The Marketing Plan

Hisrich
Peters
Shepherd
Chapter 8
The Marketing Plan
Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin

8-2
Understanding the Marketing Plan
 Marketing plan - A written document stating
marketing objectives, strategies, and activities to be
followed in a business plan.
 It is designed to provide answers to three basic
questions:-
 Where have we been?: this segment focusing on some history of
the marketplace, market opportunities and threats (external). And
strengths and weaknesses of the firm (internal).
 Where do we want to go (in the short term)?: this segment
addresses the marketing objective and primarily goals of the new
venture in the next 12 months.
 How do we get there?: this segment discusses the specific
marketing strategy that will be implemented, when it will occur,
and who will be responsible for the monitoring activities.

8-3
Characteristics of a Marketing Plan
 A marketing plan should be designed in a way to
meet following criteria's:-
 Provide a strategy to meet company mission or goal.
 Be based on proper facts (marketing research) and valid
assumptions (considering available resources such as finance,
equipment, human resource, technology etc).
 Describe an appropriate organization of the plan for
implementation of marketing activities.
 Provide for continuity means short-term goals should be align to
achieve long tem marketing objectives.
 Be simple and short but the plan should not be so short that details
on how to accomplish a goal is excluded.
 Be flexible, means if scenarios changes then plan should have the
enough flexibility to incorporate counter strategies.
 Specify organisation performance criteria that could be monitored
for control purpose such as 10% market share, 50% growth in
sales etc.

8-4
Marketing Research for the New
Venture
 Before making a Marketing plan need to do
some marketing research for the new
business venture which involves four steps
process (for detail see next slides):-
1.Defining the Purpose or Objectives
2.Gathering Data from Secondary Sources
3.Gathering Information from Primary
Sources
4.Analyzing and Interpreting the Results

8-5
Venture (cont.)
 Step One: Defining the Purpose or
Objectives
 Make a list of the information that will be
needed to prepare the marketing plan.
 Generally objectives are set to determine the
following:-
 How much potential customers would be willing to pay
for the product or service?
 Where potential customers would prefer to purchase
the product or service?
 Where the customer would expect to hear about or
learn about such a product or service?

8-6
Venture (cont.)
 Step Two: Gathering Data from Secondary
Sources (data that already exists)
 Secondary sources can include trade magazines,
newspaper articles, libraries, government
agencies, the internet, universities and
commercial data.
 Considering Pakistan’s context information
regarding business sectors could be availed from
SMEDA, Chamber of commerce, SECP, and
SBP’s etc website.

8-7
 Step Three: Gathering Information from
Primary Sources (information that is new)
 Data collection procedures are following:-
 Observation: observe potential customers and record
some aspect of their buying behavior.
 Networking: informal method to gather data from
experts in the field.
 Interviewing: formal method of collecting data in
person, by telephone, or through mail or e-mail.
 Focus groups: a group of 10-12 people invited to
participate in a discussion related to research objective.
 Experimentation: in a laboratory setting observing a
certain phenomenon by controlling specific variables in
the research process.
Venture (cont.)

8-8
A Comparison of Survey Methods

8-9
 Step Four: Analyzing and Interpreting the
Results
 Results can be tabulated by hand or on a
computer.
 Evaluation and interpretation should be based
on research objectives.
 Cross-tabulated data can provide more focused
results.
Venture (cont.)

8-10
 The marketing system identifies the major
interacting components, both internal and
external to the firm, that enable the firm to
successfully provide products/services to
meet customer needs in the chosen market
place (see next figure)
The Marketing System

8-11
The Marketing System (Cont.)

8-12
External environment
• External environment covers the macroenvironment, and the
microenvironment aspects.

8-13
External environment (cont.)
•The macroenvironment consists of broad environmental issues that may
impinge on the business. These include the economy, social/cultural issues,
technological changes, political/legal factors (PEST or STEP).
1.Economic forces: economic growth and unemployment, interest and
exchange rates, the growth of economic areas
2.Social/cultural forces: demographic forces, brought up culture , religious
forces, corporate social responsibilities and marketing ethics.
3.Technological forces: current technology, upcoming technology.
4.Political/legal forces: monopolies and mergers, codes of practices,
restrictive practices.
5.Physical forces (consumer movement to safeguard consumer rights): use of
environmental friendly ingredients, recyclable and non-wasteful packaging,
protection of the ozone layer, animal testing of new products, energy
conservation etc

8-14
•The microenvironment demands for analysing the market and competitors
to identify the potential threats and opportunities
•The market consists of statistical analysis of market (size, growth rates and
trends), customer analysis (who they are , what choice/criteria they use) and
distributors analysis (covering channel attractiveness studies, and influence
within distributors) and suppliers analysis.
•The competitor analysis examines the nature of actual and potential
competitors and their objectives and strategies, their strengths and
weaknesses, market share, size, and profitability considering industry.
Recommended analysis is Porters ‘five forces’.

8-15
Porters ‘five forces’.

