Market Analysis
Market analysis is used at all stages of product and business development, from conception and design through sales, delivery, and follow-up evaluations. It can help project the potential demand for a technology, identify specific market segments and customers and identify product-design features that customers need. Market analysis can help predict the economic viability of the product or service prior to development as well as help evaluate customer reaction to product performance and identify needed adjustments.
This section introduces a number of tools that can assist technology developers, remediation contractors, and investors define and quantify the market needs in a technology area, pertinent market segments, and specific customers and their needs. The section is divided into four topics listed in the box to the left.
Return to topMarket Analysis Concepts and Techniques
Market analysis contributes to all the steps in a business from the initial determination of customer needs to final delivery of a product or service and performance evaluation. It can be divided into the following general functions:
Market Research
Market research entails identifying potential customers and their needs. It strives to develop a thorough understanding of the industries in which the potential customers operate, the regulatory environment, and competing products and services. Market research involves systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of data related to the marketing of goods and services. It employs a variety of different types of activities, such as analysis of industry data, demographic data, competitor activities, and customer surveys. Marketing research is an organized way of finding objective answers to questions every business must answer to succeed, such as:
- Who are my customers and potential customers?
- Where are they located?
- Can and will they buy?
- Am I offering the kinds, quantities, and quality of goods or services they want?
- Are my prices consistent with buyers' perceptions of the product's value?
- Are my promotional programs working?
- What do customers think of my technology and business?
- Who are my competitors?
- How does my technology and business compare with alternative technologies and competitors?
Market research deals with people and their constantly changing preferences and actions, which can be affected by numerous influences. Because many of these influences cannot be quantified, market research is not an exact science. It does, however, seek to gather facts and opinions in an orderly, objective way; describe how things are regardless of any preconceived notions; and estimate what people want to buy, not just what you want to sell them.
Marketing Strategy Development
A marketing strategy includes the identification of customer groups which the technology or business can serve better than its competitors and a plan for tailoring its product offerings, prices, distribution, promotional efforts and services towards that particular market segment. Ideally, the strategy should try to address customer needs which are not being met in the market place and which have the potential for enough demand to justify development costs. A good strategy will recognize the resource limitations of a particular small business, or business unit within a large company, as well as existing and evolving regulatory requirements. Thus, a business must use the market information and its own capabilities to focus on the market segments it can serve best.
Identification of Specific Markets to Serve
Given the limitations of a technology and a business, marketing efforts usually need to concentrate on specific market segments. The following are examples of ways to segment a market:
- Geographical segmentation. Specialize in serving customers in a particular geographical area; e.g., areas that correspond to a government authority such as a state, EPA Region or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers district, or types of climate or land use.
- Customer segmentation. Identify and promote to those groups most likely to buy the product. In other words, address the heavy users before trying to develop new users. In the market for remediation technologies, customer segmentation can take a number of forms.
- Type of site (e.g., landfill, gas station, underground storage tank)
- Stage of process (e.g., site investigation, remedy design)
- Ownership (e.g., DOD, DOE, other federal, private entity, local government)
- Industry or process causing pollution (e.g., organic chemicals, heavy metals, groundwater, soil)
- Regulatory authority (e.g., CERCLA, RCRA, state)
- Type of contamination and media (e.g., organic chemicals, heavy metals, groundwater, soil)
- Climate (e.g., arid, temperate)
- Type of contract (e.g., prime contracts versus subcontracts)
- Product or Service. Link marketing efforts to related existing products and services, such as site investigations or remedy design (e.g., an improvement on a known groundwater treatment technology, improved modeling tools for conceptual site models).
Integration of Marketing Decisions
The efforts in market research, strategy development and segmentation all are combined into a market plan which should address five key decision areas in a marketing program:
- Products and Services. Description of the specific products and services.
- Intended Customers. Description of intended customers to help focus design and marketing efforts.
- Promotion. Type of advertising, sales, proposals, and other promotional activities.
- Pricing. Anticipated price levels and pricing policies (including credit policy). Consider the effect of discounting policies, volume discounts, special strategies for government contracts, total cost to the customer, and the cost of competing and complimentary products.
- Distribution Approach. Distribute products or services through subcontractors, prime contractors, or your own personnel.
Resources for Market Analysis Concepts and Techniques
The following resources provide information about basic concepts and techniques in marketing and market analysis. Although the emphasis is on small business applications, the material is also applicable to product development in larger organizations.
U.S. Small Business Administration: Marketing Plan Workbook
This training module is part of a series of workshops on business development education. It presents the purpose and contents of the marketing plan. Examples of topics covered include the purpose of and strategies for conducting market research, identifying the target market and competition, defining the products and services to be offered, and developing a marketing budget and pricing and promotion approaches.
