Ans. Marketing Information System
Marketing information system can be defined as a set of procedures and methods for the regular and planned collection, analysis and presentation of information for use in making marketing decisions. As a set of procedures and methods, marketing information system ensures timely collection and supply of objective, reliable and valid information to the marketing managers on a regular basis to enable them to make informed decisions. Marketing information system is an elaborate system that comprises of various subsystems used by an organization for collecting, processing and storing information required from time to time by the marketing managers.
Components of Marketing Information System
The four components are : internal reporting system, marketing intelligence system, marketing research system and analytical marketing system. These are discussed in detail in the following paragraphs.
a) Internal Reporting System : Every company has a system of reporting events and decisions within the organization. This is known as internal reporting system. The internal reporting system supplies management with variety of information, including the ones related to marketing operations and decisions. The internal reporting system basically disseminates result data such as orders received, sales made, inventory levels, accounts receivables and bills payables. The system enables the marketing managers to know as to which one of its products and brands are selling well in which markets and in which seasons. All this information can be very useful to the managers in deciding as to in which product lines and markets to invest more, and from which product lines and markets the firm should divest. The system can be extremely useful to the marketing managers if it is able to provide all such information quickly and accurately.
b) Marketing Intelligence System : It supplies the management with the happening data. Marketing intelligence system refers to informal search of information on a continuous basis from various sources - both internal and external to the organization. Managers, for example, can gather valuable information by talking to different executives working in the company, company sales force, dealers, wholesalers, retailers, customers and other participants in the market.
Observation of events as and when they occur in the market is an important way of collecting the market information. Just walking around the market place and observing what products are displayed in the window displays and shelves in the retail stores, which types of people are buying which types of products/brands and how competitors are advertising and promoting their products in the market can provide valuable insights to the marketing managers in devising their marketing strategies.
c) Marketing Research System : While the other two systems discussed above provide information of general nature to the marketing managers, marketing research system aims at collecting and disseminating information relating to a specific marketing problem faced by the decision makers of the firm. First a formal plan is developed to decide as to which specific information is needed and then this information is collected from such specific secondary and primary data sources as can supply the required information at minimum costs to the firm.
Though marketing intelligence system appears quite similar to marketing research system, the two systems are different from each other. While marketing intelligence system collects information of general nature on a regular basis, marketing research system is employed for gathering specific information as required to solve a specific marketing problem. The other major point of difference between the two subsystems is that while the former collects information more on a regular basis through ways such as daily reading of newspapers or frequently visiting the marketplace to observe retailers and competitors behaviours, marketing research studies are conducted mostly on adhoc basis as and when some a specific marketing problem arises.
d) Analytical Marketing System : It is concerned with building and using marketing models and techniques to analyze the information available with the organization and/or to better understand, predict and control the marketing process. It so happens that the three systems describe above provide so voluminous data to the managers that is not possible for the marketing managers to directly assimilate and use them in decision making. Analytical marketing system comes to a great rescue to the marketing managers by condensing and simplifying the collected data, and presenting them in a form easily understandable to the marketing managers.
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