Marketing
Strategic Marketing Planning
Strategic marketing planning involves the process of setting goals, identifying target markets, and developing strategies to achieve a competitive advantage. It encompasses analyzing market trends, understanding customer needs, and aligning marketing efforts with overall business objectives. By creating a roadmap for marketing activities, organizations can effectively allocate resources and maximize their impact in the marketplace.
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11 Key excerpts on "Strategic Marketing Planning"
- Tony Curtis, John Williams(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Competing for the Future as ‘an ambitious and compelling dream that provides the emotional and intellectual energy for the journey to the future, conveying a sense of direction and destiny’. Strategic intent is more flexible than a strategic plan and recognizes that the best laid plans may need to change in response to market conditions. The pace of change means that it is not always possible to anticipate change and, for example, cataclysmic events such as September 11 and its aftermath, which was not and could not have been anticipated, can completely transform the business context. The upshot of this is that planning is important but it needs to incorporate flexibility. The days when vast resources were put into creating gigantic strategic plans that were out of date by the time they had been produced are probably over for the present.Marketing PlanningStrategic Marketing Planning is the application of a number of logical steps in the planning process. There are different ways in which this can be done. One specific model would not suit every marketing planning situation. The planning process:Example of a Structure for a Marketing Plan Linked to Corporate PlanningMission StatementMacro-Environment Situational AnalysisPolitical, economic, socio-cultural audits of all major company and technological (PEST) functions – marketing, finance, hrm, production, distribution- Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, analysis (SWOT)
- Marketing objectives
- Forecast market potential
- Generate marketing strategies
- Assumptions and contingency plans
- Prepare detailed marketing mix programmes
- Budget Resources including staffing
- Agree timescales
- Implement the plan
- Measure and control
In The Discipline of Market Leaders (1995), Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersama argue that there are four new rules that competing companies must obey.1Provide the best offer in the marketplace, by excelling in one specific dimension of value. Market leaders first develop a value proposition, one that is compelling and unmatched.2Maintain threshold standards on other dimensions of value. You can’t allow performance in other dimensions to slip so much that it impairs the attractiveness of your company’s unmatched value.3
eBook - PDF- O. C. Ferrell, Michael Hartline, (Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
50 Chapter 2 • Strategic Marketing Planning Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. LESSONS FROM CHAPTER 2 Strategic Marketing Planning: • begins with broad decisions, then flows into more specific decisions as the pro- cess proceeds through subsequent planning stages. • involves establishing an organizational mission, corporate or business-unit strat- egy, marketing goals and objectives, marketing strategy, and ultimately a mar- keting plan. • must be consistent with the organization’s mission and the corporate or business-unit strategy. • must be coordinated with all functional business areas to ensure that the organi- zation’s goals and objectives will be considered in the development of each func- tional plan, one of which is the marketing plan. • establishes marketing-level goals and objectives that support the organization’s mission, goals, and objectives. • develops a marketing strategy, which includes selecting and analyzing target markets and creating and maintaining an appropriate marketing program to sat- isfy the needs of customers in those target markets. • ultimately results in a strategic market plan that outlines the activities and resources required to fulfill the organization’s mission and achieve its goals and objectives. The organizational mission: • answers the broad question “What business are we in?” • identifies what the firm stands for and its basic operating philosophy by answer- ing five basic questions: 1. Who are we? 2. Who are our customers? 3. What is our operating philosophy (basic beliefs, values, ethics, etc.)? 4.
- Bonita M. Kolb(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
components , product, price, distribution, and promotion, to fulfill both the mission of the organization and the needs of the customer.- The process of writing a marketing plan will force the organization to answer difficult questions. An organization may have many ideas for future action, but as resources are limited, the plan will force the organization to make choices. Goals, objectives, and tactics that provide a roadmap of how to achieve these choices and how success can be measured will then be developed.
