Students analysed brand positioning and developed a marketing analytics toolkit for Alma Media

Otso Lammi and Linh Nguyen, Master’s students in Business Analytics at the School of Business, together with Alma Media carried out an extensive brand positioning and customer demographic analysis of two car marketplaces: Nettiauto and Autotalli.com. 

The aim of the project was to address the unique situation where Alma Media owns two of the top brands in the car marketplace business segment. To continue developing the brands while keeping the overlap in mind Alma Media needed to gain further information on how the marketplaces differ from each other in terms of their target groups and user preferences. The project is the latest in a series of student business projects commissioned by Alma Media since 2019 as a part of an ongoing partnership with Aalto University.

The Aalto University team conducted extensive background research, aided by the expert insight from Alma Media’s team, and combined this with cutting edge marketing analytics methods. This was done by utilizing multiple linear regression and clustering methods on Alma Media’s data and supporting the analysis with additional research of external sources. 

The outcome of the project was a report detailing the data analysis results relating to the customer demographics, segments, and behavior for both platforms, which were combined into actionable insights for Alma Media. The project’s findings were also presented in a detailed presentation to Alma Media’s team.

‘The study provided us with highly interesting insights, offering further support to our strategic choices,’ says Kirsikka Isohanni, Business Director of Mobility Marketplaces at Alma Media.

Utilizing the analysis methods on a real-world case

It was inspiring for the students to see how the theories and methods taught to them during lectures could be utilized to solve a real-world business research question. ‘What made the project extra special was that we had the unique opportunity to deep dive into two of the segment's top services, a rare advantage that is seldom available for comparisons of this type. I feel like my professional skills have grown in a new way both in terms of analytics and turning the analytics into actionable insights thanks to the challenge,’ Otso Lammi says. 

Working with Alma Media's vast data sets was both a demanding and rewarding experience. ‘Delving deep in data analysis, I moved beyond basic tools to expand my skills and think more strategically. This project was more than an academic exercise; it was a true test of our ability to deliver value in a real-world setting. I am proud of the work we accomplished and thankful for the experience, which has prepared me for the complexities of crafting data-driven strategies in my future career,’ Linh Nguyen says.

Project supervisor Johanna Frösén, Associate Professor of Marketing, provided the students with invaluable support in identifying the right tools for the brand positioning analysis and interpreting the results through the lens of the latest marketing research insights. ‘The great collaboration with both Alma Media’s team and our supervisor ensured the project ran smoothly while also providing both valuable results for Alma and valuable experience for us,’ Otso and Linh comment.

‘In the era of growing datasets and fast-paced development of business analytics, experimenting with data has become an increasingly important source of ideas and insights. The project provided the participating students a unique opportunity to combine their marketing knowledge and expertise in analytics to creatively solve a real-life business problem,’ says Johanna Frösén.