Market planning or research data is the most widely used data in business. Data on the marketplace or markets in which a company operates is central for evaluating a company's promotion and advertising policy, its pricing policy, brand management, new product development and future strategy. Corporate data is also important, in that knowing what your competitors are doing is also a central function of management, especially when it comes to branding policy and product development. Company information is also important for other management functions such as benchmarking exercises, i.e. comparing your company's performance against that of its main rivals or the industry, for deciding whether to acquire or merge with a rival.
Financial data is used mainly for market trading and for corporate treasury activities.
For the financial services industry, financial market information such as stocks and shares prices is basic market data. The bulk of electronic revenues are generated by financial company data, with market data taking around one-third of the market. According to the broad market definition, the largest sector of the UK business information market is market data, including items like trade magazines and newspapers, a considerable proportion of whose output is market orientated. In this report, the first two are studied in detail, and most attention is paid to the information providers. It is generally accepted that the highest level of value resides with the information content provider.