MARKETING PLANNING, MANAGEMENT AND

CONTROL
 PLANNING

A systematic process of forecasting the future business

environment and deciding on the most appropriate
goals, objectives and positions for best exploiting that
environment.

Planning is an activity and a process.

 THE MARKETING PLAN

Provides clear and unambiguous statement about the

strategies and actions that will be implemented, by
whom, when and with what outcomes.
 Criteria for differentiating plans

• Organisational - long term and strategic in focus.

• Divisional - implementation focus within a shorter time
span and within clearly specified parameters.
• Timing.
• Regularity - longer term plans have annual reviews
whilst short term plans are often part of a hierarchy
linking strategy with operations.
• Focus - organisational, functional, etc.
 Planning - the benefits

Figure 21.1
 Planning - the pitfalls

• Planning can become technique oriented.

• Embracing planning eagerly with dedicated planning
departments can divorce the professional planner from
those who have to implement them.
• Planning can fail if unreliable information is used.
 The marketing planning process

Figure 21.2
 (1)- Objectives, targets and mission

• Quantitative targets - e.g. financial, operating, etc.

• Philosophical targets - vision and values.
• Qualitative targets - service levels, etc.
 Qualitative targets

Figure 21.3
 Objective trade offs

• Short term v long-term growth.

• Profit margin v market positioning.
• Direct sales effort v market development.
• Penetrating existing markets v developing new ones.
• Profit v non-profit goals.
• Growth v stability.
• Change v stability.
• Low risk v high risk.
 (2)- The marketing audit

• Takes stock of a company’s marketing health.

• Is the launching pad for the marketing plan.
• Encourages management to reflect on the environment
and company’s ability to respond.
• Encompasses the external and internal audit.
 Marketing audit issues

• Macro environment.
• Task environment
• Markets.
• Strategic issues.
• Marketing mix.
• Marketing organisational structure and organisation.
 (3)- Marketing analysis

S - strengths.
W - weaknesses.
O - opportunities.
T- threats.
 (4)- Marketing objectives

Four fundamental areas related to marketing objectives:

• Achieving market share growth or maintenance

• The maintenance or improvement of profitability
• Establishing an opening marketing position
• Maximising cash flow, harvesting
 (5)- Marketing strategies and actions

The means by which a company sets out to achieve its

marketing objectives. This can be by:
• Repositioning the product.
• Improving product packaging.
• Amending prices.
• Improving productivity.
• Standardisation.
• Changing sales or customer mix.
(6)- Marketing programmes
Precisely specify actions, responsibilities, timescales

(7)- Marketing budget

Precise and detailed:
to justify the resources requested;
to permit detailed control and evaluation
Flexibility: to cope with changing circumstances

(8)- Marketing control and evaluation

Short-term and long-term
 Market and sales potential

The maximum level of demand available within the total

market over a given period.

Difficulties in estimating market potential:

• Maximum level of demand.
• Total market.
• Level of competitive activity and trends.
• Sales potential.
 Estimating market and sales potential

• Breakdown methods - based on total market

measurement or statistical series analysis.

• Build up methods - census, survey and secondary data.

 Market and sales forecasting

The sales and market forecasts provide the basis for all
subsequent planning and decision making.

Forecasting indicates what will happen in a given

environment if a specific set of decisions and actions is
implemented with no subsequent changes.
 Forecast characteristics
(Wheelwright and Makridakis, 1977)

• Based on historical information from which projections

can be made.
• Look forward over a specific, clearly defined time period.
• Make clearly specified assumptions, since uncertainty
characterises the future.
 The four stage approach to forecasting
(Wolfe 1966)

Figure 21.4
 Forecasting methods

Figure 21.5
 Different ways of organising marketing activities

• Function.
• Product.
• Geographically.
• Segments.
• Matrix.
 Functional organisation

Figure 21.6(a)
 Product organisation

Figure 21.6(b)
 Regional organisation

Figure 21.6(c)
 Matrix organisation

Figure 21.6(d)
 The marketing control process

Figure 21.7
 Examples of marketing performance evaluation
methods

• Sales analysis.

• Costs and profitability analysis.

 Sales analysis

Figure 21.8
 Marketing costs and profitability analysis

Figure 21.9
 Problems estimating marketing costs according to
Wilson et al 1992

• Long term or lagged effects.

• Joint costs.
• Isolating effects.