Research guide for
70-483 Advertising and Marketing Communications, Spring term 2008
Prof. Lankford
First, three preliminaries:
- Get to all books, library services and databases here: www.library.cmu.edu
- If you’re off campus , use this first and follow instructions: http://www.library.cmu.edu/Services/remote.html)
- It will be handy as you do your research to know the NAICS code for your industry – find it here.)
Specifically, on the Cub Cadet company:
ON THE COMPANY:
- Hoover’s – looking up Cub Cadet, you’ll find the main entry is under the parent company name: MTD Products, of Ohio. That will give you some company background, basic financials (not much because it is a private company) and also list competitors (on the left.)
News articles:
- Consumer/newspaper-type articles in ProQuest
- Trade journal articles in Business & Company Resource Center – once you get the full company entry, click on the “News/Magazines” tab at the top – and stay here – you’ll see why:
ON THE INDUSTRY:
Research in general:
Competitive analysis – company information
- Business & Company Resource Center – summary data; company histories; rankings; industry overview; articles grouped by business functions like marketing, R&D, and strategy
- Hoover's Online - includes U.S. public and private, and international companies; company leadership, history and description, financials, products, etc.
- MarketLine – has Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats analysis as well as in-depth description of larger companies around the world
- Mergent Online – international database of public companies; allows comparative financial analysis
- Investext – in-depth analysis of public companies by equity analysts and research firms
- On any public company website – find the “investor relations” section for webcasts, CEO presentations, Q&A with analysts in Earnings Reports, etc.
- Annual report searching – SEC website
Identifying competitors and/or potential corporate customers
Background on an industry
- S&P's NetAdvantage website – use “Industries” tab. After you read your industry survey, also look at its “Industry References” section for links to industry associations and trade journals, which will have even more information.
- MarketLine – easiest to start with “Find Information” tab to select an industry; international
- “Industry section” of Business & Company Resource Center - once you find it, use both Overviews and Market Research tabs. You can also do an “Article” search using keywords, especially for smaller niche industries.
- Industry statistics from U.S. Census Bureau’s Economic Programs.
News sources about markets, companies and industries:
(There is considerable overlap among these databases, but also many unique items in each one. Use search terms such as “market,” “forecast,” “trends,” “industry overview,” etc. along with your own market identifier, i.e. “organic food.” Try various combinations of terms. You’ll also find pieces from journals like Journal of Brand Management, Innovative Marketing, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Brand Strategy, Marketing Management, etc.)
- Proquest – wide-ranging news database containing many smaller databases within it - a good place to search for local reporting on a company, and uncover what competitors are doing.
- Business & Company Resource Center – articles here are international, coverage is thorough.
- Lexis-Nexis Academic– has extensive international news and press releases; also special sections: “company dossier,” biographical background on individuals and legal cases.
- Business & Industry - articles about companies and industries, trends, market share, sales, new products and demographics
Consumer research – demographics and spending patterns
- Factfinder.census.gov – voluminous data from national level down to block level
- Statistical Abstract of the United States – easy-to-find statistics on everything
- Useful books in Hunt reference room (ask a librarian to help find these while our re-shelving is underway)
- Best Customers - 658.8342 R96b -
- American Incomes: Demographics of Who has Money - 339.22 A512a -
- Lifestyle market analyst – HF5415 .33.U6 L54
- Household spending : who spends how much on what – HC110 .C6 O34
- Who’s buying? Executive Summary of Household Spending – find this e-book on NetLibrary
- Consumer Expenditure Survey – US govt. survey that is the basis for many studies
- Lifestyle market segmentation patterns from ESRI– very cool: enter a zipcode and see!
- Polls – use database from Roper Center, Reuters (“archive” goes up to 2007), ACSI (customer satisfaction by company and industry,) or any of the “News” databases above using “poll” as a search term, i.e. movies and poll.
Benchmarking - best practices
Market share data
- Use Business & Company Resource Center database – do an “Industry” search. Once your industry is found, click on “Rankings” tab, and then “Market Share” tab will appear – it’s all there. Or come in and use the Market Share Reporter (Hunt reference HF5410 .M35)
Media/advertising costs/sources
- Most publications, TV/Radio stations have a “media kit” describing their “audience profile” and their rates/specifications; see these examples: Atlantic Monthly, WTAE.
- Find media outlets in the Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media (Hunt reference Z6951 .A97. ) Find your target magazines by topic, with circulation data and contacts, in database - Ulrichsweb.com.
- Benchmark ad spending as percent of sales in different industries, from www.adage.com – (do search for “advertising as percent of sales” – free registration may be needed) and in Financial Studies of the Small Business (Hunt reference HD2346 .U5 F55A )
- What are public companies spending on advertising or marketing? Do a search on the SEC website for a company and look for its 10-K report. Once there, do a ctrl-F search for “marketing” and/or “advertising” to find disclosure of those expenses (not always available.)
Marketing plans and campaigns – case studies and sample plans
- Encyclopedia of major marketing campaigns – famous marketing campaigns (Hunt reference HF5837 .E53)
- Encyclopedia of Consumer Brands - marketing strategy and advertising of classic American brands (Hunt reference HF5415.3 .E527)
- Mplans.com – some free ones available here
- Outline and samples from Royal Bank of Canada
- For many books with examples - look in CAMEO under terms “internet marketing,” “marketing management,” marketing and planning,” etc.
- Some marketing case studies from Fast Company
- Some advertising case histories from the Advertising Educational Foundation
New media:
- Use databases in “News” section above, using terms such as “mobile marketing” “online advertising” etc.
- Interactive/online/mobile marketing articles and statistics collected at clickz.com
- Webmarketing Today newsletter
- New book at Hunt Library: The new rules of marketing and PR : how to use news releases, blogs, podcasting, viral marketing, & online media to reach buyers directly (2 nd floor - HF5415.1265 .S36 )
Evaluating Websites and Citing Your Sources:
We’re here to help!
Hunt Library Reference Desk: (412) 268-2442; huntref@andrew.cmu.edu
Or, contact me directly:
Roye Werner , Business and Economics Librarian, rwerner@andrew.cmu.edu, (412) 268-2453