Page 93 - GLOBAL STRATEGIC MARKETING

marketing audit. The marketing audit provides information on markets,
customers, industries and competitors as well as internal information such

as financial position, sales figures, profit margins, return on investment,
physical assets, people assets and marketing assets to name a few. The
marketing audit can be summarised using a SWOT analysis; strengths

and weaknesses for internal issues and opportunities and threats for
external issues. This is what is known as a situation analysis to determine

‘where are we now’? If opportunities are identified, as in the case of Tesco,
who identified a gap in the market for an own-brand mobile phone, then
objectives can be formulated. Marketing objectives have to be consistent

with the overall strategy of the organisation and decisions that have been
made at corporate level and answer the question – ‘where do we want to

be’? In the case of Tesco, this was to extend its non-food side of its
business by attracting 2 million customers in 5 years for its mobile phones.

Strategic choice and strategy formulation (how do we get there?) is

concerned with making choices on the opportunities identified from the
marketing audit. For example, Tesco’s strategy is to provide a low priced,
value for money own-branded mobile phone targeted at the family

segment of the market. As a result, decisions are then made on the 7 P’s
(product, price, place, promotion, people, processes and physical

evidence) in order to position this new mobile phone in the market place.
Once these decisions are made, implementation and control of these
ideas is crucial to ensure arrival.

2.9 Marketing plans

The strategic marketing process should be the foundation for the written

down marketing plan (Table 2.1.). Both the strategic marketing process
(Figure 2.2.) and the marketing plan are very closely linked. The written-
down marketing plan takes into consideration corporate issues such as