Marketing Intelligence System

This is a set of procedures and sources used by managers to obtain everyday information about developments in the marketing environment. This system supplies ‘happenings’ data unlike Internal Records System which supplies ‘results’ data. Marketing managers collect data from published sources like books, magazines and journals; by talking to customers, intermediaries and sales personnel. Some companies appoint specialists to gather consumer and competitor information, who does mystery shopping to monitor the performance of their own or competitor’s dealers. Competitor information can also be obtained by buying their product, attending their press conferences, trade shows and reading their annual reports. Companies purchase commercial information from outside suppliers and market research agencies like IMRB, ORG – MARG to obtain competitive data on their sales, advertising expenditures etc., besides their own.