Esmerk
Global Business Information Provider
Up-to-date, accurate business information is vital to the success of any business.
In any business industry it can literally mean the difference between success and failure in securing new contracts, allowing companies ‘in the know’ to keep that all-important one step ahead of the competition. Esmerk, a supplier of abstracted business information had over ten years’ experience. With a growing client list of key industry players it was well placed to understand the information needs of global businesses.
Information provided by Esmerk could cover every aspect of a global industry including competitor activity and contracts, the regulatory environment and a global project monitor. Relevant information was then presented under a series of agreed report sections. Information was gathered from sources throughout the world covering both established and developing markets. Esmerk had expanded its coverage of emerging markets, including the BRIC countries, ensuring that clients were also kept constantly abreast of developments in these vital areas.
The information was gathered by a team of 150 multilingual analysts, all of whom were graduates, many with a business background. They scoured sources from over 130 different markets written in 30 different languages to find the news that was relevant.
The information was then supplied in concise abstracts as a daily overview, providing busy senior personnel with accurate business information that could be read in minutes, saving many hours, or even days of research. For each client industry Esmerk established an information profile that would typically include core areas of business including monitoring of competitors, key clients/prospects and the regulatory environment. From this, reports were tailored to ensure that recipients had the key information they required to do their job without having to wade through reams of irrelevant material. For example, different reports could be compiled to meet the requirements of, for example, marketing, procurement and the CEO’s office.
Providing abstracts or summarised versions of the original information had several advantages for clients. Esmerk’s analysts did not just find the information and forward it, they also reviewed and summarised the data, abstracting only the relevant information. Duplication was eliminated, irrelevant material in longer articles was omitted and a summary provided in English, even if the original article was in a foreign language.
Monitoring covered general and business newspapers, magazines, the trade press and hundreds of web sources and press releases. These sources were all in the public domain. However, while it would be possible for companies to access this information directly, the sheer volume of information available made in-house research almost impossible without a large team of dedicated resources. Even using the services of a data aggregation company could result in information overload, as these companies generally just forwarded or gave access to articles against a set of requirements, without reviewing or summarising the information.
Abstracted business information offered a cost-effective alternative to both in-house research and data aggregation services.
Esmerk, founded in 1975, was a subsidiary of the European media group, SanomaWSOY, providing a business information service that was tailored to the needs of people and departments within all industries and companies, delivered daily via email or company intranets in an easy-to-read format containing all the key data they need to keep ahead of the competition.
In 2012 Esmerk was acquired by M-Brain for around 21Million Euros. M-Brain was Finland’s leading competitive intelligence company specialising in the monitoring and analysis of online and media content.