SBA Online Publications on Market Analysis and Other Business Topics
This web site offers many articles and reports on market analysis and planning and other aspects of starting and running a business, such as market research and competitive analysis and business planning.
Related Links:
Return to topResources for the Domestic Remediation Market
Cleaning Up the Nation's Waste Sites: Markets and Technology Trends
This study describes the future demand for remediation services in all of the major cleanup programs in the U.S., including Superfund, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action, underground storage tanks, state programs, and federal agencies such as the Departments of Defense and Energy (DOD and DOE). The data on each program include the number of sites that remain to be cleaned up, general site and waste characteristics, and other factors that affect the demand for remediation services. While the report considers a broad range of remediation services required in the future, its purpose is to provide insight into the potential application of new treatment technologies.
Superfund Remedy Report
EPA prepares the Superfund Remedy Report to provide information and analyses on remedies EPA has selected to address contamination at Superfund National Priorities List and Superfund Alternative Approach sites. The 2017 edition is the latest in a series, prepared since 1991, on Superfund remedy selection. The latest edition focuses on the analysis of Superfund remedial actions selected in fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Technologies for Cleaning Up Contaminated Sites
EPA uses a variety of technologies to ensure contaminants are either removed from a site or treated so they no longer pose a threat to human health and the environment. These web pages provide information for technical staff, regulators, site owners and researchers to help identify contaminants and assess their potential threats, characterize and investigate sites, and treat or remove contaminants.
Environmental Business International Inc.
Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI) is a publishing and research company that generates strategic market intelligence on emerging opportunities in the environmental industry, climate change industry, and the green economy. It produces a number of fee-based information products and services, including business newsletters, data packs, in-depth reports, and conferences on environmental markets and export opportunities for environmental technology. These products include market data and analyses of both the domestic and international remediation market. Users may inquire about purchasing data packs for specific issues, which would obviate the need to purchase more information than needed.
Defense Environmental Programs: Annual Report to Congress
The Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) Annual Report to Congress chronicles the efforts and progress of the Department of Defense in cleaning up contamination resulting from military activities. The report addresses programs, policies, and funding as well as details on sites and installations by military component (Army, Navy, Air Force) and special programs (Formerly Used Defense Sites, Base Realignment and Closures, and Military Munitions Response Program).
This Web site also includes an additional resource by providing a variety of helpful fact sheets on DERP status and progress, and by offering a wide range of search vehicles to generate reports, maps, and inventories of the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP). See the "Search the ARC" link below.
Related Links:
- Search the ARC
- Army Cleanup Program (also called Army's Environmental Restoration Program)
- Naval Facilities Engineering Command
- Air Force Installations, Environment & Logistics
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Environmental Programs
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Environmental Programs Contracting Opportunities
Central Internet Database (CID-DOE)
The Department of Energy's (DOE) Central Internet Database (CID) is a gateway to waste management and facility information from current and archived data sources. The current version of the CID provides DOE information in the form of standard and archived CID reports and in links to other DOE data reporting systems. Go to the CID Reports section to view all the reports available. A summary of the most recent changes and data updates to the CID is posted in the What's New section.
Department of Energy Budget Documents
The Department of Energy (DOE) has made its budget requests for energy and environmental programs to Congress (1999 to the present) available to the public in PDF files.
Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable
The Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable (FRTR) is an interagency executive committee made up of Federal agencies with hazardous waste cleanup responsibilities, including NASA, the EPA and the DOD. The Roundtable was created to facilitate the exchange of information and provide a forum for joint action regarding the development and demonstration of innovative technologies for hazardous waste remediation. This website provides access to FRTR products and publications.
National Technical Information Service Bibliographic Data Base
National Technical Information Service (NTIS) maintains the nation's single largest resource for government-funded scientific, technical, engineering and business related information. It contains over 3 million publications from more than 200 federal agencies in excess of 350 fields.
United States Patent and Trademark Office Search
Through the issuance of patents, the United States Patent and Trademark Office Search (USPTO) encourages technological advancement by providing incentives to invent, invest in, and disclose new technology worldwide. Through the registration of trademarks, the agency assists businesses in protecting their investments, promoting goods and services, and safeguarding consumers against confusion and deception in the marketplace. By disseminating both patent and trademark information, the USPTO promotes an understanding of intellectual property protection and facilitates the development and sharing of new technologies worldwide.
Resources for the Export Remediation Market
Environmental Exporters Portal, U.S. Department of Commerce
The Environmental Exporters Portal provides resources to help U.S. manufacturers and service companies in the environmental technologies sector compete in global markets.
