Marketing Information Systems and Marketing Research

Clearly companies & brands do not operate within a vacuum. They operate within a market.

Defining the market and how your company/brand fits within the market is one area where marketing information systems and marketing research can help.

Kotler says that "marketing information is a critical element in effective marketing" - we probably have all experienced working with companies that have too much of the wrong information and/or information that is so badly collected that it provides an inaccurate view of the market and where each brand sits within it.

Spending time on this area of the business is I believe essential - how can you possibly know what to do next if your understanding of the current situation is flawed. Setting realistic business goals/objectives and then developing sound strategies and implementation plans is dependent upon having accurate information.

Kotler outlines four key systems - systems is an interesting word that suggests that marketing information and intelligence should be collected systematically and then analysed using a system of established techniques.

Far too many times I have come across organisations that base business and marketing decisions upon data where the source of the information has not been taken into account. I have actually heard a senior manager say that they think competitor X has a market share of Y because he read a trade press article saying so - this may be accurate but how do you know. Surely, there would be a more accurate way to obtain market share data, especially if you are about to base a strategic plan on stealing some of that share - it may not exist !

So, marketing information systems and marketing research are still important today as they were back in 1988. The way markets have become more complex, you can easily argue that they are even more important.