Marketing Planning

Marketing Planning

1. The fundamentals of Planning

   • 1. Where are we now?
   • 2. How did we get here?
   • 3. Where are we heading?
   • 4. Where would we like to be?
   • 5. How do we get there?
   • 6. Are we on course?

2. The process of marketing planning

   • Business mission > Marketing audit > SWOT analysis > Marketing objectives > Core strategy > Competitive advantage > Marketing mix decisions > Organisation and implementation > Control

3. Business Mission

   • A broadly defined, enduring statement of purpose that distinguishes a business from others of its type. Should be:   Realistic   Specific   Based on distinctive competencies   Motivating and inspirational
   • What business are we in?
   • What business do we want to be in?
   • 3 major characteristics
     • Focus on limited goals
     • Stress major policies and values
     • Define competitive spheres to operate in

4. Marketing Audit

   • A systematic examination of a business's marketing environment, objectives, strategies and activities, with a view to identifying key strategic issues, problem areas and opportunities.
   • Internal Environment
     • Areas that are under the control of marketing management.
     • Checklist
       • Operating results
         • Sales Market share Profit margins Costs
       • Strategic issues analysis
         • Marketing objectives Market segmentation Competitive advantage Core competences Positioning Portfolio
       • Marketing mix effectiveness
         • Product Price Promotion Distribution (Place)
       • Marketing structures
         • Marketing organisation Marketing training Intra- and interdepartmental communication
       • Marketing systems
         • Marketing information systems Marketing planning system Marketing control system
   • External Environment
     • Forces over which management has no control
     • Checklist
       • Macroenvironment
         • Political/legal
         • Economic
         • Ecological/Physical
         • Technological
         • Social/Cultural
       • Microenvironment
         • Customers
         • Distributors
         • Suppliers
         • Competitors

5. SWOT Analysis

   • Strengths
   • Threats
   • Opportunities
   • Weaknesses

6. Marketing Objectives

   • Strategic Thrust
     • Marketing Penetration
       • Take the existing product in the existing market and attempt increased penetration.
     • Product Development
       • Increasing sales by improving present products or developing new products for current markets.
     • Market Development
       • Used when products are sold in new markets. This may involve moving into new geographical markets.
     • Entry into new markets
       • Occurs when new products are developed for new markets. Most risky but may be necessary when a company's current products and markets offer few prospects for future growth.
   • Strategic Objectives
     • 1. Build
     • 2. Hold
     • 3. Harvest
     • 4. Digest

7. Core Strategy

   • Target markets
   • Competitor targets
     • The organisations against which a company chooses to compete directly
   • Competitive advantage
     • The achievement of superior performance

8. Implementing the marketing plan

   • Marketing mix decisions
   • Organisation and implementation
   • Control systems
   • Rewards of marketing planning
     • 1. Generates consistency
     • 2. Encourages the monitoring of change
     • 3. Encourages organisational adaptation
     • 4. Stimulates achievement
     • 5. Facilitates resource allocation
     • 6. Promotes the search for sources of competitive advantage
   • Problems in making planning work
     • Political
     • Costs
     • Reward systems
     • Information
     • Culture
     • Personality clashes
     • Lack of knowledge and skills