MARKETING PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION GAMUT, ANDREA YOUNG, PATRICIA LEI is a systematic approach for developing marketing goals, strategy and implementation tactics. Marketing Planning Process a systematic process involving the assessment of marketing opportunities and resources, the determination of marketing objectives and the development of a plan for implementation and control OBJECTIVE SETTING FEEDBACK LOOP MARKETING AUDIT TACTICAL PLANNING PRODUCT POLICY PRICING POLICY DISTRIBUTION POLICY PROMOTION POLICY PERSONNEL POLICY PROCESS POLICY PHYSICAL EVIDENCE Marketing objectives - goals set by a business when promoting its products or services to potential consumers that should be achieved within a given time frame. In other words, marketing objectives are the marketing strategy set in order to achieve the overall organizational objectives. A company's marketing objectives for a particular product might include increasing product awareness among targeted consumers, providing information about product features and reducing consumer resistance to buying the product. The Marketing Planning Process Contoso Ltd. 4 SMART Approach to Marketing Objectives 1. Specific Are the objectives stated in a way that is precise about what you are hoping to achieve? 2. Measurable Can you quantify each objective, i.e. can you use a unit of measure, such as a market share in percentage or dollars, to provide a way to check your level of success? 3. Achievable Are your objectives reasonable in terms of what you can actually achieve, or are you setting your sights too high? 4. Realistic Do you have sufficient employees and resources to achieve the objectives you have set? If you don't, are they likely to be unrealistic? 5. Time-specific When are you hoping to achieve these objectives? You need to define a timing plan by using target timing for each specific objective. Contoso Ltd. 5 Marketing Audit - refers to the comprehensive, systematic, analysis, evaluation and the interpretation of the business marketing environment, both internal and external, its goals, objectives, strategies, principles to ascertain the areas of problem and opportunities to recommend a plan of action to enhance the firm’s marketing performance. The Marketing Planning Process Contoso Ltd. 6 The firm conducting the Marketing Audit should keep the following points in mind: ○ The Audit should be Comprehensive, i.e. it should cover all the areas of marketing where the problem persists and do not take a single marketing problem under the consideration. ○ The Audit should be Systematic, i.e. an orderly analysis and evaluation of firm’s micro & macro environment, marketing principles, objectives, strategies and other operations that directly or indirectly influences the firm’s marketing performance. ○ The audit should be Independent; the marketing audit can be conducted in six ways: self-audit, audit from across, audit from above, company auditing office, company task-force audit, and outsider audit. The best audit is the outsider audit; wherein the auditor is the external party to an organization who works independently and is not partial to anyone. ○ The audit should be Periodical; generally, the companies conduct the marketing audit when some problem arises in the marketing operations. But it is recommended to have a regular marketing audit so that that problem can be rectified at its source. Contoso Ltd. 7 Tactical Planning - is sometimes called short-term action plan because it breakdown bigger-picture goals and strategies into narrower, actionable tasks. The strategy is the direction towards the goal. Tactics are the action taken to support the strategy. Simply put, strategy refers to the plan to achieve a goal while the tactic is how you execute the plan. Contoso Ltd. 8 Product Policy - broad guidelines related to the production and development of a product. A long term planning with respect to the product-mix of the company in order to deliver maximum customer satisfaction. Objectives : 1. Survival: - The main objective of any company is to stay in the market profitably. 2. Growth: - Based on the long term goals of the company the policies are defined to get a good growth in the market. 3. Flexibility: - The product policy needs to be flexible to the changing needs of the customers, government regulations, global trends and economy. The Marketing Planning Process 4. Scalability: - The companies should use its resources properly to make the most of its valuable resources. With time the company needs to develop economies of scale to improve profits. Contoso Ltd. 9 Pricing Policy - A systematic approach to pricing requires the decision that an individual pricing situation be generalized and codified into a policy coverage of all the principal pricing problems. Policies can and should be tailored to various competitive situations. A policy approach which is becoming normal for sales activities is comparatively rare in pricing. The Marketing Planning Process Contoso Ltd. 10 Pricing strategies: Premium pricing: high price is used as a defining criterion. Such pricing strategies work in segments and industries where a strong competitive advantage exists for the