Marketing Intelligence

Market intelligence is a term that is widely used, widely misunderstood, and often mistaken for a mysterious art requiring high-level detective work. Before providing advice on how market intelligence can potentially benefit your business, it is therefore essential that we begin this paper by agreeing on a definition. It is defined by Wikipedia as follows: â€Å"Market Intelligence is the information relevant to a company’s markets, gathered and analyzed specifically for the purpose of accurate and confident decision-making in determining market opportunity, market penetration strategy, and market development metrics. In simple terms, market intelligence is information that is gathered for the purpose of making business decisions. It is largely synonymous with market research, the systematic gathering, recording, analysis and interpretation of information about a company’s markets, competitors and customers. * Types of Intelligence Sources Intelligence can be described as the summary of internal and external data and information, paired with expertise and experience in any given environment and brought into context with the own doing and goals. Primarily though, market & competitive intelligence is based on sources providing the critical mass and substance to deal with as it comes to knowledge of any type. External Market & Competitive Intelligence Sources External market & competitive intelligence sources can and should provide a rich and realistic view of the external environment any business is operating in. Market & competitive intelligence has become a major marketing discipline and industry supplying much needed insights into business figures and trends. Desk Research for Intelligence Desk research might be the most common intelligence discipline regardless how advanced the organizations intelligence programs and systems are. Published information and data, pushed by partners, consultants and MI specialists as well internal resources pointing towards external intelligence is being scoured, gathered and pre-analyzed. Acquired Intelligence & Market Reports Industry reports, market studies and other business intelligence are being made available in many formats and sizes. Any industry or market have their major players in terms of research, market observation and monitoring who create and provide studies, reports, overviews, key market data, trends and indicators. Business Journals & Trade Magazines Business journals and trade magazines are excellent intelligence sources for both market intelligence as well as competitive intelligence. Most importantly here, the intelligence consuming organization needs to make sense of it all. Condensing and bringing relevant intelligence into context of immediate business needs and long term market strategies are crucial elements of intelligence preparation. Industry & Market Newsletters Keeping customers and partners in the loop of developments and offers can be done quite effectively via newsletters that are delivered in hard copy format or electronically. Not only is this a crucial customer retention measure but a competitive tool as well where customers find another comparison opportunity across products and service offers. Individual Intelligence Subscriptions A large corporation with thousands of employees hardly has any overview of how many subscriptions are being ordered and offered to staff. Subscription providers never care about consolidation. Neither do bothered employees if asked to openly acknowledge their subscriptions to market websites, news portals or periodicals. Market Intelligence: Wholesale Sourcing Drop Shipping, Bulk Wholesaling, General Wholesaling, Liquidation / Overstock Sourcing are sourcing strategies that need and naturally produce a lot of intelligence both market intelligence and competitive intelligence. External Soft Intelligence Any sales force and other field operators possess and handle unbelievable amounts of external intelligence about customers, market players, associations, industries and events with all developments and dynamics. Not to utilize this vast amount of intelligence in any organizations is a major competitive disadvantage. Internal Market & Competitive Intelligence Sources Most important and generally of extremely high value are internal sources for business intelligence. Legacy systems, ERP, any transactional data as well as soft information such as meeting transcripts and verbal communication with customers, suppliers and partners need to be exploited. The intelligence found in internal resources such as management and marketing or sales force is invaluable for any business decision. Business Data & Databases Major databases such as ERP systems, legacy systems, transactional data archived and stored for reference should be considered standard intelligence as they provide the very base for any data comparison and measurement. As well as for external intelligence, soft knowledge residing in the heads of the employees regarding internal view of markets and customers, competitors and other business variables can be invaluable for the entire intelligence prospective. Utilize Internal Soft Knowledge. As well as for external intelligence, soft knowledge residing in the heads of the employees regarding internal view of markets and customers, competitors and other business variables can be invaluable for the entire intelligence prospective. * Steps to be taken by a Company to improve its Marketing Intelligence (1) Train and Motivate Sales Force: A company's sales force can be an excellent source of information about the current trends in the market. They are the â€Å"intelligence gatherers† for the company. The acquired facts can be egarding the company's market offerings, whether any improvements are required or not or is there any opportunity for new products, etc. It can also provide credible source to know about competitor activities, consumers, distributors and retailers. (2) Motivate Distributors, retailers, and other intermediaries to pass along important intelligence: Specialists are hired by companies to gather marketing intelligence . In order to measure the quality of production, the way the employees are behaving with customers, quality of facilities being provided; retailers and service providers send mystery shoppers. Firms can also assess the quality of customer experience with the shops with the use of mystery shoppers. (3) Network Externally: Every firm must keep a tab on its competitors. Competitive intelligence describes the broader discipline of researching, analyzing and formulating data and information from the entire competitive environment of any organization. This can be done by purchasing the competitor's products, checking the advertising campaigns, the press media coverage, reading their published reports, etc. Competitive intelligence must be legal and ethical. 4) Set up a customer advisory panel: Companies can set up panels consisting of customers. They can be the company's largest customers or representatives of customers or the most outspoken customers. Many business schools set up panels consisting of alumni who provide their knowledge and expertise and help in constituting the course curriculum. (5) Optimal usage of Government data resources: Governments of almost all countries publish reports regarding the population trends, demographic characteristics, agricultural production and a lot of other such data. All this data must be or can be referred to as base data. It can help in planning and formulating policies for the companies. (6) Information bought from external suppliers: Certain agencies sell data that can be useful to other companies. For example, television channels will require information on the number of viewership, ratings of TV programs, etc. An agency which calculates this information and generates this data will provide it to companies that need it. (7) Collect Competitive Intelligence through online customer feedback: Customer's view about a product is most essential for any company. Ultimately it's the customer who's buying the product. Hence customer feedback must be taken. Online platforms like chat rooms, blogs, discussion forums, customer review boards can be used to generate customer feedback. This enables the firm to understand customer experiences and impressions. It becomes easier for companies to apply a structured system to do so as it can then scan out the relevant messages without much of a trouble. With the above steps being applied, a company's marketing intelligence system will prove to be beneficial to its effective functioning.

