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Questions and tasks for self-control

• 1. What classifications of marketing research do you know?
• 2. Explain the classification of marketing research by purpose.
• 3. Which ones are highlighted? marketing research by the type of information collected and the stages of the purchasing decision process?
• 4. Describe the main areas of research on marketing mix tools.
• 5. Give a classification of marketing research according to the subject of the study.
• 6. Expand the technology of tracking and panel marketing research.
• 7. What are the main problems in conducting panel marketing research?
• 8. What are the stages of the marketing research process?
• 9. Reveal the essence of the preparatory stage.
• 10. Explain the stages of collecting and analyzing information in marketing research.
• 11. What is the essence of sampling research? Give the concepts of population and sample.
• 12. What problems and questions need to be addressed when designing a sample in marketing research?
• 13. How is the population formed when conducting marketing research?
• 14. Describe the main methods of selecting respondents from the general population.
• 15. Explain on what parameters the reliability of the results of marketing research and the size of the required sample depend.

Self-tests

• 1. The company’s sales began to fall sharply. This trend is:
  • a) a symptom of the enterprise’s problem;
  • b) the problem of the enterprise;
  • c) the reason for conducting “marketing intelligence”.
• 2. Which question does descriptive marketing research not answer?
• And what?
• b) WHERE?
• c) WHEN?
• d) WHY?
• 3. Which of the following types of marketing research is used to quantitatively test cause-and-effect relationships?
• a) exploration;
• b) descriptive;
• c) experimental.
• 4. When conducting what types of marketing research are qualitative methods most often used?
• a) exploration;
• b) descriptive;
• c) experimental.
• 5. When conducting marketing research, a sample of 40 respondents was formed. Most likely it is:
  • a) qualitative marketing research;
  • b) quantitative marketing research;
  • c) experimental marketing research;
  • d) exploratory marketing research.
• 6. What types of marketing research are distinguished depending on the technology carried out over time?
• a) tracking studies;
• b) product testing;
• c) advertising research;
• d) price research;
• e) panel studies.
• 7. What is the difference between tracking and panel marketing and research?
• a) in panel studies, the same respondents are interviewed, and in tracking studies, new ones are interviewed each time;
• b) panel studies are carried out repeatedly after a certain time, and tracking studies only once;
• c) tracking studies are used to study the structure of the market, and panel studies provide information about the dynamics of market processes.
• 8. What are the advantages of using panel marketing research?
• a) they allow us to better study the dynamics of market processes;
• b) it is more convenient to use stratified samples;
• c) the costs of conducting marketing research are reduced;
• d) they are more convenient to use to study consumer motivation.
• 9. Place the stages of marketing research in the correct order:
  • a) “field” stage of marketing research;
  • b) collection of secondary information;
  • c) defining goals and objectives;
  • d) meaningful analysis of information;
  • e) conclusions and recommendations;
  • f) mathematical and statistical data processing.
• 10. When using what method of selecting units from the general population, full representativeness of the sample in structure is ensured?
• a) actually random;
• b) mechanical;
• c) stratified.
• 11. A company sells manufactured goods on the market of a certain region. It has a list of all enterprises that need these products. There are 500 such enterprises. It was decided to survey 100 enterprises. The company interviews 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, etc. enterprises according to the list. What method does she use to select units from the population?
• a) actually random;
• b) mechanical;
• c) stratified.
• 12. A company is conducting marketing research on the effectiveness of a new medical product. It was decided to use expert assessments of highly qualified doctors as the main method of collecting information. What method of selecting respondents is best to use in this situation?
• A) actually random;
• b) mechanical;
• V) stratified;
• G) "snowball"
• 13. The required sample size is determined by the following main criterion:
  • A) sampling error should be minimal;
  • b) sampling error is within certain limits;
  • V) the enterprise can carry out a sample of this size.
• 14. Sampling error will decrease if:
  • A) the mathematical expectation of the sample turned out to be larger;
  • b) the sample variance was smaller;
  • V) The sample was smaller.

Individual consumer panel "Impulse"

Customized consumer panel"Impulse" was organized in UK to continuously measure markets for products that have not been measured effectively through retail and household panels. This applies, first of all, to individual purchases for personal consumption, when consumption occurs outside the home, goods purchased in mobile stores, kiosks, markets, vending machines, etc. For example, for the UK ice cream market, sales from vans account for 17% of sales; on the market Coca-Cola 6% of sales are made through vending machines.

Using the “Impulse” panel, the markets for the following products were studied:

• confectionery;
• soft drinks;
• chips, packaged snacks, nuts;
• beer;
• ice cream;
• batteries;
• photographic film and printing;
• greeting cards;
• lotteries.

The list of products was deliberately limited so as not to overload respondents. The customized panel can also be used for other products such as personal care products, clothing market.

