Posts Tagged 7 p`s of marketing`

How To Write a Marketing Plan: How to make a marketing

plan for your business
February 19th, 2010 , Author: David
Having a marketing plan Ior your business is an oIten overlooked component to many small
businesses. Why do I need a marketing plan? Is a common question asked by new entrepreneurs
and those running small 2 or 3 person companies.
Having a plan that outlines your marketing
eIIorts will help you reach the sales goals you
have in mind Ior the Iuture. Putting it down
on paper is not as hard as you may think.
Writing a marketing plan is just another part
oI your steps to being successIul. Learn to
write marketing and sales plans Ior your
small business.
Example of a
marketing plan
outline For Small
Business
Executive Summary
A high-level summary oI the marketing plan. This is where you include inIormation about how
you plan on Marketing your company, such as building a new website, monthly email
newsletters, newspaper advertising etc.
The Challenge Laid Out In Your Marketing Plan
BrieI description oI the products or services that you want to market and associated goals,
such as sales Iigures and strategic goals. Take a step back when writing this section and
see things at least 1 year out. You will be surprised how quickly time moves.

Situational Analysis
Company Analysis
&nderstand your business goals Ior both today and in the Iuture. Is your marketing plan
addressing your growth goals and is it speciIic enough to measure against?
oals
Focus
ulture
$trengths
Weaknesses
Market share
Customer Analysis (Persona)
umber
Type
'alue drivers
Decision process
ustomer base by product by region (even iI your region is your local town where are the
customers located)
Competitor Analysis
Market position
$trengths
Weaknesses
Market shares
Collaborators
$ubsidiaries, joint ventures, and distributors, etc.
Climate
Analyse those elements within your geographic region, again even your own town. Also take in
to consideration large global indicators when reviewing the climate oI your market. The price oI
gas at your local pump is impacted by global activites which in turn will impact your marketing
plan.
Political and legal environment
conomic environment
$ocial and cultural environment
Technological environment

SWOT Analysis
A $WOT analysis oI the business environment can be perIormed by organizing the
environmental Iactors as Iollows: Read more about $WOT and your marketing plan here.
The Iirm`s internal attributes can be classed as strengths and weaknesses.
The external environment presents opportunities and threats.
Market Segmentation
Description oI the market segmentation as Iollows:
Marketing Plan: Section 1
Description
Percent oI sales
What they want
How they use product
$upport requirements
How to reach them
Price sensitivity
Marketing Plan: Section 2
Alternative Marketing Strategies
List all alternatives that were considered beIore you arrived at the recommended strategy.
Alternatives might include discontinuing a product, re-branding, positioning as a premium or
value product, etc.
$hould we enter a market/industry?
$hould we increase Iunding Ior our product(s)?
$hould we maintain Iunding Ior our product(s)?
$hould we divest or cease production oI our product(s)?
Having this and reviewing it in the Iuture will help keep you on track.
Selected Marketing Strategy
Discuss why the strategy was selected, then the marketing mix decisions (4 P`s) oI product,
price, place (distribution), and promotion. As your business grows and your markets become
more satisIied learn about the 7 P`s and incorporate them in to your marketing plan. The new P`s
are People, Process and Physical evidence.
Product
Your product decisions should consider the product`s advantages and how they will be
leveraged. Remember perception plays a large role in the branding oI any product. Product
decisions should include:
Brand name
"uality
$cope oI product line
Warranty
Packaging
Price
Discuss pricing strategy, expected volume, and decisions Ior the Iollowing pricing variables:
List price
Discounts
Bundling
Payment terms and Iinancing options
Leasing options
istribution (Place)
ecision variables include:
Distribution channels, such as direct, retail, distributors & intermediates
Motivating the channel Ior example, distributor margins
riteria Ior evaluating distributors
Locations
Logistics, including transportation, warehousing, and order IulIilment
Promotion
Advertising, including how much and which media.
Public relations
Promotional programs
Budget; determine break-even point Ior any additional spending
Projected results oI the promotional programs
Short & Long-Term Projections
In your marketing plan include the selected strategy`s immediate eIIects, expected long-term
results, and any special actions required to achieve them. This section may include Iorecasts oI
revenues and expenses as well as the results oI a break-even analysis.
Conclusion
$ummarize all oI the above and give insight in to the Iuture, plan Ior a sequel to your marketing
plan. AIter all your marketing plan grows with your business and should be reviewed yearly and
updated to reIlect your business and the changes in your market.
Appendix
Include relevant inIormation on how you came to the conclusion you have. xhibits
alculations oI market size, commissions, proIit margins, break-even analyses, etc.

