STRATEGIC MARKETING PLANNING AND CONTROL

Strategic Planning - The process of establishing an organizational mission and formulating

goals, corporate strategy, marketing objectives, marketing strategy, and a marketing plan

Marketing Strategy - A strategy for identifying and analyzing a target market and developing
a marketing mix to meet the needs of that market
Marketing Plan - A written document that specifies the activities to be performed to
implement and control an organization’s marketing activities
Assessing Organizational Resources and Opportunities
Core Competencies - Things a firm does extremely well (strengths), which sometimes give
it an advantage over its competition eg McDonald’s consistent delivery of fast food,
Starbuck’s gourmet coffee drinks, BMW’s production of sporty, luxury automobiles
 Financial and human resources
 Reputation, goodwill, and brand names
Market Opportunity - A combination of circumstances and timing that permits an
organization to reach a target market
 Core competencies are matched to opportunities
 Strategic windows—temporary periods of optimal fit between the key requirements of
a market and the particular capabilities of a firm
Competitive Advantage - The result of a company’s matching a core competency (superior
skill or resources) to opportunities in the marketplace: Manufacturing, technical, Marketing
skills
Establishing Organizational Mission and Goals
Mission Statement - A long-term view, or vision, of what the organization wants to become
mission statement answers two questions: Who are our customers? What is our core
competency?
Corporate Identity: Unique Symbols, Personalities, Philosophie
Benefits
 Provides a clear purpose and
direction that keeps the organization
on track
 Distinguishes the organization from
competing organizations
 Provides direction for strategic
planning, Fosters a marketing
orientation

Organizational goals
 are derived from the mission statement.
 provide focus for the end results (attainment of goals) the organization seeks.
 Short-term goals addressing immediate competitive necessities
 Long-term goals for achieving sustainable competitive advantage

Marketing Objective - A statement of what is to be accomplished through marketing

activities to match strengths to opportunities, or to provide for the conversion of weaknesses
to strengths
 Should be stated in clear, simple terms
 Should be accurately measurable
 Should specify a time frame for accomplishment
 Should be consistent with business-unit and corporate strategy
Developing Corporate and Business-Unit Strategies
Corporate Strategy - A strategy that determines the means for utilizing resources in the
various functional areas to reach the organization’s goals
 Determines the scope of the business
 Guides its resource deployment
 Identifies its competitive advantages
 Provides overall coordination of functional areas
Issues Impacting on Corporate Strategy Development
 Corporate culture, Competition, Differentiation, Diversification, Interrelationships among
business units, Environment concerns and social issues

Strategic Business Unit (SBU) - A division, product line, or other profit center within a
parent company
Portfolio Analysis - Classification of the individual performance capabilities of each of the
SBUs in the firm’s portfolio to determine the proper allocation of scarce resources among
those divisions
Market - A group of individuals and/or organizations that have needs for products in a
product class and have the ability, willingness, and authority to purchase those products
Market Share - The percentage of a market that actually buys a specific product from a
particular company
Market-Growth/Market-Share Matrix - A strategic planning tool based on the philosophy
that a product’s market growth rate and market share are important in determining marketing
strategy
factors determining SBU/product’s position within a matrix: Product-market growth rate,
Relative market share

BCG Classification
 Star—high growth market, dominant market share
requires additional resources for continued growth
 Cash cow—low growth, dominant market share
generates surplus resources for allocation to other
SBUs
 Dog—low/declining market, subordinate market
share. has diminished prospects and represents a
drain on the portfolio
 Question mark—high growth market, low market share represents a high-risk/cost
opportunity requiring a large commitment of resources to build market share

Growth Strategies for Business Units

Intensive Growth
 Growth occurring when current products and current markets have the potential for
increasing sales
 Market penetration: increasing sales of current products in current markets
 Market development: increasing sales of current product in new markets
 Product development: increasing sales by improving present products or developing new
products for current markets

Diversified Growth
 Growth occurring when new products are developed to be sold in new markets
 Advantage of diversified growth is the spread of risk across a number of markets
 Diversification allows for a wider use of managerial, technical, and financial resources

Developing a Marketing Strategy

Target Market Selection
 Defining/understanding the target market
by focusing on specific profitable customer
groups/market segments.
 recognizing changes occurring in the
market.
Creating the Marketing Mix
 Analyze customer needs, preferences, and behavior
 Have the skills and resources required for product design, pricing, distribution, and
promotion
 Maintain strategic consistency and flexibility in marketing mix decisions
Marketing Planning - The process of assessing opportunities and resources, determining
objectives, defining strategies, and establishing guidelines for implementation and control of
the marketing program
planning time periods
 Short-range: one year or less
 Moderate-range: one to five years
 Long-range: more than five years
The Marketing Planning Cycle
1. Assessment of marketing opportunities and resources
2. Development or revision of marketing objectives relative to performance
3. Revision or formulation of marketing s trategy
4. Development or revision of the plan for implementation and control
5. Implementation of marketing plan
Benefits of Planning
 Provides the basis for internal communication among employees
 Defines the assignment of responsibilities and tasks and sets the schedules for
implementation
 Presents objectives and specifies resource allocations
 Helps in monitoring and evaluating the performance of the marketing strategy

Components of the Marketing Plan

Executive Summary
 A synopsis of the entire marketing plan
 Introduction, major plan aspects, implementation costs
Environmental Analysis
 Marketing environment - Competitive, economic, political, legal and regulatory,
technological, and sociocultural factors
 Target market(s) – Current and anticipated market/customer needs
 Current marketing objectives and performance - Consistency of objectives with
marketing environment
SWOT Analysis - An assessment of the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
and threats
 Strengths—competitive advantages or core competencies
 Weaknesses—limitations on competitive capability
 Opportunities—favorable conditions in the environment
 Threats—conditions or barriers to reaching objectives
Marketing Objectives - A statement of what is to be accomplished through marketing
activities that match strengths to opportunities, and provide for the conversion of weaknesses
to strengths
 Stated in clear, simple terms
 Should be accurately measurable
 Specify a time frame for accomplishment
 Consistent with business-unit and corporate strategy
Marketing Strategies - A description of how the firm will achieve its marketing objectives
and manage its relationship with its customers to gain advantage over the competition
 Choice of target market
 Development of the marketing mix
 Sustainable competitive advantage
 An advantage that the competition cannot copy that is the intended result of the successful
implementation of the marketing plan
Marketing Implementation
 Specific actions and activities that will be taken to carry out the marketing strategy
 Activities, responsibilities, costs, schedules/timetables
Evaluation and Control
 Defines how the success of the plan will be measured
 Sets performance standards and variance correction measures
 Financial monitoring procedures and controls (audits)
Using the Marketing Plan
 Putting effort and creative thought into the plan is essential.
 Having a good marketing information system is critical.
 Exercising sound managerial judgment is necessary.
 Following the plan while maintaining adaptive flexibility in adjusting to changing market
environment conditions is required.