Let’s get real: most market reports are like weather forecasts from last week. They tell you it rained. Or, if you’re located in Indiana (we are); it rained, had multiple tornado warnings, snowed, and then rebounded to break a record high temp. But when you’re tailoring and steering strategy through stormy markets, you need more than those “insights” with the shelf life of warm sushi.
Enter SMARI: where our custom research isn’t just data, but X-ray vision into what’s about to go down.
Skip the Crystal Ball with Miss Cleo. Get Yourself a Laser Scope.
Custom research isn’t the same as your grandma’s model-based old-school stuff. It’s precision-guided intel, built for your business, your customers, and your decisions. Forget vague trends like “consumers are increasingly health-conscious.” Whether it’s a lack of sleep, the caffeine wearing off, or something else, those five words push me toward a nap. I’d rather have something I can act on. At SMARI, we live in your reality. For 42+ years, we’ve seen ourselves as an extension of your team, not a separate entity.
Here’s what custom research actually gives you:
- Hyper-specific clarity
You’re not guessing what Gen Z might want in six months—you’re hearing it from their own TikTok-weary, new-lingo-having mouths. - Context that actually matters
Because “61% of people like blue packaging” is useless unless you know what they’re buying, where, and why your competitor’s ugly blue box is outselling yours. - Early warnings, not late excuses
Custom research catches the ripples before they become tidal waves. You won’t just ride the trend—you’ll be the lunatic who starts it.
Why Wait for the Market to Netflix your Blockbuster?
If you’re relying on off-the-shelf syndicated or secondary data, you’re already late. Like, pitching Blockbuster at a Netflix watch party.
Want a real-world example with brutal consequences for the non-believers of custom research? Well, let’s stay in the Blockbuster and Netflix lane. The year is 2000, and John Antioco, CEO of Blockbuster, is responsible for overseeing 9,000 stores. Marc Randolph cofounded Netflix with Reed Hastings three years earlier, and their startup was unprofitable. With few options and little to lose, they approached Blockbuster about buying Netflix for $50 million. Led by Antioco—a believer that Netflix was too niche to be successful—Blockbuster execs laughed them out of the boardroom. Trusting their instincts and relying on their knowledge of previous trends, they made the gamble without anything concrete or custom-tailored to the questions they needed to answer. Fast forward to 2025, and Netflix is the 19th most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of more than $500 billion. As for Blockbuster, all that remains are sparse Facebook marketplace listings for memorabilia and the millennial fondness for what that brand meant to our childhoods.
Custom Research = Alignment, But Without the Kumbaya
It’s not just a market Ouija board—it’s a BS filter for internal strategy. When everyone’s got “a hunch” or a “gut feeling” and no two execs agree on the customer, custom research steps in like: “Here’s what the customer actually said, Felicia.”
Now your team’s aligned, focused, and suddenly a lot less annoying in meetings.
If You’re Not Listening, the Market Is Screaming Into the Void
The market’s always whispering. Or yelling. Or passive-aggressively sub-tweeting (or is it sub-x’ing now?). Custom research lets you hear it before the volume gets turned to 11 and your strategy catches fire.
So yeah—skip the fortune cookies and flavorless, tired decks. If you want to see the market move before it leaves you behind, custom research is your unfair advantage.
The Last Word
So yeah—working with SMARI on custom research isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s your secret weapon for dodging disasters before they show up in your KPI’s wearing clown shoes. While your competitors are busy reacting to yesterday’s trends like it’s breaking news, you’re making tidal waves with tomorrow’s cheat codes. It’s smarter, faster, and way less embarrassing than explaining to leadership why you bet the budget on a hunch. Bottom line? Ditch the guesswork—predict the shift, don’t just survive it.
TL;DR?
Generic research tells you what just happened.
Custom research tells you what’s about to slap you in the face.
You choose.
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SMARI is an award-winning Indiana-based market research consultancy that was founded in 1983 with the idea of guiding change and inspiring confidence. We are proud to work with SMEs as well as a variety of Fortune 500 brands. We are powered by our core values: integrity, community, perseverance, trust, passion, curiosity, and innovation. SMARI’s expertise includes full project scopes, including instrument design, sampling & fielding services, reporting & analysis in Healthcare, CPG, Retail, Food & Beverage, Manufacturing, Financial Services industries, and beyond. Much has changed in our 40+ years, but our tagline and overarching mission remain the same—to guide change and inspire confidence. Start a conversation with us at www.SMARI.com.