company. Penetration pricing: price is set artificially low to gain market share quickly. This is done when a new product is being launched. It is understood that prices will be raised once the promotion period is over and market share objectives are achieved. Skimming strategy: high price is charged for a product till such time as competitors allow after which prices can be dropped. The idea is to recover maximum money before the product or segment attracts more competitors who will lower profits for all concerned. The Marketing Planing Process Contoso Ltd. 11 Distribution (place) Policy - process of making a product or service available for the consumer or business user that needs it. This can be done directly by the producer or service provider, or using indirect channels with distributors or intermediaries. 3 major distribution strategies: 1. Exclusive Distribution : Exclusive stories to sell products leads to more control. Example, Luis Vuitton Stores 2. Intensive Distribution : Maximizing outlets to maximize sales. Example, Coca Cola 3. Selective Distribution : Carefully choosing multiple channels and partners. Example, Adidas, Nike Contoso Ltd. 12 Promotion Policy - concerned with developing the over-all promotional campaign which involves consumer promotion, public relations and alike activities. It has to strike out a balance between various promotional activities and also ensure that all the activities are in synchronization with each other. a) target group b) target market The Marketing Planning Process c) the product Contoso Ltd. 13 Personnel Policy - helps match each employee in the correct position and make your company into an organized and coordinated team. It outlines job training for each position, and following the guidelines should make every employee fully prepared for their work. Personnel policies create security within the opportunity, and provide incentive and recognition. Explicit policies help your employees perform their jobs at their best and work toward career goals and the future. Contoso Ltd. 14 1.) Principles of Personnel Policies ○ A good personnel policy will help match each employee in the correct position and make your company into an organized and coordinated team. ○ It outlines job training for each position, and following the guidelines should make every employee fully prepared for their work. ○ Personnel policies create security within the opportunity, and provide incentive and recognition. ○ Explicit policies helps employees perform their jobs at their best and work toward career goals and the future. Contoso Ltd. 15 2.) Policy Contents Covers three areas: A.) Employer expectations attendance, punctuality, time off, job requirements, and possibly Internet or drug policies. B.) Employee expectations compensation, salary, benefits, sexual harassment, privacy rights, equal opportunity employment and any grievance procedures. C.) Administrative issues, and should all be included in your employee handbook or other training or procedural materials. administrative issues include any disclaimers or changes to the handbook or other policies. Contoso Ltd. 16 3.) Creation & Implementation A personnel policy should reflect good practice, be written down, be communicated across the organization, and should adapt to changing circumstances. Getting your management, supervisors and employees involved is important. Make sure to take into account your past policies, management styles and employee challenges when writing or updating your policy. To be effective, your policies need to be well communicated. Make sure they are available at all times and given to each employee to preclude complaints of ignorance later. Contoso Ltd. 17 Process Policy - a set of inter-related activities that turn inputs into outputs. Physical Evidence - is the space by which you are surrounded when you consume the service. Physical Environment - is the space by which you are surrounded when you consume the service. Ambience - ambient conditions include temperature, color, smell and sound, music and noise. The ambience is a package of these elements which consciously or subconsciously help you to experience the service. The Marketing Planning Process Spatial Layout - Functionality is more about how well suited the environment is to actually accomplish your needs. Corporate branding (signs, symbols and artifacts) Contoso Ltd. 18 Feedback Systems : ○ Determine the reason for the discrepancy. Was the original plan reasonable? Have the firm’s competitors seized the initiative in some way, so that the situation has changed? Is someone at fault? ○ Feed these findings back to the staff concerned. This can be in the form of a meeting discuss the situation, or in the form of memos and reports. ○ Develop a plan for correcting the situation. This will probably involve the cooperation of all the staff concerned. Feedback should be both frequent and concise, and any criticisms should be constructive. Marketing strategy and planning is much like any other planning exercise: it relies on good information, a clear idea of where the organization is going, and regular examination of both outcomes and methods to ensure that the plan is still on target. Contoso Ltd. 19