About marketing

A marketing information system (MkIS) is a management information system (MIS) designed to support marketing decision making. Jobber (2007) defines it as a "system in which marketing data is formally gathered, stored, analysed and distributed to managers in accordance with their informational needs on a regular basis." In addition, the online business dictionary defines Marketing Information System (MkIS) as "a system that analyzes and assesses marketing information, gathered continuously from sources inside and outside an organization or a store."[1] Furthermore, "an overall Marketing Information System can be defined as a set structure of procedures and methods for the regular, planned collection, analysis and presentation of information for use in making marketing decisions." (Kotler, at al, 2006)

Overview
Reid and Bojanic(2010) claimed that, " The term market research informs relatively narrowerly than Marketing Information System(MkIS) which is altered from the term management information systemization. Market research indicates that information is not collected for a specific reason or project; the major objective is a one-time use.

"A marketing information system, which continuously collects the initial, routine and systematic data, is not only used for one particular topic but is designed for monitoring the degree of the marketing success to ensure the achievable of the operation as well.

Importance
Developing a MkIS system is becoming extremely important as the strength of economies rely on services and to better understand the specific needs of customers. Kotler, et al. (2006) defined it more broadly as "people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers.

Insofar as an economy focuses on services, marketing is important to "monitor the marketing environment for changes in buyer behavior competition, technology, economic conditions, and government policies."[4] In this sense, the role of marketing is becoming pivotal for an organization to "adapt to changes in the market environment." (Harmon, 2003)

As an economy relies on the acquisition of knowledge, MkIS systems are necessary to be able to define and differentiate the value proposition that one organization provides with respect to another, as well as to define their competitive advantage. (Harmon, 2003)

The main benefit of MkIS systems is to integrate market-monitoring systems with strategy development and the strategic implementation of policies and processes that help capture and act on customer management applications with marketing decision support systems. This area constitute Marketing intelligence that supports the analysis and market based activities that support customer relations and customer service with real time information with real time applications that support market based approaches.

Relevance of MkIS
Shajahan and arya(2004) stated that, "Demands for the MkIS can be expressed by three crucial developments. Firstly, when companies expand and diversify into new markets, both the companies and customer's point of view are needed to be handled by the marketing managers. Therefore, there would be greater need for marketing information. Secondly, when consumers obtain an increment in the level of their income, it causes a tendency for them to be more discriminating during the purchasing procedure. A full awareness of the points that drive a consumer prefer a brand and the points that distinguished his brand from that of the rivals should be obtained by the marketers. This awareness is possible only with the help of a well- designed effective MkIS. Thirdly, the development of the markets and the movement from price to non-price grounds of competition lead to an increase in the importance of adoption and implementation by the competitors and finding the response of the consumers towards them. Analyzing the needs for MkIS from a third person's angle, three more factors come to the forefront viz., the information explosion, increasing complexity in decision making and the technological developments.

Marketing Research(MR)and MkIS
In addition, "Great demand of information gathering for marketing decisions results in the need of attention by themselves. Though marketing research information can be generated by studies, which are normally conducted in the market place whereas marketing information systems are designed to gather, integrate, process and distribute marketing information comprehensively from all sources, including that from marketing research. The contrasting characteristics of MkIS and MR are presented in Table 5.1 as shown below:

Table 5.1 Showing contrasting characteristic of MR and MkIS

Marketing Research

Marketing Information System

1.Emphasis is on handling external information

1.It handles both internal and external data.

2.It is concerned with solving problems.

1. It is concerned with preventing as well as solving problems.

3.It operates in a fragmented fashion – on a project-to-project basis.

3.It operates continuously as a system.

4.It tends to focus on past information.

4.It tends to be future oriented.

5.It is a source of input for marketing information system.

5.It includes other subsystems besides marketing research.

The business function of marketing is concerned more with the planning, promotion and sale of products in existing markets and the development of new products and new markets. Thus marketing performs a vital function in the operation of a business enterprise. Business firms who turned to computers have been able to perform vital marketing function effectively for organizations' growth in the face of global competition.

Source: wikipedia