Industry data sources cover groups of organizations involved in similar business activities - airlines, soft drinks, sporting goods, etc. Many resources organize information using industrial classification codes - NAICS & SIC. Here is a separate Industry Classification guide which explains the codes and how to identify them.
If you are doing marketing research for educational or nonprofit organizations (schools, daycares, churches, etc.), you can still use IBISWorld and its NAICS codes for background on the industry. For example:
Marianne Hageman (St. Paul)
mdhageman@stthomas.edu
651-962-5404
John Heintz (Mpls. & St. Paul)
jpheintz@stthomas.edu
651-962-4646
Andrea Koeppe (Mpls.)
andrea.koeppe@stthomas.edu
651-962-4647