marketing planning

• Marketing planning

  A process of setting objectives and determining strategies to achieve them
• Marketing planning process

  1. Set objectives

  2. Determine strategies to achieve objectives
• Marketing plan

  A document that records the objectives and strategies to achieve marketing goals
• Elements of a marketing plan

  • Marketing mix or 4Ps
  • 7Ps
  • Market research methods
  • Segmentation and targeting
  • Positioning
  • Marketing budget (from 3.9)
  • Control tools
  • Marketing audit
• Marketing planning is a reflective and cyclical process, not a one-time exercise
• Marketing cycle


  A series of reflective actions businesses take to maintain the reflective nature of marketing planning
• Role of marketing planning

  • Reduces risk
  • Fosters interdepartmental coordination
  • Serves as a motivator
• Limitations of marketing planning

  • No guarantee of success
  • Time-consuming and costly
  • Can bureaucratise the organisation
• Market segmentation

  The process of dividing customers into groups with similar characteristics
• Types of segmentation


  • Demographic
  • Psychographic
  • Geographic
• Market targeting


  The process of selecting the relevant market segment to sell to
• Types of targeting


  • Undifferentiated (mass)
  • Differentiated (segmented)
  • Concentrated (niche)
• Consumer profiling


  The process of describing the ideal customer
• Positioning


  The process of presenting a product or brand in a specific way to create a desired customer perception
• Product perception map (PPM)


  A visual tool that outlines perceptions of different brands or products based on two characteristics
• Positioning

  What businesses do to create the desired customer perception of their brand or product
• Positioning examples

  • Mercedes - expensive, luxury, VIP
  • Volkswagen - different vibe
• The perfect PPM should be based on customer perceptions, not what businesses think about themselves
• PPM

  • Usually has price and quality as the two axes
  • Can divide products/brands into 4 categories: premium, cowboy, bargain, economy
• Businesses can be creative and use unique axes for the PPM, not just price and quality
• Niche market


  A very specifically and narrowly defined group of customers
• Mass market


  A very unspecific and broadly defined group of potential customers
• Businesses don't have to choose between niche or mass market, they can do both
• Unique Selling Point (USP)

  A special feature that helps a product/brand stand out among competitors
• Differentiation

  The process of using a USP to help a business stand out among competitors
• USP and differentiation are closely related but not the same - USP is a feature, differentiation is the process