The 20th century saw an explosion of the manufacturing capacity with global production levels reaching new highs every decade. Technology has led the way to greater and greater levels of productivity, a wider range of goods and an abundance of places in which to purchase products and services.

Yet, with all this progress, companies the world over struggle to understand what customers will buy next. Our research focuses on three distinct areas:

• Understanding your Customer Value Proposition
• Increasing customer service levels
• Developing customer intellegence

Items of our research agenda include issues resulting from the impact of disintermediation and reintermediation in the B2B, B2C, C2C marketplaces. This research is for bankers, retailers, e-tailors, manufacturing companies, technology providers, consulting companies and e-commerce portal providers who are looking for new ideas to rethink the relationship between the consumer and products, the fundamentals of branding in the new economy and the effects of globalization.

Topics include: globalization, branding, co-operative partnerships, demographics, cultural impacts and the nature of competition.

In 2008, Maris Strategies helped the African Banking Corporation redesign its brand image in Southern Africa, by offering a research report on market segmentation in banking in Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.