Controlled? Assessment: Touching the Void

I was freezing, even my precious finger had gone numb. On lay The Lord knew what I could have done, not me unfortunately. I didn't do anything; just hung there o n that one rope†¦ For was officially stuck. This was like being in the cold burning of hell, as my leg w as starting to get to me. In my mind, I was thinking of Simon. How was he getting on? What was he DOI nag? Decided to give him a shout ‘Simon!! ‘ cry but the strong blows of the wind cancelled out my calls and he d isn't reply. Fearfully looking down, I spotted the crevasse, the hole of darkness.The crave SSE was waiting to eat me; the sparkling ice in the crevasse watching me. I knew for a fact if dropped d I would be dead. So I waited to die. I waited†¦ And waiting†¦ Whoosh! The sound made when found myself falling 200 MPH. Was falling a s fast as an avalanche. The â€Å"shocked† look appeared on my face as I was falling into the b eely of the crevasse. I was the avalanche. My back crac ked the teeth of the crevasse and I continued to fall. The inbreeding fall. Suddenly, I landed on some sort of sloped area. I was trying to stop myself fall inning any lower.This was the point when I noticed I was still alive. I was laughing with happen as, and joy filled my heart, because I was highly relieved to be alive. When I finally stopped laughing g, found myself shaking . Worried, kick to my right. Gasp. I looked, looked away and slowly 10 eked back again, only to see that I was sitting right next to a deeper hole. A hole that resembled the path to out of the world. ‘If had fallen to the right†¦ Only by a bit, I would have ended up as this crevasse see's faces,' say to myself with a smile, relieved that I hadn't .The darkness was scaring me. I hat De the fact that I had to stay there as I had no idea what would happen next. I sat there like an unique cited avalanche, waiting to erupt. Then inspected my leg. Actually seeing how bent and useless it was. After a few seconds of complete utter silence, I erupted. I was screaming, shoo outing, swearing you name it. That lasted for about five minutes before I stayed silent, again. I wished I could have just died as I fell. That way, I wouldn't have had to go through that eternal adamant Ion.The deeper crevasse I was in was full of slippery ice, the ice that made it really radar for me to stand up on my two feet (well one foot be precise). After a few attempts, I s successfully got up. Satisfied that was able to stand up, I checked myself out, see if I was able to stop any bruises and how deep they were. This was the point when noticed that I still had the rope tied around me. If it was tied around me, it was definitely tied around Simon as well. Using my cleverly thou get process I believed that if I pulled the rope, it'll tighten on Simony's body as he would have fell and gotten stuck.

