Consider how a dashboard of a car , airplaine, or even a video game provides you with a lot of crucial information in real time and in a convenient format . so it should be with a marketing dashboard , which is a comprehensive system providing managers with up-to-the minute information necessary to run their operation including data on actual sales versus forecast , progress on marketing plan objectives, distribution channel effectiveness ,sales force productivity , brand equity evolution , and whatever metrics and information are uniquely relevant to the role of the marketing managers in a particular organization . clearly, a dashboard metaphor for this process of capturing , shaping , and improving marketing effectiveness and efficiency is a good one .