Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic

Marketing: A

Global−Managerial

Approach, 14/e

8. Improving Decisions
   with Marketing
   Information

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

218 Chapter 8

Marketing managers for some companies make decisions based almost totally on

their own judgment—with very little hard data. The manager may not even know

that he or she is about to make the same mistake that the previous person in that

job already made! When it’s time to make a decision, they may wish they had more

information. But by then it’s too late, so they do without.

There is a difference between information that is availableand information that

is readily accessible.Some information—such as the details of competitors’ plans—

is just not available. Other information may be available, but not really accessible

without a time-consuming effort. For example, a company may have file cabinets

full of records of customer purchases, what was sold by sales reps last month, past

marketing plans, or what is in the warehouse. In a sense, all of this information is

available. But, if a manager can’t quickly get this information when it’s needed, it

isn’t useful. By contrast, making the same information instantly accessible over a

computer network could be very useful.

Firms like LensCrafters realize that it doesn’t pay to wait until you have impor-

tant questions you can’t answer. They anticipate the information they will need.

They work to develop a continual flow of informationthat is available and quickly

accessible when it’s needed.

A marketing information system (MIS)is an organized way of continually gath-

ering, accessing, and analyzing information that marketing managers need to make

decisions.

We won’t cover all of the technical details of planning for an MIS. That’s beyond

the scope of this course. But you should understand what an MIS is so you know

some of the possibilities. So, we’ll be discussing the elements of a complete MIS as

buying trends early and plan

for them.

Research also guides pro-

motion decisions. For

example, LensCrafters uses

direct-mail advertising

targeted to customers in

segments where interest in its

convenient eyeglass service

is highest.

LensCrafters’ new adver-

tising and positioning is also

based on research. The

campaign is designed to

encourage consumers to think

of LensCrafters as “my per-

sonal vision place.” The ads

speak to the importance and

value of vision care and foster

LensCrafters’ identity as the

consumer’s first choice for

quality eye care and quality

eyewear. The research shows

that this message appeals

to consumers and sets

LensCrafters apart from

competitors—who mainly rely

on price-oriented messages

about discounts and price

points.^1

The LensCrafters case

shows that successful market-

ing strategies require

information about potential

target markets and their likely

responses to marketing mixes

as well as about competition

and other marketing environ-

ment variables. Managers also

need information for imple-

mentation and control. Without

good information, managers

are left to guess—and in

today’s fast-changing markets,

that invites failure.

Radical Changes Are Underway in Marketing Information

MIS makes information
available and
accessible