The Marketing Plan
Because the high-tech business is highly volatile due to the breathtaking
evolution of technology, the number of competitors and their moves, and
market needs and attitudes, a marketing plan is very important for any mar
-
keting manager who wants to make a success of product management. A
marketing plan is a systematic process that involves evaluating marketing
opportunities and resources, determining marketing objectives, and devel-
oping a plan for implementation and control. The marketing plan outlines
the company’s strategy to create, satisfy, and keep customers [1].
The strategic marketing plan, for 3 years or more, translates how manag-
ers perceive their marketing advantage, what objectives they want to
achieve, their strategies to achieve them, the resources required, and the
expected results. The operational marketing plan is the detailed scheduling
and budgeting of the actions necessary for the achievement of the first year
of the strategic marketing plan. According to McDonald [2], the two princi
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pal benefits of a marketing plan are greater profitability (than nonplanning
companies over time) and improved productivity. These benefits stem from:
◗
Systematic identification of emerging opportunities and threats;
◗
Specification of sustainable competitive advantage;
◗
Improved communication between executives; Involvement of all lev
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els of management in the process;
◗
More appropriate allocation of scarce resources;
◗
Consistency of approach throughout the organization;
◗
More market-focused orientation throughout the organization.
The items that should appear in a strategic marketing plan are:
1.
Executive summary.
289
2.
Objectives:
◗
Company mission;
◗
Financial objectives;
◗
Marketing objectives.
3.
Marketing analysis:
◗
Markets/ products overview;
◗
Marketing macroenvironment trends;
◗
Competition situation;
◗
Distribution situation.
4.
SWOT analysis:
◗
Strength and weaknesses of current marketing strategies;
◗
Opportunities and threats;
◗
Issues to be addressed.
5.
Marketing strategies:
◗
Segments;
◗
Competitive advantage (by segment);
◗
Positioning (by segment);
◗
Major decisions about all the elements of the marketing mix;
◗
Cooperation needed with the other departments.
6.
Marketing action programs:
◗
Marketing mixes by segment: product, price, promotion, and place;
◗
Tasks and responsibilities.
7.
Budget.
8.
Controls and contingency plans.
The executive summary is a concise overview of the report for quick
management skimming. It includes overall strategies, main conclusions, and
key points of the marketing action programs. A table of contents must fol
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low the executive summary.
Objectives give perspective to the report. They refer to the organization’s
mission statement, including the definition of the business and the contri
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bution of the unit as well as its distinctive competence. The financial objec
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tives are those expected from the business unit: return on investment, net
profit, and cash flow.
Those financial objectives are translated into marketing objectives. A
marketing objective is a statement of what is to be accomplished through
marketing activities, in terms of gains in market share, sales volume, profit
-
ability per unit, degree of product introduction, and innovation. It must be
stated in a measurable form (“increase market share by 10%”) with a given
290
Appendix B
time frame (“within the next 15 months”) and internally consistent (“fol
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lowing the launching of our new product X”).
The marketing analysis is the foundation of the marketing programs. The
market/product overview helps the unfamiliar reader understand the mar
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keting plan. It provides the necessary background about the market seg
-
ments that are served as well as a brief summary of the past performance
and history of the products on each of those segments.
Marketing analysis also includes a description and an evaluation of the
major key macroenvironment trends, most specifically technological, eco
-
nomic, political, and legal. The competition situation introduces the major
competitors described in terms of their size, goals, products, marketing
strategies, and any other relevant characteristic. Initially, the distribution
situation presents facts and data on the products split by channel the chang
-
ing importance of each channel, in terms of volume and bargaining power
(that is, the prices and trade conditions that are necessary to motivate
them).
The SWOT analysis provides the rationale for the marketing strategy.
On one hand, it identifies the strengths and weaknesses of current market-
ing strategies; on the other hand, it reviews the opportunities and threats
of outside factors that can affect the future of the business. The results of
the SWOT analysis define the main issues to be addressed in the plan.
The marketing strategies section presents a broad overview of the plan. It
defines the targeted market segments and outlines the competitive advan-
tage of the product on these segments as well as its positioning. It intro-
duces strategic decisions about all the elements of the marketing mix, that
is, the product strategy, the pricing strategy, the communication strategy,
and the distribution strategy as well as the required needs of marketing
research. Finally, it mentions the main avenues of cooperation with the
other departments of the firm that are required to reach each of the targeted
segments.
The marketing action program details precisely all the elements of the
marketing mix and defines what is to be done, when, by whom, and how
much it will cost. It lists all the activities that are required to implement the
marketing plan and to achieve the marketing objectives. It is of key impor
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tance to check that all the tasks have been addressed and the responsibilities
for action clearly identified.
The action plan translates into a supporting budget that looks like a
profit-and-loss projected statement. On the revenue side are the forecasted
sales volumes in unit and the average price; entries on the expense side
include the cost of production, the cost of physical distribution, and all the
costs of marketing: product development, advertising, distribution channel
training and development, sales force training and compensation, and mar
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keting research.
Finally, the controls section details the manner in which the perform
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ance of the plan will be measured, as well as the schedule by which to moni
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tor its progress by comparing results versus objectives. More specifically for
Appendix B
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the field of high-tech products, where the environment and markets change
at breakneck speed, contingency plans that are designed for implementation
in case of some specific adverse event, like a delay in new product launching
because of technical problems or the earliest entry on the market of a new
competitor, may be outlined.
References
[1] Bangs, D. H., Jr.,
The Market Planning Guide: Creating a Plan to Successfully Market
Your Business, Product, or Service
, 6th ed., Chicago, IL: Dearborn Trade Publishing,
2002.
[2] McDonald, M. H. B.,
Marketing Plans
, Oxford, England: Butterworth- Heinemann
Limited, 1989
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