Research guide for
70-483 Advertising and Marketing Communications, Spring term 2008
Prof. Lankford  

First, three preliminaries:

  1. Get to all books, library services and databases here: www.library.cmu.edu
  2. If you’re off campus , use this first and follow instructions: http://www.library.cmu.edu/Services/remote.html)
  3. It will be handy as you do your research to know the NAICS code for your industry – find it here.)

Specifically, on the Cub Cadet company:

ON THE COMPANY:

News articles:

ON THE INDUSTRY:

Research in general:

Competitive analysis – company information

Identifying competitors and/or potential corporate customers

Background on an industry

News sources about markets, companies and industries:

(There is considerable overlap among these databases, but also many unique items in each one. Use search terms such as “market,” “forecast,” “trends,” “industry overview,” etc. along with your own market identifier, i.e. “organic food.” Try various combinations of terms. You’ll also find pieces from journals like Journal of Brand Management, Innovative Marketing, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Brand Strategy, Marketing Management, etc.)

Consumer research – demographics and spending patterns

Benchmarking - best practices

Market share data

Media/advertising costs/sources

Marketing plans and campaigns – case studies and sample plans

New media:

Evaluating Websites and Citing Your Sources:

We’re here to help!

Hunt Library Reference Desk: (412) 268-2442; huntref@andrew.cmu.edu

Or, contact me directly: Roye Werner , Business and Economics Librarian, rwerner@andrew.cmu.edu, (412) 268-2453