1. What is a strategy, and what purpose does strategy play in business?

What are the elements that make up a marketing plan? Strategy is a set of actions we will take over a defined period of time to achieve our objectives (how we will get there) Purpose of strategy is to direct and guide the business to achieve objectives by fitting the organisational resources and capabilities with environmental changes, meeting the needs of markets and fulfilling stakeholder expectations. Elements make up a marketing plan: o A typical small business marketing plan might include a description of its competitors, the demand for the product or service, and the strengths and weaknesses from a market standpoint of both the business and its competitors. o Other elements usually contained in a marketing plan include: Description of the product or service, including special features Marketing budget, including the advertising and promotional plan Description of the business location, including advantages and

disadvantages for marketing Pricing strategy Market segmentation (specializing in specific niche markets or, if mass marketing, how marketing strategy might differ between different segments, such as age groups).

2. What is a marketing plan, and what purpose does it perform? What are the different sections that make up a marketing plan? Marketing plan is written statement of a marketing strategy and the time-related details for carrying out the strategy. Most marketing plans cover one year, but some cover a few years. Purpose of marketing plan is to show steps undertaken to achieve the business marketing objectives, describe the current market position of a business and its marketing strategy for the period covered by the marketing plan. Different sections make up a marketing plan o Executive summary: is aimed at the senior management to enable them to grasp quickly the plans major thrust, its goals and recommendations. o Current marketing situation: this section presents relevant background data on the target market, product, competition, distribution and the macro-environment. The data are drawn from a product fact book or database maintained by the product manager. o SWOT and issue analysis: Strengths and weaknesses (internal) Opportunities and threats (external) Issues analysis involved with the product line

o Objectives: two types of objectives must be set Financial objectives: revenue, sales Marketing objectives: market share, brand equity, asset distribution Managers should ensure their objectives are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound)

o Marketing strategy (or game plan): used to accomplish the plans objectives. Marketing strategy includes statement of target market, positioning strategy and marketing mix o Action plans (or action programs): outlines of what we do. The marketing plan must specify the broad marketing programs designed to achieve the business objectives. Each marketing strategy element must now be elaborated to answer: What will be done? When will it be done? Who will do it? How much will be spent?

o Projected profit and loss statement: action plans allow the product manager to build a supporting budget On the revenue side, this budget shows the forecast sales volume in units and the average price. On the expense side, it shows the cost of production, physical distribution and marketing broken down into finer categories. The difference between revenues and sales is the projected profit. o Control mechanisms: This section outlines the controls for monitoring the plans progress. Typically, the goals and budget are spelled out for each month or quarter. Senior management can review the results of each period and identify businesses that are not attaining their goals. Managers of lagging businesses must explain what is happening and the actions they will take to improve plan fulfilment.

A contingency plan outlines the steps that management would take in response to specific adverse developments. The purpose of contingency planning is to encourage managers to think about difficulties that might lie ahead.

3. What are the stages in the marketing planning process? Using an example of your choice, discuss the factors an organisation would need to consider at each stage in this process. 1. Finding opportunities and developing profitable marketing strategies: - This requires constant and ongoing analysis of the macro, micro, and competitive environment in which the firm operates. 2. Identifying a target market: - A group of customers with similar needs to whom a company wishes to appeal - Multiple target markets: need unique strategy for each target market 3. Developing marketing strategies the marketing mix (four Ps): - The controllable variables that the company puts together to satisfy this target group. - Key point: developed for a given target market. - Positioning: how we want our products to be positioned in the minds of customers relative to competing brands 4. Develop a marketing plan - written details of marketing strategies 5. Implementation and control - Marketing implementation is the process that turns marketing strategies and plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives. Implementation involves day-to-day, month-to-month activities that effectively put the marketing plan to work

- Marketing control is the process of measuring and evaluating the results of marketing strategies and plans, and taking corrective action to ensure that marketing objectives are attained. Operating control involves checking ongoing performance against the annual plan and taking corrective action when necessary. Strategic control is checking that the companys basic strategies are well matched to its opportunities.

4. What are some of the issues that contribute to successful and unsuccessful strategic marketing planning? Issues for successful strategic marketing planning: o Action program that pulls all the people and activities together. Action program identifies who is responsible for performing what tasks o Formal organisation structure: effective organisational functions, everyone knows what roles and responsibilities are, communicates clearly to each others o A companys decision and reward systems (operating procedures that guide planning, budgeting, remuneration and other activities), because compensations link to performance o Careful human resources planning. o Marketing strategies must fit with its company culture.

Issues for unsuccessful strategic marketing planning: o Isolated Planning: people who are responsible for developing the marketing plan are not ones implementing it on day-to-day basis because these people are removed from the operational side of the business, so they do not fully understand how these strategies play in time. o Tradeoffs between Long and Short Term Objectives: i.e. too focus on short-term outcomes and do not actually think about the long-term objectives o Natural Resistance to Change: when roll out new strategies with something changed from the past, there are changes within the organisations and some people do not like the changes. o Lack of Financial and Marketing Integration: lack of money to implement the strategies, so business has to make sure there is funding available for the implementation o Overemphasis on the Document: business spending too much time on writing the plan and lack of implementation may fail