Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
- Research the distribution system for Coca-Cola at http://www.thecoca-
colacompany.com/ourcompany/the_cocacola_system.html. What elements of Coca-Cola’s supply chain
were you unaware of? - Get into groups of four. Then choose a product and outline the supply chain for it. If you need to, use the
Web to research the product. Then discuss with your group how you believe the supply chain could be used
to create additional value for customers. Present your findings to your class.
Chapter 10
Gathering and Using Information: Marketing Research
and Market Intelligence
Once you have come up with a great idea for an offering, how will you know if people will want to buy it?
If they are willing to buy it, what will they want to pay? Will they be willing to pay enough so that you can
earn a profit from the product? Wouldn’t it be great if you had some sort of crystal ball that would give
you the answers to these questions? After all, you don’t want to quit your day job to develop a product
that’s going to be a flop.
In a sense, you do have such a crystal ball. It’s called marketing research. Marketing research is the
process of collecting, analyzing, and reporting marketing information that can be used to answer
questions or solve problems so as to improve a company’s bottom line. Marketing research includes a
wide range of activities. (By contrast, market research is a narrower activity. It is the process of
researching a specific market to determine its size and trends.)