Research Guides: LCOB Foundations of Marketing: Home

Welcome

Welcome to the Foundations of Marketing Research Guide. This guide will connect you to the resources you need to complete your Marketing Plan research project.

You'll find the following library resources where you can locate company and industry information including:

Company profiles and descriptions
Mission statements
Financial data and analysis
Competitor information
Brand information
Industry trends and analysis
Consumer trends and analysis

Where to Find Company Information Like Descriptions, Financials, Past Sales/Projections, Competitors

Hoover's Online
Hoover's Online is a database of public and private company reports. Search by Company Name, Ticker Symbol, or Keyword. To find past financials, mouse over "financials" and select "historical financials". This database is best utilized in Chrome's Incognito Mode or in Microsoft Explorer.
Mergent Online (Moody's)
The following services are available from Mergent online: Company data¸ Company data archive¸ International company data¸ International company data archive¸ U.S. & International Annual reports¸ Industry reports¸ Equity reports¸ Corporate Bond Portraits¸ and Expanded long-term debt. Coverage: Current

Additional databases with Company Profiles
Full list of UC databases that contain company profiles and descriptions.

Where to Find Mission Statements and Brand Information

Business Insights: Global
Search for a brand name, then view various types of information including news, rankings, and market share. A lot of great company research falls under "Chronology" and you can find a lot of information on the company's mission
Business Source Complete
Business Source Complete database is great for research on mission, vision and ethics statements.

Where to Find a SWOT Analysis

MarketLine Advantage
Change the search box to a company profile search, then select your company from the result list. The company profile has a SWOT analysis.

Where to Find Industry Trends and Information

IBISWorld
IBISWorld Industry Reports provide in-depth industry analysis for over 700 U.S. industries in all major U.S. industry sectors at the 5-digit level of NAICS . Reports are updated regularly¸ and contain: key statistics¸ market characteristics¸ segmentation¸ industry conditions¸ industry performance¸ key competitors¸ key factors¸ and industry outlook and forecast.
Coverage - Current
Mintel Reports
Market research reports primarily for the U.S. and covers a variety of sectors including beauty and personal¸ health and medical¸ electronic¸ consumer goods¸ lifestyles¸ travel and tourism¸ financial industry¸ internet industry¸ retail¸ and food & drink. Reports discuss market drivers¸ market size & trends¸ market segmentation¸ supply structure¸ advertising and promotion¸ retail distribution¸ consumer characteristics¸ and future and forecasts. Users will need to click on "I Agree" with the "Conditions of use" statement - each time they enter the database¸ and to establish and login into a profile with a UC e-mail address. Coverage: current

Other Market Research Databases
To find whether we have the report you need, try your industry search first on "Alacra" or "marketResearch.com". Once you identify the report that you need, look for the publisher of the report on the list below. If it is listed, connect to the publisher's website and search for that report.

Where to Find Consumer Trends and Information

Mintel Reports
Find consumer trends and information with Mintel's market research insight and analysis. Select which category (automotive, health/beauty, food, etc) and then the demographic category (Affluent, Kids, Millennials, etc) and related reports will appear in the search below.
Passport (Euromonitor)
Euromonitor's Passport includes consumer trend information on it's "Consumers" menu. Select from Digital Consumer, Households, or Lifestyles to find consumer trend reports, briefings, and statistics. Users can also search for a company from the home search page and find company data and analysis.
SimplyAnalytics (formerly SimplyMap)
SimplyAnalytics (formerly SimplyMap) is a web-based mapping application to create professional quality, interactive thematic maps and reports using thousands of U.S. demographic, business, and marketing variables. Select, sort, and compare data across multiple geographic locations and create custom reports exportable to spreadsheets. First time users must create an account to login.

How to Find Company Information at the Library

Summon searches for books, articles, and other materials available at the library (most of it is online). It is a library version of Google.

You can find company information available at the library by using some of the following searches:

Kroger AND "company goals"
IBM AND "financial goals"
Cintas AND "core competencies"
"consumer trends" AND "frozen foods"

Directly search Summon using the box below:

Summon Step by Step Handout