The Marketing Plan

Sylvie HERTRICH and

Ulrike MAYRHOFER

© 2019 – CCMP – Marketing Plan – Sylvie HERTRICH and Ulrike MAYRHOFER 1

Marketing Plan - quid?

The marketing plan specifies, for a given period

of time, the main marketing actions planned for
a product, a range of products, a brand or a
strategic activity.

© 2019 – CCMP – Marketing Plan – Sylvie HERTRICH and Ulrike MAYRHOFER 2

The Marketing Plan - quid?

A marketing plan is written by the marketing
team, when:
l A new product is launched
l Annual planning and budgets are prepared
l The company situation requires it
l financial, competitive or legal constraints etc.

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 The Marketing Plan

Introduction
I. Analysis
II. Marketing Strategy
III. Marketing-mix
Conclusion

© 2019 – CCMP – Marketing Plan – Sylvie HERTRICH and Ulrike MAYRHOFER 4

The Marketing Plan

It is crucial to build coherence among the

different parts of a marketing plan:
l The marketing strategy should be derived from
the analysis.
l The marketing-mix should be based on the
analysis and the marketing strategy.

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Introduction

The introduction will state:

l The name of the company
l What the marketing plan is about
l which product, range of product, brand etc.
l The main objectives of the marketing plan
l The company’s market
l The key points of the marketing plan

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 I. Analysis

1.1. The SWOT analysis

l Internal analysis
l External analysis
1.2. Summary

© 2019 – CCMP – Marketing Plan – Sylvie HERTRICH and Ulrike MAYRHOFER 7

The SWOT analysis

The SWOT analysis summarizes the information given

in the case study. It is important to highlight the main
internal and external factors in a structured way.
This analytical process is necessary to interpret data
without bias, and helps to build the marketing strategy
and the marketing-mix.

© 2019 – CCMP – Marketing Plan – Sylvie HERTRICH and Ulrike MAYRHOFER 8

The SWOT analysis

The SWOT analysis is usually presented in two

separate tables, one for the internal analysis, one for
the external analysis.

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 Internal analysis

Strengths Weaknesses

Quantitative and qualitative performance

Resources
Awareness and image
Marketing-mix

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Internal analysis

l The quantitative performance:

l Sales in volume
l Sales in value
l Market share
l in volume and in value
l Penetration rate
l Product costs and profitability

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Internal analysis

l The qualitative performance:

l Competitive advantages
l Acquired experience
l Top Management’s values
l Company’s culture
l Customers’ characteristics
l level of satisfaction

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 Internal analysis

l Company’s resources available for a given

product:
l Financial resources
l Technological and industrial resources
l ability to innovate, production costs etc.
l Human and commercial resources
l number of employees, skills

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Internal analysis

l Brand and/or Company’s awareness and

image:
l Spontaneous recall, aided recall and top of mind
l Company’s image perceived by customers and
retailers
l Perception of positioning

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Internal analysis

l Marketing-mix:
l Product policy
l Price policy
l Distribution policy
l Communication policy

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 Internal analysis

l Product policy:
l Product portfolio
l Product line width and length
l Product life cycle
l Research and development policy

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Internal analysis

l Price policy:
l Costs
l Selling price
l Perception of price level

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Internal analysis

l Distribution policy:
l Is the company present in the main distribution
channels?
l Strength and quality of sales force
l Quality of relationships with retailers

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 Internal analysis

l Communication policy:
l Communication budget
l Advertising and public relations budget allocation
l Effectiveness of actions

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External analysis
Examen critique du marketing-mix actuel de l’entreprise pour le produit considéré : politique de produit, politique de prix,

Opportunities Threats
Macro-environment: Demographic factors
Economic factors
Institutional factors
Ecological factors
Technological factors
Socio-cultural factors
Micro-environment: Market size and structure
Customers
Competitors
Distributors 20
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Macro-environment

l Demographic environment:
l Population size
l Age structure of the population
l Birth, marriage and death rate
l Geographic dispatching
l Density
l Mobility

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 Macro-environment

l Economic environment:
l GDP - Gross Domestic Product
l Inflation rate
l Purchasing power, spending pattern
l Saving, credit
l Unemployment rate

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Macro-environment

l Institutional environment:
l Political environment
l public administrations, associations, pressure groups,
trade unions etc.
l Legal environment
l legislation regulating business, national and
international laws etc.

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Macro-environment

l Ecological environment:
l Pollution issues
l Shortage of raw materials
l Natural resources and energy management
l Environmental disasters
l Accidental disasters

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 Macro-environment

l Technological environment:
l Innovations
l Technological breakthroughs
l New technologies

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Macro-environment

l Socio-cultural environment:
l Beliefs
l Values
l Religion
l Ethnic groups
l Culture
l Educational system

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Micro-environment

l Market:
l Size
l Structure
l Growth rate
l Trends
l Specific features

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 Micro-environment

l Customers behavior:
l Main motivations, attitudes, intentions to buy
l Barriers and perceived risks
l Criteria of choice
l quality, price, brand image etc.

