MARKETING AUDIT

Introduction

The marketing audit can be viewed as an umbrella that covers efforts to assess customer needs and wants and to understand community patterns. The external environment is examined on both micro and macro levels, including scanning for developing trends. In addition to this analysis of the external environment, the marketing audit also analyzes the internal environment. The marketing audit has been defined by Phillip Kotler as a comprehensive, systematic, independent and periodic examination of activities and resources in order to determine problem areas and opportunities and to recommend a plan of action.

Characteristics of Marketing Audit

According to definition of Phillip Kotler, can be identified some characteristics of marketing audit. Comprehensive. The marketing audit covers all the major marketing issues facing an organization, and not only one or a few marketing trouble spots. The latter would be called a functional audit if it covered only the sales force, or pricing, or some other marketing activity. Systematic. The marketing audit involves an orderly sequence of diagnostic steps covering the organization's marketing environment, internal marketing system, and specific marketing activities. The diagnosis is followed by a corrective action plan involving both short-run and long-run proposals to improve the markets.
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Independent. The marketing audit is normally conducted by an inside or outside party who has sufficient independence from the marketing department to attain top management's confidence and the needed objectivity. Periodic. The marketing audit should normally be carried out periodically instead of only when there is a crisis. It promises benefits for the organization that is seemingly successful, as well as the one that is in deep trouble.

Advantages of Marketing Audit

The audit provides the marketers with an in depth view of the marketing activities that are going around in the concern. It brings out a complete picture of the entire operations of the concern. While revealing the various drawbacks the audit process also leads to efficiency. This process can also be used to lay down an improved marketing plan. A marketing audit can help a company refine its business practices and improve its productivity and profitability. Marketing audit helps to marketing executives, top management and investors to ensure that they are doing the right things to help drive growth for their organizations.
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COMPONENT OF THE MARKETING AUDIT 1. Environmental Audit a) Macro Environmental Audit b) Task Environmental Audit 2. Marketing Strategy Audit 3. Marketing Organization Audit 4. Marketing System Audit 5. Marketing Productivity Audit 6. Marketing Functions Audit
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Marketing Environment Audit

The auditor is firstly started their audit by looking at the factors that affect all companies operating in marketplace, and also looking at their customers and their profits. Under marketing environment audit, following two environments are concerned, because these are very important under the marketing audit. The macro-environment The task environment
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Macro-Environmental Audit

The Macro-environmental component examines six main areas, the detail depending on the involvement of the business and involvement required by the industry. Under marketing audit, the macro environment covers some environmental factors, likeDemographics major demographic developments and trends pose opportunities, Economical factors - developments in income, prices, savings and credit will affect the company under that, Environmental factors,
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Technological factors - changes occurring in product and process technology and company's position in these technologies. Political factors - changes in laws and regulations might affect marketing strategy and tactics and the changes in the areas of pollution control, equal employment opportunity, product safety, advertising, price control, that affects the marketing strategy of company. Cultural - public's attitude towards business and toward the company's products and changes in customer lifestyles and values might affect the company.
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Task-Environment Audit

How competitive is the marketplace? What are competitors doing, and are they doing it well? What might they be preparing to do? These are all vital to understand in preparing yourselves for the battle. The task environment audit is evaluated under Markets market size, growth, geographical distribution and profits and major market segments, under customers customers' needs and buying processes and also product quality, service, sales force and price, Competitors, Distribution & dealers, Suppliers, Facilitators & marketing firms and Publics.
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Marketing Strategy Audit

The marketing strategy audit is vital for company, and the marketing audit is make sure that the companys marketing strategy is fit with companys marketing goals and objectives as well as corporate goals and objectives. Under the marketing strategy audit, the auditor evaluate marketing performance by evaluating marketing goals and objectives, company mission the move to the strategy of organization. Under strategy evaluation, the auditor may concern following type of questions: Has the management articulated a clear marketing strategy for achieving its marketing objectives? Is the strategy convincing? Is the company using the best basis for market segmentation? Does the company have clear criteria for rating the segments? Has the company developed an effective positioning and marketing mix for each target segment?
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Marketing Organization Audit