8-16
Internal environment
•In addition to external environmental factors, there are internal
environmental factors that are controllable to entrepreneur and are critical
for making marketing plan and its implementation while assuming
marketing strategy.
•Financial resources: availability of financial resources or funds to meet
the goals and objectives.
•Suppliers: who will be the supplier, suppliers terms and conditions,
pricing etc.
•Goals and objectives: goals and objectives of the business should be
defined considering mission statement (… a broadly defined, enduring
(continuity or long lasting) statement of purpose that distinguishes a business
from others of its type).
•Management team: availability of expertise in terms of personnel and
their job delegation to meet organisation’s objectives .

8-17
The Marketing Mix
 A combination of product, price, promotion,
and distribution and other marketing activities
needed to meet marketing objectives.
Variable Critical Decisions
Product
Quality of components or materials, style, features, options, brand name,
packaging, sizes, service availability, and warranties.
Price
Quality image, list price, quantity, discounts, allowances for quick
payment, credit terms, and payment period.
Channels of
distribution
Use of wholesalers and/or retailers, type of wholesalers or retailers, how
many, length of channel, geographic coverage, inventory, and
transportation.
Promotion
Media alternatives, message, media budget, role of personal selling, sales
promotion (displays, coupons, etc.), and media interest in publicity.

8-18
Steps in Preparing the Marketing
Plan

8-19
Plan
 Defining the Business Situation
 Situation analysis - Describes past and present
business achievements of new venture.
 In case of a new start-up; information should
relate to how and why the product or service
was developed.
 After started up information should relate to:
 Present market conditions.
 Performance of the company’s goods and services.
 Future opportunities or prospects.

8-20
 Defining the Target Market/ Opportunities
and Threats
 The target market is specific group of potential
customers toward which the venture aims its
marketing plan.
 Market segmentation - Dividing a market into
definable and measurable groups for purposes of
targeting marketing strategy.
Plan (cont.)

8-21
 Process of segmenting and targeting customers
 Decide on general market or industry to pursue.
 Divide market into smaller groups based on:
 Characteristics of the customer – Geographic,
demographic (include gender, age, ethnicity,
knowledge of languages), and psychographic (study of
personality, values, opinions, attitudes, interests, and
lifestyles).
 Buying situation – Desired benefits, usage, buying
conditions, and awareness of buying intention.
 Select segment or segments to target.
 Consider the strengths and weaknesses in the
target market.
Plan (cont.)

8-22
 Establishing Goals and Objectives
 These are statements of level of performance
desired by new venture.
 Realistic and specific marketing goals (SMART)
and objectives respond to the question: “Where
do we want to go?”.
 Not necessarily all goals are quantifiable.
 Limit the number of goals or objectives to
between six and eight (easy to pursue).
 Goals should represent key areas to ensure
marketing success.
Plan (cont.)

8-23
 Defining Marketing Strategy and Action Programs
(Develop a marketing plan integrating product, price,
distribution (placement), and promotion)
 Product/service
 May consider more than the physical characteristics.
 Involves packaging, brand name, price, warranty, image,
service, delivery time, features, style, and even the website
(IBM, DELL).
 Pricing
 Costs - Material costs, labor costs, cost of goods from
suppliers, labor and overhead expenses, etc.
 Margins or markups - Expected to cover overhead costs and
some profit.
 Competition.
Plan (cont.)

8-24
 Distribution
 Provides utility to the consumer (internet, retail stores,
home delivery, bulk purchase).
 Must also be consistent with other marketing mix
variables (e.g. sending expensive products through
registered mail services).
 Promotion
 To inform potential consumers about the product’s
availability or to educate the consumer.
 Methods include print, radio, or television advertising,
Internet, direct mail, trade magazines, or newspapers.
 The entrepreneur should consider costs and
effectiveness of the medium both in meeting the
market objectives.
Plan (cont.)

8-25
Major Considerations in Channel Selection (for
promotion and distribution)

8-26
 Marketing Strategy: Consumer versus
Business-to-Business Markets
 Business-to-business markets involves selling of
products or services to another business.
 Usually aims at selling a large volume in one
transaction.
 Involves a more direct channel of distribution.
 Use trade magazine advertising, direct sales, and trade
shows.
 Consumer markets involve sales to households
for personal consumption.
Plan (cont.)

8-27
 Budgeting and Implementation
 Budgeting
 Business operational and production costs should be
reasonably clear.
 Assumptions if necessary should be clearly stated.
 Useful in preparing the financial plan.
 Implementation
 The plan is meant to be a commitment by the
entrepreneur to a specific strategy.
 Entrepreneur should ensure coordination and
implementation of the plan.
Plan (cont.)

8-28
 Monitoring the Progress of Marketing
Actions
 Involves tracking results of the marketing effort.
 Entrepreneur should prepare for contingencies.
 Minor adjustments in the plan are normal;
significant changes indicate a poorly prepared
plan.
 Weaknesses in market planning may be due to:
 Poor analysis of the market and competitive strategy.
 Unrealistic goals and objectives.
 Poor implementation of the outlined plan actions.
 Unforeseen hazards like weather or war.
Plan (cont.)

The Marketing Plan

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