The Impulse panel was designed to record all purchases, including purchases for consumption both at home and away from home, made at any retail outlet. The panel sample consisted of 4,350 participants and was balanced across demographics and regions. Respondents recorded specific purchase information for all items in question on a washable blank board. This information was collected through a telephone interview using the S L TI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing- telephone interview using a computer), after which the board was wiped down and reused. Interviews were conducted once a week or once every four days, depending on the frequency of purchases. The following information was collected about each purchase:

• full product description;
• price;
• place of purchase;
• purchase size;
• day of purchase;
• special offers;
• for whom the product was purchased.

The advantage of direct contact with the panelist was that any clarification could be obtained immediately during the interview. The average interview duration was 5-10 minutes with 10-15 purchases recorded. Further telephone calls were agreed upon in advance and made at a time convenient for the respondent, when the call was expected and did not interfere. Respondents received monthly cash rewards and were also entered into a prize drawing.

Questions for the case

• 1. What are the benefits of panel marketing research?
• 2. Why is it more effective to use an individual consumer panel to study the described products?
• 3. In the situation described, what methods were used directly to collect information?

Practical task

As a practical task, a marketing research is proposed to study the demand in the services market cellular communications. This example Marketing research is cross-cutting, so many issues of its conduct and analysis of the collected information will be used for practical tasks in subsequent chapters: Ch. 3-4, 6, 9, 11 - 13. Marketing research of the cellular services market was conducted in the winter of 2012-2013. in Yaroslavl. At the same time, 300 respondents were interviewed using a personal questionnaire.

Thus, the object of the study is the market for cellular communication services in Yaroslavl, namely their consumers.

The subject of the study is the behavior of these consumers in the cellular services market.

Main objectives of the study:

• - assess the competitiveness of various cellular service providers;
• - identify factors influencing consumer choice service operator cellular communications;
• - calculate the amount of demand for cellular communication services;
• - obtain estimates of the importance of service parameters for consumers;
• - determine the popularity of various sources when consumers collect information;
• - find out the characteristics of consumers, which will allow you to identify the “target” segment.

In accordance with these goals, the following type of marketing research was chosen according to different classifications:

• - descriptive;
• - “field” (using secondary information);
• - quantitative;
• - attitudes and behavior.

Sources of secondary information:

• - Internet sites;
• - publications in specialized marketing journals (“Marketing”, “Marketing Research in Russia”, “Practical Marketing”) on market research for cellular communication services;
• - publications in non-specialized journals ( Forbes, “Expert”, “Business Magazine”, “Company”, “Career”).

The main method of collecting primary information is personal questioning. This method is quite simple to use and allows you to obtain extensive information from consumers on opinions, assessments and behavior.

Marketing Research Schedule

Note: n - week.

To conduct the survey, a special questionnaire was developed, consisting of 16 questions, including four questions about the respondent’s personality. Let's calculate the approximate error. Since at the stage of developing marketing research technology there is no information about average values ​​and standard deviation, it is advisable to use the formula for the share when calculating the error. The fraction error will be maximum at co=50%. Sample size - 300 people. The volume of the general population is the adult population of Yaroslavl (approximately 500 thousand people). We take the confidence probability of error equal to 0.954, which means t=2. In this case, for non-repetitive sampling the error will be equal to

Thus, the marginal error of marketing research is 5.8%. This is a pretty good result. It should be noted that the maximum fraction error is calculated here. The actual error will vary for specific survey questions and will be less than this value.

Quests

• 1. Select the product or service you are interested in 1.
• 2. Similarly, develop a marketing research technology for it.
• 3. Compose calendar plan this market research.

• Vasilyeva E.K., Yuzbashev M.M. Decree. op. P. 144.
• Bashkirova E.I., Ostrovskaya O.M. Application of panel research methodology in marketing research: individual consumer panel // Marketing Marketing Research in Russia. 1999. No. 6. P. 10-18.

Seminar presenters Bianki V.A. and Seravin A.I. 1

Workshop series “Marketing Research” 2

Marketing commando: interaction between marketing department employees (training seminar, 2 days) 3

Cost of marketing research: myths and reality (seminar, 4 hours) 4

Do-it-yourself competitor research (workshop, 3 days) 6

Effective marketing strategy (seminar, 6 hours) 8

Blitzkrieg: how to conduct a successful PR attack (seminar, 4 hours) 9

Effective promotion on industrial markets(seminar, 4 hours) 10

Main types of documents in the work of a PR service (seminar, 4 hours) 11

Event PR: how to create and present an event (seminar, 4 hours) 12

Seminar presenters Bianki V.A. and Seravin A.I.

Series of workshops “Marketing Research”

What is a workshop?