The marketing organization audit is mainly considered effectiveness of the organization activities as well as efficiency of operation of company. Here all the activities and main management functions are considered such as manufacturing, purchasing, financing as well as research and development. Here the marketing auditor must make sure that the company is actually achieved the effectiveness within the organization and also within the marketplace. And also following types of questions are considered by marketing auditors: Are there good communications and working relations between marketing and sales? Is the product-management system working effectively? Are product managers able to plan profits or only sales volumes?
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Marketing Systems Audit

Here the marketing auditor is considered whether the company is using appropriate marketing systems to collect the information, plan the activities, control the operations and to maintain smoothly their day to day activities and whether these systems are properly worded within the company or not. Most of the organizations are today having different type of marketing systems to collect the information and control the operation. Such as marketing information systems, marketing planning systems, marketing control systems and new product development systems. These systems have its own functions. Here the marketing auditor task is to make sure whether the systems are properly worked or not.
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Marketing Productivity Audit

Most of the companies are operating to earn so much of profits. The marketing productivity audit is focused on evaluate the company profits and revenue. So the marketing productivity audit is very important to evaluate the marketing performance. The marketing auditor is used profitability analysis and cost effectiveness analysis for their evaluation process. Under the marketing productivity audit, following type question asked by marketing auditor: What is the profitability of the company's different products, markets, territories and channels of distribution? Should the company enter, expand, contract or withdraw from any business segments? Do any marketing activities seem to have excessive costs? Can cost-reducing steps be taken?
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Marketing Function Audit

Under the marketing function audit, the auditor is using marketing mix elements to analyze company functions such as product, price, place and promotion. Here marketing auditor evaluates marketing performance by asking questions under product, price, place and promotion such as What are the company's product-line objectives? Which products should be phased out? Which products should be added to? What are the company's pricing objectives, policies, strategies and procedures? To what extent are the prices set on cost, demand and competitive criteria? Do the customers see the company's prices as being in line with the value of its offer? What are the organization's advertising objectives? Is there adequate market coverage and service? Should the company consider changing its distribution channels? Is the right amount being spent on advertising? What do customers and the public think about the advertising?
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MARKETING AUDIT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Marketing audit is very important and crucial part in the marketing planning process. It is not only carried out at the beginning of the marketing planning process but also it can be implemented during the marketing planning process. The marketing audit can be influenced on marketing planning process through various external and internal factors. Here there are number of marketing audit tools and techniques that are used during the marketing planning process to evaluate the marketing performance of an organization. The following analysis tools are utilized during a marketing audit:
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SWOT Analysis The one of the most important tools in the marketing audit is

SWOT analysis or can be express as Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Treats analysis. This tool is very much important to marketers and is used at the beginning of the marketing audit process. Some of disadvantage of SWOT analysis are that it is very subjective and cannot be relied on too much. However, most of the companies are used this SWOT analysis as tools to evaluate the marketing performance of an organization. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. Opportunities and threats are external factors. The SWOT analysis can be express as below: Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors that create value or destroy value. They can include assets, skills, or resources that a company has at its disposal, compared to its competitors. They can be measured using internal assessments or external benchmarking.

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Some strengths of an organization are as follows: Your specialist marketing expertise A new, innovative product or service Location of your business Quality processes and procedures Any other aspect of your business that adds value to your product or service Some weaknesses of an organization are as follows: Lack of marketing expertise Undifferentiated products or services (i.e. in relation to competitors) Location of your business Poor quality goods or services Damaged reputation
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Opportunities and threats are external factors that create value or destroy value. A company cannot control them.

