In a narrow sense, market information refers to the information about commodity sales in the market, such as commodity sales, consumers' situation, sales channels, sales technology and product evaluation.
Generalized market information includes social environment, social demand, circulation channels, products, competitors, raw materials, energy supply, scientific and technological research, applications, trends and other related information reflecting market activities.
In short, the market is the birthplace of market information, which is news and data reflecting market activities, and an objective description and true reflection of various economic relations and business activities in the market.
[Edit] Types of market information
1, product information.
The products referred to here are generalized, and anything that can be measured by price can be called products. Product information is the basis of market information, because all competition comes from products. Coca-Cola has more than 1000 brands and trademarks registered in various fields. It can be seen that its purpose is to eliminate infringement loopholes in various industries. If you open a Coca-Cola restaurant, I'm sorry, you are illegal. Although Coca-Cola does not run a restaurant, you are not allowed to borrow his product brand at will. Product information includes not only the contents within the industry, but also the contents related to some industries. There are several kinds: product name, shape, packaging, specifications, price system, product characteristics and uniqueness, future development trend, etc. For example, instant noodle enterprises need to know product information: How many brands are there in the main instant noodle products on the market at present? How many varieties are there? How many kinds of packaging are there? What's the general price? What are the characteristics of different product categories? What are the unique aspects of each variety? Of course, all products in this market are subject to mainstream products, which is only intuitive information. There is also speculative information. What will be the future demand? What kind of products will appear? What will be eliminated? What will become the mainstream? As a decision-maker, only by mastering the above information can we make an accurate judgment and decide the future product strategy. Different types of enterprises have different strategic principles. For example, leading enterprises mostly create products that meet the demand, while following enterprises mainly manufacture products that follow the market demand.
2. Channel information.
Why is channel information important? Because the current domestic market is extremely immature, and regional differences and urban-rural differences are serious, it is true that mastering the channels means mastering the market. Here is a remarkable example: Procter & Gamble was once the absolute "big shot" in the daily chemical market in China, but its strategy of positioning high-end products and focusing on urban channels gave Zhejiang Nais an excellent opportunity. As soon as Naaisi's carved products appeared, they rushed to the second, third and rural markets at a low price that was close to the people, and the result was a great success, thus becoming a strong competitor of Procter & Gamble. Last year, Ding Jie shampoo products also hit an ultra-low 9.9 yuan/bottle. It is also the slogan of Coca-Cola, so that rural people in China can also drink Coca-Cola, which shows that it attaches importance to the rural market. Therefore, controlling channels is the key to mastering the market. It is impossible to increase market share without studying channel information.
Channel information specifically includes: the channel composition of the industry, the characteristics of channel members, how to distribute benefits, how to avoid channel conflicts, channel entry costs and so on. Taking shampoo as an example, the channels cover a wide range, not only traditional wholesale, retail and chain stores, but also large supermarkets, specialty stores and even group purchases. As a traditional channel structure in China, it has several remarkable characteristics: first, the channel structure is long and narrow, from provincial wholesale and retail-township wholesale and retail-rural retail-consumers, with at least four or five channel members; Second, the channel structure is complex. There are not only various types of channels, but also overlapping channels, such as the existing prefecture-level city wholesale, terminal retail, large-scale store terminals and so on. Moreover, with the idea that seizing the terminal is seizing the consumer deeply rooted in people's hearts, manufacturers try to shorten the channel construction; Third, it is difficult to control. It is precisely because of the complexity of channels that manufacturers increase the difficulty of controlling channels and increase the cost, which makes them in a dilemma: on the one hand, controlling channels is the need to control the market, on the other hand, it is difficult to manage, especially the relationship between various channels, and the investment is huge. With the change of retail industry, the traditional channels are also undergoing profound changes, the most notable of which is the rapid rise of large terminals and the weakening of wholesale. However, due to the slow growth of rural income, traditional channels will still dominate for quite some time.
3. Consumer information
It is precisely because of China's vast territory and huge differences between urban and rural areas that the huge differences between consumers are caused. Due to the lack of rational understanding of products, more consumers are significantly influenced by advertisements and word of mouth. This requires enterprises to investigate and analyze the composition, purchasing psychology, consumption psychology and consumption behavior of consumers in various regions. The investigation methods here can be divided into rational investigation and perceptual investigation. Rational investigation generally needs to hire a special investigation company to conduct data statistics and analysis through scientific investigation methods. The survey results are relatively accurate and of great significance to decision-making. But this method consumes too much time and money, so most enterprises focus on perceptual investigation, that is, market personnel and sales personnel ask, observe and discuss consumers, and analyze their consumption behavior with knowledge and experience. Generally speaking, multinational companies attach great importance to consumer behavior analysis. Taking Procter & Gamble Company as an example, the demands of different women for shampoo consumers were analyzed, and the softness, dandruff removing Head & Shoulders, nutrition Pan Ting and so on of refreshing shampoo were determined in turn, which were accurate judgments and positioning of consumers' behaviors and psychology, regardless of their functions and names.