The relationship between strategic planning and marketing
New definitions for strategy and marketingThe world is much less static than in the past resulting in a new definition of strategy. Because consumers’ wants and needs constantly change as they access the continual stream of online information, the strategic planning process must be dynamic with constant revision as the plan is being implemented. As each action takes place, consumer feedback is assessed to see if changes must be made before the next step is taken.Strategy old definition : “Create unique and sustainable value by differentiating goods and services.”Strategy new definition : “Find unique, valuable, and sustainable ways of linking together a firm’s knowledge and skills with customers that will benefit from them.”How consumers use products has also changed. In the past, a company would provide instructions on product use and expect them to be followed. Now the consumer decides how to use the product and then shares this knowledge online with others. As a result, the company must provide information that suggests how the product can be used to meet the consumer’s needs but must still understand that each customer is unique and may use the product differently.
eBook - PDFMarketing Navigation
How to keep your marketing plan on course to implementation success
- Edmund Bradford, Steve Erickson, Malcolm McDonald(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Goodfellow Publishers(Publisher)
Marketing strategies are the means by which marketing objectives will be achieved and generally are concerned with the four Ps, as follows: Product: The general policies for product deletions, modifications, additions, design, branding, positioning, packaging, etc. Price : The general pricing policies to be followed by product groups in market segments. Place: The general policies for channels and customer service levels Promotion: The general policies for communicating with customers under the relevant headings, such as advertising, sales force, sales promotion, public relations, exhibitions, direct mail, etc. Steps 7–8: Estimate expected results and identify alternative plans and mixes Having completed this major planning task, it is normal at this stage to employ judgment, analogous experience, field tests, and so on, to test out the feasibility of the objectives and strategies in terms of market share, costs, profits, and so on. It is also normally at this stage that alternative plans and mixes are considered, if necessary. Step 9: The budget In a strategic marketing plan, these strategies would normally be costed out approximately and, if not practicable, alternative strategies would be proposed and costed out until a satisfactory solution could be reached. This would then become the budget. In most cases, there would be a 65 3 The essential elements of a successful marketing plan budget for the full three years of the strategic marketing plan, but there would also be a very detailed budget for the first year of the plan which would be included in the one-year operational plan. It will be obvious from all of this that the setting of budgets becomes not only much easier, but the resulting budgets are more likely to be realistic and related to what the whole company wants to achieve, rather than just one functional department.
- Ronald A. Nykiel(Author)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Changes in preferences and needs of a particular market segment 5. Pricing 6. Adverse trends or yields in marketing expenditures The Strategic Marketing Planning Process 287 Opportunities and Alternatives 1. What are the major weaknesses of your competitors that you would exploit more fully? 2. What unsatisfied needs have been identified in your present market segments? Is it possi- ble to provide a service or product that will satisfy these needs? 3. What market segments peripheral to your current marketing thrust offer opportunities for you to broaden your market? THE STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAN The following list provides an overview of the total marketing plan: • Analysis of research and information • Objectives • Marketing program • Marketing appropriations (the marketing budget) • Sales goals • Action programs • Communication of assigned responsibilities • Monitoring of action program Now that you have examined the first part of the total marketing plan structure (your business review), asked the right questions, and obtained factual answers, you can start the actual strate- gic marketing plan. In the strategic marketing plan, you analyze what you have learned about your business and translate it into action programs. By combining all of your research into one document, you force yourself to see • how (and whether) everything you are doing actually fits together; • whether it is logical and sound; • whether, in total, it is possible to accomplish with the manpower and money available. You also clearly establish guidelines for handling day-to-day matters in a manner consistent with your longer-range objectives. Objectives What are the overall objectives of your marketing program? These objectives should be deter- mined on the basis of your research and information analysis.
- Bonita Kolb, Bonita M. Kolb(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
when each task must be completed by implementing a timeline of goals and accountability.Steps in the marketing strategic planning process
- Where: Assessing the current state of the organization.
- What: Determining goals that must be completed.
- How: Developing the objectives and finding the resources needed to complete.
- Who: Assigning responsibility for completing objectives.
- When: Creating an implementation timeline.