Some opportunities of an organization are as follows: A developing market such as the Internet Mergers, joint ventures or strategic alliances Moving into new market segments that offer improved profits A new international market A market vacated by an ineffective competitor Some threats of an organization are as follows: A new competitor in your home market. Price wars with competitors. A competitor has a new, innovative product or service. Competitors have superior access to channels of distribution. Taxation is introduced on your product or service.

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PEST Analysis

These environmental factors may be internal or external. The internal factors consist of the staff and queries related to them. The external would be the external customer and the various distributors and the political and economic factors are also taken into consideration. The PEST analysis tool is a valuable framework for identifying opportunities and threats in the macro (external) environment. This analysis tool is extremely important to any marketing audit, simple or complex; as it drives the company to investigate what factors may help or impede them to carry out business and marketing activities. The PEST analysis can be express as follows20

Political Factors

Political factors can have a direct impact on the way business operates. Decisions made by government affect the operations of units within the company to a varying degree. Political refers to the big and small p political forces and influences that may affect the performance of, or the options open to the unit concerned. The political factors have a huge influence upon the regulation of public and private sector businesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. Political factors include government regulations and legal issues and define both formal and informal rules.
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All businesses are affected by economical factors nationally and globally. Whether an economy is in a boom, recession or recovery will also affect consumer confidence and behavior. This will impact upon the nature of the competition faced by the company and particular units within the company, upon service provision, and upon the financial resources. Economic factors affect the purchasing power of potential customers, and the state of the internal/external economy in the short and long-term. The unit may need to consider: economic growth, interest rates, inflation rate and inflation rate. Social/Cultural Factors Social factors will include the demographic changes, trends in the way people live, work and think and cultural aspects of the macro environment. These factors affect customer needs and the size of potential markets such as population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes, internal/external emphasis on safety and internal/external attitudes to change. 22

Economic Factors

New approaches to doing new and old things and tackling new and old problems do not necessarily involve technical factors, however, technological factors are vital for competitive advantage, and are a major driver of change and efficiency. Technological; factors can for example lower barriers to entry, reduce minimum efficient production levels, and influence outsourcing decisions. New technology is changing the way business operates. The Internet is having a profound impact on the strategy of organizations. Technological revolution means a faster exchange of information beneficial for businesses as they can react quickly to changes within their operating environment. For examples automation, technology incentives, rate of technological change, perception of technological change within the unit and stakeholder expectation.
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Technological Factors

Five Force Analysis

In this analysis the marketer basically goes through five basic areas of concern. The areas can be identified into five areas as Threat of substitute products Threat of new entrants Rivalry among competitors, Bargaining power of customers and Bargaining power of suppliers. There are some advantages in this analysis; it leads to economics of large scale with the help of mass purchasing and sales performance of an organization.
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Threat of substitute products

The existence of close substitute products increases. The propensity of customers to switch to alternatives in response to price increases (high elasticity of demand) Buyer propensity (tendency, inclination) to substitute Relative price performance of substitute
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Threat of new entrants

Profitable markets that yield high returns will draw firms. This results in many new entrants which will effectively decrease profitability. Unless the entry of new firms can be blocked by incumbents, the profit rate will fall towards a competitive level (perfect competition) The existence of barriers to entry (perfect rights etc.) Economies of product differences Brand equity (Product= core value + perceived value)
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Rivalry among competitors

For most industries, this is the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry. Sometimes rivals compete aggressively and sometimes rivals compete in non-price dimensions such as innovation, marketing etc. No. of competitors Rate of industry growth Intermittent industry overcapacity
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The bargaining power of customers

The ability of customers to put the firm under pressure and it also affects the customers sensitivity to price changes Buyer concentration to firm concentration ratio Degree of dependency upon existing channels of distribution

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The bargaining power of suppliers

Suppliers of raw materials, components, labor and services (such as expertise) to the firm can be a source of power over the firm. Suppliers may refuse to work with the firm, or e.g., charge aggressively high prices for unique resources. Supplier switching costs relative to firm switching costs Degree of differentiation of inputs Presence of substitute inputs Supplier concentration to firm concentration ratio.
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