As the parent of a 3-year old boy and 2-year old girl, I often hear the phrase “The days are long and the years go quick” and the very same can be said for the parent of a 15-year old company. Like you, my day calendar is packed with meetings, phone calls, tasks, and projects, and after 365 of those days, I lifted my head and couldn’t help but think that 2017 went by awfully quick.
A lot has happened in the last 365 days.
In January 2017, gap intelligence kicked-off the year with a number of internal and external initiatives that aligned with our Hedgehog* (aka mission statement), which is to “Bring Great Data to Life”.
Bring Great Data to Life: With Software
To help us better collect and report great data, our software team built systems that add multiple layers of quality control to our giant database of information. The software team also invested in improving our online data collection platform that allows us to capture more data points, more frequently, while maintaining our OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Data) level of accurate, timely, and comprehensive standards.
Our software team also focused on how to better bring our data to life. In October, we released a series of “Cards” as additions to our new online Dashboard. The new Cards focus on advertising and product presence and allow you to easily create charts, graphs, and tables populated with our freshest data. With the addition of our new Cards, all 4Ps of Marketing (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) are now represented on our Dashboard. Pricing trend lines can be created with our Merchant Pricing Trends Card, promotions data can be sorted through our Custom Data Downloads Card, and now advertising and product presence can be summarized with our two new Cards. To learn about our new Dashboard enhancements, check out the blog I just wrote!
The software team also redesigned our Market Intelligence Reports and our industry leading Total Cost of Ownership (gapTCO) calculator received a complete face-lift. Look at how pretty gapTCO is now:
Bring Great Data to Life: With People
Our Research Group added two new product categories to our portfolio of Market Intelligence Services including Vacuum Cleaners and PC Monitors. We also started capturing important new data points, such as Best Buy’s Daily Deal promotions that help our clients answer questions such as “Why are our sales going up or down?” The Research Group also expanded its global coverage of Wholesale Cost to Copier Dealers to now include Canada, Italy, Germany, France, Australia, and the United Kingdom, in joining our US dealer cost service.
Behind the scenes, we combined two separate data and analyst teams into one Research Group. Clients, who have historically worked with just their category analyst, will now also be supported by a dedicated product category Data Specialist. Much like our Analysts, our team of Data Specialists serve to be an extension of our clients’ research departments and as a resource that clients can count on to answer market questions through data. While this change may not be evident on the surface, our restructuring results in being even better at bringing Great Data to Life.
2017 & Beyond
From a business perspective, gap intelligence saw record growth both in terms of revenue and the number of gappers who are on the team. While we are happy with our business growth, we are most proud of the contribution that we made to our local community. In May 2017, our annual “Drives4Rides” golf tournament to benefit the Emilio Nares Foundation raised a record $88,000 that will help navigate 125 San Diego families through their child’s journey with cancer. Our Sixth Annual Drives for Rides Golf Tournament will be on May the 4th, 2018. We're always looking for sponsors, donations, and ofcourse golfers to help us raise funds to help 125 San Diego families get their kids to and from the treatments they need to fight this horrible fight.
We have already put shovels in the dirt on new projects for 2018. In April, we plan to launch two new Market Intelligence categories including Cooktops & Wall Ovens and Voice Assistant Speakers. Around Q3 2018, we plan to launch a completely new business unit that extends our best in class data collection & reporting to an entirely different use case. We can’t tell you what it is right now, but you’ll hear alot about gap intelligence this summer.
By focusing on what we do best (Bringing Great Data to Life), we are excited for 2018 and hope you join us for a fun, rewarding, and fast year! That success is largely dependent on your feedback. It’s been our clients who have given the feedback to make our Dashboard even better and our clients who have shared their thoughts on what information is important to them today and tomorrow. Please keep that feedback coming! I strongly encourage you to talk with a “gapper” and let them know what is driving your business and how we can be of greater value to you. You can also email me at gary@gapintelligence.com, hit me on twitter (@garyatgap) or just give me a call at 619-574-1100. I’d love to hear from you.
Best wishes from our team at gap intelligence for a healthy and successful 2018.
– The "gap" Man
* If you have not read the book Good to Great, we highly recommend it. The book’s philosophy is one of the pillars of gap intelligence.
