p. 104 | INTRODUCTION After eight years of stagnant or declining soft drink consumption in the industry, Pepsi even slipped behind not only Coca-Cola, the perennial “number one” but behind Diet Coke, to position number three. PepsiCo determined that the company needed to review its brand positioning, and created a task force that spent nine months conducting consumer research worldwide, looking for new customer insights. Research indicated that Pepsi had lost its swagger and boldness and needed it back. In 2012, Pepsi launched its “Live for Now” marketing campaign, and increased its marketing budget by 50 percent. It aggressively used traditional as well as digital media. Talking to customers, hearing what they have to say, and acting on the resulting insights can pay big dividends. | p. 105 Ad: Pepsi |
| Ø Opening Vignette Questions 1. In the beginning, how did Pepsi lose sight of its customers’ sense of excitement and desire for the swagger? What should the company have been doing all along? 2. How did Pepsi utilize social media and traditional media to introduce the “Live for Now” campaign? 3. If you were Pepsi’s CEO, how might you have handled the initial marketing challenge, and the loss of position in the marketplace and the ensuing marketing campaign? |
|
p. 106 PPT 4-5 p. 107 PPT 4-6 PPT 4-7 PPT 4-8 p. 108 PPT 4-9 PPT 4-10 PPT 4-11 | Explain the importance of information in gaining insights about the marketplace and customers. MARKETING INFORMATION AND CUSTOMER INSIGHTS Marketing information by itself has little value. The value is in the customer insights gained from the information and how marketers use these insights to make better decisions. The real value of marketing research and marketing information lies in how it is used—in the customer insights that it provides. Customer insights groups collect customer and market information from a wide variety of sources. To create value for customers and build meaningful relationships with them, marketers must first gain fresh, deep insights into what customers need and want. Such customer insights come from good marketing information. Companies use these customer insights to develop a competitive advantage. Companies are forming customer insight teams that include all company functional areas, collect information from a wide variety of sources, and use insights to create more value for their customers. Figure 4.1 shows that MIS begins and ends with information users—marketing managers, internal and external partners, and others who need marketing information. A marketing information system (MIS) consists of people and procedures for assessing information needs, developing the needed information, and helping decision makers to use the information to generate and validate actionable customer and market insights. Review Learning Objective 1: Explain the importance of information in gaining insights about the marketplace and customers. | Learning Objective 1 p. 107 Pinterest p. 107 Key Terms: Big Data, Customer Insights p. 108 Figure 4.1: The Marketing Information System p. 108 Key Term: Marketing Information System (MIS) |
| Ø Assignments, Resources Use Discussion Question 4-1 here Use Individual Assignments 1 here |
|
PPT 4-12 | Define the marketing information system and discuss its parts. | Learning Objective 2 |
p. 108 PPT 4-13 PPT 4-14 | ASSESSING MARKETING INFORMATION NEEDS MIS provides information to the company’s marketing and other managers and external partners such as suppliers, resellers, and marketing service agencies. A good marketing information system balances the information users would like to have against what they really need and what is feasible to offer. Sometimes the company cannot provide the needed information, either because it is not available or because of MIS limitations. The problem is not finding information. The real challenge is to find the right information and turn it into customer insights. |
|
p. 109 PPT 4-15 PPT 4-16 p. 109 PPT 4-17 PPT 4-18 | DEVELOPING MARKETING INFORMATION Internal Data Internal databases are electronic collections of consumer and market information obtained from data sources within the company network. Information in the database can come from many sources. Problems with internal data: · It may be incomplete or in the wrong form for making marketing decisions. · Keeping the database current requires a major effort, because data ages quickly. · Managing all of the information requires highly sophisticated equipment and techniques. Competitive Marketing Intelligence Competitive marketing intelligence is the systematic collection and analysis of publicly available information about consumers, competitors, and developments in the marketplace. Social media makes it easier than ever for people to converse, share opinions, needs, ideas, and complaints. Companies use specialized software to track trends and better respond to consumers. Competitive marketing intelligence gathering has grown dramatically. Firms use competitive intelligence to gain early warnings of competitor moves and strategies. Much competitor intelligence can be collected from people inside the company. Competitors often reveal intelligence information through their suppliers, resellers, key customers, and the Internet. The gathering of competitive marketing intelligence raises a number of ethical issues. Most companies are now taking steps to protect their own information. Review Learning Objective 2: Define the marketing information system and discuss its parts. | p. 109 Key Term: Internal Databases p. Ad: Macy’s p. 109 Key Term: Competitive Marketing Intelligence p. 110 Photo: MasterCard |
