The practice of marketing is defined as A social and managerial process whereby individuals

and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging
products and value with others (Armstrong et al, 2010). In todays resurgent economic environment it
has become increasingly necessary for businesses to understand the consumer in order to better
provide products and services they want and need in a timely manner. Products are now being
marketed towards the public in ever more efficient ways and this is very much due to the onset of the
digital communication age where thirty-nine percent of the world is now connected to each other
through the internet.(wikipedia 2013) This vast explosion of human connectivity also means more data
than ever is constantly being collected as web traffic in servers worldwide, and all this information sits
waiting to be utilized. Digital information and social networking will be key to maintaining and improving
the effectiveness of the marketing information system so it may continue to connect people with the
products they desire as companies more effectively manage information taken from the marketplace in
ever more efficient computer aided methods. By observing the marketplace and determining a suitable
customer from the wide populace available through demographic study and secondary market research,
the marketing information system may then be used to present an ideal product to the populace that
will be marketed to fit their consumerist wants and needs ever more increasingly through social
promotion. Once the product has been given an adequate time to assimilate itself to the marketplace
post introductory research should be conducted to determine the true effectiveness of the marketing
techniques employed in the steps defined above. Successful use of the marketing information system
will enable a company to seek out their desired customers from amongst a sea of undesirable
consumers, form a relationship with the consumer through effective marketing of the product toward
their target demographic group(s) and then analyze the consumers reception of the product in order
that the company may use the information learned to improve future performance. The aftermentioned
tool that markting managers and researchers will use, the Marketing Information System is defined as
a continuing and interacting structure of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyse,
evaluate, and distribute pertinent, timely and accurate information for use by marketing decision
makers to improve their marketing planning, implementation and control.(al allack . 2010) The purpose
of the marketing information system is to give the marketing manager valuable and usable consumer
insights that will help the company to more closely target their wanted consumer.
To begin the process of marketing a product to the consumer, a business must first ask
themselves who their target consumer is. In the past companies relied on post release purchasing
figures and surveyed public perception in order to determine who the greatest supporters of their
products were. (armstrong et al 2010) Today, industrries such as toursim have been drastically changed
by the wide availability of the internet. More people prefer to plan their vacations online and bundle
together all their travel arrangements into one instantly providing the company with a detailed record of
who their customer is right at checkout. The internet also provides a low cost of entry pathway into a
large marketplace, In many emerging economies, the tourism industry is dominated by private sector,
comprising largely of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These entities find opportunity to expand
their businesses through online channels with very low entry barriers and reach large markets that
would never be accessible to them offline (al allak 2010) With web search engines such as Google
directing traffic, it is easier than ever for a small business to find an audience especially in niche markets
such as tourism which can turn a large amount of profit. Take for example the country of Jordan where
internet resources are used mainly to gather customer info, in Jordan 95% of all firms in the tourism
and hospitality sector in Jordan are classified as small and
medium-sized... the accommodation and attractions sub sectors are
the largest sector in the tourism industry ...contribution of this sector in the Jordanian Domestic Product
(GDP) in 2007 stands at 18.6% This in a country where only 26% of these aftermentioned enterprises
had internet access and only 11% used it towards meaningful marketing strategy. (alallk 2010) As time
moves on it will be imperative for more companies to embrace the internet and online marketing
information systems since internet connectivity can only increase from here on, especially in developing
economies.
Internet activity has been used to identify prospective customers for some time now but it is
only recently that internet use has exploded worldwide mainly due to the extensive adoption of
smartphones by regular consumers. Mobile technology today allows people worldwide to communicate
with each other in amazing ways that break down old ideas of barriers and drive forward customer
focused product development and marketing. In todays age of continuos connectivity, it is imperative
that managers view the customer as an intgral and connected part of the product development process
because Those who sell must focus on what they want to sell, on what customers want to buy, and
must take into consideration that costumers desires are always changing. (mocean pop 2012) This is
best exemplified by the recent stuggles of Canadas once most valuable firm, Research in Motion and
