MARKETING MANAGEMENT BY KOTLER AND KELLER (12TH ED.)

LECTURE NOTES

Chapter 3. GATHERING INFORMATION AND SCANNING THE ENVIRONMENT

Importance of relevant and timely information/intelligence

Marketers always out for new trends and information

Marketers also have extensive information about how consumption patterns vary across countries.

The Swiss consume the most chocolate, the Greeks eat the most cheese, the Irish drink the most tea, and the Austrians smoke the most cigarettes.

Companies with superior information enjoy a competitive advantage.

Information Needs Probes

  • 10 questions

Internal Records and Marketing Intelligence

The Order-to-Payment Cycle

Sales Information Systems

Databases, Data Warehousing, and Data Mining (Pizza HUT)

The Marketing Intelligence System (MIS)

The internal records system 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.

TABLE 3.2

  • Nielsen Company: Data on products and brands sold through retail outlets (Retail Index Services), supermarket scanner data (Scantrack), data on television audiences (Media Research Services), magazine circulation data (Neodata Services, Inc.), and others.
  • MRCA Information Services: Data on weekly family purchases of consumer products (National Consumer Panel) and data on home food consumption (National Menu Census).
  • Information Resources, Inc.: Supermarket scanner data (InfoScan) and data on the impact of supermarket promotions (PromotioScan).
  • SAMI/Burke: Reports on warehouse withdrawals to food stores in selected market areas (SAMI reports) and supermarket scanner data (Samscam).
  • Simmons Market Research Bureau (MRB Group): Annual reports covering television markets, sporting goods, and proprietary drugs, with demographic data by sex, income, age, and brand preferences (selective markets and media reaching them).
  • Other commercial research houses selling data to subscribers include the Audit Bureau of Circulation: Arbitron, Audits and Surveys; Dun & Bradstreet's; National Family Opinion; Standard Rate & Data Service; and Starch.

Analyzing the Macroenvironment

Check on competition

  • Independent customer goods and service review forums.
  • Distributor or sales agent feedback sites.
  • Combo-sites offering customer reviews and expert opinions.
  • Customer complaint sites.

Needs and Trends

  • Fad – Trend - Megatrend

Identifying the Major Forces (Table 3.3.)

The Demographic Environment

Worldwide Population Growth

  • The world population is showing explosive growth: It totaled 6.1 billion in 2000 and will exceed 7.9 billion by the year 2025.

Population Age Mix (VW)

Ethnic and Other Markets

  • P&G, Kruger, Charles Schwab

Educational Groups

  • Brand name Universities

Household Patterns

  • Friendster, Guy.com

Geographical Shifts in Population

Other Major Macroenvironments

Economic Environment

  • India
  • GAP

Social-Cultural Environment

  • Views of themselves
  • Views of others
  • Views of themselves
  • Views of society
  • Views of nature
  • Views of universe

Natural Environment

Technological Environment

  • Smart phones, Samsung, R&D Budgets,

Political-Legal Environment

  • Legislation
  • Specialists groups
  • Changing role of government

SUMMARY

To carry out their analysis, planning, implementation, and control responsibilities, marketing managers need a marketing information system (MIS)

An MIS has three components: (a) an internal records system, which includes information on the order-to-payment cycle and sales reporting systems; (b) a marketing intelligence system, a set of procedures and sources used by managers to obtain everyday information about pertinent developments in the marketingenvironment; and (c) a marketing research system that allows for the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation.

Many opportunities are found by identifying trends (directions or sequences of events that have some momentum and durability) and megatrends (major social, economic, political, and technological changes that have long-lasting influence).

Within the rapidly changing global picture, marketers must monitor six major environmental forces: demographic, economic, social-cultural, natural, technological, and political-legal.

In the demographic environment, marketers must be aware of worldwide population growth; changing mixes of age, ethnic composition, and educational levels; the rise of nontraditional families; large geographic shifts in population; and the move to micromarketing and away from mass marketing.

In the economic arena, marketers need to focus on income distribution and levels of savings, debt, and credit availability.

In the social-cultural arena, marketers must understand people's views of themselves, others, organizations, society, nature, and the universe. They must market products that correspond to society's core and secondary values, and address the needs of different subcultures within a society.

In the natural environment, marketers need to be aware of raw materials shortages, increased energy costs and pollution levels, and the changing role of governments in environmental protection.

In the technological arena, marketers should take account of the accelerating pace of technological change, opportunities for innovation, varying R&D budgets, and the increased governmental regulation brought about by technological change.

In the political-legal environment, marketers must work within the many laws regulating business practices and with various special-interest groups.

DEBATE

One of the widely debated issues in developing marketing programs that target certain age groups is how much consumers 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 a 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.

Take a position: Age differences are fundamentally more important than cohort effects versus Cohort effects can dominate age differences.