MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM

What is Marketing Information System

Marketing Information System as a computer-base system that works in conjunction with revising information systems to support the firms management in solving problems that relate to marketing of the firms products.

Definition of MIS

Kotler has defined MIS as a system that consists of people, equipment and procedure to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate and distribute market. The MIS encompasses the analysis, planning, and Implementation and control function of marketing management. The overall objective of consumers and other forces for creating, changing and improving the marketing decisions and formulating strategies.

Definition of MIS

The MIS inputs are provided through internal record system(information on market potential, sales, prices, inventory levels, receivable, payables & so on), marketing intelligence system (everyday information about pertinent developments in the marketing environment), marketing research system(design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company) and analysis of information (a co-ordinated collection of data, systems, tools and techniques with supporting software and hardware by which an organization gathers and interprets) and turns it into a basis for marketing action and tactics.

Definition of MIS

The term MIS has gained prominence in the new era of technological advancement, consumer consciousness and computerized information systems. MIS is defined as a structured, interacting complex of persons, machines and procedures designed to generate an orderly flow of pertinent information, collected from both intra and extra firm sources for use as the basis for decision-making in specified responsibility areas of marketing management.

STEPS IN MIS DESIGN

Define the system: The system for which design is to be made has to be defined in terms of elements, the relationship and its boundaries. The system may be the complete organization consisting of all functions or only one or several functions. Source and frequency identification: Once the information needs have been assessed, the source of this information and the frequency of reporting have to be identified. The source could be both external and internal whereas the frequency could be based on the occurrence of the event or by exception.

STEPS IN MIS DESIGN

Formats of MIS: there are two formats which are very important Viz (a) Research Assessment sheet, (b) Marketing activity evaluation sheet. The research assessment sheet contains information like marketing decisions, parameters, frequency, source and the format code. The marketing activity evaluation sheet will contain the items, relationship, standard, actual variance and reason. The first format is useful from the information point of view while the second format could be used for control. Implementation: The steps needed for implementing the newly designed MIS could be (a) Prepare marketing research plan, (b) Train the research staff, (c) Prepare operating schedule and (d) Evaluate and modify the research system.

ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF MIS

Information primarily geared to assist marketing decision-making process and control. Marketing communication based on relevance with respect to diverse needs of management at different levels.

ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF MIS

Flexibility in information system to incorporate future requirements of marketing managers on need basis. Marketing information helps an organization update itself with the current and future competition, diversification and/or expansion strategic plans because marketing managers are engrossed in finding solutions to ever increasing operational problems.

DEMAND FORECASTING

Demand forecasting is the activity of estimating the quantity of a product or service that consumers will purchase. Demand forecasting involves techniques including both informal methods, such as educated guesses, and quantitative methods, such as the use of historical sales data or current data from test markets. Demand forecasting may be used in making pricing decisions, in assessing future capacity requirements, or in making decisions on whether to enter a new

Forecasting is a science of predicting the future by analyzing the previous data. The science of forecasting helps firms to take strategic decisions to achieve their goals. Therefore, there is a need for precision in the demand forecasts.

Forecasting implies predicting the future after studying and analyzing the past and present data. Forecasting is of special importance in industries, where important strategic decisions need to be taken to optimize the efficiency of the resources and hence maximize the profits.

Necessity for forecasting demand

Often forecasting demand is confused with forecasting sales. But, failing to forecast demand ignores two important phenomena. There is a lot of debate in demand-planning literature about how to measure and represent historical demand, since the historical demand forms the basis of forecasting. The main question is whether we should use the history of outbound shipments or customer orders or a combination of the two as proxy for the demand.

Certain expressions that are commonly used to demand measurement and sales forecasting.

1. Market Potential (or industry potential). (total possible sales by firms) 2. Company Potential (or Sales potential) (maximum sales that an individual firm can achieve) 3. Market Demand (or Industry potential) (refers to the porting of Market potential that is achievable under the existing conditions) 4. Company Demand (or Co sales possibilities) (how much sales Co makes under existing conditions) 5. Market Forecast (or industry forecast) (it refers to that part of market demand that will materialize with the level of marketing effort the industry will put) 6. Company Forecast (or sales forecast) (Co demand , which the Co actually expects to capture)

METHODS OF DEMAND FORECASTING

1. Jury Method/Executive opinion method. 2. Survey of experts opinions. 3. The Delphi method (kind of survey of expert opinions) 4. Sales force composite method 5. Users expectation method/Survey of buyers intention.

6. Market share method. 7. Substitution/Replacement method. 8. Market Test/Test Marketing. 9. Analytical & Statistical method. 10. Market survey method.