3.03 a Winning Plan

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It's Good to Have a Plan

What's a marketing plan? Th ere's a n ol d say ing th at goes somet hin g lik e t hi s: " He w ho fail s to plan, plans to fai l." In other words , success is hard to come by without putting in some thoughtful , careful planning . This truth is especially ev ident in the bus ine ss wor ld. Wh et her a b usi ne ss is ju st startin g up or has bee n estab - li shed for decades , it must have a marketing plan in place to succeed .

Madelyn just moved to the big city and has sta rt ed her own small cou rier bus iness. She has a small car and a bicycle and is ma ki ng hersel f available to deliver docu- ments and packages th roughout the city. Now , s he just needs to "get her name ou t there ."

A national pizza chai n has decided to intr oduce a new barbecue ch icken spe- cialty pizza . The company is currently successful in its ta rget market , but it really wa nt s to "push " th is new product in the coming year.

Bo th Madelyn and the pizza company need market ing plans to achieve their business goals. Marketing plans organize and prov ide focus for a firm 's marketing strateg ies , and they are essential tools for organizational success . Learn more about marketing p lans and the benefits they can A marketing plan is a set of procedures or strategies for attracting th e ta rge t customer to a bus iness. There a re th ree commo n r easo ns for prov ide for your business. wri ti ng a ma rketing p lan:

• First , the marketing plan may be included as part of the organi- za ti on's ov er all business plan.

• Second , the plan may be presented to upper management by the marketing team as a way to demonst rate and so lidify its goals and s tr ategi es for th e upc om ing yea r. A Explain the benefi ts assoc iate d wi th having a marketing plan. • Third , the marketing plan may outline the company 's intentions B Identify t he components o f a mark eting pl an . fo r introd ucing a new p roduc t, en teri ng a new ta rge t m arke t, or tryi ng a new ma rketi ng s tra tegy .

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• Here are a few other things to keep in m ind abo ut marketing plans:

• Marketing plans are important for businesses both big and small . A small business may have one simple marketing plan, while a major corporation may have hundreds of them -one for each individual product .

• A ma rketing pl an has a w ide aud ience. It may be read by ma rke tin g team me mb ers , empl oyees in depar tmen ts throug hout the co mpany , up pe r mana gement , board mem- be rs, potent ial inves tors, etc.

• Writin g a mark etin g pl an ca n inv olv e quite a bit of tim e, effort , a nd re search , but it 's worth it . Your busine ss a nd pr oduct have a much gre ater chance of success if you do the " leg work " fir st.

For your benefit You a lready know th at successf ul busi nesses w rite market ing p lans. But, how exac tl y do ma rketing p lans co ntrib ute to that success? Here are some speci fic benef its your o rga ni za ti on ca n r ece iv e th rough the process:

Understanding past marketing decisions and outcomes better. They say that history repeats itself . In business , sometimes you want it to , and sometimes you don 't! When a business creates detailed marketing plans, it allows itself the opportunity to look back and see which strategies worked well-and which didn 't. The marketing team can build on its knowledge of the past to create ideas and plans for the future and to avoid repeating mistakes unnecessarily .

Understanding target market(s) better. In business , the customer is king . No firm ach ieves success unless it satisfies its customers ' needs an d wa nts. To do this, the bus in ess m ust ha ve a deep understanding of its ta rget ma rket(s). Th e level of research and de tail re qu ired to w rite a marke ti ng p lan he lp s th e ma rketi ng team to know and u nde rstand i ts target marke t(s) as m uch as it possib ly can. Setting goals. Wri tin g a ma rketing plan forces the Company Goals marketing t ea m t o se t spec ifi c goa ls. Wh en goa ls are put in writing, th ey a re eas ier to remember , to s ti ck to, to m easur e, and t o ac hiev e.

