1. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 1 Gathering Information and Scanning the Environment Vishnu Parmar, IBA University of Sindh, Jamshoro

2. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 2 Marketing is becoming a battle based more on information than on sales power. Marketing is becoming a battle based more on information than on sales power.

3. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 3 Chapter Objectives  In this chapter, we focus on the following questions:  What are the components of a modern marketing information system?  What constitutes good marketing research?  How can marketing decision support systems help marketing managers make better decisions?  How can demand be more accurately measured and forecasted?

4. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 4  Marketing Information System (MIS)  10 useful questions for determining the information needs of marketing managers.  What 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? The Components of a Modern Marketing Information System

5. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 5 The Components of a Modern Marketing Information System  What information would you want that you are not getting now?  What information would you want daily? Weekly? Monthly? Yearly?  What magazines and trade reports would you like to see on a regular basis?  What topics would you like to be kept informed of?  What data analysis programs would you want?  What are the four most helpful improvements that could be made in the present marketing information system?

6. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 6 Internal Record Systems  The Order-to-Payment Cycle  Sales Information Systems  Databases, Data Warehouses And Data- Mining

7. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 7 The 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.

8. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 8 Steps to Improve the Quality of MIS  A company can train & motivate the sales force to spot and report new development  Motivate distributors, retailers, and other intermediaries to pass along important intelligence  Network Externally  Setup a customer advisory panel  Take advantage of govt. data sources  Purchase information from outside suppliers  Use online customer feedback systems to collect competitive intelligence

9. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 9 Analyzing the Macro Environment Successful companies recognize and respond profitably to unmet needs and trends Fads A fad is unpredictable, short lived, and without social, economic, and political significance. Trend A trend is a direction or sequence of events that has some momentum and durability.

10. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 10 Analyzing the Macro Environment Mega-trends have been described as “large social, economic, political and technological changes. Mega-trends are slow to form, and once in place than influence us for some time between 7 to 10 years E.g. Large no. of students join IT sector and change the consumption pattern in India

11. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 11 The Demographic Environment  Demographic Environment  Worldwide Population Growth  Population Age Mix  Literacy Levels of Population

12. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 12 Other Major Macro Environments 1.Economic Environment Income DistributionIncome Distribution 2.Social Cultural Environment 3.Natural Environment 4.Technological Environment 1.Accelerating Pace of Change 2.Unlimited Opportunities for Innovation 3.Varying R&D Budgets 4.Increased Regulation of Technological Change

13. Copyright 2004 © Pearson Education Canada Inc. 13 Other Major Macro Environments 5. Political-Legal Environment  Increase in Business Legislation  Growth of Special Interest Groups