Download The Marketing Plan

The Marketing Plan
Chapter 2
Section 2.1: Marketing Planning
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Good marketing requires good planning
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Research your company
Study your business environment
Analyze your competitors
Develop Assessment Lists
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Utilize the things that will contribute to your
success
Avoid the threats that could cause failure
Section 2.1: Marketing Planning
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SWOT Analysis: Occurs when a company looks at
their strengths and weaknesses and analyzes the
opportunities and threats that surround them.
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Helps handle weaknesses
Prepares for threats
Companies develop strategies based on SWOT
analysis
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Identifies target market
Point out competitive advantages
Strengths & Weaknesses
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Strengths & weaknesses are internal factors that
affect a business
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Internal Analysis centers on the 3 C’s
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Company
Customers
Competition
Must evaluate these components fairly
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Sometimes done by outside strategists
The First C: Company
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Company Analysis deals with two areas:
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What the company does well (strengths)
What the company doesn’t do well (weaknesses)
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Staff Review(s): All levels of the organization
Financial Situation
Production Capabilties
Each Aspect of the Marketing Mix
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Product, Promotion, Price, Place
Staff Review Research
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Company has a mission statement
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Do employees know it?
Do employees follow it?
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Does the company have too much or too small a staff?
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What is the quality of staff?
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Are they trained properly?
Are they evaluated?
Financial Status Research
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Is the company profitable?
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What are the company’s financial resources?
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What areas are doing well?
Why are those areas doing well?
Do they have the money & means to succeed
Sales History
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Sales increasing or decreasing
Production Capabilities
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How does the company adjust to an increase or decrease
in sales?
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Research & Development Department
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New products being designed
Are their ideas successful?
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What percent of sales comes from veteran products?
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Changes in technology
Marketing Mix Research
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Product
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What’s new
What’s been successful
Patents
Price
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Effectiveness of pricing strategies
Marketing Mix Research
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Promotion
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Company’s position within the marketplace
What are the company’s promotional strategies?
What is the company’s image among customers?
Place
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Do products easily reach customers?
Who helps the company with distribution?
Company Analysis
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Answers to research reveal strengths and
weaknesses
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Talent of staff
Quality of workmanship
Customer service record
Customer Analysis
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Why perform a customer analysis?
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Customers are a great source of information
Buying habits dictate product offerings & pricing
strategies
Important for a company to understand:
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Who their customers are
What, when, where, and how much are customers buying?
What needs are being met & which one’s aren’t
Is customer base growing or shrinking?
Customer Analysis
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How Do You Analyze Customers?
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Database technology that focuses on buying
patterns
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Customer satisfaction surveys
Competitive Analysis
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What is your company's market share?
What advantages does your company have?
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Better reputation
Own a patent
Special resources
Distribution Capabilities
Are competitors taking customers away from
you?
External Opportunities & Threats
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Companies must also look outside to find
improvement
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Competition: Know what your competitors are always
doing
Environmental Scan:
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Political: Laws, Regulations, Foreign Policy, etc..
Economic: Robust Economy v. Recession
Socio-Cultural: Lifestyle, Attitudes, Opinions, & Demographics
of customers
Technological: Taking advantage of the latest & greatest
Writing a Marketing Plan
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Marketing Plan: a formal, written document that directs
a company’s activities for a specific period of time.
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Details research efforts
Provides a roadmap for product development
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How product will be introduced
How the product will be advertised
How the product will be sold
Communicates goals, objectives, and strategies to
management team
The Marketing Plan
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Informs managers of their responsibilities
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Details company’s budget
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Forecasts a timeline for completion
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Helps monitor a company’s performance
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Marketing plans differ in comprehensiveness
Elements of a Marketing Plan
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Differ from one company to the next
Basic elements found in all
1.
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6.
Executive Summary
Situation Analysis
Marketing Goals/Objectives
Marketing Strategies
Implementation
A System for Evaluation & Control
Executive Summary
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Executive Summary: a brief overview of the
entire marketing plan.
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Addresses each topic in the plan
Explains costs involved in implementing plan
Provides information to outsiders such as
investors
Situation Analysis
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Situation Analysis: study of the internal and
external factors that affect marketing
strategies.
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Basis of this analysis comes from:
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SWOT Analysis
Environmental Scan
Goals and Objectives
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Objectives: let everyone know what the
marketing plan will accomplish.
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Single-Minded: only one topic per objective
Specific: provides details that eliminate confusion
Realistic: able to be obtained
Measurable: able to be evaluated
Have a timeframe: when will the goal be met
Objectives must reflect an organizations goals
Marketing Strategies
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Marketing Strategies: identifies target
markets and sets marketing mix choices that
focus on those markets.
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Takes in account customer needs & wants
Aligns itself with company objectives
Effective marketing strategies utilize
company strengths
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Focus on key points of differences
Take advantage of strengths
Implementation
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Implementation: putting the marketing plan
into action and managing it.
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Obtaining financial resources
Establishing effective management
Determining the staff necessary to put plan into
action
Creates a timeframe showing when each part
takes effect
Implementation
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Plan outlines several key components
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Schedule of activities
Job assignments
Sales forecasts
Budgets
Details of each activity
Who is responsible for each activity
Plan requires excellent communication
Evaluation & Control
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How will the plan be evaluated?
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Reinforces the need for detailed objectives
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Appoints someone responsible for evaluations
Performance Standards and Evaluation
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Performance Standards: an expectation for
performance that reflects the plans objectives.
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They’re the measuring stick of the company
Control
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Control deals with alternate options
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What happens if we fail
What do we do if we don’t meet objectives
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Reduces gap between planned performance and actual
success
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Appendix: The supplemental section
 Financial statements
 Sample Advertisements
 Other materials that support the plan
Conclusion
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Marketing Process is ongoing
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Planning
Implementing
Controlling
A successful marketing plan will
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Accomplish objectives within the boundaries set
Homework
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Define each term from Chapter 2
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Add on to Chapter One Terms
Vocabulary quiz Tuesday