Marketing Plan

BM - Business Marketing
Advance Summer
FINAL PROJECT REQUIREMENT
IMPROVING YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE

A Marketing Plan is a written strategy for selling the

products/services of a new business. It is a reflection of how
serious a company is in meeting the competition head on, with
strategies and plans to increase market share and attract
customers. An effective Marketing Plan is backed by carefully
collected market, consumer and competitor information,
sometimes citing professional advice.
 Why Prepare a Marketing Plan?
A good Marketing Plan will help you to improve your odds against
more experienced competitors and newly emerging ones. The Plan
enables you to recognize and take action on any trends and
consumer preferences that other companies have overlooked, and to
develop and expand your own select group of loyal customers now
and into the future.
The Plan also shows to others that you have carefully considered
how to produce a product that is innovative, unique and
marketable_x0002_improving your chances of stable sales and profits -
reasons for
investors to financially back you.
 Elements of the Marketing Plan
(Outline)
1. Executive Summary
2. Company Description
3. Market Overview
4. Marketing Objectives
5. Market Analysis
6. Marketing Strategies (4P’s)
7. Action Programmes
8. Budgets
9. Appendices
 The Executive Summary

• This will be the first page of your report, but....

• .... This will be the last part you will complete
• The executive summary will be a “Cole’s
Notes” version of your entire report
– It will include highlights from the entire report
• A one page summary of your marketing plan
• Includes your mission & goals for your
product/service
 Company Description
• This will be the section of the marketing plan that
will introduce your product/service and explain
what you are selling
• You will introduce your
– Company & Brand Name
– Your Team Members
• Titles & Responsibilities
• A full description of your product/service and
what needs/wants are being satisfied
• A brief introduction to you target market
 Market Overview

• This section can also be titled “Competitor Analysis”

• Your group will analyze the market that you are
about to enter
– Who are your competitors (indirect/direct)
• You will analyze each competitor (weaknesses &
Strengths)
• Explain how you are going to position your
product/service compared to your competition
 Market Overview
• Target market:
In one or two sentences, summarize the key statistics for your
target market. This may include the size and growth potential of your
market, as well as key demographics such as age, gender, income level
etc.
• Customer profile:
What’s the profile of an ideal customer for your business? In
one or two sentences, clearly define your ideal customer - their needs,
buying patterns and motivations for buying.
• Competitor profile:
What’s the profile of a typical competitor for your business?
What marketing mix do they use? Have you identified any gaps in their
marketing strategy?
 Marketing Objectives

Goals/objectives:
• Be specific about what it is that you want your marketing
plan to accomplish. Your objectives may be financial,
with a goal to increase sales, or marketing focused to
build awareness of your product or service.
• An effective (and accountable) way to define your
marketing objectives is to follow the ‘SMART’ acronym
(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely).
 Market Analysis
• This section will include a lot of information from yourmarket
research
• What demographics were considered and ultimately, what
segment of the population did you chose for your target
market and why?
• In a newly emerging and growing market (the best scenario),
differentiate yourself from new competitors. Show how you expect to
become a major market shareholder, using a new approach to the
marketplace and utilizing the latest technology. Identify the older
methods of generating your product/service being challenged by
your business' approach.
 Market Analysis
• In your market analysis focus is on key areas like industry wide
sales performance. Acknowledge whysales (as a whole) may be
declining. Look to national and provincial averages, citing reasons
for poorperformance. Reasons can be both external to aparticular
businesses operations, or internal to the way
the business operates. People called "industryanalysts" have
developed a way of determining thecauses of business failures,
focusing on the direction
newly emerging business can take to realize success. Reference
these professionals.
 Market Analysis

• Your focus should also turn to the local scene,

since local markets may or may not follow the
greater industry trend for various reasons.
Compare the local situation to the national
and provincial averages; the trends in sales,
and the estimated total market that can be
reached by local companies.
 Marketing Strategies (4P’s)

• You will take the reader through the Marketing Mix

– Product, Price, Place, and Promotion (4 P’s)
for your product/service completely
• This will be the longest section of your report by far
 Marketing Strategies (4P’s)

Product
• A description of the product/service that your
group has created
• Details on the product design, package,
contents, etc.
• How is your product/service unique
– What is your Competitive Advantage over the
competition
 Marketing Strategies (4P’s)

Product
• Identify each service and product specifically. For
product, identify in terms of name, trademark, color, shape,
and other characteristic, including packaging and labeling.
• Describe product lines, and new products/services
that will be introduced.
• Give the price you plan to charge for each product/service
 Marketing Strategies (4P’s)

Price
– How are you choosing to price your product/service
– What strategies are you implementing
• Market Skimming, Psychological Pricing, etc.
– Review product/service costs for accuracy including all
variable and fixed expenses.
– What do you expect your Break-Even # to be?
 Marketing Strategies (4P’s)

Place (Distribution)
• Where will your product/service be available to your
consumers?
• What distribution strategy will you employ?
– Direct, Online, Wholesale, etc. • Identify need for
warehousing of products and for
distribution channels if not sold direct to buyer. • Are there
any distribution concerns that your group has
to consider?
 Marketing Strategies (4P’s)
Advertising and Promotional Campaign
• You are required to come up with an advertising campaign (not just one advertisement)
– This will include a print advertisement and possible other
advertisements (TV and radio commercials, billboards, etc)
• What promotions will you employ?
– Free Samples, sales, coupons, etc.
• How will you manage your PR?
– Sponsorships, charities, events, etc.
• What trends will you take advantage of?
– Green, Social Networking, Brand Engagement
• What will be your logo and slogan?
– Why do you feel these are good for your marketing
communications
 Marketing Strategies (4P’s)

Advertising and Promotional Campaign

• Take the reader through your choice of media
– Why specific media was chosen
• Explain the benefits of your advertising and
promotional campaigns
• Explain the reasoning for the content of your
advertisements
– Consumer Motivation, Buying Process
 Action Programmes

• The action plan lists and prioritizes all the

marketing strategies and activities you have identified.
• For example, having business cards printed will be
a top priority in your marketing action plan.
• Your action plan will include at least a yearlong
schedule of activities. Having a time frame for the
completion of each activity is quite important.
 Budgets
• A projected profit-and-loss statement that forecasts the
expected financial outcomes from the plan. • Action plans allow the manager to
make a supporting marketing budget that is essentially a projected profit and
loss
statement. For revenues, it shows the forecast unit sales and the average net
price. On the expense side, it shows the cost of production, physical distribution
and marketing. The difference is the projected profit. Higher management will
review the budget and either approve or modify it. Once approved, the budget is
the basis for materials buying,
production scheduling, personnel planning and marketing operations. Budgeting
can be very difficult and budgeting methods range from simple ‘rules of thumb’
to complex
computer models.
 Appendices
• The last section of the marketing plan will be the
appendices
• This section will include any pictures/objects that
are not in text form for you to refer to in the
actual written report
• Things like:
– Charts, Graphs, Position Maps, Logos, Advertisements,
Story Boards, Surveys, Product Designs, Packaging
Specs, Mathematical Calculations, etc.
 FORMAT
• Guidelines:
– Tandem (2 members)
– Double Space the Report
– Reference any material from books/internet
– Put every Section Under Headings
– Include a Title Page (please follow the standard format
of the Graduate School Dept.)
– Include a Table of Contents
– Include Acknowledgment
– Include paging (bottom portion, right side)
 The Marketing Plan

Format:
• Short Bond Paper
• Font style – Arial
• Font size – 12
Date of Submission: July 25, 2020 up until 11:59PM