Lectures are not the best best way mastering practical material. Man is designed in such a way that he does not assimilate abstract material well. The seminar is also not perfect. Because the goal of practitioners is, first of all, not to acquire knowledge, but to develop skills and abilities. A business game is an ideal form. However, it requires a lot of time, and to be realistic, it requires the participation of teams from competing companies. A workshop is an optimal form that optimally combines the advantages of both a seminar and a business game. The essence of the workshop is that the classic form of “lecture and then answers to questions” is replaced by an analysis of questions with detailed comments, ending with the development of documents for a specific company.

Description of the workshop series

GOAL: developing knowledge, skills and abilities to formulate goals, objectives and requirements; development of tools; conducting and quality control of research.

TARGET AUDIENCE: employees of marketing, PR, advertising, etc. departments.

PRACTICUM DURATION: 4-6 hours.

SERIES VOLUME: 40 astronomical hours.

List of workshops

Consumer survey: capabilities, cost, organization, analysis (workshop, 6 hours)

Statistical processing of the results of surveys of Usage & Attitude target groups (workshop, 6 hours)

Focus group: opportunities, cost, organization, analysis (workshop, 6 hours)

Expert interviews: opportunities, cost, organization, analysis (workshop, 6 hours)

Why don't all consumers buy our product? Let's explore! (workshop, 6 hours)

Why consumers buy brands: research in branding (workshop, 4 hours)

Price validity: consumer research (workshop, 4 hours)

Marketing commando: interaction between marketing department employees (training seminar, 2 days)

The marketing department, even if it consists of 20-30 people, may assume narrow specialization, but always a very close interaction. (For example, a specialist in field promotions can act as a person who provides the field part of the research for a marketer, who can act as a source of information for a specialist in preparing texts, whose texts are prepared by a layout designer, who then gives them to an advertising placement specialist. At the same time All this is managed by the brand manager and the head of the marketing department.)

Training seminarcombines both informational, content and training components. Carried out only in corporate form. The content component corresponds to the specifics of the target audience (in this case, it is devoted to various aspects of marketing and their relationship). The training component is focused on solving two problems: developing teamwork skills and developing a propensity for advancement.

PURPOSE OF THE SEMINAR: development of team interaction skills among management and marketing department specialists; coordination of terms, theories, models used in the work.

TARGET AUDIENCE: teams from marketing, PR, advertising, etc. departments.

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 10-20 people.

DURATION OF THE SEMINAR: 3 days.

SEMINAR VOLUME: 17 astronomical hours.

PROGRAM

Acquaintance (11 00 -12 00)

What is marketing (discussion, 12 00 -13 00)

The place and role of marketing in a company (discussion, 13 00 -14 00)

Interaction between department employees (discussion, 15:00 -16:00)

Optimization of interaction (seminar, 16 00 -18 00)

Optimization of interaction (training, 18 00 -20 00)

Interim results (seminar, 10 00 -11 00)

Leadership and subordination (hard training, 11 00 -14 00)

Functions of department employees (seminar, 15 00 -17 00)

Leadership and submission (soft training, 17 00 -20 00)

Cost of marketing research: myths and reality (seminar, 4 hours)

Information about the market and consumers is needed - more and more companies understand this not only in words, but also in deeds. But for many, it is even psychologically difficult to pay the amount that a vacation abroad or a used car costs for a pack of sheets of paper... Cost standards have not been developed, research companies rarely talk not only about the cost price, but even about the cost of their services, declaring “everything is individual.” We want to show that 80-90% of the “individuality” of prices is determined by quite clear factors, therefore

PURPOSE OF THE SEMINAR: obtaining information about the cost of research, developing the skill of ordering research.

TARGET AUDIENCE: company management, management and employees of marketing, PR, advertising, etc. departments.

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 10-20 people.

DURATION OF THE SEMINAR: 4 hours.

PROGRAM

1. Getting to know each other

2. How much does research cost and why spend money?

3. Cost items: analytics, organization, field, office

4. Parameters research, determining the cost

Sample size

Criteria for selecting respondents (share in the population, degree of closedness)

Number of questions

Quality control

- "beauty"

5. Parameters researcher, determining the cost

Company / private practice

How to distinguish the level of work from the level of complaints

Clarity of field organization

What is dangerous, but you can save on: analytics, field, verification, “little things”

6. Main types of research: average cost and savings opportunities

Focus group

Survey (structured interview)

Expert interview

In-depth interview

- “blind test”

Pricing & distribution

- "Mystery Shopping"

7. How to conduct: yourself / free lancer (private consultant) / company

8. Assessing the feasibility of research costs

Do-it-yourself competitor research (workshop, 3 days)

PURPOSE OF THE SEMINAR: training top management and company specialists to organize marketing research aimed at studying competitors, by the company itself (without ordering research).

TARGET AUDIENCE: senior management of companies, specialists from marketing, PR (public relations), advertising and brand managers.