4. Policy information
At this time, the strategic information is mainly aimed at competitors, that is, judging and analyzing the market strategy adopted by competitors through their market behavior. This applies to the law of war of "know yourself and know yourself, and win every battle". Only by deeply understanding the thoughts and behaviors of competitors can we formulate accurate market strategies. Here is an example of Lenovo computer. At the beginning of 2000, when Intel Pentium 4 first appeared in the market, many domestic PC manufacturers rushed to sign contracts with Lenovo to produce a new generation of computers with powerful processing functions. But Lenovo didn't show any emotion at this time. Instead, it set off a display revolution in the whole country, promoted eye-friendly LCD screens and computers, and made a nationwide stir-fry for manufacturers to follow suit. As a result, three months later, Lenovo and Intel suddenly signed a strategic partnership to jointly produce the next generation of PC computers, which made the manufacturers tired of coping, thus further widening the distance between them. Strategic information is often obtained through analysis, so as a market competition itself, it is "impermanence in war, impermanence in water". Only when you can choose your opponent correctly, evaluate your opponent, position yourself and take it by surprise can you be "invincible".
5. Strategic information
Mainly refers to the major changes in the industry, which can be divided into several aspects. First, the adjustment of national policies and laws has brought changes to the whole industry, such as the promulgation of laws prohibiting pollution in environmental protection, which has a great impact on the chemical or paper industry and itself; Second, major strategic changes of enterprises in the industry, such as bankruptcy, merger, reorganization, listing, etc.; Third, the grasp of industry crisis and opportunity, the investigation of PPA incident by cold medicine led to the great weakness of Contek, which made many other cold medicine enterprises in China. Therefore, the acquisition of strategic information provides a premise for enterprise decision makers to deal with the market and seize opportunities, and has a far-reaching impact on enterprise strategy formulation and development planning.
The above are only the main aspects involved in market information, which is all-encompassing, and many marginal information also plays a very important role. In short, all competitive information should be accessed, but it is precisely because of the complexity and variability of all kinds of information that it is difficult to distinguish between true and false. Because the current market information is highly developed, how to identify effective information from the vast amount of information has become a crucial issue.
[Edit] Characteristics of Market Information
1, timeliness. The use of information must pay attention to the time effect. Whoever can grasp some information at the earliest time is most likely to succeed in business.
2. Disperse. The market information is large, involving a wide range, very extensive and complex. This requires enterprises to widely open up information channels and choose useful information from all kinds of information; It is necessary to establish a market information system and make a comprehensive analysis of market information by scientific means.
3. compressibility. People can collect, screen, sort out, summarize and process information according to various specific needs, establish corresponding information systems, and process a large amount of information for many times to enhance the information content of information itself.
4. Storage resistance. There are two main ways to store information: in vivo storage and in vitro storage. Internal storage means that people store information through the memory function of the brain; In vitro storage refers to the storage of information through various written, audio-visual and coded carriers.
5. systematize. Because enterprises are influenced and restricted by many factors in marketing activities, enterprises must constantly collect and process relevant information in various ways, analyze their internal relations and improve their order.
6. Competition and confidentiality. Because whoever owns information and turns it into a market advantage may gain huge economic benefits, the value-added function of information will inevitably produce certain exclusiveness and confidentiality to other competitors under the fierce market competition. The so-called market confidential information refers to information that will harm the interests of information owners once it is made public or disseminated, such as action plan, production plan, business know-how, customer list, inventory situation, purchase and sale channels, financial statements, etc.
7. Multiple sources, multiple destinations and multiple channels. At present, the market has formed a multi-seller and multi-functional open market. This determines the characteristics of multi-source, multi-purpose and multi-channel market information. In the market, the roles of buyers and sellers are constantly changing alternately. They are both senders and receivers of market information. The same information can be from macro-control departments, various consulting institutions, units of different nature and scale, and even individuals, and can be released through various documents, various propaganda media, networks, formal or informal channels; On the other hand, they are the demanders and receivers of information, constantly receiving the latest information through newspapers, television, radio and advertisements to guide their work, research or shopping activities.
8. Market information and carrier are inseparable, but relatively independent. The so-called inseparability means that information content cannot exist without information carrier, and information can only be perceived by people through material carrier and communication mode; The so-called relative independence means that the same information content changes with different carrier forms or characters, and does not change with different communication methods, communication space and communication time.
9. Value. The value of market information is that it can bring people different degrees of benefits, either economic benefits or social benefits, or both benefits coexist at the same time-with the participation of information, the cost of products can be reduced, efficiency can be improved and risks can be reduced, which is the embodiment of information value.
