4.01B Marketing Information
Management
• A system that analyzes and assesses marketing
information, gathered continuously from sources inside
and outside an organization. Timely marketing
information provides basis for decisions such as product
development or improvement,
pricing, packaging, distribution, media selection,
and promotion.
• Can be as simple as a notebook or as complex as having
a computer database
• These systems streamline the process of providing
information  enhancing and promoting the brand
value of the company.
1. Helps owners of the company plan marketing
activities.
2. Helps owners organize and coordinate their
marketing activities.
3. Enables owners to decide on the strategy and control
the dissemination of the strategic direction.
• In order to be successful, a business MUST know its
market!
• Some information is just trash…you spend a lot of time
gathering information that does not amount to
anything.
• Your goal is to find out what catches customer’s
attention
• Marketers sometimes lack enough of the “right” info
• Market research is an orderly, efficient way to learn
about people  those who DO and those who MIGHT
buy from you.
• Ask questions like…
• Who are my customers/potential customers?
• What kind of people are they?
• Where do they live?
• Can/Will they buy?
• Are my promotional programs working?
• What do customers think of my business?
• You can’t ignore companies that produce similar products
 these people ultimately have the capability to compete
with you!
• Ask questions about…
• Financial capabilities
• Indications of current strategy
• What are they doing now?
• Positioning
• How they see themselves/how do others view them
• Strengths/weaknesses
• Business outlook
• Where are the companies heading?
• Think about “what will I do with the information and analysis?”
• It is IMPOSSIBLE to sell people what they don’t want
• Both big and small businesses need to complete
market research to figure out what their customers
want.
• Market research focuses and organizes marketing
information & helps you
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Reduce risk
Spot problems
Identify sales opportunities
Get basic facts about your market
• We know that no marketing activity is carried out in
isolation (remember we’ve learned about the seven
functions and how they operate together, not as a single
function)
• Therefore, MIS does not need to be an infrequent
event but rather a continuous process gathering data
from a variety of sources.
• Answer questions like…
• Who
• Consumes our product? Decides to purchase?
• What
• Products compete with ours? Benefits does the consumer seek?
• Where
• Is the decision made to buy? Do buyers seek product info?
• When
• Do consumers buy?
• Why
• Do consumers buy our product?
• How
• Do customers use our product? Much do customers buy?
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Missed opportunities
Lack of awareness
Makes data collection difficult
Plans/decisions may not be properly reviewed
Studies may not be stored in an easy to use format
Time lags may result
Actions may be reactionary rather than anticipatory
• This network can satisfy the total information needs of
a marketing department
• This network may or may not be computerized (depends
on the firm’s resources & complexity of its needs)
• Three components:
• Continuous monitoring
• Research is done to obtain info on particular marketing issues
• Data warehousing  retention of all types of relevant
company records
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Organized data collection
Broad perspective
Storage of important data
Avoidance of crises
Coordinated marketing plans
Speed in obtaining sufficient information to make
decisions
• Data amassed and kept over several time periods
• Ability to do a cost-benefit analysis
• High initial time
• Labor costs
• Complexity of setting up an information system
1. Internal Company Information
1. Sales, orders, customer profiles, stocks, customer service
reports, etc.
2. Marketing Intelligence
1. Suppliers, customers, distributors (catchall term to include all
the everyday information about developments in the
market)
3. Market Research
1. Businesses undertake specific studies to support their
marketing strategies  cannot always wait for info to
present itself
• Internal vs. External
• Primary vs. Secondary