FORMS OF WORK:

1. Lectures: presentation of theoretical and systematized practical material (with answers to questions).

2. Cases: the presenters offer situations from their practice, which are dealt with together with the participants.

3. Workshop: seminar participants, with the help of presenters, develop practical documents for your company.

4. Business game: workshop supplemented with game elements.

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 12-15 people.

DURATION OF THE SEMINAR: 3 days.

SEMINAR VOLUME: 23 astronomical hours.

SEMINAR PROGRAM

DAY 1.

Introduction (lecture, 10 00 -10 30)

Marketing coming from the consumer and marketing coming from competitors (lecture, 10 30 -11 00)

Introduction to marketing research (lecture, 11 00 -12 00)

basic terms and concepts; marketing information and its types;

the role of marketing research in the process of enterprise management;

the role and place of competitor research in marketing research.

COFFEE BREAK (12 00 -12 15)

Some aspects of consumer psychology in various markets (lecture-seminar, 12 15 -14 00)

The role of information about competitors in the process of enterprise management (lecture, 14 00 -14 30)

LUNCH (14:30 -15:30)

What information about competitors does the company need? (seminar, 15:30 -16:30)

Methods of collecting information about competitors, sources of information (lecture, 16 30 -18 00):

secondary sources of information about competitors (press, television, statistical reports, ready-made research, the Internet);

organizing the collection of primary information: experts, competitors and consumers;

COFFEE BREAK (17:15 -17:30)

practical recommendations for collecting information on your own: what and how you can find on the Internet, how to look for experts and how to communicate with them, how to organize quantitative research on your own (consumer surveys, retail monitoring), how to monitor prices, assortment and advertising of competitors.

What competitors can do to you: the problem of company openness (seminar, 18 00 -19 00)

DAY 2.

The most accessible statistical methods for analyzing the collected information (lecture, 10 00 -10 30)

Software for information processing and analysis (lecture, 10 30 -11 00)

Analysis of research results based on primary information (lecture, 11 00 -12 00)

COFFEE BREAK (12 00 -12 15)

Analysis of research results on secondary information (lecture, 12 15 -13 30)

Analysis of the results of qualitative research (lecture, 13 30 -14 30)

LUNCH (14:30 -15:30)

Analysis of the results of quantitative research (lecture, 15:30 -17:30)

COFFEE BREAK (17 30 -17 45)

Forecasting based on research (lecture, 17 45 -19 15)

DAY 3.

Brief review of the previous day (seminar, 9 30 -10 00)

Organization of the process of collecting information about competitors at the enterprise (lecture, 10 00 -12 00)

planning work to conduct competitor research: frequency of each type of work, timing, reporting;

organizing regular low-budget monitoring of competitors’ work;

staff required to conduct research on their own: a description of various options for conducting research at the expense of the company’s employees, a description of options with the involvement of temporary workers;

methods of control over performers of competitor research work.

COFFEE BREAK (12 00 -12 15)

Financial aspects of research (lecture, 12 15 -13 15)

cost and cost of marketing research;

creating a budget for conducting competitor research on your own;

minimizing the cost of collecting information about competitors;

Custom marketing research (lecture, 13 15 -14 00)

the main mistakes that arise when ordering marketing research from third parties;

methods for monitoring the quality of work of external researchers;

ways to minimize costs when ordering research from third parties.

2 main stages: development of technical specifications and presentation of results (lecture, 14 00 -14 30)

LUNCH (14:30 -15:30)

Test of competitors' information and psychological security system (seminar, 15:30 -16:30)

External research audit, external marketing audit, field outsourcing: how to save on research and guarantee quality (seminar, 16:30 -17:15)

COFFEE BREAK (17:15 -17:30)

Development of a work plan for the marketing research department ( business game, 17 30 -19 30)

Summing up (19 30 -20 00)

FINAL BUCKET (20 00 -21 30, participation optional, payment separately)

Effective marketing strategy (seminar, 6 hours)

GOAL: to develop in the participants of the seminar the knowledge and skills necessary for the development and evaluation of marketing strategy companies from the point of view of classical and modern approaches

TARGET AUDIENCE: company executives, management and employees of sales, marketing, advertising, PR departments

PROGRAM

Marketing Paradigm:how to manage the company's position in the market?

1. marketing classic

   branding paradigm

   innovative approaches

Finding information for decision making:how to determine the market situation?

1. demand research

   proposal research

   competitor research

   brand research

   distribution research

Company self-determination:How to determine the position and goals of the company?

1. strategic position: SWOT, BCG, McKinsey, Porter-5

   marketing classics: USP, positioning and segmentation

   brand identity and consumer loyalty

Development of a communication strategy:how to achieve the goal?

1. Operationalization of strategy goals

   Development of the company message

   Types and nature of communication strategies

   Communication strategy schedule

Reasoned choice of promotion methods:How not to make a mistake with funds?

