MKT 3600: Marketing Management

C. Kasouf

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Information Perspectives

Internal - Corporate View

Annual form 10-K report filed with the SEC
President's letter from the annual report to the stockholders,
Press releases, SEC filings and other company documents
Find interviews with the head of marketing or the product line

External - Outsiders

Business journal and news articles,
Industry analyses
investment analyst reports

Research Companies

You will find more information if you choose a product from a public company traded on a stock exchange.

Example: Apple Computer iPod Mini
First Stop: Corporate web site and investors relations section

Background Information: Marketing

QuickMBA Marketing Concepts

Leading National Advertisers or PDF | Ad Age Megabrands

WPI Electronic Resources Databases:

Hoovers - search by company name, look for 10-K annual report which will have a marketing section (choose SEC filings)
Thomson One-Banker Analytics: Search, view and extract information on companies, most internal but allows company & competitor comparisons; glean marketing information from PDF of annual report to shareholders (includes letter to shareholders from CEO) and 10-K report
General BusinessFile ASAP - Search for news/magazine articles, also choose Advanced Search, Search investment reports: By ticker symbol to look for reports on companies

Free Web Sites:

Current Company/Industry News And Articles

Many advertising/marketing trade magazines track marketing campaigns, trends, and strategies.

General Business File ASAP: Provides information on companies, markets and industries. Access business and trade journals, newspapers and company directory profiles.
LEXIS®-NEXIS® Academic: Provides a wide range of full text news, legal, and business information. Includes patent information as well. Over 5,000 full text publications are included. Coverage: Varies by publication.

Sample Searches

(marketing or advertising or promotion* or sponsor* or ads or media mix or target market or product position* or product development or distribution or campaign) and (ipod* or apple computer)

Glean information on the industry as well:
(mp3 players or ipod or digital audio players) and (industry or market or forecasts or trends or sales or units or market share)

EBSCOhost Business Source Premier: Provides full text for 3,300 scholarly business journals, including full text for more than 1000 peer-reviewed business publications dating as far back as 1922. Coverage: Varies by publication. Check out the following titles for information on marketing/advertising campaigns:

See also trade press such as Electronic Engineering Times or Billboard.

EBSCOhost Business Source Premier - Business Searching Interface also contains industry profiles, from Datamonitor, refine search by choosing Publication Type, Industry Report. For an overview of a company in a PDF format by Datamonitor, often including a SWOT analysis, search for company name, then choose Company profiles.

Only Finding a Citation? Getting the Full Text

Is the journal online or here in the library? Search our Journals, Magazines, & Newspapers
Visit another library: Search WorldCat to find out one
Request delivery from another library: Interlibrary Loan.

Books on Marketing

Search Library Catalog for books. Try the following subject headings:

Advertising
Consumer Behavior
Consumer Research
Marketing
Marketing Management
Marketing Psychological Aspects
Product Management
Sales Management
Sales Promotion

Check visit the library's reference collection to use the Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns.

Customer & Target Market Information

Sample Search

(mp3 players or ipod) and (consumers or customers or demographic* or target market or ages or gender or income)

(preference* or survey*) sometimes helps to pick up articles that summarize research on consumers.

Consumer Reports.: Location: POPULAR magazines 3rd floor. Current 5 years. Online via EBSCO Business Source Premier 1991 to present (Embargo: 3 months)
Consumers Research Magazine: Location: POPULAR magazines, 3rd floor. Coverage: Current 5 years. Online via Ebscohost Business Source Premier 1990-2004.
Encyclopedia of Associations. Detroit, Gale Research Co. [REF HS17 G334]: Trade associations may be good sources of statistical and market information. To find association web sites, also try a web search on keywords: association consumer electronic devices. For example, this will lead you to the Consumer Electronic Association, which has a profile on usage of portable audio players.

Competitors And Manufacturers: Compare Your Company's Strategies to Others

Beyond web searching product directories, such as froogle.com, become.com and other shopping sites:

Check Competition section of 10-K filing if publicly traded company
Check Hoovers
Search Patents
Search for other similar products and research the company (Creative Labs - Zen Micro)
Try company directories in the library or online (by industry or product code):
- Directory of Corporate Affiliations. 5 vols. Ref HG4057 A219
- Thomas Register of American Manufacturers.

Give Credit! Cite Your Sources

Questions?

Stop by the reference desk or set up a research consultation.

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Last modified: Jul 01, 2008, 13:24 EDT