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It is initiated by information users; in this case Nineteen’s marketing managers, who can better assess the information needs to develop and analyses the needed information before distributing and using the marketing information. Nineteen’s marketing managers will have to assess the firm’s information needs before engaging in obtaining any information; balancing information they would like to have against what they need and what is feasibly obtainable.
For example, Nintendo would be concerned with how the public receives its next release, and therefore should find out generally whether a motion-sensing capable console would be generally well received by the public(for the release of the Nintendo WI). They should consider whether hey are harnessing too much or little information to make key marketing decisions. Also, they should consider the availability of information, such as its competitors (Sony, Microsoft etc) advertising budgets and how the changes will affect market share, which will most likely not be available to the company.
Also they should weigh the costs Of obtaining information against the benefits resulting from it. It would be very beneficial for the company to do phone interviews with a large group of individuals that fall within its targeted demographic; however the high costs of doing so must be taken into inconsideration by the marketing managers. Today, Nintendo focuses on continuously strengthening their branding and market share. They aim to be customer focused, through improving their structure to match and exceed customer expectations.
In other words, to market a new next-generation gaming console, Nintendo needs to determine what consumers want and expect from a gaming console; as well as knowing more about its competitors to increase its competitive edge. This can be done by developing its needed information through building internal databases, marketing intelligence, marketing research and information analysis. Building up-to-date and expensive internal databases can provide Nintendo with a competitive edge as they can be accessed quickly and easily compared to other secondary information sources.
To market a new next-generation gaming console, Nintendo requires information about what features (e. G. Hard disk space, video capabilities, network play capability, processor speed) consumers are interested in with regard to a gaming console. With internal information provided by the consumer research department, Nintendo will then be able to better manufacture a gaming console that will dominate the arrest, ensuring sales profit for the company. In addition, sales reports can help identify a target demographic that are generating the largest amount of profits (e. . Males from the age group 18-35 would be likely to purchase a Nintendo WI), such that publicity campaigns to market the new gaming console can be better geared towards attracting the target demographic. For example, Nintendo launched the WI with the intention of getting most teens and young adults as well as forty-plus year olds excited about the platform (and purchasing one of course) Marketing intelligence is the systematic collection and analysis of publicly available information about competitors and developments in the marketing environment.
Such information allows companies to improve strategic decision making, assess and track competitors’ actions, assess and identify opportunities and threats early. Such information can be obtained internally, but often involves a more indirect form of information collecting such as through suppliers and retailers. For example, circa-April 2009 before the release of the Nintendo Ids, Chips (a major Nintendo retailer in the UK) reported strong pre-sales for the console, calling it a “100% sell out” .
The internet can be utilized as a source of information on competitors as well; Nintendo can easily obtain latest product information and financial reports on Sony on websites such as http://www. Sony. Net/Synonyms/lair/financial/FRR/ index. HTML. Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting Of data relevant to a specific marketing situation Of an organization; complementary to marketing intelligence as it involves a direct approach.
On top of that, marketing intelligence usually collects information on competitors whereas marketing research is consumer-oriented, usually focused on obtaining opinions of its customers with regards to both Nineteen’s and its competitors’ products and marketing strategies. By conducting surveys as well as ethnographic research, Nintendo can determine consumer preferences and awareness towards its brand. For example, Nineteen’s booth at the yearly game show E during Junk 09 was conducting surveys on consumers that were visiting its booth on their opinions towards its new game and peripheral releases slated for 2010.
Furthermore, by giving out freebies such as the WI Sports Resort freebies and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks styluses to serve as an token for responding to the interview, it attracted more people to do the survey, as well as creating public awareness towards its brand. Information analysis helps companies use information gathered from internal databases, marketing intelligence and marketing research to help make marketing decisions by answering fundamental questions – what if and which is best.
Information collected through the three aforementioned methods is analyses to isolate important information pertaining to specific needs of the company. One method that can be employed is Customer Relationship Management (CRM) where the consumers’ data that is collected by different departments of Nintendo are integrated to provide an all-rounded view of their consumers, allowing identification of the best targets for marketing, while knowing their preferences and expectations at the same time. However, marketing information has no value until it is used to make better marketing decisions.
Thus information distribution is extremely critical in today’s fast paced world. Information distribution involves entering information into databases making it available in a timely and user-friendly assign, especially critical information which plays a major role in decision making such as performance reports, financial reports, intelligence updates and research study results. Like many other firms, Nintendo uses a company intranet to facilitate this process; as the intranet provides ready access to research information, stores reports, shared work documents, contact information for employees and other stakeholders.
Also, the company intranet can be used for other purposes such as to serve as a network for external agencies to help improve operations within the company and educe the need for customer service. Also, Nintendo allows its major retailers -?? such as Netherworld to access its databases through extranets to update their accounts and check inventories to improve the overall customer experience. The usage of marketing information has to be done sensitively and discretely such that consumers do not find the marketing research an intrusion on consumer privacy.
The company should provide a clear privacy policy to let its consumers know how their interests and information are being protected. The company should also use the information harnessed to make better racketing mix decisions (in terms of product, price, promotion and place), design sales and advertising plans, select sites for retail outlets and better forecast the sales for their new product. 2. Small businesses and non-profit organizations often lack resources to conduct extensive market research. Assume you are the director of fundraising for a small non-profit organization – Henderson Old Folks Home.
