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CHAPTER 2 Marketing Planning

1. MARKETING PLANNING
Introduction A plan is a way of achieving something. Your revision plan is a way of helping to achieve success in business studies exams. The Christmas present shopping list is a simpler example of a plan a way of ensuring that no-one gets missed on 25 December. In business, it is no different. If a business wants to achieve something, it is more likely to do so with a well-constructed and realistic plan. What does planning involve? Planning involves: Setting objectives, quantifying targets for achievement, and communicating these targets to people responsible for achieving them Selecting strategies, tactics, programmes etc for achieving the objectives. The whole topic of planning brings with it some important terminology that it is worth spending time getting to know well. You will come across these terms many times in your study of marketing (and business studies in general): Strategy Strategy is the method chosen to achieve goals and objectives. Example: Our strategy is to grow sales and profits of our existing products and to broaden our business by introducing new products to our existing markets Tactics Tactics are the resources that are used in the agreed strategy. Example: We will use our widespread distribution via UK supermarkets to increase sales and existing products and introduce new products Goals Goals concern what you are trying to achieve. Goals provide the intention that influence the chosen actions. Example: Our goal is to achieve market leadership in our existing markets Objectives Objectives are goals that can be quantified. Examples: We aim to achieve a market share of 20% in our existing markets We aim to penetrate new markets by achieving a market share of at least 5% within 3 years We aim to achieve sales of growth of 15% per annum with our existing products Aims Aims are goals that cannot be measured in a reliable way. However, they remain important as a means of providing direction and focus. Examples: We aim to delight our customers Mission A strategic marketing plan starts with a clearly defined business mission. Mintzberg defines a mission as follows: A mission describes the organisations basic function in society, in terms of the products and services it produces for its customers.

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A clear business mission should have each of the following elements:

Taking each element of the above diagram in turn, what should a good mission contain? a. A Purpose Why does the business exist? Is it to create wealth for shareholders? Does it exist to satisfy the needs of all stakeholders (including employees, and society at large?) b. A Strategy and Strategic Scope A mission statement provides the commercial logic for the business and so defines two things: The products or services it offers (and therefore its competitive position) The competences through which it tries to succeed and its method of competing A business strategic scope defines the boundaries of its operations. These are set by management. For example, these boundaries may be set in terms of geography, market, business method, product etc. The decisions management make about strategic scope define the nature of the business. c. Policies and Standards of Behaviour A mission needs to be translated into everyday actions. For example, if the business mission includes delivering outstanding customer service, then policies and standards should be created and monitored that test delivery. These might include monitoring the speed with which telephone calls are answered in the sales call centre, the number of complaints received from customers, or the extent of positive customer feedback via questionnaires. d. Values and Culture The values of a business are the basic, often un-stated, beliefs of the people who work in the business. These would include: Business principles (e.g. social policy, commitments to customers) Loyalty and commitment (e.g. are employees inspired to sacrifice their personal goals for the good of the business as a whole? And does the business demonstrate a high level of commitment and loyalty to its staff?) Guidance on expected behaviour a strong sense of mission helps create a work environment where there is a common purpose

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2. ROLE OF MISSION STATEMENT IN MARKETING PLANNING

In practice, a strong mission statement can help in three main ways: It provides an outline of how the marketing plan should seek to fulfil the mission It provides a means of evaluating and screening the marketing plan; are marketing decisions consistent with the mission? It provides an incentive to implement the marketing plan Sitting marketing objectives Objectives set out what the business is trying to achieve. Objectives can be set at two levels: Corporate level These are objectives that concern the business or organisation as a whole. Examples of corporate objectives might include: We aim for a return on investment of at least 15% We aim to achieve an operating profit of over 10 million on sales of at least 100 million We aim to increase earnings per share by at least 10% every year for the foreseeable future Functional level e.g. specific objectives for marketing activities. Examples of functional marketing objectives might include: We aim to build customer database of at least 250,000 households within the next 12 months We aim to achieve a market share of 10% We aim to achieve 75% customer awareness of our brand in our target markets Both corporate and functional objectives need to conform to the commonly used SMART criteria. The SMART criteria (an important concept which you should try to remember and apply in exams) are summarised below: Specific - the objective should state exactly what is to be achieved. Measurable - an objective should be capable of measurement so that it is possible to determine whether (or how far) it has been achieved Achievable - the objective should be realistic given the circumstances in which it is set and the resources available to the business. Relevant - objectives should be relevant to the people responsible for achieving them Time Bound - objectives should be set with a time-frame in mind. These deadlines also need to be realistic.

