Developing a customized decision-support system for brand managers

Working with brand managers at Holland Fast Moving Company (HFMC), we desig ned a marketing-management-support system, BRANDFRAME. In conducting the pr oject, we (1) examined the decision situation; (2) examined the existing ma rketing-management-support system; (3) determined what type of decision sup port best fits the tasks of the brand managers; (4) developed and implement ed the software; (5) obtained feedback from the managers who worked with th e software; and (6) adapted and extended the system. BRANDFRAME contains a combination of academic and practical knowledge and integrates all the info rmation needed by the brand manager in one system. The system does not repl ace the brand manager but, in an interactive way, acts as a sparring partne r. The system was very well received by the managers who worked with it and has shown that customizing decision-support systems for specific marketing jobs (in this case, the brand manager) may well be an important factor for the success of marketing-management-support systems.