Transcript MArketing Plan - s3.amazonaws.com

Creating a Unified
Marketing Platform
Nathan George, M.S., J.D.
Based on a Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lance Jones
The Marketing Plan
• Central instrument for directing
and coordinating the
marketing effort
• How do you coordinate your
marketing efforts?
– Plan ahead?
– Shoot from the hip?
The Marketing Plan
• Marketing planning procedures
and content vary considerably
among companies
• Vary in length from under 5 pages
to 50 pages
• Some organizations take it very
seriously while others see them as a
rough guide to action
The Marketing Plan
• Marketing must be approached as
both an “art” and a “science” –
constant tension between the
formulated side of marketing and
the creative side
• Operates at a strategic level and a
tactical level
• Sometimes referred to as a
“Battle Plan”
Preparing for Battle
“In preparing for battle, I have
always found that plans are
useless but planning is
indispensable.”
- President Dwight Eisenhower
Preparing for Battle
• The most frequently cited
shortcomings of current marketing
plans, according to marketing
executives are:
– Lack of Realism
– Insufficient Competitive Analysis
– Short-run focus
Contents of a
Marketing Plan
Contents of your Battle Plan
• Executive Summary & Table of
Contents
oOpen with a brief summary of
the main goals and
recommendations
oExecutive summary helps senior
management to understand
major points fast
oTable of contents that outlines
the rest of the plan and all the
supporting rationale and
operational detail should follow
the executive summary
Contents of your Battle Plan
• Situational Analysis
o Presents relevant background data
on sales, costs, the market,
competitors, and the various forces
in the macro-environment
o How is the market defined, how big
is it, and how fast is it growing?
What are the relevant trends
affecting the market? What is the
product offering and what are the
critical issues facing the company?
o Pertinent historical information can
be included to provide context
o Carry out a SWOT (strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
analysis
Contents of your Battle Plan
• Marketing Strategy
o Here the product manager defines the
mission, marketing and financial
objectives. They also define groups and
needs that the product intends to satisfy.
o The manager then establishes the
product’s competitive positioning, which
is the “game plan” to do the plan’s
objectives. This is done with inputs from
other areas, like purchasing, sales,
manufacturing, finance and human
resources, so that the firm can provide
proper support for implementation.
o The marketing strategy should be specific
about the branding strategy and
customer strategy that will be employed.
Contents of your Battle Plan
• Financial Projections
o Financial projections include a sales
forecast, an expense forecast, and a
break-even analysis.
o On the revenue side, the projections
show the forecasted sales volume by
month and product category.
o On the expense side, the projections
show the expected costs of
marketing, broken down into finer
categories.
o The break-even analysis shows how
many units must be sold monthly to
offset the monthly fixed costs and
average per-unit variable costs.
Contents of your Battle Plan
• Implementation Controls
oTells how to monitor and adjust
the plan as it is implemented
oInternal and external measures
that assess progress and
suggest possible changes
oSome organizations include
contingency plans – outlining
steps management would take
in response to specific
environmental developments
Contents of your Battle Plan
See handout for a complete
Marketing Plan Outline with
notes as well as a Sample
Marketing Plan.
Barriers to Marketing
Source: Robert A. Sevier
Thinking Outside the Box
Barriers to Marketing
• Lack of Motivation to Change
– If stakeholders do not feel
the need to respond to
threats or emerging
opportunities, it is unlikely
that there will be enough
consensus for marketing.
Barriers to Marketing
• No Management
Commitment
– If the president does not support
marketing vocally and
demonstrate this support with
adequate staffing and budgets,
it will fail.
Barriers to Marketing
• Belief that Strategic Problems
Can be Solved Tactically
– All the promotion in the
world won’t save a flawed
or outdated management
or operations style.
Barriers to Marketing
• Failure of Managers from
Different Departments to Work
Together
– If the chief financial officer,
marketing, human resources,
and front line managers are not
willing to share goals and
resources, then the marketing
effort will be seriously impaired.
Barriers to Marketing
• Reluctance to See the
Situation Realistically
– Marketing decisions must be
founded on reliable information.
A legitimate environmental
audit, assessment of needs,
being a “learning organization,”
and perception and positioning
studies must be undertaken.
Barriers to Marketing
• An Inconsistent Definition of
Marketing Among Key Players
– From the outset, planners
and the company staff must
use a common definition of
marketing. This can and
should be defined by
executive management.
Barriers to Marketing
• A Confusion Between
Stakeholders and Customers
– Stakeholders – staff,
administrators, shareholders and
others – are people who work for
and/or support the company.
– Customers are the people who
pay the bills.
– Keep them both happy – not just
one.
Evaluating the Plan
Source: Tim Berry and Doug Wilson
On Target: The Book on Marketing Plans
Evaluating the Marketing Plan
• Questions to ask:
– Is the plan simple?
•Is it easy to understand
and act on?
•Does it communicate its
content easily and
practically?
Evaluating the Marketing Plan
• Questions to ask:
– Is the plan specific?
•Are its objectives concrete
and measurable?
•Does it include specific
actions and activities, each
with specific dates of
completion, specific persons
responsible, and specific
budgets?
Evaluating the Marketing Plan
• Questions to ask:
– Is the plan realistic?
•Are the goals, expense
budgets, and milestone dates
realistic?
•Has a frank and honest selfcritique been conducted to
raise possible concerns and
objectives?
Evaluating the Marketing Plan
• Questions to ask:
– Is the plan complete?
•Does it include all the
necessary elements?
Tips & Helpful Hints
Tips and Helpful Hints
• Keep in mind the aspects of
holistic marketing:
–
–
–
–
Relationship Marketing
Integrated Marketing
Internal Marketing
Social Responsibility Marketing
Tips and Helpful Hints
• Once it’s written, don’t set it
on the shelf to collect dust:
– Keep it in action – re-evaluate
the plan every 1-2 months.
– Make appropriate adjustments.
– Learn from trial and error.
Tips and Helpful Hints
• Adjustments to the plan can be
due to new PR strategies, crisis
management, big events and
changes, and more.
Conclusion
“It pays to plan ahead.
It wasn’t raining when
Noah built the arc.”
- Denis Waitley
Sources
• Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller:
Marketing Management, 12th edition
• Tim Berry and Doug Wilson:
On Target: The Book on Marketing Plans
• Robert A. Sevier:
Thinking Outside the Box