Planning marketing strategies with more precision. On ce mark etin g goa ls have been set , marke tin g st rategi es m ust be des igned and imp lemented to ac hi eve t hose goa ls. Witho ut a marke ting plan , things can get c hao tic. One member of the team may p lan a tele vi sion advertising campa ign, while another sets sales promotions into action , and yet another sends out direct mail -without coordination , these marketing strategies can compete with each other and create confusion among customers. A marketing plan provides clear guidance on what strategies w ill be used and when .

Obtaining funding. A v ery impo rtan t be nefit of w riti ng a market ing p lan can be obta ining fundi ng for speci fic products or proj- ects . This funding mi ght co me fr om w ithi n th e c om pa ny or f ro m ou tside inv es tors. For exa mple, large co mpa ni es of ten h ave different marke ti ng tea ms for eac h of th ei r sp eci fi c prod ucts. The se tea ms mig ht h ave to "co mp ete" to ge t th e f und ing th ey wa nt o ut o f each yea rl y bu dget-and a we ll-wri tte n m arke ting plan can b e t he key to o btainin g i t. A small business, on th e o th er h and, mi ght need in ves tment d ollars to get off th e ground . A marketing plan , as part of an over all busines s pl an, is so methin g th at potential in ves tors will want to see before deciding whether or not to put money into the business.

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Providing direction for everyone in the organization. Marketing plans provide clear direction for everyone in the organization , both inside and outside the marketing team . All company departments are interrelated. Can you see why sales representatives , accounts \~\\)V$il (' 1 payable clerks , and shipping supervisors would all need to know what 's in the market ing l 13 << -TR o/J'0 1 plan? Wh en eve ryone in t he orga ni zat ion is "in the know, " it's eas ier to stay on track.

Tracking progress more effectively. It 's har d to gau ge marke tin g e ff ec ti veness when no spec ifi c objectives have been set . A well-wri tt en ma rket ing p lan allows a business to track its progress in a measurable way. Being ab le to demonstrate success can be essential for obtaining further funding or getting the "go ahead " to continue with certain products or marketing strategies .

Summary A ma rketing pla n is a se t of p roced ur es or s tr ateg ies for at tr acting the target customer to a business. Wr iting a marketing plan can have many benefits for a business , including un - derstanding past marketing decisions and outcomes better, understanding target market(s) better , setting goa ls, plan ni ng market ing strateg ies wit h more p recision , obtaining funding , providing dir ection for e veryone in the orga ni za tion, a nd tra ck in g progress more effective ly.

1. What is a marketing plan? 2. What a re the three common reasons for writ ing a ma rket ing E e- I(. plan ? T1tIEl "' 3. Who reads a marketing plan? V' J " 4. What are the benefits of writing a marketing plan?

You 're on the marketing team for a product made by a big company that a lso makes hundreds of other products. To get the money you need out of the budget t hi s year , your marketing plan has to "wow " those in uppe r management . In the financ ial pla ns section of your document , one of your team members has ove r- estimated the expected revenues your marketing progra ms shou ld bring in . He explains to you that he has not "fudged the n umbe rs" too much , just enough to give your team the edge for the budget money it needs. He tells yo u that overest imating is not e xac tly ly- ing , and it 's all r ight to "round up " because your team re ally needs funding for its marketing programs . What do you think? Is it OK to inflate the numbers a bit , or is it unethical?

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Put it on Paper

Not every marketing p lan looks ex actl y th e sa me . Diff erent org aniza - EX ECUTIVE SUMMARY tions have different n ee ds, different type s and numb ers o f pr oducts , and different audiences . The refor e, marketi ng-pl an fo rmats may vary MI SS ION STATEMENT from busine ss to bu siness . Most marketing plan s, ho wever, w ill include the #following section s: The mi ss ion of GIANN I'S PIZZA is to serve a var iety of hig h- quality pizzas , ca lzones, pa stas , so up s, and sa lads a t com petiti ve Executive summary. Th e executive summary ser ves as an pri ce s. introducti on t o the marketing plan. It s pu rpose is to a ll ow th e reader to BUS INESS DESC RI PT IO N under stand the purpo se of the m ark eting plan. It should incl ude:

