Chapter # 4

Chapter # 4
The Marketing Audit

Prof. Farooq Qaisar UCP Faisalabad.

Introduction

Prof. Farooq Qaisar UCP Faisalabad.

 Introduction
• Any planning process needs to be framed within the
context of the planner’s present circumstances.
• Knowing where we are enables us to plan for where
we are going: without this vital information, we
cannot make realistic decisions.
• Marketing audit that sets out to examine what the
company’s current marketing situation is.
• The marketing audit is therefore an important
platform in developing the company’s forward
planning.

Prof. Farooq Qaisar UCP Faisalabad.

 Elements of Audit
• The marketing audit is a comprehensive review of the organization's
strategies, tactics, objectives, performance and activities.
• The purpose is to provide managers with a complete overview of the
organization's current position – a ‘snapshot’ view – so that they can
plan for moving the organization forward.
• Infact, the audit evaluates the organization's effectiveness in terms
of the 4Ps/7Ps of the extended marketing mix .
• The audit is pivotal to the marketing planning process and supports
decision making relating to strategic and tactical resource allocation
in marketing.
• The marketing audit broadly has two components, external and
internal, although it is commonly sub-divided into a number of
elements.

Prof. Farooq Qaisar UCP Faisalabad.

Prof. Farooq Qaisar UCP Faisalabad.
Prof. Farooq Qaisar UCP Faisalabad.
Prof. Farooq Qaisar UCP Faisalabad.
 Practicalities of Undertaking a Marketing
Audit
• The timing of an audit depends on a number of factors, including the type of
business, the length of the planning cycle and the rapidity of environmental
change.
• In fast-moving markets it is probably better to have more frequent audits than
when there is a relatively stable set of market conditions.
• If the organization has an annual planning cycle, the audit will take place in
sequence with this, or alternatively over some other time period.
• It is particularly helpful to have a standard approach to auditing as
comparisons can be made with previous periods.
• A common set of stages includes: the pre-audit, information collection, data
analysis, recommendations and an implementation programme.
• The findings of the audit go forward to the next stage of the marketing
planning process, and the more rigorous the audit systems in place, the better
the basis will be for forward planning.
Prof. Farooq Qaisar UCP Faisalabad.
 Effective Marketing Audit needs;
• Comprehensive: covers all the main elements;
• Systematic: conducted in a structured and
logical manner;
• Independent: undertaken by someone who is
unbiased and will be honest in their assessment
of the situation;
• Periodic: carried out at regular intervals, not just
when there is a problem with marketing in the
organization.
Prof. Farooq Qaisar UCP Faisalabad.
 Class Activity
A case study by

Thomson Holidays

Page # 76

Prof. Farooq Qaisar UCP Faisalabad.