The marketing objectives must usually be based, above all, on the organization's Iinancial
objectives; converting these Iinancial measurements into the related marketing measurements.He
went on to explain his view oI the role oI "policies," with which strategy is most oIten conIused:
"Policies are rules or guidelines that express the 'limits' within which action should
occur."$impliIying somewhat, marketing strategies can be seen as the means, or "game plan," by
which marketing objectives will be achieved and, in the Iramework that we have chosen to use,
are generally concerned with the 8 P's. xamples are:
1. Price The amount oI money needed to buy products
2. Product The actual product
3. Promotion (advertising)- etting the product known
4. Placement Where the product is sold
5. People Represent the business
6. Physical environment The ambiance, mood, or tone oI the environment
7. Process The 'alue-added services that diIIerentiate the product Irom the competition
(e.g. aIter-sales service, warranties)
8. Packaging How the product will be protected
(ote: At $ the 4 Ps are Place, Promotion, Product and Price and the "secret" 5th P is
Packaging, but which applies only to physical products, not services usually, and mostly those
sold to individual consumers)

In principle, these strategies describe how the objectives will be achieved. The 7 Ps are a useIul
Iramework Ior deciding how the company's resources will be manipulated (strategically) to
achieve the objectives. However, they are not the only Iramework, and may divert attention Irom
the real issues. The Iocus oI the strategies must be the objectives to be achieved not the
process oI planning itselI. Only iI it Iits the needs oI these objectives should you choose, as we
have done, to use the Iramework oI the 7 Ps.
The strategy statement can take the Iorm oI a purely verbal description oI the strategic options
which have been chosen. Alternatively, and perhaps more positively, it might include a
structured list oI the major options chosen.
One aspect oI strategy which is oIten overlooked is that oI "timing." xactly when it is the best
time Ior each element oI the strategy to be implemented is oIten critical. Taking the right action
at the wrong time can sometimes be almost as bad as taking the wrong action at the right time.
Timing is, thereIore, an essential part oI any plan; and should normally appear as a schedule oI
planned activities.Having completed this crucial stage oI the planning process, you will need to
re-check the Ieasibility oI your objectives and strategies in terms oI the market share, sales, costs,
proIits and so on which these demand in practice. As in the rest oI the marketing discipline, you
will need to employ judgment, experience, market research or anything else which helps you to
look at your conclusions Irom all possible angles.
edit] etailed plans and programs
At this stage,you will need to develop your overall marketing strategies into detailed plans and
program. Although these detailed plans may cover each oI the 7 Ps (marketing mix), the Iocus
will vary, depending upon your organization's speciIic strategies. A product-oriented company
will Iocus its plans Ior the 7 Ps around each oI its products. A market or geographically oriented
company will concentrate on each market or geographical area. ach will base its plans upon the
detailed needs oI its customers, and on the strategies chosen to satisIy these needs. Brochures
and Websites are used eIIectively.
Again, the most important element is, indeed, that oI the detailed plans, which spell out exactly
what programs and individual activities will take place over the period oI the plan (usually over
the next year). Without these speciIied and preIerably quantiIied activities the plan cannot
be monitored, even in terms oI success in meeting its objectives.It is these programs and
activities which will then constitute the "marketing" oI the organization over the period. As a
result, these detailed marketing programs are the most important, practical outcome oI the whole
planning process. These plans must thereIore be:
O Clear - They should be an unambiguous statement oI 'exactly' what is to be done.
O "uantified - The predicted outcome oI each activity should be, as Iar as possible,
quantiIied, so that its perIormance can be monitored.
O Focused - The temptation to proliIerate activities beyond the numbers which can be
realistically controlled should be avoided. The 80:20 Rule applies in this context too.
O #ealistic - They should be achievable.
O Agreed - Those who are to implement them should be committed to them, and agree that
they are achievable. The resulting plans should become a working document which will
guide the campaigns taking place throughout the organization over the period oI the plan.
II the marketing plan is to work, every exception to it (throughout the year) must be
questioned; and the lessons learnt, to be incorporated in the next year's .
edit] Content of the marketing plan
A marketing plan Ior a small business typically includes $mall Business Administration
Description oI competitors, including the level oI demand Ior the product or service and the
strengths and weaknesses oI competitors
1. Description oI the product or service, including special Ieatures
2. Marketing budget, including the advertising and promotional plan
3. Description oI the business location, including advantages and disadvantages Ior
marketing
4. Pricing strategy
5. Market $egmentation
Marketing Mix
What is the Marketing Mix?