GIANNI'S PI ZZ A w ill b e a s it-down res taur ant wit h d eli ver y a nd • Background information on the organ iz ation , for th ose reade rs carryo ut serv ice. We w ill se rve a variety of dif ferent pi zzas, pas tas , and soups made from rec ip es of No rth em I taly. The resta ur ant w ill who may not b e familiar with the company be located on 1-75 ju st nort h ofI -70 in Ba ttl ecre ek , Michi gan . It will be open Mon day t hrough Sat ur day fro m 1 1 :00 a.m to 10: 30 p.m. • Th e organization 's mission statement

• MA RK ET ING ST RATEGY A brief introduction to the or ganization 's managemen t team and /or the m arketing managem ent t eam The major it y of cu stomers w ill c ome f rom t he int ers tate and s ur- round in g b usin esses. We w ill use heavy bi llb oa rd a dve rtisin g as • A brief re view of th e plan 's highlight s and objecti ves well as loca l radio an d tel evisi on spots . We will also set up our own website tha t can be use d fo r orde ring carryo ut (c redit-ca rd ord ers on ly) or making rese rvations . Though the e xecutive summar y may be short comp are d to o ther section s of the marketing plan , it s importance should no t be un der - '-- _-;- ______-;-_-;--;-=: -:: -- '1 : estimated . For man y read ers, thi s is th e only part of th e mar ke ting plan that the y w ill take th e time to read. Man y impo rtant de cisions may be made ba sed solel y up on the informati on contained in the e xecuti ve summar y. For thi s reason , the summar y mu st cle arl y and co nci se ly s tate the purp os e of the marketing plan.

Expert s tend to disagree on when the ex ecuti ve summ ary should be written. Traditionall y, it ha s been written afte r th e res t of the mark eting plan , as a summar y, then positioned at th e beginning of the document . Some e xpert s, ho wever , recomm end writin g th e executi ve s ummar y first , as an outline for th e rest of the plan No matter what the authors dec ide, th e important th ing to rem ember is that the e xecuti ve summary mu st "s ell " the marketing plan to th e reader , and it must include all the major highlight s from th e body of the pl an Situation analysis . In a marketing plan , situation analysis is the det ermination of a f irm 's curr ent marketing situati on. It an sw er s the ba sic que stion "Where do thin gs s tand right no w? " and se rves as a "snapshot " of the busin ess 's curr ent state of affair s as related to marketing .

Situ ation anal ysi s is an important and tim e-consuming compo- nent of a marketing plan It cover s the follo wing key areas: • Th e company its elf : • Wh at are th e company 's overall goals? • Wh at i s the company 's organizational culture like?

• Wh at good s and ser vice s does th e compan y c urrentl y produce ? • What i s th e comp any's current finan cial situation? • Cu stomer s (target mark et) : • What i s the siz e of the company 's c urrent target mark et? • What are the demographics (defining characteristic s) of the current ta rget market? • What are the purchasing behaviors of the current target market?

• • Competitors: This section of the marketing plan should include a full

• What is t he market position of the co mp any 's demog rap hi c description of the target ma rket and should provide ma in co mp eti to rs? answers to questions suc h as: • • Wh at ar e th e s tr ength s o f th e co mpan y's main What doe s o ur t arge t m ark et wa nt and n eed? compe ti tors? • How wil l our target market use th is product?

• What are the weaknesses of the company 's main • How much wil l our target market be willing to pay for compet itors? this product?

• Partners: • What message do we want our target market to hear from • our marketing efforts? How st rong are the company 's relations hi ps wit h its c ur re nt dist ributo rs? Marketing objectives. This section of th e marketing plan

