Page 52 - DMGT408DMGT203_Marketing Management

Unit 2: Understanding the Marketplace and Consumers

Some enterprises will approach marketing intelligence gathering in a more deliberate fashion Notes
and will train its sales force, after-sales personnel and district/area managers to take cognisance
of competitors’ actions, customer complaints and requests and distributor problems. Enterprises
with vision will also encourage intermediaries, such as collectors, retailers, traders and other
middlemen to be proactive in conveying market intelligence back to them.
Marketing models: Within the MIS there has to be the means of interpreting information in order
to give direction to decision. These models may be computerised or may not. Typical tools are:

1. Time series sales modes
2. Brand switching models
3. Linear programming
4. Elasticity models (price, incomes, demand, supply, etc.)

5. Regression and correlation models
6. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) models
7. Sensitivity analysis
8. Discounted cash flow

9. Spreadsheet ‘what if models
These and similar mathematical, statistical, econometric and financial models are the analytical
subsystem of the MIS. A relatively modest investment in a desktop computer is enough to allow
an enterprise to automate the analysis of its data. Some of the models used are stochastic, i.e.
those containing a probabilistic element whereas others are deterministic models where chance
plays no part. Brand switching models are stochastic since these express brand choices in
probabilities whereas linear programming is deterministic in that the relationships between
variables are expressed in exact mathematical terms.

Example: 3M, whose best-known products are Post-it Notes and Scotch tape, operate in
more than 60 countries. It recently introduced a $30 million online information system and all
its senior executives get their information from the online database.

Caselet Stats and Facts (Excerpt)

anniru R. Rao is a happy man. The president and CEO of Market Probe have enough
reason. His market research firm is listed among the top 50 market research agencies
Tin the world. Rao, however, believes that market research, in India, is still at a
nascent stage.
“You need more qualified people to do the field work and that is still not happening
here,” he says. Established in 1976, the company specialises in marketing research and
customer loyalty studies with offices in Canada, Europe and the US. Recently, it started
operations in India with centres in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. With billings of
$15 million for calendar year 1999, Market Probe is looking to spread the importance of
specialised research in India. “In our business, long-term relations are essential and we
make it a point to continue the relationship with our clients since, typically, our customer
loyalty studies are continuous,” says Rao. The timing is just perfect. Many Indian
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