~lick Play to 'iew the e-Learning (audio) 'ersion oI this Topic
It is a Iramework which helps to structure the approach to each market.
The mix is a bundle oI variables which are oIIered to the customer. These include the product or
service itselI (its advantages); its availability (the place where and when it is available, delivered
or distributed); its image (the way it is promoted) and, oI course, the price which should be
charged.
These are some oI the ingredients which a marketing manager must mix together when
optimising a limited amount oI resources.
What is the best mix? A marketing manager has to juggle resources and decide on the best
marketing mix. $hould money be spent or IorIeited on: reduced prices? Improved products? ew
delivery trucks? Or maybe invest all your money in a high risk T' advertising campaign?
Did you recognise the 4 Ps just there? In 1960 Jerome Mcarthey presented the 4 Ps to the
world. $ince then marketing managers around the world have become Iamiliar with them. an
you recall them?
In addition to the 4 Ps, there are other approaches to the mix. These are explored under 'DiIIerent
Approaches' subtopic as shown in the title map.
Let's look at each oI the 4 Ps brieIly.
Product - this means the product's (or service's) quality, the Iunctions, the Ieatures and beneIits oI
its design plus packaging, guarantees and level oI aIter-sales service. hoices can be made about
any oI these aspects.
Price includes recommended prices to end-user customers, distributor's trade prices, cash
discounts, bulk discounts, terms oI credit.
Place means where and when the customer buys and consumes the product or service. Place is
sometimes reIerred to as the marketing channels, physical distribution, logistics or location.
Promotion means the promotions mix or the communications mix. This mix includes advertising,
sales promotions, publicity, direct mail, exhibitions, display, packaging, selling and even word-
oI-mouth.
The choice oI target market aIIects the mix. Here is ProIessor Philip Kotler:
"For example, in India you sell one cigarette at a time, not a package. So there is a lot of
localisation. The biggest mistake companies make often, is to assume that the way they sell a
product in their own country is the way to put it into another country."
Philip Kotler
$o the mix must adapt itselI to the market.
The 4 Ps, however, is just one approach to the marketing mix. You can explore some other
approaches in the subtopic called 'DiIIerent Approaches'.
ifferent Approaches
The 4 Ps is just one approach to the marketing mix. There are many other approaches.
American author, Philip Kotler preIers the 4 s. He suggests that the 4 Ps are a seller's mix or
sales orientated approach and it thereIore should be replaced by the 4 s which are more
customer orientated, or marketing orientated.
You can probably guess what the 4 s stand Ior.......
O Product ustomer BeneIits
O Price ost to ustomer
O Place onvenience
O Promotion ommunications
oing back to the 4 Ps, some Ieel this approach to the marketing mix misses the most important
part oI marketing; the centre oI the marketing universe is omitted. What do you think is the
centre oI the marketing universe?
The 5th P is the People: customers and employees. ustomers are at the centre oI the marketing
universe.
ow lets move on to the 7 Ps. Although the 4 Ps can be used Ior both products and services
some Ieel that the 4 Ps works better Ior products than it does Ior services. Perhaps you agree?
American, academics Booms & Bitner Ielt that the 7 Ps are more appropriate Ior the service
sector such as hotels or transport companies.
Four oI the 7 Ps are the same. Product, Price, Place and Promotion; can you guess what the
others might be?
People, Process and Physical environment.
ach oI these Ps aIIects what the customer is oIIered.
People are employees. Process means the production and delivery oI the service. Physical
nvironment means the interior and exterior oI the buildings.
In 1961 Albert Frey suggested that all the marketing mix variables could be categorised into just
two groups:
The OIIering and the Methods and Tools
The OIIering consisted oI Product, Packaging, $ervice, Brand and Price, while the Methods and
Tools comprised oI Distribution hannels, Personal $elling, Advertising and $ales Promotion.
$o there are several diIIerent ways oI categorising the mix. There are also several diIIerent ways
oI mixing the mix. $hould advertising be increased, prices slashed, deliveries reduced and
products upgraded? Or the other way around? You can explore this in the section called 'Mixing
the Mix'.
Mixing the Mix
There is no one, single, perIect marketing mix. $ome mixes are, however, better than others. The
marketing mix has an inIinite amount oI combinations or mixes. The 'same' product can have
extremely diIIerent mixes Ior diIIerent markets around the world.
Ranges oI prices, distribution options, product modiIications, promotional strategies can all be
mixed in diIIerent ways. They should however, Iit together to consolidate a single desired
positioning in a particular market segment.
The mix should not pull in diIIerent directions; a high price Ior low quality goods does not make
sense in the long term. Repeat business is important in the world oI marketing.
qually, low quality, discount priced products will Iind distribution in a luxury up-market store
diIIicult to achieve.
Here is a new product. Market it. Mix the mix.
A Iriend's mother has developed a watch which has a videophone and magniIying glass Ior
viewing. A combination oI miniaturisation and micro chips means the video watch can be
produced Ior as little as 2.00 per unit. $he has asked you to help her to draw up an outline
marketing mix. onsider two diIIerent mixes. What would you do?
The Iirst question to ask would be: 'what is the market?' What beneIits does this product deliver?
Who might enjoy these beneIits?
ext, considering various segments and possible target markets would also help. And a clear
view on the positioning also helps.
An understanding oI what resources the company has would be vital.