The Independence Movements of Nigeria and Algeria Research Paper

The Independence Movements of Nigeria and Algeria - Research Paper Example The Nigerian freedom struggle was a multidimensional effort that involved various Nigerian communities, popular classes, the intelligentsia, labor groups, youth, traders, and market women in order to securer political, economic, and cultural independence from the British colonial masters (Johnston, 2000). The Nigerian freedom movement achieved its goal in five wide phases: first phase (1880s to 1900), second phase (1900s to 1930s), third phase (mid-1930s to the 1940s), fourth phase (mid 1940s to early 1950s) which was a continuation of 1930s developments, and the final phase (1950s to 1960 independence). The first phase (1880s to 1900s) The early anti-colonial struggle was led and organized by the intelligentsia that were mainly descendants of former slaves who had returned to their homes in Lagos and other parts of western Nigeria . The intelligentsia was mainly educated elite who were socially and politically active, and mostly, they promoted their struggles through framework of ideas (Falola, 2003 p.83). At this stage, the nationalist intelligentsia advocated for grievances of various groups such as traders, ordinary citizens, and workers who being oppressed by the colonial masters, thus they mobilized social groups and formed political associations, pressure groups, nationalist movements and even formed political parties (Aborisade & Mundt, 2002). Among the notable events of this period was the religious and cultural nationalism between the 1880s and 1900s, through which the nationalist intelligentsia sought assertion of the normalcy and validity of African cultural usages, social norms, religious beliefs and pr actices, since the European Christian and colonial imperialist devalued African culture, viewing it as evil, inferior, and primitive (Coleman, 1971, p.175). Through their enlightenment, some African clerics objected to the Europeans missionaries’ view of African religious and spiritual beliefs. Thus, they opted out of the European controlled churches and even formed African independent church movements such as the United Native African Church (1883) and African Church Inc (1901), while other advocated for appreciation of African history and heritage, with people like Reverend D.B. Vincent changing his name to Mojola Agbebi (Coleman, 1971, p.175). The second phase (1900 to 1930s) This was period of early reformist political nationalism in which nationalist intelligentsia focused on struggle for political and civil rights, protesting against specific colonial policies and initiatives; thus, they were calling for reforms within the colonial system. The independence movements at this time mainly focused on changes within the established colonial system, while the call for self-rule and political independence was more of a long-term goal. The first independence movements emerged including the People Union (PU), the Aborigines Rights Protection Society (APRS), and the Nigerian Reform Association (NRA), and they mainly championed a single matter rather than the broad aspect of colonialism. During post 1914 period, nationalist also used the Press to attack the colonial rule, with journalist such as Horatio Jackson and others constantly and

Oligopoly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Oligopoly - Essay Example In relation to costs it shows that in an oligopolistic market firms will not raise their prices because even a small price increase will cause them to lose many customers and at the same time a large price decrease by the owners will gain only a few customers because such an action will begin a price war with other firms. The curve is therefore more price-elastic for price increases and less so for price decreases. In a kinky demand curve as in an oligopoly marginal costs could change without necessarily changing the price or quantity. Being an Oligopoly the EU car market will be experiencing an average cost curve that will represent benefits from substantial economies of size. These firms have actually become large and powerful and with the increased output they have low processing and operating costs. The EU car industry clearly has just a few ruling firms in the industry which will be watching each others pricing and output strategies very closely. Moreover it should be noted that the EU car industry might actually be benefiting through its oligopolist structure(although the practice of price discrimination cannot be applauded).The car industry has to maintain its factories and pay its workers regardless of the amount of output /cars it produces every year. They can probably not afford a perfect competition situation where there would be price competitions and losses which would have an adverse effect on the safety and quality of the cars. This diagram shows that the car industry being a technically differentiated oligopoly(different types of cars) produces at a profit maximizing level of output where marginal cost equals marginal revenue. The firm finds the price it will charge customers at the profit maximizing level of output (Qm) from the demand curve, and sets price to Pm. As we can see, the firm is earning economic profits since price exceeds the average costs at the profit maximising level of output. Now coming back to the issue the question addresses , it is a fact that for many years there is large scale price discrimination in the European Car Market. For example figures show that in 2001the pre-tax price of a Mazda 323 was 10,525 in the UK ,7,404 in Greece and 6,266 in Denmark ( European Commission, July 2001. )This has largely been blamed upon the fact that the European Car Industry is exempt from European competition law. .This situation has allegedly led to a rather oligopolistic arrangement by the persons involved in the car industry as they operate a rigid network of national or regional dealers which are chosen by car manufacturers, to flourish. Allegedly this is also where British car buyers have been particularly discriminated against. The European Car market is not a freely competitive market. As an oligopoly then the EU car industry experiences downward sloping long run average cost curve. The tactic that this industry uses is to increase profits by expanding output and/or merging to take advantage of economies of scale. As a result the