1. advantages and disadvantages of PR

   advantages and disadvantages of promotion

   advantages and disadvantages of direct promotion

   integrated marketing communications

Assessing the effectiveness of marketing investments:how to evaluate the result?

1. internal information resources

   external open information resources

   external closed information resources

   expert assessments of effectiveness

   research procedures for evaluating effectiveness

Blitzkrieg: how to carry out a successfulPR-attack (seminar, 4 hours)

GOAL: to develop in the participants of the seminar the knowledge and skills necessary for the development and implementation of a PR campaign.

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 10-15 people

DURATION: 6 astronomical hours

PROGRAM

What's happenedPR-attack, why it is needed and why it works

Strategic issues of conducting a PR attack

1. Campaign Goals

   PR communication tools

   Development of a campaign schedule

Tactical issues of conducting a PR attack

1. Types of PR campaigns

   Creative for events

   Development of estimates

   Development of information occasions

PR and other types of marketing communications

1. Promotion

   Direct mail

   Alternative remedies

   Integrated Marketing Communications

Measuring the effectiveness of a PR attack

1. Approaches to performance measurement

   Maximum option

   Minimum option

Types of PR attacks

1. Depending on the market

   1. Specifics of a PR campaign in the industrial market

      Specifics of a PR campaign in the consumer market

PR strategy depending on the company's goals

1. Stabilization of your sales market from competitive attacks

   Competitive attack on the sales market

   Attacks on the sales market of third parties

StrategyPR-campaigns using negativePR-technologies

Effective promotion in industrial markets (seminar, 4 hours)

GOAL: to develop in the participants of the seminar the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct campaigns and individual actions to promote their company.

TARGET AUDIENCE: company executives, management and employees of marketing, advertising, PR departments of industrial enterprises

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 10-15 people

DURATION: 4 astronomical hours

PROGRAM

Promotion goals: what besides sales?

Promotion effectiveness: what besides sales?

1. tasks and role of the media in promoting the company

   thematic media

   general business media

   specifics of media types

   tasks and role of PR in company promotion

   Is denim effective?

Promotion

1. tasks and role of promotion in promoting the company

   organization of seminars

   marketing research

   exhibitions (how to increase productivity 5 times, spending 20% ​​more)

1. tasks and role of sales in company promotion

   straight, cold

   straight, hot

   indirect

Integrated Marketing Communications

1. outgoing flows of marketing information

   incoming flows of marketing information

   from feedback to communication with the audience

Ultracreative PR technologies: specificity and adequacy

Targeted PR: how to influence the opinion of one person

Internal PR: what employees think about the company

Anti-crisis PR: what should be ready “just in case”

PR in the field of GR: the horror and beauty of relations between business and government

Main types of documents at workPRservices (seminar, 4 hours)

GOAL: to develop in the participants of the seminar the knowledge and skills necessary to develop all the main documents prepared by the department or public relations specialist.

TARGET AUDIENCE: company executives, management and employees of marketing, advertising, PR departments

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 10-15 people

PROGRAM

Types of materials

Material requirements

1. Fog index and Flesch formula

   Material style

   Design style

   Express testing of materials

Media materials

1. Press release

   Information letter

2. Statement

   Press kit

   Case from practice (case story or tale)

   Interview

Consumer Materials

1. Materials for partners

   1. Annual report

      Corporate publications

Materials for employees

1. Corporate newspapers and magazines

   "Wall newspaper"

EventfulPR: how to create and present an event (seminar, 4 hours)

GOAL: to gain knowledge and skills in developing PR campaigns of various types.

TARGET AUDIENCE: company executives, management and employees of marketing, advertising, PR departments

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 10-15 people

DURATION: 4 astronomical hours

PROGRAM

Types and role of events in the work of an enterprise's PR service.

Negative and positive technologies

Principles and technologies for creating news events

Planning a PR campaign

1. Expected results

   Select an event

   Brainstorming

Media events

1. Principles of interaction with the media

   Holding a press conference

   Work after the press conference: media monitoring, performance analysis

   A system for constantly informing the media about the company’s activities

Events for external audiences

1. Presentation

   Conferences

   Seminars

   Exhibitions and related events

Consumer events

1. Sales promotion (direct sales promotion)

   Sampling (distribution of product samples)

   Switch-selling (exchanging competitors' products for your product)

   Tasting, hall test, home test (tastings, testing of products by consumers)

   Cross-promotion (carrying out promotions with other companies)

   HoReCa (carrying out promotions in restaurants, clubs, bars, entertainment centers, hotels)

   Brand promotion (image promotion of goods)

   Event-marketing (presentations, lotteries, drawings, sponsorship)

   Merchandising (ensuring the presence of products at points of sale)

   Ultra-creative unique promotions

Corporate events

1. Basics of intra-corporate PR

   Corporate events

   Promotion of internal image to the external market

   Joint events with clients and partners

In our experience of working with a wide variety of enterprises, we often encounter the fact that managers, wittingly or unwittingly, limit the functions performed by the marketing department. Cases when an equal sign is put between marketing and advertising have already become the talk of the town, but there are other options for using the potential of marketers: to collect information that then lies unclaimed; for conducting research, the results of which are used at best by 50%, etc.