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Micro-environment

l Competition:
l Number and size of current competitors
l sales, market share etc.
l Strengths and weaknesses of competitors
l Competitive advantages
l Competitors’ projects
l Potential competitors

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Micro-environment

l Distributors:
l Number and characteristics of distribution
middlemen
l Market share of each distribution channel
l Distribution middlemen policy
l prices, margins, promotion etc.

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 Summary

After the SWOT analysis has been carried out,

it is important to summarize its main elements
and to evaluate the initial situation (favorable or
not).

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II. Marketing strategy

2.1. Objectives
2.2. Segmentation
2.3. Target (core target)
2.4. Positioning
2.5. Sources of volume
2.6. Driving elements of the mix

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Objectives

l Quantitative objectives:
l Sales in volume
l Sales in value
l Market share
l Profitability
l Qualitative objectives:
l Image
l Satisfaction

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 Segmentation

Segmentation consists in identifying distinct

subsets of buyers/consumers within a given
market. These segments have to be as
homogenous and significant as possible, and
accessible to a specific marketing policy.

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Segmentation criteria

l Geographic criteria
l Socio-demographic criteria
l Psychographic criteria
l Behavioral criteria

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Geographic criteria

l Nations, States
l Regions
l Counties
l Cities
l Districts

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 Socio-demographic criteria
l Age
l Family life-cycle
l Household size
l Gender
l Income
l Education
l Religion
l Social class
l Socio-professional group
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Psychographic criteria

l Personality characteristics
l Values
l Life-styles

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Behavioral criteria

l Usage rate
l Occasions to buy, or use the purchased item
l Benefits sought
l Habits of use
l Brand loyalty
l Attitude toward a product
l Shopping place

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 Targeting

After the market has been divided into

segments, the marketer will select a segment
or several segments and 'target' it/them.
The core target represents the customers or
prospects that the company wants to focus on
in priority.

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Positioning

A product’s position should highlight the main

benefits associated with the product that allow it
to occupy a special place in the consumers’
minds relative to competing products.

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Sources of volume

The sources of volume refer to the products

that a given product is likely to replace:
l Other products sold by the company
l e.g. a product at the decline stage on its life-cycle
l Competitors’ products belonging to the same
category
l Other categories of products

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 Driving elements of the mix

These are the main elements of the mix that

will enable the company to achieve its
objectives.
One or two driving elements should be
selected.

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III. Marketing-mix

3.1. Product policy

3.2. Price policy
3.3. Distribution policy
3.4. Communication policy

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Marketing-mix

l Objectives
l Actions
l Justifications

should be specified for each part of the

marketing mix.

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 Product policy

l Main objectives
l Increase product quality
l Increase occasions of use
l Increase purchasing rate
l Conquer customers and build customer loyalty

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Product policy

l Main actions
l Define product line
l width and depth
l Define physical attributes (size, design,
composition), symbolic attributes (branding,
colors) and product-support services (guarantee,
after-sales service)
l Define packaging

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Price policy

l Main objectives
l Profit maximization
l Sales maximization
l Build an image
l Maximize sales of a specific product line

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 Price policy

l Main actions
l Adjust to competitors’ prices
l Suggest market-skimming pricing
l Choose market-penetration pricing
l Develop promotions

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Distribution policy

l Main objectives
l Optimize geographic coverage
l Improve quality of distribution
l Minimize distribution costs

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Distribution policy

l Main actions
l Choose between intensive, selective or exclusive
distribution
l Select number of intermediaries
l direct, short or long distribution channel
l Select sales surface type
l supermarkets and hypermarkets, department stores
etc.
l Develop relationships with distributors
l Suggest merchandising actions
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 Communication policy

Main objectives
l Develop brand awareness
l Develop brand
reputation/attractiveness
l Make customers buy

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Communication policy

Main actions
l Commercial communication
l Institutional communication
l Communication in major media
l press, television, radio, cinema, poster-media
l Other communication tools
l direct marketing, sales promotion, sponsorship, public
relations, event management

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Conclusion

The conclusion should evaluate the marketing

plan ’s chances of success and present a
budget with an agenda for all the planned
actions.

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 Further readings

KOTLER, P. and KELLER, K. L. (2016), Marketing

Management, 3th edition, Harlow, Pearson Education.
KOTLER, P. and ARMSTRONG, G. (2011), Principles of
Marketing, 14th edition, Harlow, Pearson Education.

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