| Ø Assignments, Resources Use Discussion Question 4-2 here |
|
p. 111 PPT 4-19 PPT 4-20 p. 112 PPT 4-21 PPT 4-22 PPT 4-23 p. 113 PPT 4-24 PPT 4-25 PPT 4-26 p. 114 | Outline the steps in the marketing research process. MARKETING RESEARCH Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an organization. The marketing research process has four steps (see Figure 4.2): Defining the Problem and Research Objectives Defining the problem and research objectives is often the hardest step in the research process. A marketing research project might have one of three types of objectives. 1. Exploratory research: to gather preliminary information that will help define the problem and suggest hypotheses. 2. Descriptive research: to describe things, such as the market potential for a product. 3. Causal research: to test hypotheses about cause and effect relationships. Start with exploratory research and later follow with descriptive or causal research. Developing the Research Plan The research plan outlines sources of existing data and spells out the specific research approaches, contact methods, sampling plans, and instruments that researchers will use to gather new data. Research objectives must be translated into specific information needs. The research plan should be presented in a written proposal. Secondary data consist of information that already exists somewhere, having been collected for another purpose. Primary data consist of information collected for the specific purpose at hand. Gathering Secondary Data Researchers usually start by gathering secondary data. Using commercial online databases, marketing researchers can conduct their own searches of secondary data sources. Can usually be obtained more quickly and at a lower cost than primary data. Can provide data an individual company cannot collect on its own. Secondary data can present problems. · The needed information may not exist. · The data might not be very usable. o Relevant (fits research project needs) o Accurate (reliably collected and reported) o Current (up-to-date enough for current decisions) o Impartial (objectively collected and reported) | Learning Objective 3 p. 111 Key Term: Marketing Research p. 111 Figure 4.2: The Marketing Research Process p. 112 Key Terms: Exploratory Research, Descriptive Research, Causal Research p. 112 Ad: Red Bull p. 113 Key Terms: Secondary Data, Primary Data p. 114 Ad: LexisNexis |
| Ø Assignments, Resources Use Discussion Question 4-3 here Use Critical Thinking Exercise 4-6 and 4-8 here Use Additional Projects 1 here Use Outside Example 1 here Ø Troubleshooting Tip Although today’s students have grown up with computers, the idea of an “information system” may be very new to them. They typically will not have had to do much research, and any jobs they’ve held to this point in their lives will most likely have entailed very basic, entry-level type work. To get them past this, you could talk about the type of information the university will hold on each student—their major, the courses they’ve taken, the grades they’ve gotten, their current address, their home address, their parents’ names, whether they are paying full tuition or are on any kind of scholarship, what high school they attended and their grade point average there, what sports they play or activities they participate in, and so forth. Then talk about how the university might use that information to understand their current student population to help them figure out how to target future students while they are still in high school. This should help them grasp how data gets turned into information, and then to knowledge. |
|
p. 114 PPT 4-27 PPT 4-28 PPT 4-29 p. 115 PPT 4-30 p. 116 p. 116 PPT 4-31 p. 117 PPT 4-32 | Primary Data Collection Research Approaches Observational research involves gathering primary data by observing relevant people, actions, and situations. Observational research can obtain information that people are unwilling or unable to provide. Disadvantages: · Some things cannot be observed. · Long term or infrequent behavior is also difficult to observe. · Observations can be very difficult to interpret. Ethnographic research involves sending trained observers to watch and interact with consumers in their “natural habitat.” Ethnographic research often yields the kinds of details that don’t emerge from traditional research questionnaires or focus groups. Survey research, the most widely used method for primary data collection, is the approach best suited for gathering descriptive information. The major advantage of survey research is its flexibility. Disadvantages: · Sometimes people are unable to answer survey questions. · People may be unwilling to respond to unknown interviewers or about things they consider