This guide is for MKT 2205 students developing a marketing strategy or plan for a product or service.
Here we focus on credible, professional information appropriate for the business environment.
A Checklist with worksheet is available on Merrimack Google Drive
Where to begin? It depends on where you are starting - with a target market, a company, an industry.
Use the tabs for find sources on
Need help? Contact Frances Nilsson, or the Research Center.
Who owns the brand, who's the parent company?
How does your product or service fit within its industry and current consumer trends?
What is their current or past marketing strategy?
Gather information on your target market.
See more sources on the Target Market tab (left)
Dig Deeper - Where are your information gaps?
Search these sources and Google, but be sure to evaluate wild web sources on their Currency, Reliability, Authority and Purpose or Bias.
Search business trade and scholarly journals, local business publications and the fulltext of the Wall Street Journal.
Search BSP for company profiles, industry and market research reports, country reports and articles from trade and scholarly business publications. Use the Business Searching Interface for browsing reports by country, industry or company. Mobile users: click here for Corporate Profiles.