Marketing 1.05 MIM
Three types of information used in
marketing decision making
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Customer
Marketing mix
Business Environment
Customer Information
• Age
• Gender
• Income
• Education
• Family size
• Home
ownership
• Address
• Occupation
• How money • Brand
is spent
• Attitudes
• Primary
needs
• Product
purchases
• Purchase
frequency
preferences
• Information
needs
• Media
preferences
• Shopping
behavior
Marketing Mix
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Basic Products
Product Features
Services
Product packaging
Guarantees
Repairs
Credit Choice
Discounts
Promotion Methods
Business Environment
• Type of competition • New technology
• Competitors’
• Consumer protection
strengths
• Ethical issues
• Competitors’
• Tax policies
strategies
• Proposed laws
• Economic conditions • International
• Government
markets
regulations
Why is Marketing Information Needed?
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To identify:
1. potential customers
2. potential products
3. marketing opportunities
4. solve marketing problems
5. implement marketing plans
6. monitor marketing performance.
The Impact of Marketing Information
on Marketers
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Marketing research is used when a business
needs to solve problems.
Helps answer questions about what to
produce, at what price to sell the products,
who will buy the products, and how to
promote the products
Helps businesses plan their future operations to
increase sales and profits.
Understand markets.
Ways Marketers Use Marketing
Information
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Analysis----the process of summarizing, combining, or comparing
information so that decisions can be made.
Analysis example:
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Product Example: Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine—13 years of market research
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Planning a promotional budget
Analyzing the effectiveness of one retailer in a channel of distribution
Analyzing the costs of marketing activities for national and international activities
Develop product
Test package design
Hold pilot sales in large cities to test market first
Track what is happening in current markets
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Determine major competitors
What major competitors are offering
Which products consumers prefer
Customer satisfaction with product
Information contained in sales and
expense reports that is monitored for
marketing decision-making.
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Market Share Analysis — the percentage of all sales within a
market that is held by one brand / product or company. Normally
measured by sales revenue (dollars sold) or sales volume (the
number of units sold)
Sales Volume Analysis — A detailed study of an organization's
sales, in terms of units or revenue, for a specified period .
Accounting Information analyzed
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Sales
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Spending/Costs to produce and sell products
Profitability/ Sales – Total Costs
How much did they have to discount the product to achieve the sale?
What expenses went into each sale?
Inventory/How much product is left in inventory
Payroll
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How much commission did they have to pay the sales rep?
Information in reports provided by
salespeople that is monitored for use in
marketing decision-making.
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Request & Complaint reports/products customers requested
and problems customers reported
Lost sales reports/ cancelled orders or under stocked items
Call reports/what happened in each sales call
Activity reports/ all travel, phone calls and in person sales
calls for a given period of time
Retail audits to measure market sales, competitor’s sales,
market share, prices, special offers, stock levels by week or day
Product information reports– types of products that sell best
at various times of year; colors or sizes of products customers
prefer
Information about customers that is
monitored for marketing decisionmaking.
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Demographic data (age, gender, ethnicity, job, income, marital
status)
Buying habits (time of day, repeat products purchased, amount
spent on each transaction—full price or on sale, types of products)
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Ex: Diapers and beer purchased by men on Thursdays and Saturdays
Ex: Saturday is when most people do major grocery shopping
Credit record: do customers pay their bills on time
Customer requests (what products or varieties are requested that
you don’t carry)
Receipts (is a certain neighborhood or ZIP code frequenting your
establishment more than others)
Explain information about competitors
that is monitored for marketing
decision-making.
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USP’s (unique selling points) of our product vs.
competition to find our advantage. Is that
advantage sustainable, (long lasting)?
Financial records for public companies that you
compete with (i.e. annual reports)
Insight into competitors’ strengths, weaknesses,
and future plans (new products, marketing
campaigns)
Market share analysis
Sales volume data
Procedures for identifying information to
monitor for marketing decision-making.
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Identify data needed for decision-making
Create a plan for collecting, storing and analyzing
that data
Compile a list of secondary sources of data
Retrieve the data you need
Analyze/use data to make decisions