private. · Respondents may answer survey questions even when they do not know the answer. · Busy people may not take the time, or they might resent the intrusion into their privacy. Experimental research is best suited for gathering causal information. Contact Methods Mail, Telephone, and Personal Interviewing Mail questionnaires can be used to collect large amounts of information at a low cost per respondent. Respondents give more honest answers to more personal questions. No interviewer is involved to bias the respondent’s answers. Disadvantages: · Not very flexible · Take longer to complete · The response rate is very low · The researcher often has little control over the mail questionnaire sample · As a result, more marketers are now shifting to e-mail and online surveys Telephone interviewing is the one of the best methods for gathering information quickly, and it provides greater flexibility than mail questionnaires. Interviewers can explain difficult questions. Response rates are higher than with mail questionnaires. Disadvantages: · Cost per respondent is higher than with mail questionnaires · People may not want to discuss personal questions with an interviewer · Introduces interviewer bias · Different interviewers may interpret and record responses differently · Increasingly high rates of hang-ups Personal interviewing takes two forms—individual and group interviewing. · Individual interviewing involves talking with people one-on-one. · Group interviewing (focus group interviewing) consists of inviting six to ten people to meet with a trained moderator to talk about a product, service, or organization. Many companies are now moving away from traditional, formal research approaches, and employing new ways of listening to consumers. | p. 114 Table 4.1: Planning Primary Data Collection p. 114 Key Term: Observational Research p. 114 Key Term: Ethnographic Research p. 115 Photo: P&G p. 115 Key Term: Survey Research p. 116 Key Term: Experimental Research p. 116 Table 4.2: Strengths and Weaknesses of Contact Methods p. 117 Key Term: Focus Group Interviewing p. 117 Photo: Lexus Focus Group |
p. 118 PPT 4-33 | Online Marketing Research Increasingly, researchers are collecting primary data through online marketing research. The Internet is well suited to quantitative research, but researchers are also adopting qualitative approaches. Online research usually costs much less than research conducted through mail, phone, or personal interviews. A primary qualitative Web-based research approach is online focus groups. Web-based research does have drawbacks, including control of who is in the online sample. In addition, consumer privacy is a major ethical concern. | p. 118 Key Term: Online Marketing Research p. 118 Photo: Snap Surveys p. 119 Key Term: Online Focus Groups p. 119 Photo: FocusVision p. 121 Key Term: Behavioral Targeting |
| Ø Assignments, Resources Use Real Marketing 4.1 here Use Discussion Question 4-3 here Use Critical Thinking Exercise 4-7 here Use Additional Projects 2, 3, and 4 here Use Individual Assignments 2 here |
|
p. 122 PPT 4-34 PPT 4-35 PPT 4-36 PPT 4-37 PPT 4-38 | Sampling Plan A sample is a segment of the population selected for marketing research to represent the population as a whole. Designing the sample requires three decisions. 1. Who is to be studied (what sampling unit)? 2. How many people should be included (what sample size)? 3. How should the people in the sample be chosen (what sampling procedure)? The two types of samples are: 1. Probability samples 1. Nonprobability samples Research Instruments The questionnaire is the most common data collection instrument. Closed end questions include all the possible answers, and subjects make choices among them. Open end questions allow respondents to answer in their own words. Care should be given to the wording and ordering of questions. Researchers also use mechanical instruments to monitor consumer behavior. People meters and checkout scanners are examples. Neuromarketing techniques can measure consumer involve ment and emotional responses, but these can be difficult to interpret. | p. 122 Key Term: Sample p. 122 Table 4.3: Types of Samples p. 123 Photo: Mechanical Instruments |
p. 124 PPT 4-39 PPT 4-40 | Implementing the Research Plan The data collection phase of the marketing research process must be carried out carefully to make sure the plan is implemented correctly. Researchers must process and analyze the collected data to isolate important information and findings. Interpreting and Reporting the Findings Researchers should present important findings and insights that are useful in the major decisions faced by management. However, interpretation should not be left only to researchers. Managers should work closely alongside them. Review Learning Objective 3: Outline the steps in the marketing research process. |
|
