Marketing Information Management
By: Carmen Connolly
a. Define the following terms: marketing information, marketing-information management system, and marketing research.
Marketing information: marketing data that is available from inside and outside a business that has been processed and organized in a useful way. Marketing-information management system: an organized way of continually gathering, sorting, analyzing, evaluating, and distributing marketing information. Marketing research: a component of marketing information management that consists of systematic gathering, recording,and analyzing data about a specific marketing problem or situation. b. Describe the need of marketing information. Businesses need marketing information to make educated decisions, solve problems efficiently, and plan for the future. It helps marketers learn about the markets they serve, what products are working and why. Marketing information also helps marketers understand what has happened in the past, what is going on now, and what to expect in the future. Data can also be collected about competitors, what they are doing and what they are offering. By analyzing this data correctly, marketers are able to increase their business's’ profits by improving sales and reducing losses. c. Classify types of marketing information as primary or secondary. Primary information: This information is developed from data collected for use in a particular situation. It is often used to solve a problem, explore an opportunity, or for any other specific purpose. Secondary information: This information comes from data that has already been collected for other purposes. Secondary information is often favored by marketers because the data can be obtained quickly and less expensively than primary and specific data. d. Describe the types of information marketers should obtain. Marketers should obtain both information that is specific to the task at hand and that is cost effective, For more, see question h. e. Categorize internal sources of marketing information. A good internal source of data is often an enterprise resource planning system. This system consists of a database that holds all of the facts and figures that are generated during normal business operations. This data might include operating data, sales reports, and inventory data. f. Discuss external sources of marketing information. External data comes from sources that are outside the business. Some common ways of acquiring this data is through the chamber of commerce, federal and state planning agencies, trade journals, online databases, and commercial services. Another common way to obtain external data is by conducting marketing research which is a systematic gathering of data about specific problems. g. Explain why marketers should collect information. It is important for marketers to collect information because the data that is gathered can by analyzed to create formats or ideas that are useful to a business. Without truthful information, no positive changes could be made to a business. h. Describe the characteristics of useful marketing information. Marketers need information that has 7 specific qualities. Organized: Marketing information needs to be precise, exact, and easy-to-understand. Accurate: Marketing information needs to be error-free and reliable. Marketers often need to analyze positive and negative data. Sufficient: It is important that marketers gather enough data to provide useful information. Too little data can show a distorted or misleading picture while too much data can cause confusion. Relevant: All data gathered needs to be related to the specific situation in order for it to be useful. Timely: Data that is collected must be up-to-date or gathered at a time that will be valuable to the company. Accessible: Marketing data should be readily available so it can be used efficiently and without outrageous cost. Cost-effective: It is important that the benefits of using the marketing information is greater than the cost of gathering the data. i. Describe reasons that marketers need to gather accurate information. Marketers need to gather accurate information because inaccurate information can lead to skewed forecasts that can have a negative effect on the company. j. Explain the functions of a marketing-information management system. A marketing-information management system or MkIS for short is an orderly way for gathering, sorting, analyzing, evaluating and distributing marketing information. The basic function of a marketing-information management system is to gather data. It is also important that an MkIS is able to decide what data and information is needed, collect, process, and store data effectively, handle whatever amount of data a particular business needs, protect data, and operate continuously. k. Contrast marketing research with a marketing-information system. A marketing-information system is the everyday analysis of data and gathering of information. It occurs continuously. A marketing research system is more specific. Often used to solve a problem or create something new, research systems are the way of interpreting data for a specific circumstance. l. Describe the use of a marketing-information system. Marketing-informations systems are used to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute marketing information in an orderly and efficient way that benefits the business. m. Explain the benefits of a marketing-information management system. Marketing-information management system can benefit companies by: Collecting and presenting marketing information to marketers in an organized fashion: the MkIS is helpful because they combine and compare scattered data. In turn, the chance of data getting loss is reduced. Giving marketers a broader perspective of the market: An MkIs is able to help give marketers a variety of information so that they can do their jobs well. Providing marketers with information that may help to prevent a business crisis: Marketing-information management systems add benefit by giving marketers the option to continuously compare information. This helps marketers correct problems before damage is done to their business. Helping marketers to improve their planning: MkIs can help to ensure that all parts of the business’s marketing plan are coordinated and that there is an efficient plan for the use of resources. n. Discuss the requirements of a marketing-information management system. A Marketing-information management system is required to: Decide quickly what data and information are needed Collect, process, and store data and information effectively Handle whatever amount of data and information a particular business needs Protect the data and information Operate continuously o. Explain the role of marketing-information management in marketing. Marketing-information management systems provide marketers with the right information at the right time in the right form. The MkIS help by evaluating and using proper business decisions, market opportunities, sales forecasts, promotional strategies, situational analysis, profitability, risk reduction, and competition. p. Describe limitations of marketing-information management systems. Marketing-information management systems cannot tell the future for sure. Marketers and the MkIS are only able to go off current or previous data. Legal and Ethical Handbook Questions: Describe legal considerations in marketing-information management (e.g., privacy issues, SUGGING, FRUGGING, callbacks, automatic dialers, etc.). Privacy issues: Marketers must consider that all data comes from consumer purchases. It is very important that we understand what role consumer privacy concerns play in brand marketing. Often there are privacy officers that set rules for managing data and audit compliance with those rules. SUGGING: Sugging is a marketing research industry term that means “selling under the guise of research” and it occurs when companies or marketers pretend to be market researchers conducting research, when in reality they are trying to build databases, generate sales leads or directly sell product or services. FRUGGING: Frugging is fund-raising under the guise of research which occurs when a product marketer falsely purports to be a market researcher conducting a statistical survey when in reality they are attempting to solicit a donation. Callbacks: An attempt to reach a person who could not be reached on the first try or a follow-up or after-use interview. Automatic dialers: An automatic dialer is an outbound calling system that dials from a list of telephone numbers in order to market a product or service. Explain the role of ethics in marketing-information management (e.g., preserving the credibility, objectivity, integrity of information, etc.). Preserving the credibility: It is important that a company follows certain ethical rules so that their company continues to have credibility and consumers continue to trust the business. Objectivity: Marketing objectives are goals set by a business when promoting its products or services to potential consumers. They are the strategy set in order to achieve the overall organizational objectives. Integrity of Information: The assurance that the data being accessed or read has neither been tampered with, nore been altered or damaged through a system error. |