One option would be to recommend a retail price Ior the video phone watch at 1,000. This
could be distributed through luxury stores like Harrods or eiman and Marcus, promoting it with
elaborate in-store displays (merchandising) supported with a limited mail shot and PR campaign.
ow consider another option. This time change the marketing mix radically. Reduce the price
and sell in packs oI two through discount warehouses supported by a national T' advertising
campaign.
ach ingredient in the mix can vary enormously. For example, the watch can be made out oI
plastic or platinum. It can have a liIetime guarantee or become a disposable product.
It can have lots oI extras such as diamond studded leather straps, silk wrapping, guarantees and
so on. On the other hand, it can have no added costs and no added extras - just the basic video
watch.
These are decisions which the marketing manager has to make aIter careIul analysis oI the
situation, the market, its needs, its sectors, the ideal positioning, the resources within the
company.
$o is there a single, perIect marketing mix? o, but some mixes are obviously better than others.
Finally, some countries require diIIerent mixes. $ome segments require diIIerent mixes within
the same country. The mix can change according to market requirements which in themselves
change over time. The ever-changing mix is discussed in a separate subtopic.
The Ever Changing Mix
An excellent marketing mix in one period may not be as eIIective in another period. The
marketing mix changes over time. Partly because markets change, new sectors evolve, trends
develop, attitudes change, diIIerent ideal positionings emerge, technology moves on, new
products arrive, diIIerent distribution channels appear.
Just look at the personal computer, or P, market. Today's Ps are better products, have much
lower prices and diIIerent methods oI distribution compared with ten years ago. Today,
thousands oI people buy Ps through mail order. Ten years ago this would never have been the
case.
The Marketing Mix has to change to meet new market conditions.
Here is an example oI how diIIerent elements oI the marketing mix dominated the retail petrol
market in the &K over a period oI time.
In the early 1960s Product PerIormance - miles per gallon, reliability were very important. Then
the marketing emphasis switched to promotions with the reen $hield $tamps war in the late
1960s. Physical distribution and sourcing oI supplies became vital during the Iirst oil crisis in
1973.
This was Iollowed by a price war in 1974, which was in turn Iollowed by supply and distribution
problems during the second oil crisis in 1979. The early '80s saw location and design oI new
retail sites as the key to competitive advantage.
This was Iollowed by the mid 1980s sales promotions war as petrol retailers competed to give
away instant giIts, tokens, scratch cards. These sales promotions were supported by large
advertising budgets. $o now the advertising promoted the sales promotions rather than the
product itselI. $ome advertising campaigns even advertised the Iact that their competitors had
inIerior sales promotions. The marketing mix can change over time.
It can also change over distance.
This is particularly true in international markets where certain approaches to advertising and
promotions are acceptable in some countries but not in others; or where the distribution network
is restricted; or where the price structure is totally diIIerent.
The optimum mix is inIluenced by the company's long term policy on repeat sales, its
positioning strategy, the target market selection, the Iirm's resources, levels oI competition and
the ability, or willingness, to change the mix according to a particular market's requirements.
The ideal mix should support the ideal positioning in the most attractive target markets.
Product and the Marketing Mix
Over a hundred years ago Ralph Waldo merson suggested that "II a man can write a better
book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbour, though he builds
his house in the woods the world will make a beaten path to his door."
This is certainly not true today. Many excellent products Iail because no one knows about them,
or they are wrongly positioned, or they're not available when people want them, or they're too
expensive Ior the chosen target market.
Other excellent products Iail because a competitor's lower priced and inIerior product is widely
available beIore you even get to launch your product on the market place. oing back to the
merson's better mousetrap, ironically the best product is not always the best option. For
example, the product might be so good that it costs too much to produce and thereIore the best
product might just put you out oI business.
Do customers really want that extra Ieature? an you aIIord it? an they aIIord it? an
competition copy it? Whatever the decision, the Iinal combination oI the core product, tangible
product and augmented product along with price, promotion and distribution need to work
together iI a product is to be successIul.. Better mousetraps are oIten beaten by poorer
mousetraps. It happens all the time.
ompetitors constantly juggle their marketing mixes to maximise their product sales. $peed to
market; blocked distribution channels; clever pricing strategies; powerIul promotions; are all
used by competitors to win and keep market share.
The better mousetrap also needs to be part oI a coherent, Iully integrated marketing mix. The
distribution has to get the product to where the target customer can buy it when they want it. The
prices have to reIlect the desired quality image while simultaneously matchingwhat customers
can aIIord. Finally, customers need to know about the product - it needs to be promoted in the
right way.
ach element oI the marketing mix should support the product's positioning. The product, its
price, its distribution channels and oI course the promotion should all reinIorce the same
message. Without a coherent, Iully integrated mix even the best product in the world will Iail.