Marketing Plan

MARKETING MANAGEMENT
WELCOME
TO
THE CLASS
OF
MARKETING PLAN
BY
DARA RAJENDRABABU
LEARNING OUTCOMES
MARKETING PLAN
A marketing plan contains an executive summary, statement of the current
marketing situation, analysis of the opportunities and issues, objectives of
the firm, marketing strategy to be pursued, action programs to be taken,
projected Profit-and-loss statement, and the control measures to be taken.
WHAT IS MARKETING PLANNING?
Marketing planning refers to developing marketing strategies that will help
the company accomplish its overall strategic objectives. A detailed
marketing plan is required for each business, product, or brand.
One of the most important marketing process outputs is the marketing plan,
and each business unit must develop a marketing plan. The development
of such a plan is necessary for the achievement of goals.
WHAT IS MARKETING PLANNING?
 Marketing planning is selecting a marketing strategy and the tactics to
implement it to reach a defined set of goals. It focuses on the shorter
term, often one year.
 In addition, it tends to detail line-by-line expense budgets and tactical
approaches.
 Marketing planning;
• involves an assessment of where the company stands in the marketplace;
• is a determination of where the company wants to be in the future;
• the creation of marketing actions designed to achieve that future desired
position; and
• a provision of determining how the effectiveness of those actions will be
evaluated at the end of the operating period.
CONTENTS OF A MARKETING PLAN
 The various sections and purposes thereof of an ideal product or brand plan are shown in the
following table:
Section Purpose
Presents a brief overview of the proposed

Executive summary
plan for quick management review
Presents relevant background data on the

Current marketing situation market, product, competition, and
distribution
Identifies the main threats and

Threats and opportunity analysis opportunities that might impact the
product
Defines the company’s objectives for the
product in sales, market share, and profit,
Objectives and issues
and the issues that will affect these
objectives.
Presents the broad marketing approach that

Marketing strategy
will be used to achieve the plan’s objectives.
Specifies what will be done, who will do it,

Action programs
when it is done, and how much it will cost.
Indicates how the progress of the plan will be

Controls
monitored.
A projected profit and loss statement that

Budgets forecasts the expected financial outcomes from
the plan.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 The executive summary is the opening section of the marketing plan. It
presents a summary of the main goals and recommendations to be
presented in the plan.
 The executive summary helps top management to locate the plan’s major
points quickly. A table of contents should follow the executive summary.
CURRENT MARKETING SITUATION
 The current marketing situation is the first major section of the plan. It describes the target
market and the company’s position therein.
 This section contains information about the market, product performance, competition, and
distribution. It contains a market description that defines the market, including major
market segments.
 The market planner estimates market size as a whole and segments for the few preceding
years and then reviews customer needs and factors in the marketing environment that may
influence customer purchasing.
 Then comes product review, which shows sales, price, and gross margins of the product
line’s major products.
 A subsection on competition identifies major competitors and evaluates their strategies for
product quality, pricing, distribution, and promotion. It also shows the companies and each
of its competitors’ present market share.
 Finally, a subsection on distribution describes recent sales trends and changes in the major
channels of distribution.
THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES
 In this section, the planner lists as many threats and opportunities as
anticipated that the product might face. This section enables the manager
to anticipate important developments that might affect the company.
 An increase in the number of competitors and the introduction of new
products are examples of threats. In contrast, the improvement of
economic conditions and product innovation are examples of
opportunities that have important implications for a marketer.
 Threats and opportunities should be carefully analyzed from the
company’s standpoint so that the managers might develop proper
strategies to counter these threats and exploit these opportunities.
OBJECTIVES AND ISSUES
 Analysis of threats and opportunities leads the marketer towards setting
objectives and consider issues that will affect them. The objectives should
be stated in terms of goals the company would like to attain during the
plan’s period.
 For example, a company’s goal may be ”to increase market share by 10
percent during the next year.”
 This raises an important issue. How can market share be increased? The
marketer should consider the major issues regarding increasing market
share.
MARKETING STRATEGIES
 In this section of the marketing plan, the manager outlines the broad marketing strategy
or ”game plan” for attaining the objectives. Marketing strategy is the marketing logic
by which the business unit hopes to achieve its marketing objectives.
 It consists of specific strategies for target markets, positioning, the marketing mix, and
marketing expenditure levels. The marketing strategy should detail the market segments
on which the company will focus.
 These segments differ in their needs and want, responses to marketing, and profitability.
 The company would be smart to put its effort and energy into those market segments; it
can best-serve from a competitive perspective and then develop a marketing strategy
for each targeted segment.
 The manager should also outline specific marketing mix elements such as new
products, field sales, advertising, sales promotion, prices, and distribution.
 The manager should explain how each strategy responds to the threats, opportunities,
and critical issues spelled out earlier in the plan.
ACTION PROGRAMS
 Marketing strategies should be translated into specific action programs that will indicate what
to do and when and by whom it will be done and its cost. The action plan indicates when
activities will be started, reviewed, and completed.
 Budgets
 Action plans allow the manager to make a supporting marketing budget that is essentially a
projected profit-and-loss statement. It shows the forecasted number of units that would be
sold and the average net price for revenues.
 On the expense side, it shows the cost of production, physical distribution, and marketing.
The difference is the projected profit. Top management will review the budget and either
approve or modify it.
 Once approved, the budget is based on materials buying, production scheduling, personnel
planning, and marketing operations.
 Budgeting can be very difficult, and budgeting methods range from simple ”rules of thumb”
to complex computer models.
CONTROLS
 Control is the last section of the marketing plan. It outlines the control
methods that will be used to monitor development. Goals and budgets are
set for a specific time period.
 This allows the management to review the results each period and identify
businesses or products that are not meeting their goals.
 Persons responsible for managing these businesses and products have to
explain these problems and the corrective measures.

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MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Presents a brief overview of the proposed

Presents relevant background data on the

Identifies the main threats and

Presents the broad marketing approach that

Specifies what will be done, who will do it,

Indicates how the progress of the plan will be

A projected profit and loss statement that

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