One of the most important things that a start-up company must do before launching a product or service is understand its market. To be successful, company executives must ask themselves, "What does the market really need?" and "What don’t we know about our prospective customers?" The only way to get this information is through a sincere evaluation of the marketplace. This presentation, delivered by John Fox of John Fox Market Research, discusses the basics of market research, defining the various types of market intelligence that can help companies meet the needs and expectations of their customers while discussing how the Web has changed the game. Fox also shares multiple case histories of how market research helped companies test concepts and identify trends, pinpoint and overcome market challenges, uncover new opportunities and establish successful marketing and branding strategies.