Trade Compliance Program, International Trade Administration
The Trade Compliance Center (TCC) of the International Trade Administration helps U.S. exporters receive the fullest benefits from the more than 200 trade agreements the United States has concluded. The program helps make trade agreements work for American exporters and investors. Its officers work to eliminate foreign government-imposed trade barriers by supporting U.S. efforts to negotiate new international trade agreements, and by working to ensure that existing agreements deliver the market access and fair treatment promised.
Trade and Related Agreements Database
The Trade and Related Agreements Database (TARA) includes active, binding agreements between the United States and its trading partners covering manufactured products and services (see Site Map for disclaimers). It is designed to provide the public with information on agreements currently in force and does not include agriculture agreements. For information on agricultural trade issues, please contact the. U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Trade Assistance Web site, International Trade Administration
This web site contains many articles and sources of assistance for market research, business practices and financing for export.
Environmental Technology Networks, U.S. Agency for International Development Global Technology Network
The Global Technology Network (GTN) assists U.S. businesses in gaining access to Latin American, Asian, African and other international environmental markets by providing current trade and business leads and market information. The Environmental Technology Networks for Asia and the Americas (ETNA) assist the U.S. business community in gaining access to global environmental and energy markets by providing trade leads and market information. In partnership with in-country technical representatives, the U.S.-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP), U.S. Department of Commerce, and other professional groups, GTN works to gather the most current business information concerning infrastructure projects, wastewater treatment systems, and other developments anticipated to have a positive impact on the environment.
Related Links:
U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of International Trade
Finding overseas markets, dealing with the initial complexities of exporting, and financing export sales are some of the challenges facing smaller firms seeking to participate in international trade. To help firms meet these challenges, the U.S. Small Business Administration offers aid to current and potential small exporters through two major programs: business development assistance and financial assistance. These programs are provided through SBA's network of field offices around the country.
Environment in Asia
The Environment in Asia web site is produced and funded by AET Ltd. It is a freely accessible service to give viewers around the world a by-country and regional introduction to the "business of the environment" and "environmental issues in business", around Asia. It also acts as a networking center by offering contact details for relevant organizations (e.g., Environment Ministries around Asia) and links to related websites. This site features a by-country introduction to the region's emerging and developed markets: air, water, solid waste and environmental services.
UK Department for International Trade, Environment Sector: Export Help
The Department for International Trade helps UK companies sell products and services to the overseas environmental sector by working with the main industry bodies and stakeholders, promoting the UK's environment sector overseas, helping to develop the UK's supply chain by working with the sector, making it easier for companies to access overseas markets, and bringing major overseas opportunities to the attention of UK companies.
Reference Report on the Management of Contaminated Sites in Europe
This report presents the current state of knowledge on the management of contaminated sites in Europe and supports the EU Soil Thematic Strategy. In order to track the progress of the management of contaminated sites, the new report summarizes the information obtained from National Reference Centres for Soil that belong to the European Environment Information and Observation Network (EIONET). The report outlines the following findings:
- There are an estimated 2.5 million potentially contaminated sites in Europe, where soil contamination is suspected and detailed investigations are needed.
- Of the circa 115,000 contaminated sites that have already been identified in Europe, nearly half of them (46%) have already been remediated.
- Contaminated sites are mainly managed using 'traditional' techniques such as excavation and off-site disposal, which together account for about one third of management practices.
- Mining activities, metal industries and gasoline stations are the most frequently reported sources of soil and groundwater contamination. However, the range of polluting activities varies considerably from country to country.
- The most frequently occurring contaminants, are mineral oils and heavy metals.
- Annual national expenditure for the management of contaminated sites is on average about €10 per capita.
Since the last data request in 2006, nine countries have established new policy targets relating to the management of Contaminated Sites, and in total 17 countries report official policy targets in this area.
Global Markets for Environmental Remediation Technologies
This BCC Research company report analyzes the global market for environmental remediation technologies ($65.2 billion in 2016) and projected trends, including:
- An overview of the global markets for environmental remediation technologies ($65.2 billion in 2016).
- Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2016, estimates for 2017 and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2022 (4.0%).
- A detailed discussion of technological categories in their current state, as well as future developments.
- Applications for these categories, including soil remediation, groundwater remediation, and surface water remediation.
- Insight into the regulatory framework in which the industry must operate.
- Evaluation of key and relevant patents.
Environmental Business International Inc.
Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI) is a publishing and research company that generates strategic market intelligence on emerging opportunities in the Environmental Industry and related topics. It produces a number of fee-based information products and services, including market data and analyses of the U.S. and world-wide remediation market, which also addresses export opportunities for environmental technology. Potential users may inquire about purchasing data packs for specific issues, which would obviate the need to purchase more information than needed.