The role of insight teams in integrating diverse marketing information management techniques

Purpose – The paper seeks to address the viability of planning and executing the integration of four often independent marketing information management techniques, i.e. competitive intelligence (CI), customer relationship management (CRM), data mining (DM) and market research (MR). Design/methodology/approach – The research presented is a longitudinal, exploratory and descriptive case study, covering a three‐year period during a critical development phase of a medium‐size, national employer association which sought to improve the quality of marketing‐based insights to its strategic planning capability as well as improve economic outcomes. Findings – It is possible to achieve profitable and capability enhancing integration of diverse marketing information management techniques. Successful integration and the use of a highly focused cross‐functional team generated better market strategies and bottom line benefits. Practical implications – The need to generate greater insight from popular marketing information management and planning techniques is routinely experienced by marketing and other executive decision makers. This article provides a multi‐year roadmap of the successful execution of technique integration, including identifying barriers that arose as well as suggesting solutions for achieving progress. Originality/value – There are very few case studies published that demonstrate the successful evolution and integration of CI, CRM, DM and MR into the enterprise's strategy‐making process. The unique element of this example is that it was achieved within the context of a medium‐sized, national, not‐for‐profit employer association.