Capturing Marketing Insights

COMPONENTS OF A MODERN MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM

The major responsibility for identifying significant marketplace changes falls to the companys marketers. They must be the trend trackers and opportunity seekers. Every manager in an organization needs to observe the outside environment, marketers have the following advantages:
They have disciplined methods for collecting information. _ They spend more time interacting with customers and observing competition. Some firms have developed marketing information systems that provide management with rich detail about buyer wants, preferences, and behavior. Marketers also have extensive information about how consumption patterns vary across countries.

Cont..

A marketing information system (MIS) consists of:

People. Equipment. Procedures to: Gather ,Sort, Analyze, Evaluate and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers.

A marketing information system is developed from:

Internal company records. Marketing intelligence activities. Marketing research.

The companys marketing information system should be a cross between what managers think they need, what managers really need, and what is economically feasible.

Internal Records and Marketing Intelligence

Marketing mangers rely on internal reports on orders, prices, costs, inventory levels, receivables, payables, and so on. By analyzing this information, they can spot important opportunities and problems.

An increasing number of companies are using the Internet and extranets to improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of the order-topayment cycle.

Order-to-Payment Cycle

The heart of the internal records systems is the order-to-payment cycle.

Sales representatives, dealers, and customers send orders to the firm. The sales department prepares invoices and transmits copies to various departments. Shipped items are accompanied by shipping and billing documents that are sent to the various departments. Today companies need to perform these steps quickly and accurately.

Sales Information Systems

Marketing managers need timely and accurate reports on current sales.

Companies must carefully interpret the sales data so as not to get the wrong signals. Technological gadgets are revolutionizing sales information systems and allowing representatives to have up-to-the second information.

Databases, Data Warehouses, and Data-Mining

Today companies organize information in databases customer databases, product databases, salesperson databasesand then combine data from the different databases.
Companies warehouse these data for easy accessibly to decision makers. By hiring analysts skilled in sophisticated statistical methods, companies can mine the data and garner fresh insights into:

Neglected customer segments. Recent customer trends. Other useful information.

Marketing Intelligence System

The internal records systems supplies results data, but the marketing intelligence system supplies happenings data. A marketing intelligence system is a set of procedures and
sources managers use to obtain everyday information about developments in the marketing environment. Marketing managers collect marketing intelligence by: Reading books, newspapers, and trade publications. Talking to customers, suppliers, and distributors.

Cont..

Meeting with other company managers. A company can take several steps to improve the quality of its marketing intelligence: A company can train and motivate the sales force to sport and report new developments. A company can motivate distributors, retailers, and other intermediaries to pass along important intelligence. A company can network externally. A company can take advantage of government data resources. A company can purchase information from outside suppliers. A company can use online customer feedback systems to collect competitive intelligence.

ANALYZING THE MACROENVIRONMENT

Successful companies recognize and respond profitably to unmet needs and trends.
Needs and Trends

Enterprising individuals and companies manage to create new solutions to unmet needs. A fad is unpredictable, short-lived, and without social,
economic, and political significance. A trend is a direction or sequence of events that has some momentum and durability. Trends are more predictable and durable than fads. A trend reveals the shape of the future and provides many opportunities.

Mega trends have been described as large social,

economic, political, and technological changes [that] are slow to form, and once in place, they influence us for some timebetween seven and ten years, or longer. Trends and megatrends merit close attention. To help marketers spot cultural shifts that might bring new opportunities or threats, several firms offer socialcultural forecasts

Identifying the Major Forces

Companies and their suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customers, competitors, and publics, all operate in an macroenvironment of forces and trends that shape opportunities and pose threats.
These forces represent noncontrollables to which the company must monitor and respond.

Cont..

Within the rapidly changing global picture, the firm must monitor six major forces:

Demographic. Economic. Social-cultural. Natural. Technological. Political-legal.

Marketers must pay attention to the interactions of these forces, as these will lead to new opportunities and threats.

Economic

Destitute: 16,000- not active participants Aspirants:16,000-22,000 new entrants into consumption systems due to increase in their real income Climbers: 22,000-45,000 have desire and willingness to buy but have limited cash at hand Consuming class:45,000-2,15000 households that form the majority of consumers have money and willing to spend. Rich: those who have money and own a wide range of products.

Political and Legal Environment

In order to protect the interests of consumers the Government of India passed legislation under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Under this act the following six rights of consumers are recognized: Safety Information Choice Redressal Consumer Education

Discussion

Is consumer Behavior More a Function of Persons Age or Generation

One of the widely debated issues in developing marketing programs that target certain age groups is how much consumers can change over time. Some marketers maintain that age differences are critical and that the needs and wants of a 25 year old in 2002 are not that different from those of 25 year old in 1972. Others dispute that contention and argue that cohort and generation effects are critical and that marketing programs must therefore suit the times.