guide.md — Visual creation workflows

Related Skills

• marketing-strategy — Market opportunity within product strategy
• go-to-market-strategy — Applying market research to launch planning
• pricing-strategy — Using market research for pricing decisions