the downfall of their world renown Blackberry. Research in Motion was founded in 1984 in waterloo and
released their first Blackberry device in 1999 to immediate fanfare.(time 2013) With emails delivered
instantly to a mobile device which had a keyboard for easy reply, the Blackberry was the ideal device for
the corporate mobile phone user who required a business ready device. By marketing their product
directly towards business firms as a secure communication tool for their entire workforce, RIM was able
to quickly climb atop the mobile phone market and once there they proceeded to rest comfortably with
their original design choices and vast profits which drove shares in the company up to two hundred and
thirty six dollars each. (new yorker 2013) However, once atop their market segment RIM made the fatal
mistake of becomming complacent with their marketing strategy and completely overlooked what was
quickly becomming the dominant buyer of smartphones, the common consumer. Driven by a desire for
an all in one mobile entertainment and communication device to eliminate the need to carry multiple
electronics, customers where absolutely enamoured by technology industry leaders Samsung and Apple
who used their already proven marketing information systems to observe consumer behavior and
attitudes primarily though internet based research and began offering touchscreen devices tailored
exclusively to their evolving needs. Signaling the advent of a new consumer insight based mobile phone
buying experience Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, an all in one mobile device that performed
most tasks better than Blackberrys and also added a wide variety of entertainment options through
downloadable and often user generated apps available on their exclusive iTunes store which fostered a
sense of community in the marketplace that was severely lacking on RIMs business focused handsets.
With consumer desires firmly in the minds of experienced product developers at Apple, they began to
dominate the mobile phone arena by marketing yearly offerings of the most advanced yet easy to use
mobile platform available anywhere directly to their loyal customers and the casual consumer as a
whole. Now with a dedicated 200 million strong consumer base who has a keen influence over the
improvements constantly being made to their dearly loved products, Apple merely reaffirms their status
as the industrys poster child with each yearly product launch. The latest iPhones launched in
Spetember by Apple (in two distinct configurations as per consumer desire) saw a record breaking 9
million units sold in the first week accounting for a projected thrity-seven billion dollars in revenue for
the fourth quarter alone and driving their stock to over five hundred dollars per share. (the verge 2013)
In the face of a changing consumer environment RiM chose to ignore the signs and maintained faith in
their original vision of its devices as fancy, email-enabled mobile phones rather than the powerful
mobile computers being created by indusstry leaders Apple and Samsung. (time 2013) Now Blackberry
who saw shares fell as low as seven dollars each (time 2013) is a cautionary tale for any technology firm
which ignores consumer behaviour and does not heed this important marketing maxim Customer shall
not be considered the last link of the chain of the movement of goods. The most important strong point
of a business is a continuous relationship with the client. (mocean pop, 2012)
With the marketing information system firmly poised as a tool to be continuously evolved by
technology to help improve business and consumer relations in the marketplace, it is important that
firms, whether small, medium or large place themselves in an ideal position with online presence and
social media promotion so they may better distinguish their desired consumer and better serve them
through the gathering of useful consumer insight. Firms must also use the marketing information system
to pay close attention to their desired customer and their changing desires in order to evolve products
and services to serve the customer rather than allowing stagnent product development to drive away a
once dedicated consumer. Overall extensive and carefully customized information is needed to
effectively market a product to a desired customer and through the use of a digitially based consumer
focused marketing information system it is easier than ever for individuals and groups to obtain what
they each need and want through exchanging products and value with each other.

Bibliography
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Evaluating the Adoption and Use of Internet-based Marketing
Information Systems to Improve Marketing Intelligence (The Case of
Tourism SMEs in Jordan)
Professor Dr. Basheer AL-allak
Department of Marketing and Entrepreneur Development
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BlackBerry failed to anticipate that consumers not business customers would
drive the smartphone revolution
By Sam Gustin @samgustinSept. 24, 2013
http://business.time.com/2013/09/24/the-fatal-mistake-that-doomed-blackberry/

AUGUST 12, 2013
HOW BLACKBERRY FELL
POSTED BY VAUHINI VARA
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/08/blackberry-sale-announcement-iphone-
smartphone-market.html

Apple sets another opening
weekend record with 9 million
iPhone sales
By Aaron Souppouris on September 23, 2013 08:30 am Email @AaronIsSocial
http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/23/4761022/iphone-5s-5c-opening-weekend-sales-figures
Global Internet usage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Internet_usage