Introducing the Marketing Plan The Marketing Plan A marketing plan details actions necessary to achieve one or more specified objectives essential to selling a product or service. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Compare the differences between a marketing, strategic and business plan KEY TAKEAWAYS Key Points Every marketing plan is written and devised for a specific, well defined target audience, such as employees, stakeholders or collaborators. An organization’s marketing planning strategy is derived… Read More »Introducing the Marketing Plan

GE Approach The GE / McKinsey matrix is a model used to assess the strength of a strategic business unit (SBU) of a corporation. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Review the definition of the GE Approach and its uses KEY TAKEAWAYS Key Points The GE matrix analyzes market attractiveness and competitive strength to determine the overall strength of an SBU. External factors of market attractiveness that affect a business include market size, market… Read More »GE Approach to Strategic Planning

BCG Matrix The purpose of the BCG Matrix is to determine investment priorities for a company with a portfolio of products/BUs. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Demonstrate the criteria and use of the BCG Matrix KEY TAKEAWAYS Key Points According to the BCG Matrix, there are four different possible outcomes for a BU: cash cow, dog, question mark, or star. According to the principles behind the BCG Matrix, as an industry grows, all… Read More »BCG Matrix

Market Development Market development targets non-buying customers in currently targeted segments. It also targets new customers in new segments in order to expand the potential market. New users can be defined as: new geographic, demographic, institutional, or psychographic segments. Another way is to expand sales through new uses for the product. Before developing a new market, companies should think about the following: Is it profitable? Will it require the introduction… Read More »Market Development

Market Penetration This occurs when a company infiltrates a market in which current products already exist. The best way to achieve this is by gaining the customers of competitors. Other ways include attracting non-users of your product or convincing current clients to use more of your product. The penetration that brands and products have can be recorded by companies such as ACNielsen and TNS who offer panel measurement services to… Read More »Market Penetration

Strategic Views Ansoff Opportunity Matrix The Ansoff Opportunity Matrix describes a company’s possible growth opportunities with current as well as new markets and products. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Demonstrate how the Ansoff Opportunity Matrix, using market and product data, creates growth strategies for corporations KEY TAKEAWAYS Key Points The four basic growth possibilities according the the Ansoff Matrix are market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification. Each growth opportunity has a… Read More »Strategic Views

Multiple Sources of Advantage One of the main goals of marketing planning and strategy is to produce multiple sources of competitive advantage in the marketplace. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Illustrate the types of corporate competitive strategies KEY TAKEAWAYS Key Points Competitive sources of advantage include pricing, operational efficiency, digital presence and employee talent. Sellers must assess factors including business objectives, target audience and market conditions before choosing the competitive strategy most appropriate… Read More »marketing planning and strategy is to produce multiple sources

Strategic Business Units A strategic business unit is a semi-autonomous corporate unit that focuses on a product offering and market segment. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Diagram the role and functionality of a strategic business unit (SBU) KEY TAKEAWAYS Key Points An SBU is a semi-autonomous unit that is usually responsible for its own budgeting, new product decisions, hiring decisions, and price setting. An SBU may be a business unit within a larger… Read More »Strategic Business Units

Customer Excellence Obtaining customer feedback to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty is essential to any marketing plan or strategic planning process. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Identify ways to gather customer information in order to achieve customer excellence KEY TAKEAWAYS Key Points Indirectly tracking customer attitudes and satisfaction can indicate the organization’s longer-term performance. Firms can track customer satisfaction through market research, lost business and customer complaints. Simpler methods of obtaining customer attitudes… Read More »Customer satisfaction and loyalty is essential to any marketing plan

The Strategic Planning Process Sustainable Competitive Advantage Competitive advantage is gained when a firm acquires attributes that allow it to perform at a higher level than others in the same industry. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Demonstrate the ideology behind a sustainable competitive advantage from a marketing perspective KEY TAKEAWAYS Key Points Firms can obtain a competitive advantage by implementing value-creating strategies, not simultaneously being implemented by any current competitor. These strategies need… Read More »Marketing Strategies and Planning Process