The Marketing Plan

1
The Marketing Plan

• David Forlani
• University of Colorado at Denver and Health
  Sciences Center

2
Overview of The Marketing Plan

• Purpose
• Situation
• Key Issues (SWOT)
• Goals
• Marketing Strategy
• Marketing Mix

3
Purpose of The Marketing Plan

• InterpretationDo we see the same things?
• AssumptionsDo we believe the same things?
• EvaluationDo we conclude the same things?
• ProjectionDo we expect the same things?
• MethodHow much confidence is inspired?
• Degree of rigor used and metrics employed

4
Situation Analysis Market

• Definition of Overall Market e.g., soft drink
  users
• General Needs being met
• Sub-Industries involved in meeting these needs
• High-level analyses of their statuses and health
  (e.g., pop, fruit drinks, fruit juices, coffee,
  tea, etc.)
• Identify significant issues/concerns (e.g.,
  bottled water dominating shelf space forcing
  retailers to reduce brands carried)
• Size and Growth
• Trends over past 5 years
• Changes in customer groups, per capita
  consumption
• Substitutes, Areas for Expansion
• Moving up or down in terms of price and quality
• Where might new users come from/existing users go

5
Situation Analysis Competition

• Types Sources
• Current and Potential
• Direct (e.g., same SIC), and Indirect (e.g.,
  related SIC)
• Relative Size
• Sales, Profitability, Sales force, Product lines,
  Market areas covered
• Anticipated Actions
• Competitive advantage, Past competitive responses

6
Situation Analysis Macroenvironmental

• Cultural/Social Changes
• Legal/Political Issues
• Physical Environmental Issues
• Demographic/Psychographic Issues
• Economic Trends

7
Situation Analysis Past Performance

• Basic History, especially turning points
• Performance Absolute Relative to Plan
• Actions Taken Successful/Unsuccessful
• Implications for Future Actions
• Risk tolerance

8
Key Issues

• SWOT ANALYSIS (BU Level)
• Company Strengths
• Company Weaknesses
• Environmental Opportunities
• Environmental Threats

9
SWOT Matrix
10
Goals

• Types Adaptability, Effectiveness, Efficiency
• Financial (e.g.)
• Level of Contribution
• Return on Investment
• Marketing (e.g.)
• Share/Revenues
• Distribution/Coverage
• Expansion Markets/Offerings

11
Marketing Strategy

• Definition of the Product-Market
• The product-market is set by the BUits scope
  statement. It is a more focused view of the
  industry which describes the users, the needs
  being fulfilled and the wants satisfied for the
  type of product you plan to offer. For instance,
  the Folgers unit of PG, a member of the soft
  drink industry, might define its product-market
  as users of coffee-based beverages.
• Segmenting
• Identify variables that meet the segmentation
  criteria size, definable, accessible and
  differential response.

12
Marketing Strategy

• Targeting
• Review segments to assess Market Attractiveness
  (e.g., which segments look like they will be the
  most profitable) and Competitive Position (e.g.,
  why we should do well pursuing a particular
  group).
• Positioning
• How we want the targeted market segment to think
  of our offering relative to competitors
  offerings on key attributes.
• Indicates what the marketing program needs to
  accomplish.

13
Marketing Mix

• How the Marketing Strategy is realized
• Product Strategy
• Relative quality of offerings
• Number of brands and lines
• Breadth and depth of lines
• Pricing Strategy
• Penetration or Skimming
• Channel Strategy
• Intensive or Exclusive
• Promotion Strategy
• Push or Pull
• All elements communicate and must harmonize