MARKETING ANALYSIS

One of the main tasks of the marketing department is, undoubtedly, marketing analysis.

By marketing analysis we mean collecting information about the activities of an enterprise, studying it in several main areas (product, price, customers, promotion) and using the results obtained to select directions for business development as a whole and its individual components.

It should be noted that such an analysis does not necessarily have to be super complex, involving a large amount of information, labor, time and other resources (it is the fear of starting such a complex undertaking that often discourages managers from using marketing analysis). For most medium and small enterprises, the analysis tools discussed in our article are quite sufficient. Large enterprises usually use the appropriate software, which is due to both large arrays of collected data and a wider range of tasks to be solved.

In this article we will not describe in detail the various marketing tools, but we’ll tell you about the most difficult moments.

What does the analysis give?

The results of marketing analysis can be used by the company for the following main purposes:

• in developing a marketing strategy for an enterprise, making decisions about changing or adjusting it;
• when drawing up short-term plans for marketing and production activities, assessment of their implementation;
• when making decisions regarding products, product groups, prices, individual customers, etc. (within the framework of the existing marketing strategy);
• in the manager’s assessment of the current state of affairs of the enterprise.

The third point deserves some explanation. Unfortunately, it is often the only goal of the marketing analysis. Remove the product from production or leave it; issue a new one or wait; whether to raise the price or not - these are the questions to which the analysis expects answers. It is possible to get these answers, but, unfortunately, they can give little to business.

In our practice there was the following example: a manager contacts a consulting company to conduct research in order to find out what new types of sausage products will be in demand. Upon closer acquaintance with the company, it turned out that the assortment exceeds one and a half hundred items, that the overall profitability is low, and several dozen items have a negative profitability. Why introduce new positions? The answer is standard: to please consumers. So what if the enterprise is operating on the verge of profitability (however, no one considered this before), the main thing is that the assortment pleases the eye.

No common ones yet strategic guidelines development, all momentary decisions will be like hanging wallpaper in a house whose walls are slowly warping. Therefore, in our case we are talking only about determining a specific moment for making certain decisions provided for in the marketing strategy.

Information is the main value

Marketing analysis cannot be carried out without having initial information about the company's work. On the one hand, the data collection stage is a purely technical and uncomplicated procedure; on the other hand, it is at this stage that mistakes are often made, which subsequently lead to incorrect analysis. There are two main mistakes:

• the information that is needed is not collected;
• information is collected in a suboptimal way.

So, what data should be obtained to conduct a basic marketing analysis of a business? We typically ask for the following information:

• data on sales volumes in physical and value terms (broken down by time, product groups, customers, sellers), data on sales of related products and services (spare parts, service etc.);
• data on the “history” of each product (date of start of development and release to the market; cost, price and their changes);
• data on the client base (minimum information for B2B operations: company name, location, belonging to any segment, contact person, full name of the responsible manager);
• similar information on distributors;
• detailed information about each of the main competitors (it is advisable to keep “competitor cards”, constantly supplementing them with up-to-date information);
• promotion data (advertising budgets with a detailed breakdown, information about advertising campaigns, participation in exhibitions, etc.).

In order for information to be useful and not require much effort to obtain it periodically, it must meet the following requirements:

• Credibility. All data used by marketers must be carefully verified, otherwise significant distortion of the output data may occur. The managers of one of the enterprises with which we worked were confident that the profitability of their production was 10%. After recalculating the cost and taking into account all costs, it became clear that the profitability barely reaches 4%. Incorrect calculation of costs (real, not accounting) is typical for our enterprises and leads to managers seeing a distorted picture of the company’s profitability.
• Efficiency. The work of collecting information should be organized in such a way as to prevent overstocking.
• Single form. A common problem: the database of the sales department works in the format of one program, the database of financiers - in another, the marketing department generally calculates in Excel.

As a result, the lion's share of time is spent on bringing the data to a general form.

• Limitation. Gathering information is an exciting process. Sometimes it turns into an end in itself: “More information, good and different.” The scope of the information flow must be clearly defined, and their changes should be agreed upon with management and performers.
• "Long term" The main value of marketing information is the ability to see the dynamics of change. The longer the time period “covered” by the information, the better and more reliable the conclusions will be. Several years ago, the main problem of analysts at Russian banks was their scanty information history. In Western banks, specialists operated for decades and centuries, but ours had information for years or months. Accordingly, the quality of financial forecasts was objectively low and this affected profitability. Some companies voluntarily shorten their information path, periodically clearing computers of “outdated” information (here is the fear of the tax inspectorate, and basic illiteracy - “to make the computer work faster,” and a lack of understanding of the value of information).

