Imagine this. You’re the Head of Strategy at a mid-sized company. One morning, your CEO walks in and says: We need to expand into Southeast Asia. Where do we start? You don’t yet have survey results. You don’t have time for focus groups or interviews. But you do have something that is potentially very powerful at your fingertips: Desk Research. Desk Research: The Hidden Gem of...

Imagine this. You’re the Head of Strategy at a mid-sized company. One morning, your CEO walks in and says: We need to expand into Southeast Asia. Where do we start? You don’t yet have survey results. You don’t have time for focus groups or interviews. But you do have something that is potentially very powerful at your fingertips: Desk Research. Desk Research: The Hidden...

Every market is like a long book. Some pages are highlighted: the obvious trends, the loud competitors, the products everyone copies. Other pages are underlined: the mainstream needs, the predictable demands, the ideas that already existed somewhere else. But the most interesting part of any book isn’t the highlighted lines. It’s the margin notes, the subtle clues scribbled on the...