THINK-ACT-PLAN: IntroductionThink: Think about what you want to achieve in your life. Is it to be happy? Is it to make money? Is it to change the community or the world? Which goal has priority? How will it be achieved?Act: Find a creative or cultural organization online or visit an organization with which you are familiar. Describe any evidence of marketing that you see or ask someone at the organization how marketing is used.Plan: Write a short one-paragraph introduction to a marketing plan that explains why it is being written. Be prepared to read the introduction aloud during the next class.COMPONENTS OF MARKETING
Not everyone should receive the same messageCustomizing a marketing message is easier if you know the customer. You can use demographic facts such as age and gender to customize a message or you can base the message on their interest and lifestyles. The problem with online shoppers: they are just a click on your website. Because you know less about them it can be challenging to create a message that will motivate them to the action you desire. Because you can track their online shopping behavior you can use this information to develop and send a unique message.
eBook - PDF- O. C. Ferrell, Michael Hartline, O. C. Ferrell, Michael Hartline, Bryan Hochstein(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
Chapter 2: Strategic Marketing Planning 43 day do little to help the organization meet its goals. Good marketing plans are those that are realistic and doable given the organization’s resources. ● ● Update regularly. Once the marketing plan has been developed and implemented, it should be updated regularly with the collection of new data and information. Many organizations update their marketing plans on a quarterly basis to ensure that the marketing strategy remains consistent with changes in the internal, customer, and external environments. Under this approach, you will always have a working plan that covers 12 months into the future. In some cases, especially when technology and competition are changing rapidly, the marketing plan may need to be updated as regularly as every month to address change and adapt plans accordingly. In all cases, the marketing plan should be looked at as a living document that provides a roadmap that sometimes requires detours to achieve overall goals. ● ● Communicate to others. One critical aspect of the marketing plan is its ability to communicate to colleagues, particularly top managers who look to the marketing plan for an explanation of the marketing strategy, as well as for a justification of needed resources, like the marketing budget. 13 The marketing plan also communicates to line managers and other employees by giving them points of reference to chart the progress of marketing implementation. A survey of marketing executives on the importance of the marketing plan revealed that “. . . the process of preparing the plan is more important than the document itself . . . . A marketing plan does compel attention, though. It makes the marketing team concentrate on the market, on the company’s objectives, and on the strategies and tactics appropriate to those objectives.
eBook - ePub- Marilyn Stone, Marilyn A Stone(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
The corporate marketing plan will be a subset of the main plan focusing on providing the long-term direction of the organization regarding the markets and needs that will be served and will set goals for the SBUs. Managers within each SBU will devise more specific marketing objectives and programmes in the light of this plan. A schematic map of the planning process is shown in Figure 2.6 Table 2.2 Marketing strategy process: problem-solving process Figure 2.6 The marketing planning process Figure 2.7 SWOT: creating a fit between organization and environment MARKETING AUDIT: EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ANALYSES The marketing audit involves a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the business marketing environment. Why begin with the environment? If a systems approach is used as a starting point, it is possible to view the organization as an organism which must adapt to changing environmental conditions or die. Organizations are engaged in a battle for survival, which has a dual imperative to meet the needs of customers (Hooley and Lynch, 1985: Kohli and Jaworski 1990: 6; Narver and Slater 1990) and to fend off the competition. The logic is simple. How otherwise could a firm know where it wants to be and compute how it wants to get there if it does not know where it is now and how it got there? Taking the perspective of the organization, if it is to survive in the long run, managers must continually scan the environment to obtain early warning of opportunities that can be taken advantage of, as well as of potential threats to survival. The process of matching is summed up in the simple acronym Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Managers seek to identify the most relevant opportunities and threats that are present in the external environment and to match these with perceived internal strengths and weaknesses
eBook - PDFStanding Room Only
Marketing Insights for Engaging Performing Arts Audiences
- J. Bernstein(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
Another factor in efficient decision-making is seeking advice from a colleague or consultants with broad experience in and knowledge of the field. Seeking advice from members of the executive board fosters a climate of trust and dem- onstrates discretion. The Marketing Plan Once strategies are formulated, the next task is to plan marketing programs. This process consists of making basic decisions on marketing expenditures, marketing mix, and marketing allocation. It requires effectively combining the organization’s resources to produce annual plans and budgets that work toward achieving the organization’s overall goals. For the marketing manager, it also requires a deep understanding of how best to meet the target market’s needs and preferences. A structured marketing plan serves several important purposes. First, when a plan is written down, inconsistencies, unknowns, gaps, and implausibili- ties can be readily identified and dealt with. Second, it provides an anchor— stability in the midst of change. It is a basis on which to measure progress and to incorporate change as the market and the organization’s own goals change. Third, it helps focus management on the organization’s annual goals, changing market conditions, and key marketing issues. This is a crucial factor since a common complaint among marketing professionals is that their focus on day- to-day affairs causes them to lose sight of the big picture. Fourth, it leads to an implementation timetable that ascertains that tasks and goals are completed by certain dates. 13 Formulating Marketing Plans Marketing plans may take on different formats depending on managers’ needs, but each plan should focus on identifying key issues, mobilizing resources, and measuring results. The marketing plan will approach each aspect of the mar- keting mix (product, price, promotion, and place) in a way that will position the offering effectively for the target market.