After all has been collected necessary information, meeting the listed criteria, we can consider that half the job is done - a competent specialist can easily conduct a marketing analysis in the main areas.

STRATEGIC LADDER

We propose to consider the possibilities of marketing analysis using the example of developing a marketing strategy. This is the most global task, which requires the results of marketing analysis, since within its framework the formation marketing plan, and the manager’s assessment of the current state of affairs, and making decisions regarding goods, prices, customers, etc. Let’s assume that the enterprise did not have a marketing strategy and is now creating it for the first time. Where to start?

Let's look at the root

The first stage of work has little to do with marketing as such. You should start by defining the goals of the entire enterprise and developing a company-wide development strategy.

Here we will need analysis tools such as assessment of STEP factors and SWOT analysis. They are classified as both marketing and management tools. The content is well known: STEP - analysis of social, technological, economic and political factors; SWOT - analysis of strengths and weaknesses firm, as well as opportunities and dangers external environment. In our practice, we combine these types of analysis in one large table (see table), which provides greater clarity and ease of use. In such a table, the columns “Opportunities” and “Dangers” follow from the “Trends” section, and the logical conclusion of this description is the column “Actions”.

The data used in this table can be obtained by collecting information from open sources, interviewing employees, and conducting an expert assessment.

Of particular importance is the formalization of the goals of business owners. If this stage is omitted, any local strategy will be in danger of changing 180° just because the owner suddenly wants to “put into production a dozen more assortment items that the buyer will definitely like.”

Formalization can lead to unexpected results: sometimes the owner understands that his main goal is to receive stable dividends with a minimum of “headaches” and involvement in business. In this case, we should talk about the gradual retirement of the owner and the introduction of the position of manager.

Such a replacement can be very useful: as a rule, owners who, after many years of hard work, are tired of the business and have lost their initial enthusiasm, no longer want to go deeply into business, but out of old habit they constantly interfere in solving all problems. Gradually, this style of work begins to interfere with business, so it is better to appoint a manager and take part only in strategic decisions.

Marketing and its strategy

At the second stage, the marketing department, based on the goals defined in the previous paragraph, forms the company’s marketing strategy. The main foundation of this strategy is the results of a preliminary analysis of marketing data and calculated forecasts of future opportunities. A preliminary analysis will give us data on what the situation is with the sales of our goods; what profits they bring us; who are our clients; how to better meet the needs of our customers. The results obtained are used for the following purposes:

• The manager sees the real picture of the state of the enterprise, which must be taken into account when developing an overall strategy. Increasing profitability to 20% is a completely feasible goal if the current profitability is 15%. The same goal becomes practically unattainable if the current profitability is 3%.
• The marketing department receives guidelines for developing a marketing strategy. Let's use the same example: if the goal is to increase profitability to 20%, the marketer will set tasks for departments based on the fact that prices for one product can be raised (demand is growing), another product needs to be introduced to the regional market (the local market is already saturated) , the third product should be improved, since buyers make claims about its quality, etc.

Strategy - put into practice!

Then the routine work begins to implement the developed strategy, i.e. daily life enterprise, subordinated to certain goals. At this stage, marketing analysis is present in the form of constant monitoring of the company’s activities. The manager can see current data and have a constant understanding of the state of affairs. Information can be received weekly or monthly, or daily or even hourly (the latter option will require at least minimal software management accounting). The marketing department also draws up reports on the implementation of the marketing strategy (they can have different frequency - from a month to a year).

IMAGE WITH DIGITAL QUALITY

So, what indicators should the marketing department constantly analyze in order to have an idea of ​​the state of affairs in the enterprise? All indicators can be divided into four groups: related to product, price, customers and promotion (classic 4Ps of marketing).

Product and price

This block of indicators is usually the most voluminous; it is worth considering the following main indicators:

• dynamics of changes in sales volumes of each product;
• general sales dynamics;
• sorting goods by sales volumes and revenue;
• sales by assortment groups;
• profitability and profitability of goods;
• product life cycle;
• place of the product in the BCG matrix.

The dynamics of changes in sales volumes of each product will serve to determine trends in demand for the product (these trends must be supported by objective data on the industry), stage life cycle product (ZCT) and its place in the “BCG matrix” (or in others used).

The overall dynamics of sales will help in tracking seasonality or the influence of other factors (if trends are visible in the dynamics, it is necessary to look for their cause within the company or in the external environment).

