Download Week 4 - Buzzword Inc.

Class Discussion Notes
MKT 390 - 401
September 12, 2001
Marketing Knowledge
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Marketing Information System
– Assessing information needs
– Gathering information
– Analysis
– Disseminating to marketing
Marketing knowledge
– Sum of all digitized information from marketing team (past
and present), partners and consultants
• Includes intellectual capital, work outputs and contact
information
Marketing Knowledge

Sources of marketing knowledge
– Internal records
• Non-marketing data
– Accounting data
» Sales
» Cash flow data
» Marketing expenses
» Profit and loss statements
– Logistics data
» Inventory
» Shipping and delivery data
• Sales force data
– Prospects
– Sales call info
– Field intelligence
– Contracts and proposals
Marketing Knowledge
– Internal records – cont’d
• Customer characteristics and behavior
– Current and prospective customer names
– Other contact info
– Purchase behavior or history
– Customer complaints
– Promotional redemptions
Marketing Knowledge
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Sources of marketing knowledge – cont’d
– Secondary data
• Pros
– Ease of retrieval
– Cheaper to obtain
• Cons
– Mismatch between data and marketer’s needs
» Data gathered for a different purpose
» Quality issues
» Out of date
Marketing Knowledge
– Secondary data – cont’d
• Marketing intelligence
– Demographic trends
– Competitors
– Technological forces
– Natural resources
– Social and cultural trends
– World and local economies
– Legal and political environments
Marketing Knowledge
– Secondary data – cont’d
• Where do we find marketing intelligence?
– Publicly generated data
» US Patent Office
» World Trade Organization
» International Monetary Fund
» US Dept of Commerce
» University libraries and research
» Industry or professional organizations
Marketing Knowledge
• Where do we find marketing intelligence? – cont’d
– Privately generated data
» Firms
» Individuals
» Politicians
» Research firms
» Media firms
» Infomediaries
– Online databases
» Trailblazer Web sites aka index pages
Marketing Knowledge
• Competitive intelligence - Analyzing the industry in which
the firm operates to understand competitor vulnerabilities
– Sources of CI
» Press releases
» New product introductions
» Alliances
» Trade show activity
» Advertising strategy
» Annual reports
» Web sites linked to the competitor
» Web site logs
» Third party industry specific sites
» Company profiles from SEC
» User conversation
Marketing Knowledge
• Information quality concerns
– Anyone can publish on the Web
– No review process
– No standards for content, accuracy, appropriateness
– Foreign sources
» Cultural differences
» Data collection methods
– Don’t be seduced by good design!!!
Marketing Knowledge
• Information quality concerns – cont’d
– Discover the Web site’s author
– Try to determine the author’s authority on the topic
– Check for last update
» Check hyperlinks
– Determine comprehensiveness of site
– Try to validate research data with another source
– Check content accuracy
– Don’t stop at the first good site you find!!!
Marketing Knowledge
– Primary data – Information gathered for the first time to solve
a particular problem
• Pros
– Current
– More relevant to specific problem
– Proprietary
• Cons
– Expensive
– Time consuming
Marketing Knowledge
– Primary data – cont’d
• Internet-based research approaches
– Online experiments
» Attempt to test cause and effect relationships
» Exposing test groups to different stimuli
– Online focus groups
» Qualitative methodology
» Gathers in-depth information from small number
of participants
» Pros
Eliminates geographic barriers
Reduces groupthink
» Cons
Smaller groups
Nonverbal communication is lost
Authenticity problems
Technical difficulties
Marketing Knowledge
• Internet-based research approaches – cont’d
– Online observation
» Monitors behavior
Chat rooms
Usenet
Specialized search engines
Provide space on Web site for discussion
Subscribe to e-mail lists on related topics
» Cons
Small number of subjects cannot establish
relevance for a larger group
Marketing Knowledge
• Internet-based research approaches – cont’d
– Online in-depth interviews
» Semi-structured conversation with a few subjects
» Facilitator uses increasingly directed questions
to narrow focus
» Cons
Lose the personal interaction
– Online survey research
» Sending questionnaires to individuals via e-mail,
Web posting or electronic bulletin board
– E-mail surveys
» Purchasing target e-mail lists
» Using firms own database of e-mail addresses
» Pros
Inexpensive follow up
Preferable in countries without unlimited access
» Cons
Dependent on level of interest
Sloppy responses
Marketing Knowledge
• Internet-based research approaches – cont’d
– Web surveys
» Posting questions on Web page
» Respondents use automated response
mechanisms
» Often combined with other methods directing
traffic to the site
Marketing Knowledge
• Internet-based research approaches – cont’d
– Online survey research advantages
» Fast and inexpensive
» Diverse group worldwide OR targeted niche
» Reduces errors
» Honest responses (anonymity)
» Access can be open or restricted
» Easy tabulation of data
Marketing Knowledge
• Internet-based research approaches – cont’d
– Online survey research disadvantages
» Sample selection/generalizability
» Self-selection bias
» Authenticity
» Dishonest responses
» Duplicate responses
» Steep learning curve to create surveys
Marketing Knowledge
• Internet-based research approaches – cont’d
– Online panels
» People who have agreed to participate in market
research
» Pros
Extensive data already available
Increased response rates
Better targeting
» Cons
More expensive than other online research
Generalizability problems
Marketing Knowledge
• Internet-based research approaches – cont’d
– Ethics of online research
» Spam
» Harvesting e-mail addresses without permission
» Selling under the guise of research
» Privacy issues
Marketing Knowledge
• Other technology enabled approaches
– Client-side data collection
» Cookie – A small data file placed on the user’s
hard drive
» Clickstream – PC meters used to track usage
and surfing patterns
– Server-side data collection
» Web site log software – Records user data on
web server
» Real time profiling
– Real-space data collection
» Smart card and credit card readers
» Bar code scanners
Inventory management
Promotions
Marketing Knowledge
• Marketing databases
– Product databases – Hold data about inventory
levels
– Customer databases – Hold data about customer
behavior
– Transaction processing databases – Move data from
other databases into a data warehouse
• Data warehouses
– Repository for all of a firm’s historical data
» Smaller sections are called data marts
Marketing Knowledge
• Data analysis and distribution
– Data mining
» Extraction of hidden information by statistical
analysis
» Search for patterns
– Customer profiling
» Understanding behavior and characteristics of
target groups
– RFM analysis
» Recency
» Frequency
» Monetary value
– Report generation
» Automatic targeted reports from data warehouse
on a regular basis