This guide
will help you find information about companies and industries,
including sales, trends, and market share. For help on a specific
topic or research question, please contact the Reference Desk
(410-617-6802).
Search 1: Finding the SIC/NAICS Code
The SIC
(Standard Industrial Classification) Code and the NAICS (North
American Industry Classification System) Code are two ways
of organizing industry information; NAICS is an updated version
of SIC. You can use either one to find out about your company's
industry, including industry sales information, and major
competitors.
Note: If
a company is involved in more than one industry, the primary
SIC/NAICS code (the industry in which the company is most
active) is always at the top of the list.
Places to Find SIC/NAICS Codes
| Database | Search to Use |
How to Search | Example |
| BCRC |
Company |
Type in the company name or ticker symbol * If you only have the brand
name, use the Product/Brand Name search box to find out who
makes the product | Nabisco, AAPL (Apple Computer) * Oreos,
Cap'n Crunch |
| Hoover's Online |
Company Name |
Type in the company name or ticker symbol Cannot search by brand name |
Quaker Oats,
PEP (Pepsi) |
Search
2: Finding Market Share Information in BCRC
One of
the other things you can do while looking at a company profile
is find business ranking and market share information.
1. Open
Business and Company Resource Center (BCRC).
2. Use
Company Search to find your company.
3. Click on the Rankings
tab at the top of the screen.
The Business
Rankings tab may include sales or marketing information ("Companies
with the Greatest Return on Advertising in the Food Industry,
1999"), as well as other less relevant topics ("Largest Chicago-Area
Office Lease Holders, 2000").
The Market
Share tab tells you who the big players are in an industry
- what companies produce or sell the most. This information
comes from Market Share Reporter, an annual publication which
we also have in print (2002-2004) in Reference.
Search 3: Using Articles to Find Market Share Information
In many cases, you will be looking for just a small segment
within an industry (e.g., energy drinks as a subdivision of
soft drinks, which are SIC 2086/NAICS 312111). In this case,
you may have to rely on information from articles to find
market share, and to find out who your direct competitors
are. The same is true if you are looking for information on
a privately-held company (e.g. SC Johnson, Hooters, Mars).
You can look for information in any of the following databases:
| Database Type | Database Name |
How to Search For Articles |
| Magazine/Journal |
Business and Company Resource
Center (BCRC),
Business Source Premier |
Click on the Advanced search button and search
for your product. Click on the Advanced search tab at the top
of the page and do a keyword search for your product. Do a
keyword search; leave limits off, unless you need a specific
date range. |
| Newspaper |
Lexis/Nexis,
Wall Street Journal (1986-present),
New York Times |
Click on the Guided News Search tab, select Business News,
then choose your source (Business & Finance, Industry,
etc.) You can also try searching in General News, which
includes the major dailies from around the country. Be
sure to select a date range - default is only the last
6 months. For both of these databases, click on the Advanced
search tab at the top of the page, and do a keyword search
for your industry segment. |
| General (information on many
topics) |
Academic Search Premier,
Expanded Academic |
Do a keyword
search; do not set limits unless you need a specific date
range Start with a Subject Guide search (default), and type
in the industry you're looking for - this may help you find
alternate names for your industry. |
Demographics/
Consumer Information |
SRDS
| Choose "Local Market Audience Analyst" and find datasets by
location, consumer characteristics and industry/product category |
Note: If full text is not available for the article you want,
look for the 'Search for Full Text' button, which appears in Business Source Premier
and Academic Search Premier; there is also a link in Expanded
Academic. All the newspaper databases are full text.
Marketing Information Search Tips
| Tip |
Why? |
Example |
| Use Quotes around phrases |
It forces the computer to look for the exact words in
that exact order |
"Energy Drinks" |
| Use parentheses to combine terms when using both AND
and OR |
Parentheses tell the computer how to group terms |
Pepsi and sales or trends= "find
all articles including the terms Pepsi and sales, plus any
article with the word trends" Pepsi and (sales or market)=
"find all articles with either the term sales or market, but
return the ones that also contain the term Pepsi" |
| Use the truncator (*) |
Looks for variants of a word that start with the letters
you type |
trend* (trend, trends, trendy, trendsetter, etc.) |
| Use synonyms and related terms |
Databases may use a different name for the same concept; new
concepts may go by several names before an industry agrees on
one |
"energy drinks" = "Isotonic beverages" Future of an industry
= trend, forecast |
| Pay attention to journal names |
Be on the lookout
for trade publications, which are magazines focusing on people
and companies in a particular industry. You can narrow your
search to these publications to find more information about
your particular product, company, or brand. |
Advertising Age,
Brandweek, Nation's Restaurant News |
|