eBook - PDFMarketing for the Nonmarketing Executive
An Integrated Resource Management Guide for the 21st Century
- Norton Paley(Author)
- 2000(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
Table 9.2 summarizes the methods discussed. TO SUM UP As a nonmarketing executive, you may not be immersed in all the intensive aspects of writing the SMP. However, it is presented here in detail so that you can see how the various sections of the SMP impact virtually every function of the business. In whatever role you may have in managing a company, division, or product line, you will now be able to assess the quality and breadth of the SMP that may be submitted to you for approval — or advice. BEST PRACTICES Use the following checklist to zero in on viable prospects for growth. Once identified and prioritized, you can monitor the progress of your Strategic Marketing Plan based on long- and short-term marketing objectives, strategies, and tactics. Present markets — To identify the best opportunities for expanding present markets: • Look for feasible approaches to increase product usage among your cur-rent customers. • Redefine market segments where there are changes in customers’ buying patterns, which will further result in greater product usage. The Strategic Marketing Plan 209 • Work jointly with customers on innovative ideas to reformulate or repack-age the product or service according to their specific needs. • Identify new uses (applications) for your product. • Reposition the product to create a more favorable perception over rival products. • Investigate where to expand into new or unserved market niches. • Give maximum attention to every conceivable opportunity to displace com-petition; this is a particularly significant action in flat, no-growth markets. Customers — To identify the best opportunities for expanding your customer base: • Improve or expand communications everywhere in your distribution chan-nel, as well as with those connected within your supply chain. • Enrich your market communications, including the Internet, advertising, sales promotion, and publicity. • Deploy the sales force to target new customers with high potential.
eBook - PDF- Ian Chaston(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Red Globe Press(Publisher)
Managers are few in number and work in an informal, flexible structure with regular access to the board. A small group of marketing managers ensure effective utilization and integra- Marketing planning 103 tion of components within the marketing mix. However, these activities are of a tactical nature and Robins could find no evidence of a longer term strategic orientation within the organization. In his view, the informality that is productive in generating cohesion and a rapid response to changing market conditions appears to limit strategic thinking inside the company. There is no explicit company mission statement and no formal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) or gap analysis is ever undertaken. Minimal time is devoted to the longer term development of the company, the marketing team undertakes no formal Strategic Marketing Planning, nor does it seek to determine how the product port-folio could be enhanced through new product development. Robins concluded that the company merely sees marketing planning as a short-term tactical activity and does not appreciate that formalized longer term planning could improve performance or lead to entry into new areas of market opportunity. The company does utilize data to assess current promotional, price and service quality decisions. This suggests that there is a basic understanding of the marketing process, but a failure by the owner-manager to ensure that this knowledge can be evolved into a forward-looking strategic process. Learning and planning Organizational learning is a discipline that focuses on the concept that firms can enhance performance by combining new knowledge with existing experience as the basis for evolving new solutions to business problems (Chaston, 2000). Learning as a role in the planning process within the SME sector was noted by Castrogiovanni (1996).
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