Use all ingredients of marketing intelligence for decision-making.
This blog article is about marketing intelligence broadly defined, and how blending ALL the ingredients of intelligence – not just marketing research data -- makes for better decisions. It’s like getting a better cake out of the oven if we use the entire recipe.
Dwelling on this seems, at first, oh-so basic. Yet, some decision-makers lose sight of the other ingredients in the marketing intelligence recipe. “Ok, we’ve dumped in three pounds of research data; now let’s stir, mix in some water maybe, and knead, then bake this baby until we’ve got a decision.”
Three Ingredients
In this case, I call the recipe the Marketing Intelligence Platform. It’s for making better marketing, product, and advertising decisions. As with a cake, the ingredients interact with the others, play a crucial role, and are vitally necessary for the successful outcome.
I call it a ‘platform’ because it is the foundation of the decision-making process.
The recipe for robust and complete marketing intelligence includes the three components: Data, Ideas, and Drivers.
Data:
Marketing intelligence data is everywhere inside and outside company walls…
- Formal marketing research studies commissions by your company,
- Outside published reports from anywhere
- Internal analysis of customer, sales, and production databases
- Other internal company data analysis of all kinds
Yes, DATA are intelligence.
Ideas:
Ideas are the concepts, thoughts, strategies that develop over time or in an instant ‘ah-ha’ in the minds of individuals working alone, or collectively in groups. For marketing, they take the form of …
- Creative ad campaign themes,
- New product ideas,
- Insights by a sales person on how to sell more product in the field,
- Suggestions by employees or customers
Yes, IDEAS are intelligence.
Key points: Many ideas surface and fade away. Smart companies keep their ideas inventoried and in a vault. Generating strong ideas is equally important as other forms of intelligence. Just like a research data report, they make up a unique intelligence asset.
Drivers:
Drivers make up the unique DNA of a company. It is what makes them different and unique. In its most basic form, drivers are the viewpoints, affect, and experience of decision-making players and stakeholders. Examples look like this…
- Company history;
- Management viewpoints;
- Management passion and energy;
- Dominant management style of executive management;
- Company culture; e.g. risk appetite, inviting divergent views; and
- Experience of team members in past similar circumstances.
Yes, DRIVERS are intelligence.
Key point:
Two companies might have the exact same list of ideas, and data. It is the unique DRIVERS, however, that affect how those ideas and that data are viewed and used. Understanding company drivers is a vital marketing intelligence component.
Key Questions to Ask...
The Intelligence Platform is a way of thinking for a management team. Discussions might include…
- What do we know now?
- What data do we need?
- Are strong ideas on the table now, or do we need to generate more?
- How do we view our decision options? Are they clear?
- What do we, as a company, want to do?
- What are the drivers that give the business its unique personality?
Wrap:
Use all of your marketing intelligence assets in your decision recipe.
Attend to each of the three components interactively during the process.
No one ingredient provides sufficient "marketing intelligence" to make the strongest possible decision.
Power Decisions Group
San Francisco USA
website: http://www.powerdecisions.com/inquire.cfm