Page 79 - Foundations of Marketing

46 Part 1 | Strategic Marketing and Its Environment

A single marketing plan can be developed and applied to the business as a whole, but it
is more likely that a company will choose to develop multiple marketing plans, with each
relating to a specific brand or product. Multiple marketing plans are part of a larger strategic
business plan and are used to implement specific parts of the overall strategy.
Organizations use many different formats when producing a marketing plan. They may be
written for strategic business units, product lines, individual products or brands, or specific
markets. The key is to make sure that the marketing plan aligns with corporate and business-
unit strategies and is accessible to and shared with all key employees. A marketing plan repre-
sents a critical element of a company’s overall strategy development, and it should reflect the
company’s culture and be representative of all functional specialists in the firm.
Marketing planning and implementation are closely linked in successful companies. The
marketing plan provides a framework to stimulate thinking and provide strategic direction.
Implementation is an adaptive response to day-to-day issues, opportunities, and unanticipated
situations—for example, an economic slowdown that dampens sales—that cannot be incorpo-
rated into marketing plans.
Table 2.1 describes the major elements of a typical marketing plan. Each component
builds on the last. The first component is the executive summary, which provides an overview
of the entire plan so that readers can quickly identify the key issues and their roles in the
planning and implementation processes. The executive summary includes an introduction, an
explanation of the major aspects of the plan, and a statement about costs. The next component
of the marketing plan is the environmental analysis, which supplies information about the
company’s current situation with respect to the marketing environment, the target market,
and the firm’s current objectives and performance. The environmental analysis includes an

Table 2.1 Components of the Marketing Plan

Plan Component Component Summary Highlights
Executive One- to two-page synopsis of the 1. Stress key points
Summary entire marketing plan 2. Include one to three key points that make the company unique

Environmental Information about the company’s 1. Assess marketing environment factors
Analysis current situation with respect to the 2. Assess target market(s)
marketing environment
3. Assess current marketing objectives and performance
SWOT Analysis Assessment of the organization’s 1. Company strengths
strengths, weaknesses, opportuni- 2. Company weaknesses
ties, and threats
3. Opportunities in the environment and industry
4. Threats in the environment and industry

Marketing Specifi cation of the company’s 1. Qualitative measures of what is to be accomplished
Objectives marketing objectives 2. Quantitative measures of what is to be accomplished

Marketing Outline of how the company will 1. Target market(s)
Strategies achieve its objectives 2. Marketing mix

Marketing Outline of how the company will 1. Marketing organization
Implementation implement its marketing strategies 2. Activities and responsibilities
3. Implementation timetable
Performance Explanation of how the company 1. Performance standards
Evaluation will evaluate the performance of 2. Financial controls
the implemented plan
3. Monitoring procedures (audits)
© Cengage Learning

Copyright 2014 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.