[Edit] The Role of Market Information
1. Market information is the starting point of marketing activities. Enterprise marketing must be carried out in all directions from product pricing, promotion and distribution channels according to customer needs. These marketing activities are undoubtedly based on market information. Observing the market, understanding the market, determining the target market, choosing the target market strategy and mastering the market dynamics are necessary activities for enterprises to carry out effective marketing, and are also important means to master information.
2. Market information is the premise of marketing decision. "strategizing, decisive battle thousands of miles", enterprises can't make correct and effective marketing decisions without a lot of accurate market information. Therefore, scientific decision-making requires enterprises to establish a modern information processing system, which is the premise of guiding enterprise marketing decision-making activities.
3. Market information is the basis of marketing management. Management is inseparable from market information. Enterprises should not only grasp the market supply and demand information in time, but also systematically collect information on science and technology, technology, equipment, quality and finance. Without this information as the basis, marketing management can't start and become a tree without roots.
4. Market information is a tool of marketing communication. Enterprises must coordinate their marketing activities with the marketing environment, and seek survival and development in coordination. Therefore, enterprises must communicate with the external environment, and market information is an important means of marketing communication. Only through a lot of information exchange can we effectively understand and master the market environment, improve the various relationships between enterprises and the external environment, and make them fully coordinated.
[Editor] Source and Management of Market Information
[Edit] Market information sources
There are several main sources of market information:
First of all, market research by market personnel and customer feedback are the main ways to obtain information. Moreover, the collection of market information is also the main responsibility of marketing or sales personnel, but the knowledge and experience of marketing personnel greatly affect the authenticity and effectiveness of the information they obtain. Therefore, it is necessary to provide corresponding information collection training and tabulation, and try not to give them the function of analysis and judgment. Most product information and channel information are obtained by marketers;
Second, public media such as related newspapers, magazines, TV reports and professional newspapers and magazines can provide effective information in the industry to the greatest extent, and because of their high level of contact, they are more about communication strategies and strategic information, mostly publicity public information, and do not involve trade secrets;
The third is the information disclosure of authoritative departments. The information disclosed by national competent departments and industry organizations mainly includes industry planning, policy constraints, relevant development prospects and data release;
Fourth, Internet publishing, as a new media, plays an important role and is effective. However, the Internet is flooded with information, so it is necessary to verify and identify its authenticity.
Fifth, insider's speech, communication and communication, here more refers to private communication and communication. Because they know the inside story, the information is often more true, but it is necessary to prevent information distortion caused by their personal likes and dislikes.
[Edit] Market Information Management
At present, the management of market information in most enterprises is very unsystematic. In order to effectively use information and become the basis for reference decision-making, there must be a systematic information collection and management system:
The first is to establish a market information management organization. Most enterprises regard the management of market information as one of the functions of the marketing department, and think that the marketing department mainly undertakes the collection and management of market information, and it will be done once and for all if someone handles it. The biggest problem with this concept is that it doesn't know anything about market information and doesn't consider its use. Market information provides support for decision-making, and it is a complicated process to turn information into decision-making, rather than simply summarizing information. Because the sources of market information are various, and the information base needed for decision-making is also extremely extensive. Therefore, it is necessary to make everyone in the enterprise become an information and intelligence officer and establish the consciousness that all employees are soldiers.
It is necessary to set up an information decision-making body headed by business owners and a department responsible for information management and processing. Experienced professionals in the market will make a preliminary analysis of all aspects of information, put forward some different plans, and then hand them over to the decision-making level for decision-making.
Second, the purpose of market information is to have clear goals and objectives. On the one hand, the information management department must set clear requirements and targets for the market information to be collected, and it is best to make clear what kind of market information is needed and what information is valuable through tables. Meaningful? On the other hand, information collection should be timely, especially competition and strategic information. Only by understanding and responding in time can we seize the fighter plane and face it calmly.
The information collection functions of different departments and personnel should be clear and detailed, requiring different departments to provide different information, such as marketing personnel providing industry information and policy information, sales personnel providing competing products information, consumer information and new product information, and technicians providing new technology information.
Third, it is necessary to establish management processes, design information feedback and processing processes, and raise information management to the "procedural law" of the company. Clearly ask which department to provide what information when and how. How do people in charge of information process information, how to collect and analyze information, and who is responsible for getting the results and presenting them to decision makers.
Fourth, there should be rewards and punishments, that is, "substantive law", which is the basis for implementing information management, classifying and defining information, standardizing the responsibilities of various departments, and punishing those who do not collect and process information as required. Departments and personnel who are interested in providing important information should be rewarded, and those who provide false information or unverified information should be punished for misleading decisions or causing losses.