Environmental factors affect all elements of the marketing mix
Environment is dynamic
Marketing organization needs to keep pace with and anticipate change
If done properly, scanning can help managers answer such questions as
What are the trends and issues that will affect my business
in 5 (or 10) years?
Do we have an effective long-term strategic plan that will be aligned with future business conditions?
Are there new ideas that I’m not seeing that could solve our recurring issues?
Environmental scanning:
…the collection and evaluation of information from the wider marketing environment that might affect the organization and its strategic marketing activities
(Brassington and Pettitt, 2003:47)