Marketing Plan Assignment

Remember to pay particular attention to the company you are working with and the market they occupy when preparing to research. Ask questions like: 

• What products do they sell?
• Consider what competitors are doing / have done
• What do you already know about your market? 

These questions can help you develop search terms and help quickly locate information through business resources. 

Articles are an important part of marketing research. They can help you identify :

• external pressures happening in your market/industry
• major innovations or marketing trends in your industry
• conduct an environmental scan
• find information on private companies and difficult to research industries
• consumer information (e.g. demographic information, consumer surveys, consumer attitudes & buying behaviour, and reactions to products, companies, marketing & issues)

Key Article Databases 

Below are a number of resources that can help you research this section of your Marketing Plan 

• ProQuest One Business
  • Locate industry reports, market reports, and articles. Enter the industry or market in the search box. Narrow your results by source type/ document type/ location and/or publication date.
• IBISWorld
  • Industry reports that include an industry outlook, an overview of the competitive landscape and key statistics. Search by keyword and limit to geography: Canada, U.S. or China.
• Marketline
  • Includes industry research and analysis, including Market Overviews.
• Passport
  • Contains market research data, i.e. information on consumer lifestyles and market size.
• S&P NetAdvantage
  • Comprised of detailed surveys for over 50 U.S. industries. Coverage includes industry trends and a guide to analyzing companies in each industry. To access, click on the "Markets" tab at the top of the screen and select your industry from the drop down menu, or click on "Industry Surveys" under the "Market Research" subheading.
• CIRC’s Associations Canada
  • Canada's Information Resource Centre (CIRC) provides a listing of Canadian Associations. Associations can provide detailed information on their respective industry. N.B. Be sure to uncheck all databases, with the exception of Associations Canada.
• Statistics Canada
  • Contains Canadian industry statistics

Below are a number of resources that can help you find information on environmental factors. Included are tips and hints for searching in each resource. 

• Proquest One Business
  • Locate industry reports, market reports, and articles that discuss external factors impacting your product or service. Enter the industry or market in the search box. Narrow your results by source type/ document type/ location and/or publication date.
• Marketline
  • Provides industry research and analysis for multiple industries, including Five Forces Analyses.
  • You can also search by company to find industry and company level analysis.
• IBISWorld
  • Industry reports that include an industry outlook, an overview of the competitive landscape and key statistics.
  • Search by keyword and limit to geography: Canada, U.S. or China.
• Passport
  • Contains expert analysis on factors impacting markets, including social and demographic trends.
  • Search by industry keyword and geography.
• S&P NetAdvantage
  • Comprised of detailed surveys for over 50 U.S. industries. Coverage includes current market environment. To access, click on the "Markets" tab at the top of the screen and select your industry from the drop down menu, or click on "Industry Surveys" under the "Market Research" subheading.
• CIRC’s Associations Canada
  • Canada's Information Resource Centre (CIRC) provides a listing of Canadian Associations. Associations can provide detailed information on their respective industry such as current market forces. N.B. Be sure to uncheck all databases, with the exception of Associations Canada.

You can find further Industry Level Resources. 

Below are a number of resources that can help you find information on your competitive analysis, including competitive intelligence and market share information. Included are tips and hints for searching in each resource. 

• IBISWorld
  • Industry reports include industry outlooks, an overview of the competitive landscape and key statistics. As well as company profiles and a industry SWOT analysis.
  • Search by industry keyword and limit to geography: Canada, U.S. or China
• Passport
  • Includes information on brand competition, market sizes, company shares, brand shares, etc.
  • Recommendation: Search Statistics to get a sense of brand and company competition, but look at Country Report for your selected market
•  

Below are a number of resources that can help you find information on consumer behaviour, as well as market segmentation analysis and buying behaviour. Included are tips and hints for searching in each resource. 

• Passport
  • This is a key resource when researching consumer behaviour. It includes information on consumer spending patterns and market size.
  • Under the Consumer tab, you can select what category of consumer information you want to explore and then use the drop down menus to explore the statistics and analysis.
• Marketline
  • Contains industry reports that discuss Porter’s Five Forces analysis, i.e. buyer power.
  • Also contains city and country reports that can provide key consumer insights
  • Search using key terms and by navigating the drop down menu on the main search screen
• <odesi> - Survey of Household Spending (SHS)
  • Provides microdata for each respondent in the survey.
  • Go to Odesi main page, and select "Browse" link at top right. In new window, select "Consumer Surveys", then click "Survey of Household Spending". Choose most recent year and then the title. Click "Explore Variables", then search for variables or browse the categories of variables. For each variable, you can view its summary statistics and categories. This will give you an idea of the average household spending on goods and services in Canada. You can also download the data files to make data analysis by yourself, e.g. to examine the household spending on digital devices by income. To download the dataset, return to the survey main page, click "View All Files", then click "Please agree to the terms to download the documents below".
• Census of Canada
  • Locate Census profiles for specific geographical (market) areas, i.e. City of Toronto, Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), Province of Ontario, etc.
• Statistics Canada
  • Provides Canadian socio-economic data such as neighbourhood income and demographics as well as population estimates. Enter "household spending" in the search box, click on the title "Household spending, Canada, regions and provinces", then click " Add/remove data" to customize the data table. 

