By Mansur Boydaş
Marketing is the course of action that is composed by many components. One of the most important of the components is the information. Developing or renewing plans need effective strategies to use in the marketing plan of an entity. Firstly, gathering information from the entity and the larger environment is an essential way of strategy. Information is needed in every stage of marketing such as, customer needs, strategic planning, and competition with the other businesses. There is a system for developing marketing information, Marketing Information System (MIS) which has three main ways; they are internal data, marketing intelligence, and marketing research. Internal data is gathered from data sources in the company. Marketing intelligence is the collection and breakdown of publicly available information about the competitors and any changes in the marketing environment. Marketing research is the process of collecting and analyzing information in order to solve marketing problems. These three ways of developing marketing information assist entities to overcome any marketing challenges they face with. Challenges are always there for the entities to cope with to position the entity in the market for a higher set. The challenges are sometimes in the entity itself (micro) and outside of the entity (macro). Internal data method is used for the micro environmental challenges of entities on the other hand; marketing intelligence method is used for the macro environmental challenges of entities. Trent University has micro and macro challenges for positioning itself in the education market. The micro challenges of Trent University are increased demand for new faculty as the university system increases in size, university infrastructure which requires renewal and updating, and the competition between the colleges of the university and the other universities. The macro challenges of Trent University are competition for high achieving students and increasing enrolments among Ontario and National Universities, continuing financial constraints in provincial funding. Trent University’s micro and macro challenges require the assistance of the marketing information system to generate the information looked-for. In each case in micro and macro challenge of the university, the ability of the marketing information system (MIS) will be utilized to address the point and gather the information needed.
As the time goes on and opportunities grow as well the challenges grow in the parallel direction. The micro challenges of Trent University are within the university. One of the micro challenges is increased demand for new faculty as the university system increases in size. At the beginning, it was a small university, whereas Trent University is no longer a small university (Trent University Strategic Directions, 2004). As more students get enrolled in the faculties of the university and the inclination of the new faculty branches, new faculties and the sizes of the current faculties need to be enlarged. To manage this micro challenge of the university, the internal data method of the marketing information system could be employed. The information gathered from the departments that could be statistics or any other kind assist to analyze the case and make a pertinent decision. The statistics of (OUAC, 2007) clarifies that the application numbers from 2006 to 2007 showed a little augment, which means applications to Trent University is increasing slowly. The second micro marketing challenge of Trent University is university infrastructure and technology which require renewal and updating. The infrastructure and the technology equipments such as computers, of a university must be reliable for the satisfaction of the students. To overcome this challenge, the best way to help generate the information is the internal data method. The information from student services, TIP Office, Registrar’s Office and the surveys within the university would gather reliable information for the university to plan and resolve the issues rising. The last but not the least of the micro challenges is the demand for the colleges of university. The colleges of the university are one of the important elements of the university. Many members of the Trent community believe that the colleges have been and should continue to be one of the fundamentals, because of their contribution to the academic and social life of the university (Trent University Strategic Directions, 2004). Colleges in universities strengthen the place of the university in the market, because many of the first year students firstly look for a place within the university due to the inexperience of the environment. Due to these factors the colleges of Trent University do not have enough space for the demand. To enlarge the facilities of the colleges, finance is the key factor, and the financial constraints put this plan in a very hard position. Limited housing space in the colleges put Trent in less competitive than other universities in attracting students because Trent is unable to guarantee residential space with offers of admission to the same extent as other universities (A Strategy for Trent University, 2007). Internal data is the method to assemble the needed information that the statistics of applications in years etc. to formulate the best decision.
In recent studies by Alison (2007) in the near future the era of youth domination will be over in North America according to demographics in marketing journal. This might affect the universities in North America and the competition would be more competitive. Trent University also has macro challenges and strategic plans for each of the challenges for the future. One of the macro marketing challenges is competition for high achieving students among Ontario and National Universities (A Strategy for Trent University, 2007). Having the high achieving students in universities is an extra influence for the university to establish itself. The competition is the scholarship given between the universities of Ontario. It is actually a benefit to benefit obsession between the high achieving students and the universities. This is a great challenge for Trent University, as it is small compared to other universities in Canada. In the strategic plans of Trent University being a destination of choice for high achieving students is essential. To overcome this challenge again the importance of information is unavoidable. From the MIS tools the marketing intelligence and marketing research are the ways to develop marketing information could be used to make a relevant decision. With marketing intelligence, the publicly data of the competitors could be gathered and using the marketing research to analyze the information in order to solve the problems to achieve to the desired level. Another macro challenge of Trent is continuing financial constraints in provincial funding. The university has been successful over the last five years in strengthening its enrolment and the interest of students in our educational environment (Strategic directions 2004, p. 3). To increase the research funding, the universities has to show a good performance. Quality of education and research programs and the magnitude of the impact on the economic, social and cultural life of the communities the universities serve, strengthen their cases for investment by public or private sources (A Strategy for Trent University, 2007). To surmount this challenge, Trent University has to serve in more distinctive ways culturally, economically, and socially become interactive in the community and increase the student enrolments with the help of marketing intelligence and research. This is the most vital challenge of the university, because to achieve any goals of the university, finance has the most significant input.
In conclusion, marketing concept requires information that is vital for in order to determine customer needs and the implement marketing strategies and programs aimed at satisfying those needs. Marketing information Strategies are ways to develop marketing information for relevant decisions to utilize. Trent University has many challenges differing in micro and macro. The most vital challenge of the university is the financial constraints from provincial funding and the government. Trent University has many challenges as well as strategic plans to overcome these challenges, however if the budget of the university is not adequate then the strategic plans will never be alive. The university has to provide quality of education and research programs and the magnitude of the impact on the economic, social and cultural life of the communities the university serves to strengthen their cases for investment by public or private sources which will contribute to their future plans. Trent University with the strategic plans in the future, is striving to establish the entity with increasing financial performance, and increase the number of enrolments in undergraduate and graduate as full and part time students. Ss the demographics show the future of the education market will be more competitive, that’s why the university need to consider this information in her strategic future plans.
MARKETING CHALLENGES OF TRENT UNIVERSITY By MANSUR BOYDAŞ
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