Gathering Information and Scanning the Environment

Marketing Management, 13th ed3

Chapter QuestionsWhat are the components of a modern marketing information system?What are useful internal records?What is involved in a marketing intelligence system?What are the key methods for tracking and identifying opportunities in the macro environment?What are some important macro environment developments?

MIS Systems Provide Information on Buyer Preferences and Behavior:Duponts Pillow StudyPillow Segments23% - stackers20% - plumpers16% - rollers or folders16% - cuddlers10% - smashers

What is a Marketing Information System (MIS)?A marketing information system consists of people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers.

Table 3.1 Information Needs ProbesWhat decisions do you regularly make?What information do you need to make these decisions?What information do you regularly get?What special studies do you periodically request?What information would you want that you are not getting now?What are the four most helpful improvements that could be made in the present marketing information system?

Internal Records and Marketing IntelligenceOrder-to-PaymentCycleDatabases,Warehousing, Data MiningMarketingIntelligenceSystemSales InformationSystem

Steps to Improve Marketing IntelligenceTrain sales force to scan for new developmentsMotivate channel members to share intelligenceNetwork externallyUtilize a customer advisory panelUtilize government data resourcesPurchase informationCollect customer feedback online

Best Buys Use of MISBest Buy segments its customers into highly differentiated segments known by archetypes like Buzz, Barry, and Jill.

Table 3.2 Secondary Commercial Data SourcesNielsenInformation Resources, Inc.MRCAArbitronSimmonsSAMI/Burke

By clicking on the video icon, you can launch a short video clip about Burkes research process.

Sources of Competitive InformationIndependent customer goods and service review forumsDistributor or sales agent feedback sitesCombination sites offering customer reviews and expert opinionsCustomer complaint sitesPublic blogs

Needs and TrendsFadTrendMegatrend

Trends Shaping the Business LandscapeProfound shifts in centers of economic activityIncreases in public-sector activityChange in consumer landscapeTechnological connectivityScarcity of well-trained talent

Increase in demand for natural resourcesEmergence of new global industry structuresUbiquitous access to informationManagement shifts from art to scienceIncrease in scrutiny of big business practices

Environmental ForcesDemographicEconomicPolitical-LegalSocio-CulturalTechnologicalNatural

Population and DemographicsPopulation growthPopulation age mixEthnic markets

Educational groupsHousehold patternsGeographical shifts

Mattel Markets in China

Population Age Groups

PreschoolSchool-ageTeens 25-4040-6565+

Schwabs Chinese-language Web site

Household Patterns

Economic EnvironmentIncome DistributionSavings, Debt, and Credit

Levis has responded to changes in income distribution by offering an upscale line and a mass market line

Social-Cultural EnvironmentViews of themselvesViews of othersViews of natureViews of organizationsViews of societyViews of the universe

Interest in Nature: A Growing Trend

Table 3.3 Most Popular American Leisure ActivitiesReadingTV watchingSpending time with familyGoing to moviesFishing

Computer activitiesGardeningRenting moviesWalkingExerciseListening to music

Natural EnvironmentShortage of raw materialsIncreasedenergy costsAnti-pollutionpressuresGovernmentalprotections

Toyota Experienced Success with Green Cars

Figure 3.1 Consumer Environmental SegmentsTrue Blue Greens (30%)Greenback Greens (10%)Sprouts (26%)Apathetics (18%)Grousers (15%)

Keys to Avoiding Green Marketing MyopiaConsumer Value PositioningCalibration of Consumer KnowledgeCredibility of Product Claims

Technological EnvironmentPace of changeOpportunitiesfor innovationVarying R&D budgetsIncreased regulationof change

Political-Legal EnvironmentIncrease in business legislationGrowth of specialinterest groups

Marketing DebateIs consumer behavior more a function

of a persons age or generation?

Take a position:Age differences are fundamentally

more important than cohort effects.or2. Cohort effects can dominate age differences.

Marketing DiscussionWhat brands do you feel

successfully speak to you? Effectively target your age group? Which ones do not? What could they do better?

By clicking on the video icon, you can launch a short video clip about Burkes research process.