The marketing environment is changing at a very fast rate hence there is need for real time and up to date market information. In today’s information based society, companies with superior information enjoy a competitive advantage.
MKIS- is a system that consists of people equipment and procedures that are used to gather, sort, analyse, evaluate and distribute needed timely and accurate information to marketing decision makers.it helps managers to analyse, plan, implement and control various activities in the organization.
- Access information needs-a good mkis should balance the information that managers require against what they really need and what is viable to offer given the organizations resources.ie how much information is needed, cost of obtaining the information given organization resources and benefits of having the information.
- Developing needed information-this involves gathering information as many sources as possible
- Carrying out information analysis-this involves using statistical and mathematical models to analyze information collected and its interpretation
- Distributing the information-the mkis distributes information to various decision
COMPONENTS OF MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM.
This consists of information gathered from sources within the company which helps to evaluate the marketing performance and identity marketing problems and opportunities. The records include;
- Profit and loss statement.
- Balance sheet.
- Sales record
- Employee record.
- Cash flow statement.
This information is used for;
- Day to day planning implementation and control.
- To evaluate the performance of a company.
- To detect problems.
- To create new marketing opportunities and ideas.
MARKETING INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM.
This is a set of procedures and sources used by managers to obtain every day information about development in marketing environment. Sources of marketing intelligence include;
- Reading books and newspapers
- Trade publications
- Meeting with other company managers.
- Exhibitions and conferences.
- Sales persons.
STEPS USED TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF MARKETING INTELLIGENCE.
- Training and motivating the sales force to identify and report new developments.
- Motivating retailers and distributors to report important intelligence.
- Monitoring competitors activities
- Setting up a customer’s advisory panel made up of representative customers or the company’s largest customers so that a company can gain valuable information about customer needs and feelings.
- Purchasing information from outside suppliers ie research firms outside the company eg synovate.
- Establish a marketing information centre to collect and circulate marketing intelligence.
MARKETING RESEARCH.
This is the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company. There is a design of an interview guide and a questionnaire. Marketing research is based on specific and opportunities that the company would like to pursue. It therefore requires;
- A market survey.
- Product preference tests –why; improvements etc
- Sales forecasts based on various regions
- Advertising evaluation-ie are you effective?.
- Primary sources-this is fresh research ie information being collected for the first time to solve a particular problem or gain insight into a particular event. This information is collected through questionnaires,interviews,observation,fieldsurveys,opinioncalls,experimentation,aptitude tests etc.
- Secondary sources-this is information stored in some records and hence it is not an original information source. It can either be from internal or external sources.
- Internal sources-these are sources of information that already exists within the organization. The information could have been collected for other uses but can be used for the current research eg company magazine and the internal records system.
- External sources-they are sources outside the organization and include the: internet, ministry of trade and industry newspaper, libraries etc.
