Abstract:

This paper deals with the way a company, Philips, has organized its marketing information activities for communication and information systems. The concept of business intelligence is introduced as a way of organizing and controlling the enormous load of available marketing information in this industry. It is argued that coping with data overload starts with priority setting and organization and that high tech databases could fit in this as a logical consequence but that databases and marketing information systems are not by their nature the definitive solution to the problem. A business intelligence cycle is described as a workable way of coping with data overload within a company that uses market research as one of the data sources.