Market Data Platform Study

Objective

The objective of this study was to understand how professionals access and use thought leadership content on market data platforms. We focused on discovery channels, engagement drivers, trust signals and what makes content feel relevant in real decision environments. The goal was to help the client improve impact, not just output.

The Challenge

Condensate management rarely becomes a priority until something breaks, fails an audit, or triggers discharge risk. Add regional differences in standards and enforcement and it becomes difficult to build one clear growth plan.

Key challenges included:

Regulatory Variation Standards and enforcement differed by geography and sometimes within the same region, changing how buyers evaluated solutions.
Fragmented Buying Journeys The market had many suppliers, inconsistent claims and strong distributor influence, which shaped what customers saw, compared and trusted.

Our Approach

We treated thought leadership consumption as a behaviour pattern, not a content preference survey.
Here’s how we did it:

Audience Interviews Conducted interviews with a balanced sample across senior executives, investment professionals, strategists, analysts and marketing leaders.
Global Coverage Covered global regions including the UK, EMEA, North America and Asia Pacific.
Benchmark Inclusion Included both the client’s customers and competitor customers to enable honest benchmarking.
Behaviour Exploration Explored end-to-end behaviour: discovery, click triggers, credibility checks, internal sharing and real usage in decision-making.

The Outcome

The study helped the client move from a general push for “more thought leadership” to clearer decisions on what to publish, how to package it and where it should show up. It clarified which formats and depth levels work best by role, highlighted the trust signals that drive engagement and reduce scepticism and provided practical direction on distribution so content appears naturally in the channels professionals already use. It also offered a competitive view of where the client’s content already felt strong and where sharper differentiation was needed.

Client Remarks