Business Articles are also a key resource for this section of your market analysis. 

Below are a number of resources that can help you find information on your financial analysis. Included are tips and hints for searching in each resource. 

Company Financials 

• PitchBook
  • This resource is a private equity and venture capital database covering a wide range of firms as well as startups. Search thousands of private equity and venture capital deals by hundreds of criteria. Users need to create a personal user account on Pitchbook with their Laurier email address following instructions under Access Requirement. These accounts are deleted every year on June 30th and need to be recreated. Within Pitchbook, "Help Center" at the top right corner provides tutorials on how to run basic and advanced searches.
• Factiva
  • Coverage includes a few years of financial statements, financial ratios, stock price activity, share ownership, and more. Select the Companies/Markets tab at the top of the screen and then select ‘Company’. Enter company name in the search box under Get Company Snapshot, select the right company if more than one company are displayed. Click on "Financial Results" from the left column on Company Snapshot page.
• Marketline
  • Enter company name in the search box > select "Company Profiles" from the drop-down menu. On the company listing page, select the company match and you will be directed to the company profile page. Click on "Financials" on the left-side panel.
• CFMRC/TSX Database Annual Update
  • Contains Toronto Stock Exchange historical data, including monthly stock data since 1950 and daily data since 1975, daily and monthly index data, and interest and foreign exchange rates. Additional information relating to earnings, betas, and volume is also included. Access via the CHASS platform maintained by the University of Toronto. On CHASS, click the link under "Latest Edition" to start.

Industry Financials 

• Financial Performance Data
  • Presents financial data for small and medium-sized businesses (revenues ranges of $30 thousand to $5 million and $5 million to $20 million) in more than 1000 industries in Canada, including more than 30 performance benchmarks. Reports feature statistics for profitable and non-profitable businesses that includes net profits and net losses, and detailed financial data on revenues and expenses, industry averages for income statements and balance sheet items as well as financial ratios. You can follow steps to create a report for a specific industry.
• Financial Performance Indicators
  • Contains key financial ratios by industry groupings compiled from the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS 2007) from 1994 to 2011. Statistics Canada continues to provide information on Canadian businesses through alternative data sources. Information on specific financial ratios continues to be available through the annual Financial and Taxation Statistics for Enterprises program: Table 33-10-0006-01; the Quarterly Survey of Financial Statements: Tables 33-10-0007-01 and 33-10-0008-01.
• IBISWorld
  • Provides Canadian, US and Chinese industry reports. Enter industry keywords, NAICS code, or company name in the search box. Data on revenue, wage, cost structure, profits, etc. are included within the report.
• Marketline
  • Enter industry keyword in the search box > select "Industry Profiles" from the drop-down menu. On the results page, refine the results by sector, geography or date if necessary. Open the industry analysis report and click View Online, View as PDF or Export Full Report. Total market value and revenue data, and financials of major players in this industry are included within the report.

Personal Finance 

• ODESI
  • Contains microdata from Statistics Canada, Elections Canada, as well as polling data. Click on Browse at the top right of the homepage, browse the categories on the left-side panel and select a resource. For instance, in the Consumer Surveys folder, Survey of Financial Security (SFS) provides data on financial assets, debts, networth and financial behaviours and attitudes of survey participants. You can select variables and subsets from the survey and download data files in Stata, SPSS, or other formats.

For further resources, please visit the Financial Research guide. 

• Market Research World
  • A UK based online portal that offers a number of online resources including reports and articles related to market research. Includes global coverage but with a strong emphasis on Europe. To locate market research articles and reports see the menu and select “Market Research Findings”, “Library of Research Articles”, or “Market Research News”.
• Nielsen
  • Nielsen is a global information and measurement company that provides market research related reports. Coverage includes over 100 countries. When searching for relevant reports select “Insights” from up-top and then use the tool-bar on the left to narrow your results. Alternatively, you can enter in keywords into the search bar located at the top-right to locate relevant results. Most reports are available for free immediately, while others can be requested free of charge.
• SEDAR
  • Review annual reports of Canadian companies for financial statements.

• Industry Canada

  • Provides Canadian industry statistics, analysis reports, and government publications on key sectors.

Ensuring you provide proper citations for all your research, including any use of Generative AI, is a required component of your marketing plan assignment. Use the links below to help with citation. 

• Laurier Library Citation Guide
  • The Laurier Library provides guidance on citing in different styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) and by subject including government publications and data and statistics.
• Citing Generative AI
  • If using AI, always verify the information and sources generated. AI tools generate false or inaccurate information (hallucinate) and make up or cite non-existent sources. Use these tools to help cite AI properly.
• York University Business Citation Guide
  • Developed by business librarians at Bronfman Business Library at York University, this guide provides great examples of citing business resources including industry reports, company reports, analyst reports from databases.