CH.4 Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights

MIS begins and ends with information users—marketing managers, internal and external partners, and others who need marketing information. First, it interacts with these information users to assess information needs. Next, it interacts with the marketing environment to develop needed information through internal company databases, marketing intelligence activities, and marketing research. Finally, the MIS helps users to analyze and use the information to develop customer insights, make marketing decisions, and manage customer relationships.

(look at diagram)

Online surveys

-Advantages •Low cost •Speed •Higher response rates •Good for hard to reach groups

Questionnaire

-Question types : •Closed-end questions include all the possible answers, and subjects make choices among them. •Open-end questions allow respondents to answer in their own words.

The marketing research process has four steps:

1- defining the problem and research objectives (The first step is probably the most difficult but also the most important one. It guides the entire research process. It's frustrating to reach the end of an expensive research project only to learn that you've addressed the wrong problem!) 2- developing the research plan 3- implementing the research plan 4- interpreting and reporting the findings.

Gathering Secondary Data

1-Advantages •Lower cost •Obtained quickly •Cannot collect otherwise 2- Disadvantages •- data may not be •Relevant •Accurate •Current •Impartial

Marketers obtain information from:

1. Internal data 2. Marketing intelligence 3. Marketing research (The problem isn't finding information; the world is bursting with information from a glut of sources. The real challenge is to find the right information—from inside and outside sources—and turn it into customer insights.)

Research approaches for gathering primary Data

1. Observation: involves gathering primary data by observing relevant people, actions, and situations. 2. Ethnographic research approach: A form of observational research approach involves sending trained observers to watch and interact with consumers in their "natural environments 3. Surveys: involve gathering primary data by asking people questions about their knowledge, attitudes, preferences, and buying behavior. 4.Experiments: involve gathering primary data by selecting matched groups of subjects, giving them different treatments, controlling related factors, and checking for differences in group responses.

Developing the research plan for collecting Data:

Data types: 1. Secondary data: is information that already exists somewhere, having been collected for another purpose. Secondary data sources: Internal sources ( Sales records, research reports.... ) External sources (Trade associations, Government publications, Magazines, Online databases ..... ) • 2. Primary data: is information collected for the specific purpose at hand. Research approaches for gathering primary Data: Observation, surveys, experiments

•Descriptive research

aims to describe or define the topic at hand.

Causal research

aims to explain why particular phenomena work in the way that they do. It's about cause-and-effect relationships.

Internal Databases

are collections of consumer and market information obtained from data sources within the company network.

Customer insights

are fresh marketing information-based understandings of customers and the marketplace that become the basis for creating customer value, engagement, and relationships.

Marketing information system (MIS)

refers to the people and procedures dedicated to assessing information needs, developing the needed information, and helping decision makers to use the information to generate and validate actionable customer and market insights.

A sample :

is a segment of the population selected for marketing research to represent the population as a whole. •Who is to be studied? •How many people should be studied? •How should the people be chosen?

Marketing intelligence

is the systematic collection and analysis of publicly available information about consumers, competitors, and developments in the marketing environment.

Marketing research

is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an organization.

Exploratory research

is usually conducted when a researcher has just begun an investigation and wishes to understand the topic generally.

Customer insights come from good:

marketing information.

Marketing Research

•1- Implementing the Research Plan •Collecting the information •Processing the information •Analyzing the information 2- Interpreting and Reporting Findings •Interpret findings •Draw conclusions •Report to management

Companies use marketing research in a wide variety of situations. For example, marketing research enables marketers to:

•gain insights into customer motivations, purchase behavior, and satisfaction •assess market potential and market share •measure the effectiveness of pricing, product, distribution, and promotion activities

Information in the database may include:

•information on customer characteristics •sales transactions •website visits •customer satisfaction and service records •records of sales, costs, and cash flows •reports on production, shipments, and inventories •reports on reseller reactions and competitor activities •point-of-sale transaction data

Marketing intelligence techniques range from:

•observing consumers firsthand •quizzing the company's own employees •benchmarking competitors' products •researching the Internet •monitoring Internet buzz

Much competitor intelligence can be collected from:

•people inside the company •suppliers, resellers, and key customers •monitoring competitors' websites •Internet searches of specific competitor names, events, or trends •tracking consumer conversations about competing brands and the company's own brands •thousands of online databases