Given limited resources, identify how you can gather information about your primary’ donor group. Small non-profit organizations have limited research budgets, and thus are unable to carry out large-scale research studies. However, non-profit organizations too need market information, and must track potential donors and opportunities to solicit donations. Non-profit organizations can carry out marketing research in a less formal manner at a lower (little or no) expense. Non-profit organizations can obtain good marketing information from simple observations.
For example, staff from Henderson Old Folks home can volunteer to help out at events organized by associated (and more developed) charities that help old folks such as Lions Befriends, and Care for the Elderly Foundation, and observe the volunteers that turn up (who will keel be donors as well) and obtain demographic information. Also, through observation, the organization can easily identify donor’s inclination; their generosity, involvement in civic affairs, involvement in charities with similar missions, and whether the donors have been volunteers or even served as board members in such organizations.
Paying close attention to such details may allow the organization to gauge the typical donor’s income, assets as well as their financial obligations towards other charities. Also, staff working at events can also inform you what people are saying about your charity. Also, transactional individual interviews are effective for non-profit organizations to garner information about their donors. After every donation, a short survey can be given to the donor to suggest ways to improve the organization, or to find out how they feel about the whole experience.
This allows for immediate feedback while the experience is fresh in the consumer’s mind and allows the organization to take immediate remedial action if necessary. Also, the organization can track its annual donor list and do an individual in-depth interview over the telephone (repeated big donors are definitely few and far – especially in Singapore). This allows more specific answers to be given over the telephone, and interviewers can ask follow-up questions as well as probe answers. This may be costly and therefore should only be targeted at major donors.
The internet is also a good source of information for non-profit organizations. Internet survey questionnaires are cheap to design, as well as cost efficient. The cost of reaching ten respondents is not far off from the cost of reaching a thousand. They are also excellent for reaching a hard-to-reach audience, such as the well-educated and affluent, and for people who lead busy lives. Other than surveys, the internet holds a great amount of valuable secondary data for non-profit organizations.
A study conducted by the Centre of Philanthropy at Indiana University found that the average donor household gives about $2000 USED a year, as well as other important demographic information on primary donors (though it may not be entirely in context); people who are most likely to consider frequently donating to charities are usually well educated (at least a Bachelors degree), are middle-aged (40-60) and report that they are motivated by “doing good” and “doing what is expected”. With roper adaptation over social/political/cultural/economic boundaries, the information can be valuable.
In conclusion, even with limited resources, non-profit organizations can still collect information about its donors through acute observation, usage of internet resources as well as individualized in-depth interviews. 3. Visit Zimmerman. Com. Using the site, design a five-question survey on consumers’ perception of Borders bookstore. Send the survey to ten friends and look at the results. If possible, include demographic info separately from the above data. What did you think of the online survey method?
Data collection forms a crucial phase in a marketing research project. There are two main forms of data, namely Primary data and Secondary Data. Secondary Data is pre-existing data including commercial online databases and publications whereas Primary Data are unprocessed information collected for the objective at hand, including observational, experimental and survey research, contact methods and internet research, such as the survey in this question . The advantages of the internet survey method are cost, flexibility and accessibility, anonymity and time saved.
Cost: Firstly, costs amounting from online surveys are low, as costs attributing room increasing sample sizes are kept to a minimum (if any at all), as distribution through the internet is almost free nowadays due to technological advancements. Through the usage of Zimmerman. Com, conducted my survey at zero cost. Flexibility & Accessibility: The online survey method allows for extension to hard-to-reach segments Of the market such as the well-educated, the affluent, the busy, and housewives.
The self-administrative nature of the online survey allows respondents to answer the surveys at their own time and place, thus resulting in a high response rate. With the proliferation of the internet (Statistics show that internet usage by the world has increased by 305% from 360,985,492 users in year 2000 to 1 users now in year 2008 distributing online surveys to respondents is easy and requires very little physical effort.
Time: The survey method has a low turnaround time as surveys are instantaneously distributed to and returned from the target audience the moment the survey is prepared/completed. Results are tabulated immediately through statistical tools implemented with the survey system, reflected through the survey in question as it took only an hour from the mint of distribution to receipt of the 10 completed survey including result tabulation.
Time: The lack of an interviewer influence as well as sufficient privacy will often yield less guarded answers (and thus more truthful answers) especially on sensitive demographic information such as income. The flipped to the internet survey method are that it is likely to have sample bias, poor response and people have a generally wary and cynical view towards internet surveys. Sample Bias: The sample is often not representative of the population, as the internet is biased towards the younger and tech-savvy generation, as opposed to the computer illiterate.
The sample in this case is a convenience sample as I selected the easiest population members from which to obtain information -?? friends. From Fig. 1 , of my respondents are students, and it does not fully reflect the market perception towards Borders as students have a tighter budget. Response: Surveys may not be responded or fully completed. In this case, had to ask about 25 friends to do the survey before getting 10 responses, and in Fig. 2 only 60% of the respondents answered question e, and thus the result is not fully representative of my target group.