• Does th e c omp any curr entl y have a ny subsid- outlin es t he spec ifi c mark etin g objec ti ves that th e company wants iaries or joint ventures ? If so , how do th ese to ac hi eve. K ee p in mind that ma rk etin g o bj ec ti ves serve as a re lations hi ps af fect th e compa ny's cu rr en t founda ti on f or achieving sa les and overa ll fi nanc ial objectives as well. Se ttin g market ing objec tives is a very important task! marke ti ng si tu ation? • External factors -how are the following trends affecting Like any effective goal, a marketing objective should be the company 's current marketing situation? SMART-specific , measurable, achievable, realistic , and time-bound. It's not enough to say, "We want our target market •Socia l and cu ltural • T echno log ica l to lo ve ou r n ew product ." The ob ject ive must have more focus. •Demog rap hic • Po liti ca l an d lega l For examp le, how muc h market share does the organization wa nt to ac hie ve? By wha t d ate? • Eco nomi c Some mar keters choose There a re many di fferen t to summa rize th is section types of marketing objectives of the marketing p lan with that a company can set for itself . They can relate to issues from a SWOT analysis chart . target markets , to promotions , to This is a chart that lists the channels of distribution , even to strengths and weaknesses in I the resea rch and development of a company 's inter nal env iron- SWOT Analysis new produc ts. A marketing plan ment , as wel l as i ts exter nal Strengths Weakn ess es may even in clu de differe nt sets opp or tuniti es a nd thr ea ts. of obj ec ti ves for d ifferent g roups Usi ng a S WOT chart ca n be with in the same target market . A an effec ti ve way to i llu str ate company may set different goals the conclusions d rawn in t he Opportun ities for reaching new customers , for situation analysis section of instance , than it does for reach- the plan. ing existing customers . Desired target market. The marketing objectives Next, the marke ti ng p lan section a lso mentions any issues sho uld inc lude i nf orma ti on on th at mi ght affec t t he o rga nizat ion 's reac hing it s goa ls. Exa mples th e targe t m arket th e co mp any de sir es to reac h. If th e pl an i s not of th ese types o f issues in clud e a compe tit or com ing o ut w ith written fo r a new targe t m ar ket or a new prod uct, it may not nee d a s imil ar p roduct or a p redic ted downturn in economic activity. to inc lu de this pa rti cular sec tion. For exa mple, Ma delyn 's cou - The plan s hou ld address how the organization wil l overcome rier business targets other small businesses (having 50 or fewer these obstacles with its marketing programs. employees) in the city. She provides information about this target market in the situation analysis portion of her plan-she Marketing strategies and programs. Here is the heart does not need to repeat it here. However, for a bigger company of the market ing plan. This is usually the longest section of the entering a new target market o r i ntr oduc ing a new p roduc t, pla n, taki ng up 50 percent or more of the o vera ll length. T he fur ther infor mati on wil l be nee ded. pla n's a uthors may s tart ou t by id en tif yi ng a gene ral marketing

• str ategy , su ch as growth (i .e., obt aining a big ge r mark et share) , Ho w w ill Pro cter & Gambl e ge t it s ne w s hamp oo int o th e hands stability (i.e. , kee ping the sa me market sha re), or market of it s ta rget marke t? Whi ch w holesa le and reta il int ermed iaries wi ll exit (i.e., taking a product off the marke t before in troducing a it c hoose to become channe l members? How much of the new replacement) . product will be produced in the next quarter or year? All these quest ions wil l be answered in this section of the marketing plan . Th e market ing s tr ateg ies and prog rams sectio n th en details the s pec ifi c mark etin g activ itie s t hat th e pl an propo ses to under- • P ro mot ion take. Thi s in clu des sc hedul es, tim etable s, a nd th e ass ignment of • Adv erti sin g • Perso nal se ll ing respo nsibil ity fo r all th e tasks i nv olved i n: • Sa les promotions • Direct marketing • Product • Public relat ions • Internet marketing • Branding • Warranty • Va riety • Pa ckag ing The ma rke ti ng pla n must deta il wha t pr omoti onal activi ties will b e undert aken. For e xa mpl e, Pro cter & Gambl e is tar get ing • • Fea tur es Labe li ng frequ ent sw imm ers w ith its new a nti-chl orine shampoo . I t might • Quality plan to ad ver ti se at aqua ti c cen ters or du ring th e television com- mercial breaks of the Summer Olympic Games . The company For example , a large corpora- might a lso p lan sales promotions for members of high school tion suc h as Pr oc ter & Gam ble an d college swimm ing and divi ng teams. No mat ter how a may wan t to introd uce a comp any plan s to pr omote it s produ ct(s) to it s targe t m arket(s), new br and of anti-chl orin e th e s pec ific detail s a re li sted here. shampoo fo rmu la ted specifica lly for frequent Financial plans. Th is section of the marketing plan pro- swimmers. The marketing vides detail Is on the expected expenses and profits of the plan 's plan w ill cover all aspects programs. How much wi ll each specific market ing program or of the pr oduc t itself -its project cos t? How muc h does the marke ti ng team p rojec t each name, it s s pec ial ingr edi ent s, pro gram to brin g in ? It 's all outlined h ere , in d etail . what it wil l look l ike, etc. • Price •List price • P rice competition •New p roduc t pric in g • Cred it te rms •Bundling • Pa yment peri ods •Di scou nts • L easing op tions

