The links on this page lead you to the appropriate pages where the specific item mentioned is found along with similar information sources listed in the Company & Industry Research Subject Guide and the Marketing Resources Subject Guide.
A: Markets
The definitions in this section are to be taken directly from your textbook.
Based on the pattern of information found in the indexes for Assignment #1, you apply these definitions to your product, company, and industry. Some teams have been lucky when contacting the marketing department of the company. Do NOT expect such cooperation in highly competitive industries. On rare occasions, some teams have actually found an article that has these questions answered.
- Look at the demographic data of users and non-users of your industry taken from Simmons Study of Media & Markets.
- Life cycle information can sometimes be included in the company & brand histories. Consider products or brands that have been around for a long, long time tend to be in the later phases. Many really old products keep working on rejuvenation. This is a tough question to answer for neglected products.
- BEST SOURCES:
- Company Histories
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especially: International Directory of Company Histories
- Encyclopedia of Consumer Brands
- Company Histories
- BEST SOURCES:
- Look at the demographic data of users and non-users of your industry taken from Choices II: Simmons Study of Media & Markets or Choices III: Simmons Study of Media & Markets
- Look at the demographic data of users and non-users of your industry taken from Mediamark Reporter.
- In the absence of useful articles, advertisements can be helpful in figuring some of this out.
B: Customers
Use the indexes in the Company & Industry Research and the Marketing Resources handouts. In the absence of company or product specific articles, try these indexes using terms like needs satisfaction, brand loyalty, buying preferences, etc.
Consumer evaluation articles and any recalls or lawsuits MAY provide some direction about your specific product and company.
- BEST SOURCES
PsycINFO database is good for the buying decisions and needs satisfaction aspects, but rotten on specific companies and products.
Marketing Indexes are also good.
C: Competitors & Competitive Rivalry
This section will be easier to complete if you have kept up daily with the news on your company, competitors, & industry.
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The major competitors are those companies whose names keep showing up when you do research on the industry. Market share articles are also useful here.
You should have enough material from what you found when researching Assignment #1 to make some intelligent observations, if you have no specific article with the answers.
D: Publics
Based on the trends you found in your research up to this point (ALL of Assignment #1 & Assignment #2). There is seldom an article that answers this for you.
E: Corporate Marketing & Strategies
This section is based on the organizational chart, or lacking that, based on the structure you find in the directories or listed in the annual report.
- BEST SOURCES:
F: Strategic Prognosis -- Summary
- Collect all the information on the positive (strengths) and negative (weaknesses) things you have collected on your product, brand, and company. (You may find only a paragraph or two from a lot of articles.)
- Also, note what your competitors are doing with their similar products.
- What's going on with the economy?
Now, re-examine the articles from the point of view of your brand and do your SWOT analysis.
G: Recommendations
The team must look at all of the information collected and analyzed so far. After discussing this, make your recommendations.
