Marketing Information Systems and Research

TOPIC THREE

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND RESEARCH

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

Marketing managers get information from 4 major sources:

1        Internal company records (also known as internal reporting system);

2        Marketing intelligence activities;

3        Marketing research;

4        Marketing decision support systems (MDSS)

1) Internal company records /internal reports

Marketing managers rely on internal reports on orders, sales, prices, costs, inventory levels, receivables, payables etc.  By analyzing this information, they can spot important operations and problems. A supermarket can analyze this information and determine sales trends of the different products that it stocks. This will lead to other decisions. Marketing managers analyze the order to payment cycle to ensure that it is done as quickly and accurately as possible.  Computerized systems have made this possible.

2 Marketing intelligence system

A Marketing intelligence system is a set of procedures and sources used by managers to obtain everyday information about developments in the marketing environment.  Marketing managers collect intelligence by:

        Reading books, newspapers, trade publications;

        Talking to customers, suppliers, competitors

        Meeting with other company managers,

        Attending trade fairs, exhibitions, and conferences;

        Scanning the internet

A company can take several steps to improve the quality of its marketing intelligence:

i)        It can train and motivate the sales people to spot and report new developments. This is because the sales people are the eyes and ears of the company.

ii)        The company can motivate distributors, retailers, and other intermediaries to pass along important intelligence concerning the activities of competitors;

           Companies can learn about competitors by:

        Purchasing their products;

        Attending their competitors' open houses and trade shows;

        Reading competitors' published reports;

        Attending stockholders meetings;

        Talking to their employees, dealers, distributors, suppliers and freight agents;

        Collecting competitors' advertisements;

        Reading Trade Association papers.

iii) The company can set-up customer advisory panels consisting of representatives of     customers or a company's largest customers or its most outspoken or sophisticated customers.

iv) The company can purchase information from outside suppliers such as Marketing Research Firms.

v) The organization can establish a Marketing Information Center to collect information. The center can be equipped with newspapers, radios, televisions, magazines etc all of which can be harnessed continually to acquire information