Marketing Control...

159

Control in Marketing
Feedback and control are the aspects of marketing that influence
all other phases of the marketing management process. They
are the crucial part of the marketing job and are the tools for
ensuring that marketing programmes and activities of the firm
always get directed towards the marketing objectives of the firm.
Marketing control provides the means of testing whether the
desired goals and results are actually being achieved or not. It is
an ongoing monitoring of the marketing activities in all its
aspects.
Prof. Bennett: Marketing control is the process of
evaluating achieved results against established standards
and taking corrective action to exploit opportunities or
solve problems.
Philip Kotler: Marketing control stands for examining
achievements of planned result, financial loss or gain,
spending efficiency and persuasion of marketing
opportunities.
J. C. Gandhi: Marketing control is a continuous process of
monitoring and feeding back the planned marketing
operations so as to identify deviations, correct them and
provide inputs for plan reformulation.
Thus feedback and control are the ongoing monitoring of the
marketing activities. They are the integral parts of management
control. Marketing control involves gathering information on
marketing
performance
and
comparing
the
achieved
performance against planned or budgeted performance, using
predetermined standards and yardsticks. It provides feedback; it
regulates; and it exercises that the marketing activity does not
derail or go off the track; it acts as a radar system for marketing,
recording and signaling the ups and downs and deviations in the
marketing performance; it also provides the required clues for
the timely correction of deviations. In a dynamic environment,
marketing programmes cannot be implemented effectively
without continuous controlling and corrective adjustments.
Marketing control takes care of this requirement1.
Have a Look: Relationship between Planning and Controlling

160... Marketing Management: Text and Cases

Marketing planning and controlling are interrelated and inseparable because both are
management functions. In practical sense, planning is not possible without controlling and
similarly, controlling is not possible without planning. Planning is the primary function of
management, which defines the standard of work and marketing objectives. In the similar way,
controlling is the function, which guides the marketing management to check whether work is
doing in accordance with standard or not. Thus, planning is the basis of control. It means
planning supports controlling and controlling supports planning. Thus, these two are the two sides
of the same management coin. They are mutually supportive and complementary in nature. The
relationship between planning and controlling is shown in figure 13.1.
Marketing
Planning

Implementat
ion

Marketing
Control:
comparison of
actual
performance
with standards
Undesirabl
e
Deviations
Corrective
Actions

Figure 13.1: Relationship between Planning and Controlling

No
Deviations

Ramaswamy, V.S. and Namakumari, S. (1998). Marketing Management. New Delhi: Macmillan India Limited.