MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION

TO
GAIN CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
To create value for customers and build meaningful relationships with them, marketers need to first gain fresh, deep
insights into what customers need and want.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq2QtatuF7U

How do you manage so much data?

Marketing Information System (MIS)

Marketing managers and other information users

Obtaining customer and market insights from MIS

Marketing Information System

Developing Needed Information
Assessing Analyzing and
Internal Marketing Marketing
Information using
Databases Intelligence Research
need information

Marketing Environment
Target Markets Marketing Channels Competitors Publics Macroeconomic forces
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Marketing Research

It is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an
organization.
It can give information about customer motivations, purchase behaviors, and satisfaction.
It helps in assessing the effectiveness of pricing, distribution, product, and promotion strategies.

The Marketing Research Process involves

Implementing the
Defining the problem Developing the
research plan- Interpreting and
and research research plan for
collecting data and reporting the findings
objectives collecting information
analyzing it
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Defining the Problem and Research Objectives

The marketer may know something is wrong without knowing the specific causes.
Defining the problem is often the hardest.
Objectives could be of 3 types
• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Causal
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Defining the Problem and Research Objectives

The marketer may know something is wrong without knowing the specific causes.
The gap between the goals set and actual performance is usually the source of problem.

E.g., The drop in Customer satisfaction levels for a restaurant (Problem statement):
Identify factors leading to customer satisfaction (Exploratory Objective).
Examine the satisfaction level of different customer segments (Descriptive Objective).
Investigate the impact of brightness in the restaurant on customer satisfaction (Causal Objective)
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Developing Research Plan

A research proposal needs to be developed after identifying the research gap. This document will provide roadmap for
implementing the stated research objectives.

It includes
• Sources of Data
• Specific Research Approach
• Contact Methods
• Sampling Plans
• Instruments

The proposal should also provide Estimated time to complete the project and budget.
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Sources of Data

Secondary

• Company/Competitor data- e.g., CMIE ProQuest & LexisNexis

• Shopper insight data- e.g., Nielson
• Viewership data- e.g., BARC
• Consumer insights- e.g., Amazon (to channel partners), Facebook analytics

Benefits and Disadvantages

• Secondary data can be obtained quickly and costs lower.
• Difficult to find all relevant data from a secondary source.
• Reliability of data is also another issue that needs consideration.
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Sources of Data

Primary Sources

Research Approaches Contact Methods Sampling Plan Research Instruments

• Observation • Mail • Sampling Unit • Questionnaire

• Survey • Telephone • Sample size • Mechanical
• Experiment • Personal • Sampling procedure instruments
• Online
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Research Approaches

Observational Research
Seeing is believing
Listening to consumer conversations through blogs, chats, social media posts etc.,
Ethnographic research- this is a higher version of observation where the researcher observes and interacts with consumers
in their “natural environment”.
E.g., Landor did an ethnographic study with 11 French families for 7 years.
Big Data analytics can probably provide insights about the whats, whens, & where of consumer behavior. But
Observational approach provides insights of whys.
A quantitative research approach seeks to test known hypotheses and obtain answers for well-defined product or
strategy questions.
Observational approach provides a window into customers’ unconscious actions and unexpressed wants.
The challenge is interpreting.
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Research Approaches

Survey Research

Advantages
• It is most widely used approach for primary data collection.
• It is well suited for descriptive information.
• It is flexible
• It can be administered through mail, phone, or in-person
Disadvantages
• Socially desirable answers is a challenge
• Sometimes people are not able to answer questions because they can’t remember
• Common method bias (busy People)
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Research Approaches

Experimental Research
It is best suited for those seeking causal information.
For instance- To determine the best price for a new product you may introduce the same product with different price in
two different cities of similar type.

Advantage
It provides causal information with greater accuracy.
Minimizes the biases.

Disadvantage
• It is costly to set-up experiments.
• It is time consuming.
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Contact Methods

1. Mail, Telephone, & Personal Interviews

• Fast, flexible and lower cost (mail & telephone).
• It can have interviewer bias (e.g., leading questions)
• Personal Interviews can be structured or unstructured.

2. Focus group Interviews

• It is one of the most favored method among marketers to gain insights in consumer thoughts and feelings.
• You can observe interactions, facial expressions, group interplay, consumer ideas, etc.,
• Challenges involve high costs, small samples, and time consumption

3. Online Marketing Research

• Online Focus group (bringing people from different regions for diverse opinions)
• Internet-based surveys (surveymonkey)
• Online communities (OnePlus community)

4. Online Behavioral and Social Tracking & Targeting

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAAnTTLuEKY.
• Online consumer tracking data for targeted advertising
• Online stalking issues and data privacy issues
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CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Sampling Plan
A sample is a segment of the population selected for marketing research to represent the population as a whole.
Making a sampling plan requires 3 decisions
Sample Unit
Who is to be studies. Often tricky to answer. E.g., Who should be the subject of study for car purchase behavior?
Sample Size
The larger the sample the better is the reliability. However, the costs also increases.
Sampling Procedure
How are people chosen from population into the sample frame?
Probability Sample
Simple random samples Every member of the population has a known and equal chance of selection.

Stratified random sample Population is divided into mutually exclusive groups (age, gender, etc) and random samples are drawn from them

Cluster sample Population is divided into mutually exclusive groups (age, gender, etc) and the researcher draws a sample of groups for
interview.

Non Probability Sample

Convenience sample The researcher selects the easiest population members from which to obtain information

Judgment sample The researcher uses his/her judgement to select population members who are good prospects for accurate information

Quota sample The researcher categories populations and draws prescribed sample from each category
 MANAGING MARKETING INFORMATION &
CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Research Instruments

Questionnaires
Open-ended- for qualitative (exploratory research)
Close-ended- for quantitative (Descriptive & Causal)

Researchers need to use simple, direct, and unbiased wording

The questions should be arranged in logical order
Easier questions first and difficult questions at the end

Mechanical Instruments
Checkout scanner
People-o-meter
EEG
MRI
Biofeedback (Heart rate, respiration rate, sweat level, eye-tracker)
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CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
Implementing the Research Plan

Take guard against problems of data collection, data quality, and timeliness (Gantt charts help)

Interpreting and reporting the findings

• Draw insights from data through analysis

• Present important findings and not fancy statistical techniques
• Use Data visualization to highlight key insights
• Interpretation of results can reflect researchers bias