Explain the Nature and Contents of a Marketing Plan

Nature and Contents of a Marketing Plan

To ensure growth and survival the firm is always seeking and analyzing market opportunities.  New products and markets must be found and old ones eliminated as needed.  The internal resources of the firm must be assessed in response to changing environmental conditions.  There are at least eight (8) planning documents that require marketing input:

1)      Corporate Plan – overall plan for the business

2)      Divisional Plan – plan for growth and profitability of a section of the business

3)      Product-line Plan – objectives, strategies and tactics for a group of products

4)      Product Plan

5)      Brand Plan

6)      Market Plan

7)      Product/market Plan

8)      Functional Plan

The firm should first define the mission of the organization.   This helps to determine what business you are in (should be in), who your customers are (target market), and what are their needs.

Large companies are involved in a number of different businesses each arranged into a strategic business unit (SBU).  A SBU is a single business or a collection of related businesses that can be planned separately from the rest of the company, has its own competitors, and a manager who is responsible for planning and profits.

Since firms may operate several businesses, identify what business you are in, in terms of customer needs (these endure) and not in terms of products (as these are transient).  Levitt (in Marketing Myopia)  notes that you must not be too narrow or too broad.  Firms define their business in order to manage them strategically.

To do this view the three dimensions that define the firm’s business:

(1)   Customer Groups (target market)

(2)   Customer needs

(3)   Technology

Managing the firm can involve viewing it as an investment portfolio.  This allows managers to deal with business entities in deciding if to Build (??), maintain (*), Phase Down, or Terminate.  These decisions affect resource allocation.