The client is a manufacturer of premium grooming products, including hair clipper products, for both animals and humans.

Research Objectives

In recent years, the client observed an influx and increasing traction of cheap China-brand clippers in Southeast Asia, especially among those value-seeking barbers and hairdressers. Hence, the client wanted to understand the behaviours of barbers & hairdressers, their preferences and attitudes towards buying and owning a clipper in order to identify the core target market for their own China-made clippers. Once the target market is identified, the research would also test and uncover the preferred China-made model by their potential customers.

• 10% volume share (20% value share) or 50,000 clippers annually by Y3.
• Identify the target market for China-made clippers in Southeast Asia
• Identify a winning China-made clipper for the target market in Southeast Asia
• Identify communication/marketing strategy to trade up China brand users to client’s China-made clippers

Approach

The study was conducted through a 2-phase study:

Phase 1

15-minute On-site Survey with n=90 per country in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand (Total n=270)

Based on the results from phase 1, the client also decided to focus on 2 target markets: Malaysia and Indonesia for phase 2 of the project.

Phase 2

Face-to-face Focus Group Discussions in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Jakarta, Indonesia

• 3 groups of upgraders and 3 groups of downgraders per country (Total 12 groups)
• In this phase, 3 different China-made clippers were tested in order to determine which clipper was the most preferred. Some visuals were also tested with the customers.

The product test was to test for the most preferred:

• Model of China-made clipper
• Functions of the clippers
• Colour
• Product packaging
• Name of China-made clipper
• Willingness to pay & Pricing
• Advertisements
• Communication channels
• Distribution channels