| Ø Assignments, Resources Use Marketing Ethics here Use Marketing by the Numbers here Use Video Case here Use Think-Pair-Share 1-4 here Use Small Group Assignment 2 here Use Outside Example 2 here Ø Troubleshooting Tip It is likely that no one in class will be familiar with the market research process. They have not had to worry about collecting information in any large-scale process, although they might have been involved with collecting information from members of a student organization as to what activities the members would like to participate in. One effective way of discussing this issue is to talk about the course evaluations that are completed at the end of the semester. Explaining that this is not to rate the instructors but to provide valuable feedback to the university, the department, and the instructor on course offerings, content within the courses, and only lastly to get an idea of the competence of instructors should help. Also, give examples of poorly designed surveys and show how they lead the respondent to answer in a given way. Especially helpful are questionnaires that use leading or loaded questions, or double-barreled questions that are difficult to answer. |
|
p. 124 PPT 4-41 PPT 4-42 PPT 4-43 p. 125 PPT 4-44 PPT 4-45 | Explain how companies analyze and use marketing information ANALYZING AND USING MARKETING INFORMATION Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Companies capture information at every possible customer touch point. Customer relationship management (CRM) is used to manage detailed information about individual customers and carefully manage customer touch points in order to maximize customer loyalty. CRM integrates everything that a company knows about individual customers to provide a 360-degree view of the customer relationship. A data warehouse is a companywide electronic database of finely detailed customer information that needs to be sifted through for gems. Data mining is the use of high-powered techniques to sift through the mounds of data and dig out interesting findings about customers. The most common CRM mistake is to view CRM as a technology and software solution only. Technology alone cannot build profitable customer relationships. CRM is just one part of an effective overall customer relationship management strategy. Distributing and Using Marketing Information The marketing information system must make the information available to managers and others who make marketing decisions or deal with customers. Many companies use a company intranet to facilitate information distribution. The intranet provides ready access to data, stored reports, and so forth. Companies are increasingly allowing key customers and value-network members to access account and product information, along with other information, through extranets. Review Learning Objective 4: Explain how companies analyze and use marketing information. | Learning Objective 4 p. 124 Key Term: Customer Relationship Management p. 125 Photo: The Weather Channel p. 127 Photo: Penske Truck Leasing |
| Ø Assignments, Resources Use Discussion Question 4-4 here Use Real Marketing 4.2 here Use Online, Mobile, and Social Media Marketing here Use Small Group Assignment 1 here |
|
p. 128 PPT 4-46 PPT 4-47 p. 129 PPT 4-48 p. 130 p. 131 PPT 4-49 | Discuss the special issues some marketing researchers face, including public policy and ethics issues. OTHER MARKETING INFORMATION CONSIDERATIONS Marketing Research in Small Businesses and Nonprofit Organizations Managers of small businesses and nonprofit organizations can obtain marketing insights by observing things around them. Managers can conduct informal surveys using small convenience samples. Managers can glean a wealth of competitive data and information by turning to the Internet. International Marketing Research International marketing researchers follow the same steps as domestic researchers. The international researcher may have a difficult time finding good secondary data. International researchers frequently must collect their own primary data. Reaching respondents is often not easy in other parts of the world. Cultural differences from country to country cause additional problems for international researchers. Language is the most obvious obstacle. Even when respondents are willing to respond, they may not be able to because of high functional illiteracy rates. Public Policy and Ethics in Marketing Research Intrusions on Consumer Privacy Many consumers strongly resent or even mistrust marketing research. Increasing consumer resentment has led to lower survey response rates in recent years. The best approach is for researchers to ask only for the information they need, to use it responsibly to provide customer value, and to avoid sharing information without the customer’s permission. Most major companies have now appointed a chief privacy officer (CPO). Misuse of Research Findings Many research studies appear to be little more than vehicles for pitching the sponsor’s products. Several associations have developed codes of research ethics and standards of conduct. In the end, unethical actions cannot be regulated away. Each company must accept responsibility for its own conduct. Review Learning Objective 5: Discuss the special issues some marketing researchers face, including public policy and ethics issues. | Learning Objective 5 p. 128 Photo: Bibbentuckers p. 129 Ad: Nielsen p. 130 Photo: Target p. 131 Photo: POM |
| Ø Assignments, Resources Use Discussion Question 4-5 here Use Company Case here |
|