By the way, seasonality is one of the factors that the sales department likes to refer to when the sales plan is not met. For one of the beverage companies (all theoretical sources said that sales of this product experience seasonal fluctuations), the sales graph looked like the one shown in the figure.

The abrupt changes in sales had nothing to do with seasonality, but reflected only the unstable and not very interested work of the sales department.

Such a simple thing as sorting goods by sales volumes and revenue will help identify sales leaders and outsiders, make it possible to track changes in sales of certain types of products to determine the reasons (deterioration in quality, changes in consumer preferences, reaction to price changes, etc.), will be convenient for tracking the market fate of new products. To justify the adjustment of the assortment, you can use Pareto analysis, i.e. see what number of products gives your company 80% of revenue (a similar analysis can be carried out in relation to the customer base).

Analysis of sales by assortment groups helps to form a more complete impression of product sales, the contribution of different product groups to overall performance indicators, and allows us to identify problem groups for adjustment pricing policy(especially if you study the dynamics).

An analysis of the profitability and profitability of products will show whether there is an imbalance between the most profitable and best-selling products and will allow you to experiment with profitability (how much will overall profitability increase if the minimum profitability of items is increased by 2%).

The same data, taken over time, will allow you to see a trend towards changes in the profitability of the enterprise and identify unjustified discrepancies between cost and price. It often happens that the cost increases (for example, raw materials have become more expensive), but the company does not increase the price, fearing a decrease in sales volumes. Moreover, this happens not only with veteran goods, but also with goods that are “in peak form.”

Pricing policy is directly tied to the correct use of life cycle data and information about how competitors set prices. LCT can also help in determining the required amount of investment and the reasonableness of promotional actions.

If a company's product line is large and changes frequently, it can be difficult to assess the company's overall prospects for a particular product.

In this case, it is reasonable to use the “BCG matrix” or similar ones. It allows you to conduct a portfolio analysis of the company’s products, dividing them into 4 groups depending on the market growth rate and relative share goods on the market.

After all products are distributed into groups, the marketer must analyze the resulting ratio. For example, if the result is 40:30:10:20 (respectively, “question marks”, “stars”, “cash cows” and “lame dogs”), then the company should decisively suspend the development and introduction of new products and select the most promising ones." stars" and invest in their promotion, then carefully but quickly get rid of the "dogs".

Very interesting results are obtained by tracking the movement of goods through the matrix over a certain period of time.

So, if the analysis shows a large percentage of products that have gone from stars to lame dogs, this may indicate that the company does not understand the importance of investing in developing products.

Customers and/or sales people

This block requires consideration of two main types of information - quantitative (all data on sales to customers) and qualitative (information about customer satisfaction).

Data on the client base allows you to obtain the following information:

• "purchasing history";
• average cost of one purchase;
• frequency of purchases;
• cost of purchased additional goods/services;
• amount of discounts;
• “total cost of the client”, etc.

The main result of the analysis is making a decision on the advisability of “cleansing” the client base.

In practice, the following situation is common: customer base An average company has hundreds of clients, 80% of revenue comes from 5-10% of them, employees have no time to look for clients from priority segments. “Purge” does not at all mean a rough severance of relations with the client; simply, the terms of cooperation are gradually adjusted in such a way as to be attractive to the target segment.

Particular attention should be paid to the analysis of qualitative information: the main complaints and claims of customers, statements from customers about your competitors, systematized data from customer surveys, the ratio of departed and incoming customers, etc. The result is planning and implementation of actions to improve the customer focus of the company.

This section also includes an analysis of the activities of sales managers:

• average sales volume;
• number of “profile” clients;
• number of attracted clients, etc.

PROMOTION

If we leave aside the issues of planning an advertising budget (this is a separate big topic), then the main thing that will interest us in this section is the correlation of promotion and sales promotion activities with sales data and tracking trends in demand. The analysis will consist of building correlations between sales volumes/revenue and promotional activities carried out: advertising campaigns, tastings, providing discounts to marketers, participation in exhibitions, etc.

It must be remembered that promotional events are aimed, as a rule, at increasing brand recognition; therefore, their effect may be delayed and not always reflected in sales volumes. To evaluate this effect, a study could be conducted to measure changes in knowledge and brand loyalty.

As for stimulating wholesalers and participating in exhibitions, these measures can be assessed quite quickly by comparing the invested funds with the increase in sales and revenue.

Such an analysis will allow you to select the most successful promotion tools and lay the foundation for planning your promotion budget.

Of course, it is difficult to consider all the possibilities of marketing analysis in a short article. Yes, this is probably not necessary, given the large amount of literature on marketing. We tried to show that even if a company does not have the opportunity to purchase expensive software or hire a large staff of marketing specialists, this does not mean that it cannot conduct a marketing audit of key indicators, which can result in a significant increase in operational efficiency.