Librarian
Related Subject Guides
I. Rationale
Use the resource below to research to learn about your brand and how well it is performing. What improvement is needed in its promotions and IMC?
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowFind trade publications and other sources to determine how your brand is doing. Articles and reports may also tell what your brand is and is not doing well with its promotion and IMC plan. You might start by simply doing a search to see what is being written about your brand and then narrowing your search to a specific problem once you have identified one.
II. Situation Analysis, a. Internal Analysis
These resources will help with internal analysis of section II of the assignment.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowLook for articles which will tell you about your brand's products, whether it sells directly to consumers or through retailers. Articles may be found about how a company prices its products. A search using your product name and the word prices may yield results. Depending on your product, you may find prices in advertising, on the web or elsewhere.
Business Source Complete also has Marketline Company Profiles which lists the types of products. You can locate them by doing a search for your company's name and then selecting Company Profiles under the Source Type limit below the search box on the results list. Use the Access Options button to open the PDF of the profile and click on Major Products & Services in the table of contents. - Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowSee the Company Dossier for, among other things, a list of the company's brands. Do a Company Dossier search by clicking on Menu near the top of the page and select Company Dossier. Enter your company name or ticker symbol and press Search. Select your company from the list and look for Brands under Company Information.
Section II. a. iv. asks you to provide example recent promotions. Articles from Business Source Complete may help with this (see link above). For digital campaigns you can search the web.
II. Situation Analysis, b. External Analysis
These resources will help with the external analysis portion of the situation analysis. You will need to find information about your competitors.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowThe Marketline Company Profile has a list of competitors which you can then research. To find a company profile, do a search for your company's name and then selecting Company Profiles under the Source Type limit below the search box on the results list. Then use the Access Options button to open the PDF of the profile and click on Major Products & Services in the table of contents.
This database also contains market research reports. Search for your brand or product type and select Market Research Reports under Source Types below the search box on the results list. - Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowUse the Company Dossier to find a list of the competitors. Do a Company Dossier search by clicking on Menu near the top of the page and select Company Dossier. Enter your company name or ticker symbol and press Search. Select your company from the list and look for Competitors under Company Information.
- Standard and Poor's Net Advantage This link opens in a new windowThis database has industry profiles and stock reports both of which may provide market share information for your company and its competitors. Industry information will help you find information about competitors.
To find industry surveys, use the main search box to look up a company in the industry you would like to research. Look for the Industry Survey link under My Links in the left column and click on the headline on the results list.
To find stock reports, click on the Research button and enter a company name or ticker symbol in the "Symbol / Name" box. Press the Search button. The stock report will have the company's name in the Headline field on the results list.
- Market Share ReporterSee what share of the market a product has along with its competitors. Click on the link above and then scroll down below the search box and select Market Share Reporter, you can then Search Within Series search box in the upper right corner. Research their competitors too.
III. Target Market Analysis
- OneSearchTry search terms such as market research, consumer behavior, target marketing. You might combine those terms with any of these terms, GenX, GenY, Traditionalist, Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Travelers, or Urbanites. To find books use the Book/ eBook facet under Content Type in the left column of the results list.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowSearch using terms to describe the target market, millennials for example. Combine those terms with psychographics, psychology, or demographics. You might also try using terms like education, income, etc.