Procter & Gamble 's marketing plan for its new shampoo brand w ill include specific de tails about price. How much w ill it cost? Wil l th e compa ny iss ue coupo ns to enco urage cus tom- ers to buy th e new pr odu ct? For bi g-ticket it ems s uch as ca rs or comp uters, a marketi ng p lan w il l li ke ly i nclu de de tai led information about credit terms and payment per iods offered to customers. Remember , market ing strategies and programs are key to an organization 's reaching its sales and financ ial goa ls, so price decis ions are very im po rtant! • • Pl ace (Di stributi on) : • Chan nel m embers • T ra nspor tati on Performance and implementation. In this sect ion of the •Locations • Warehousing plan , marke ters explain the ir expected results and indicate how the marketing plan 's progress will be measured. This portion •Inve ntory • Order fu lfillment also descr ib es poten tial changes an d ad ju stments that can be • Coverage (how w ide ly th e pr od uct will b e d istributed ) mad e to k eep th e market ing pl an on tr ack.

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Appendix. Th e ap pe ndix inc lu des a ny char ts, grap hs, or m isce ll ane ou s ma terials related to th e mark eting p lan. It might i ncl ude detail ed researc h findin gs tha t are only s um mar ized in other part s of the plan , sample s of proposed marketing liter at ur e, pr ess c lippin gs , product photographs , estimates from vendor s, etc .

Ca ref ul plan nin g-in th e for m of a well-rese arc hed, we ll-writt en m arketi ng p lan-can mean the dif fe rence bet ween y our bus in ess's s uccess o r fa il ur e. T ake t he ti me to do it right , then reap t he rewards o f yo ur ha rd work .

Summary Eac h ma rketin g pl an i s u niqu e, but a general pl an in clude s th e foll ow ing sectio ns: exec utive su mmary , s ituati on analysi s, de sir ed target mar ke t, marketing ob jec ti ves, mark etin g s tra te- gies and programs , financial plans , performance and implementat ion, and appendi x.

1. Describe the following parts of a marketing plan: a. Executive summary e. Marketing strategies and programs b. Situation analysis f. Financial plans

c. Desired target market g. Performance and implementation J d. Marketing objectives h. Appendix

1 :~:t~II£ .~!1g Plan: Shark 1======1: Shield 1---.....- -. 1-- -- I .....•... -. __ -. __ ...... , . ",.JIM- •• ..• , •••...•----••.•••• -••••• ,.., ,,.""'iIt.~•. ..,__ Mot ------I ___., •. . _ __01 • ..______...•. _ •. ...., ':0 <11_- ,- ~~~~ I ! Does your place of employ - ment have a marketing plan? Ask your manager or supervi- sor if you can see it . If you're not working right now , try to obtain a copy of a local business's marketing plan- perhaps from the place where your parent or guardian works . Or , download the sample marketing plan at http: // www.marketinghub .info/sample-marketing-plan -and-marketing-plan -template /. Browse through the plan, and read the executive summary. What are the plan 's highlights? Do you think it is a good marketing plan?

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