Research 101: Applying case study analysis for content creation

Ah, the beloved case study analysis. If you ever took business when you were in school the odds are you’ve likely heard this term before. Although, if business was mandatory or an elective for you, odds are might you either loved or hated case study analysis.

We hope it’s the latter because we’re about to dive into the topic and explain how we use its principles in our content creation. Not to worry though, you won’t be tested on this afterwards, so sit back and enjoy!

What is a case study analysis?

First of all, we should define what a case study is.  According to Ashford University, a case study analysis requires you to investigate (but is not limited to) a business problem, examine alternative solutions, and propose the most effective solution using supporting evidence.  

So how do we apply the principles of case study analysis to our content generation?

From case study to insights

If you’ve been following us through our blog or on social media, you’d know that we collect data in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry in order to accelerate our clients’ time to insights. This is where the case study principles start to come into play.

When learning how to write a case study it’s important to examine the case and determine where you want to focus your analysis on. Similarly, we do the same when we look at CPG markets.

We’ll look at markets that we believe are largely untapped, have the potential for new innovations, or investigate how new trends could influence the industry.

One way we do this by looking at our data results that our member base gives us when they answer our surveys. Once we’ve gathered this data, we’ll cross-reference these insights and see how they could provide solutions to a specific industry.

Case study, to insights, to content

Now that we have our insights gathered and we’re ready to make educated conclusions, we’ll take the principles of case study analysis and apply it to our content creation.

Introduction & Background

In this phase, we’ll set the scene with the information we know about the industry such as the market size, trends, and revenue. From there we’ll examine some problems or situations that impact the industry. For example, these may be decreased consumer spending, changing demographics or environmental impacts.

Evaluation of the case

From there we’ll see what our data provides and how our insights could benefit the industry. For example, we compared consumers who consume cannabis and drink beer. While the industry indicated consumer interest in cannabis-infused beer, our data showed that millennial males would be the best demographic to target this innovation.

Proposed solution or changes

Sometimes secondary research doesn’t show innovations or trends that an industry could benefit from. This is when we at Caddle shine! One of the goals of our survey is to find insights that suggest innovations that haven’t hit the market yet.

It’s important to ensure that these solutions are specific and realistic. Take for example half loaves of bread. Many European countries sell loaves of bread for half the size, and our survey members showed an interest in this innovation. Introducing this innovation into the North American market could help reduce food waste.

Recommendations

When finalizing our “case study” we provide suggestions for which innovation would equally benefit both the industry and the consumer. This could be through gaining brand loyalty, developing a competitive edge, or implementing environmentally friendly initiatives.

That’s a wrap

In this short little lesson, we’ve taught you how we apply case study analysis when creating content. With its principles, we’re able to compare our data to secondary research and examine how our insights suggest innovations that could benefit a market in the CPG industry. 

Don’t worry about spending time using case study analysis yourself, Caddle is here to accelerate your time to insights! If you are looking for insights that could benefit your industry, fill out the form below and we’d be happy to see how we can help.

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