Insights

The Pricing Question Most Companies Never Ask

Pricing Research

In its simplest form, minimax encourages decision-makers to consider the worst plausible outcome associated with each available option. Rather than focusing exclusively on the most likely result, it asks leaders to understand the downside attached to being wrong. For pricing teams, that perspective can be surprisingly valuable.

In a Tariff Environment, Finding and Protecting Margin Isn’t Optional

Pricing Research, Building & Construction, Chemicals, Consumer & B2B2C, Food & Beverage, Transportation & Logistics

At first glance, pricing in a tariff environment appears straightforward. Input costs rise by 20%, prices rise by 20%, and margins are preserved. The logic is simple and often serves as the foundation for internal pricing discussions. The problem is that customers do not make purchasing decisions based on your cost structure. They make purchasing decisions based on the value they receive and the alternatives available to them.

Martec’s Liam Walsh Named “Rising Star” by WJR and Detroit Economic Club

Private Equity

Liam Walsh, Senior Analyst with The Martec Group, has been named to the 2026 roster of “Rising Stars,” a joint annual recognition presented by the Detroit Economic Club and 760 AM WJR that honors ten leaders under the age of 40 who have made a mark in their respective industries and the communities they serve.

Your Customers Don’t Know What They Would Pay. But That Does Not Mean You Should Stop Asking.

Ask a customer what they would pay for your product and they will almost certainly give you an answer. They will often do so confidently. In fact, many will provide a level of precision that suggests they have carefully thought through the issue before. But there is a fundamental challenge with taking that answer at face value: purchasing decisions rarely occur in the clean, controlled environment in which pricing questions are asked.

WATCH: “Pricing to Win: Position with Precision, Compete with Confidence”

Pricing Research, Consumer & B2B2C, Food & Beverage

Watch the webinar and download the presentation and eBook: "Pricing to Win: Position with Precision, Compete with Confidence." Learn the strategies and methodologies Martec employs to help leadership make confident, data-informed decisions about pricing—including our own proprietary methodology, Benefit Value Analysis.

WEBINAR: “Pricing to Win,” a Live Learning Workshop

Pricing Research, Automotive & Mobility, Building & Construction, Chemicals, Consumer & B2B2C, Food & Beverage

This live learning session covering specific pricing research methodologies will show you how to replace guesswork with a data-informed framework for knowing what your customers will actually pay and what your brand is genuinely worth.

From Signals to Strategy: A Case Study in Extracting Deep Insights from Difficult-to-Reach Audiences

Innovation Research, Strategic Planning, Automotive & Mobility

As outlined in their recently released Voice of Experience Innovators: Mobility 2026 report, the automotive industry is undergoing a fundamental shift, where “software now defines competitive advantage” and brands that align data, architecture, and experience will control long-term value. Understanding how leaders are responding to that shift—across regions, business models, and organizational roles—was the core objective.

Emily Bielak Invited on Podcast to Offer Customer Experience Insights

Customer Experience & Journey Mapping, Emotion Intelligence, Segmentation & Persona Development, Voice of Customer

Martec Director Emily Bielak was recently invited onto the Bullhorns and Bullseyes Podcast to share how brands can learn, understand, and leverage the emotional drivers that decide customer preference, convert customers into advocates, and elevate advocates to "apostles."

WATCH: “Knowing Where to Play (And What it Takes to Win)”

Market Sizing & Opportunity Assessment

Watch the replay of our important learning workshop, “Knowing Where to Play (And What it Takes to Win)” and download the presentation with our 96-page playbook available to anyone who registers for the replay.

When the Market Doesn’t Exist Yet: How to Size What You Can’t See

Market Sizing & Opportunity Assessment, Automotive & Mobility, Building & Construction, Chemicals

A framework for B2B operators and investment teams navigating categories, channels, and applications with no established data trail: Two recent projects that illustrate both the challenge and an approach that required us to build a market that had no clean precedent or available data set to rely on.

Your Market Size Estimate Is Probably Wrong. (And Here’s Why That’s a Problem.)

The problem isn't that companies lack a market size estimate. It's that most have exactly one — a single number, from a single source, validated by nothing but the authority of whoever published the research report. That is not a TAM. That is a placeholder dressed up as a fact.

WEBINAR: “Knowing Where to Play (And What it Takes to Win),” a Live Market Sizing Learning Workshop

Market Sizing & Opportunity Assessment, Private Equity

Join us for a live learning session, “Knowing Where to Play (And What it Takes to Win),” on Thursday, May 14th at 11 a.m. EDT. Register to attend here and download a preview of the session’s study guide, a 96-page playbook available to anyone who registers to attend.

The Feedback Loop is the New Alpha

Customer Experience & Journey Mapping, Innovation Research, Automotive & Mobility, Consumer & B2B2C, Food & Beverage

There is a quiet arms race happening in product development right now, and it has nothing to do with who has the best model, the biggest engineering team, or the most advanced tech stack. The teams pulling ahead, the ones building products that customers actually love, are winning on something deceptively simple: the speed and frequency of their user feedback cycles.

The Impact of AI on Commercial Due Diligence

Commercial Due Diligence, Market Sizing & Opportunity Assessment, Private Equity

This latest installment in our series on CDD is about drawing the line clearly: where AI accelerates CDD, where it creates risk, and where the frontier is heading. Because the firms that get this right will have a genuine edge. And the firms that outsource diligence to a chatbot will learn the hard way that LLMs (Large Language Models) don't have deal judgment, real-time human input from primary research, or accountability to a consultant who is proud to stand behind their conclusions, recommendations, predictions, and advice.

Building for a Leaner Crew: What the Labor Shortage Demands from Product Innovation

Market Sizing & Opportunity Assessment, Pricing Research, Strategic Planning, Building & Construction

The construction industry's workforce gap is accelerating a new era of product development. Here's how manufacturers can get ahead of it: What the labor shortage demands from product innovation...