Gone With The Wind Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gone With The Wind - Research Paper Example Authority/Credentials of the Author The author of the article, Neil Netanel is a professor at the UCLA School of Law where he has been since fall 2004. Prior to that, the author was a member of fuculty at University of Texas Austine School of Law for a decade. Here, the author was the White, Durkee and Arnold Centennial Law Professor. The author practiced law between 1981 and 1984 at Loeb and Loeb located in Los Angeles, as well as in Tel-Aviv at Ygal Arnon & Co. between 1985 and 1992. Concerning educational background, Netanel holds B.A. from Yale university received in 1976, J.D. received in 1980 from UC Berkely Boalt Hall School of Law and J.S.D. received in 1998 from Stanford University. Hence, Netanel is well educated making information that he provides reliable. With regard to experience, Netanel has authored and co-authored several texts used in learning institutions among other institutions today. He is mostly an expert in teaching and writing about free speech, copyright, te lecommunications law and policy, and international intellectual property. Some of the most recent books authorted by Neil include 2008 Copyright’ Paradox, The Development Agenda: Global Intellectual Property and Developing Countries (2008), From Maimonides to Microsoft; The Jewish Law of Copyright Since the Birth of Print (2011)Â  both published by Oxford University Press. From the evaluation of author experience, credentials and educational background, it is clear that he is well vast in this area of law and other isues sorrounding legality of copyright and free speech. Therefore, article is written by an experienced author, thus, the credibility of the information is trustworthy. Validity of Research The information provided in this research is of high quality because it achieves almost all the parameters that determine the validity and credibility of a research article. For instance, the article refers to several other sources of information, which are all referenced thro ught the article. Furthermore, since it is dicussing fair use, which is related to court issues, it also refers to several past court cases. These cases, especially landmark cases, provide adequate evidence for the argument that the aauthor puts across in this article. The references used and cited inside the text are also listed at the bottom of every page in the form of footnotes, which enhances the quality and validity of the information provided in the article. Evaluation of the evidence presented by the author in this article clearly indiactes that it supports the author’s claim about fair use. Moreso, the author refers to variuos sudies and research to draw his conclusion about this issue. The major conclusion from this research is that the courts have embraced tranformative use doctrine more that they did ten or twenty years ago, and this contributes to high win rates of defendants with regard to fair use. In addition, the author uses objective research to support his claim as opposed to personal opinion or narrative. This is because he draws information from several books, and in addition, uses emphirical data to as evidence to support his cl

Alzheimer's disease Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Alzheimer's disease - Research Paper Example There are many challenges when dealing with the disease. Those who are affected, however, may find comfort in some outreach programs offered to both the patient and his or her family. This paper explores the causes, diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease as well as its devastating effects on the individual who has it and on the people around him or her, usually members of the family, and recommendations on how it can be prevented or at the least, delay its adverse effects. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that progressively destroys memory and thinking, eventually leading to dementia and the inability to do the simplest of tasks. It occurs mostly among older people above the age of sixty years (Singh et al., 2011). It is the most common form of adult-onset dementia which affects over 5 million people in America alone. Thus far, there has been no known cure for this disease, although research on at least delaying the adverse effects of the disease has been very promising (Trends e-Magazine, 2012). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that currently 35.6 million people currently have Dementia and will increase to 65.7 million by the year 2030 and further increase to 115.4 million in the year 2050 (Wimo & Prince, 2010). Of the 5.4 million people in America living with Alzheimer’s disease, 5% are men and 6% are women over sixty years. Unless the prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease controlled, as many as 16 million Americans will be afflicted by it by the year 2050. As of 2012, the cost of caring for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias sum up to about $200 billion, which is expected to balloon to $1.1 trillion per year by mid-century (Alzheimer’s Association, 2012). In the state of California, the following estimates of people aged 65 and older have Alzheimer’s Disease

Drug trade between Mexico and the United states Essay

Drug trade between Mexico and the United states - Essay Example a Frequently asked questions style with a series of questions such as who are the major players, â€Å"What are the risks of using soldiers in the fight instead of police?† and â€Å"What progress has President Calderà ³n made dismantling cartels?† Border scholars have on the whole rejected the claim that the U.S.–Mexico border has been dissolved by late modern crossborder migrations of capital, people, and practices. This article proposes that border policing in the wake of September 11, 2001, surfaces the long-standing relative incoherence of U.S. geopolitical and geoeconomic practice. The author describes the border as a security/economy nexus in U.S. statecraft. This article examines the militarization and transnationalization of the U.S. war on drugs as a liberal technique for identifying populations that must be governed in other ways. It begins by placing its relationship with the rise of the penal state in the context of neoliberalism in the U.S., then examines the geopolitics of its transnationalization in context of neoliberal governance in the Americas, and finishes by examining some of the empirical outcomes of this articulation between neoliberalization and punitive illiberalization in the Americas. It presents political geographical research that links globalization and criminalization and maps out the geographically particular and historically continuous ways in the context of the war on drugs. This is the official website of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). It has accurate information about drug trafficking in each U.S. state. It also provides government press releases and the official view of the U.S. Government on the border situation and the role of drug trafficking and the cartels in its policing. This website traces the history of the drug trafficking between Mexico and the U. S. from 1998-2009. It also identifies the attempts that both countries are making to stop this war. It provides links to hundreds of other articles on the