3. INTRODUCTION TO VALUES AND VISION

Values form the foundation of a business management style. Values provide the justification of behaviour and, therefore, exert significant influence on marketing decisions. Consider the following examples of a well-known business BT Group - defining its values: BT's activities are underpinned by a set of values that all BT people are asked to respect: We put customers first We are professional We respect each other We work as one team We are committed to continuous improvement. These are supported by our vision of a communications-rich world - a world in which everyone can benefit from the power of communication skills and technology. A society in which individuals, organisations and communities have unlimited access to one another and to a world of knowledge, via a multiplicity of communications technologies including voice, data, mobile, internet - regardless of nationality, culture, class or education. Our job is to facilitate effective communication, irrespective of geography, distance, time or complexity. Source: BT Group plc web site

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Why are values important in marketing? Many Japanese businesses have used the value system to provide the motivation to make them global market leaders. They have created an obsession about winning that is communicated at all levels of the business that has enabled them to take market share from competitors that appeared to be unassailable. For example, at the start of the 1970s Komatsu was less than one third the size of the market leader Caterpillar and relied on just one line of smaller bulldozers for most of its revenues. By the late 1980s it had passed Caterpillar as the world leader in earth-moving equipment. It had also adopted an aggressive diversification strategy that led it into markets such as industrial robots and semiconductors. If values shape the behaviour of a business, what is meant by vision and how does it relate to marketing planning? To succeed in the long term, businesses need a vision of how they will change and improve in the future. The vision of the business gives it energy. It helps motivate employees. It helps set the direction of corporate and marketing strategy. What are the components of an effective business vision? Davidson identifies six requirements for success: Provides future direction Expresses a consumer benefit Is realistic Is motivating Must be fully communicated Consistently followed and measured

4. STRATEGIC MARKETING PROCESS

Macdonald (1995) suggests that several stages have to be completed in order to arrive at a strategic marketing plan. These are summarised in the diagram below:

The extent to which each part of the above process needs to be carried out depends on the size and complexity of the business. In an un diversified business, where senior management have a strong knowledge and detailed understanding of the overall business, it may not be necessary to formalise the marketing planning process.

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By contrast, in a highly diversified business, top level management will not have knowledge and expertise that matches subordinate management. In this situation, it makes sense to put formal marketing planning procedures in place throughout the organisation.

5. THE LINK WITH STRATEGIC PLANNING

Businesses that succeed do so by creating and keeping customers. They do this by providing better value for the customer than the competition. Marketing management constantly have to assess which customers they are trying to reach and how they can design products and services that provide better value (competitive advantage). The main problem with this process is that the environment in which businesses operate is constantly changing. So a business must adapt to reflect changes in the environment and make decisions about how to change the marketing mix in order to succeed. This process of adapting and decision-making is known as marketing planning. Where does marketing planning fit in with the overall strategic planning of a business? Strategic planning (which you will cover in your studies of strategy is concerned about the overall direction of the business. It is concerned with marketing, of course. But it also involves decision-making about production and operations, finance, human resource management and other business issues. The objective of a strategic plan is to set the direction of a business and create its shape so that the products and services it provides meet the overall business objectives. Marketing has a key role to play in strategic planning, because it is the job of marketing management to understand and manage the links between the business and the environment. Sometimes this is quite a straightforward task. For example, in many small businesses there is only one geographical market and a limited number of products (perhaps only one product!). However, consider the challenge faced by marketing management in a multinational business, with hundreds of business units located around the globe, producing a wide range of products. How can such management keep control of marketing decision-making in such a complex situation? This calls for well-organised marketing planning. What are the key issues that should be addressed in marketing planning? The following questions lie at the heart of any marketing (or indeed strategic) planning process: Where are we now? How did we get there? Where are we heading? Where would we like to be? How do we get there? Are we on course? Why is marketing planning essential? Businesses operate in hostile and increasingly complex environment. The ability of a business to achieve profitable sales is impacted by dozens of environmental factors, many of which are inter-connected. It makes sense to try to bring some order to this chaos by understanding the commercial environment and bringing some strategic sense to the process of marketing products and services. A marketing plan is useful to many people in a business. It can help to: Identify sources of competitive advantage Gain commitment to a strategy Get resources needed to invest in and build the business Inform stakeholders in the business Set objectives and strategies Measure performance

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EXAMPLES OF MISSION STATEMENTS A mission statement is a formal description of the mission of a business. The mission statement might be published in several places (e.g. at the front of an annual report and accounts, on promotional material, in the board room and on the factory floor). There is (thankfully) no standard format for a mission statement. However, an effective mission statement should contain the following characteristics: Brief it should be easy to understand and remember Flexible it should be able to accommodate change Distinctive it should make the business stand out Examples of Mission Statements Psion plc Our mission is to grow rapidly and profitably through innovation in mobile internet. In pursuing this mission, we will deliver value: to shareholders through superior returns to customers through solutions and devices that enhance their quality of life and personal effectiveness to staff through a stimulating environment that encourages innovation Sainsburys plc Our mission is to be the consumers first choice for food, delivering products of outstanding quality and great service at a competitive cost through working faster, simpler and together. Churchill China To be a leading provider to the tabletop market and deliver value through excellence in design, quality and customer service Holidaybreak plc Holidaybreak is the UKs leading operator of specialist holiday businesses. Group companies retain a distinctive identity whilst sharing expertise and exploiting opportunities in areas of common interest. Our aim is to achieve continuing profitable growth by developing our existing businesses and market leading brands in the UK and European holiday markets and through acquisitions within the travel sector. Easyinternetcafe To be the world's leading Internet caf chain that is the cheapest way to get online