Marketing Plan

Marketing Plan Executive Summary

Marketing Objectives What image does your product have in the eyes of the consumer? What marketing channels will you use to offer your product? How will your current customers react to a new product offering?

Products or Services

Describe products, product lines, and auxiliary services Is the product a good, a service, or more commonly, a combination of the two? What are the product’s benefits?

Resources Needed

Technological, financial and human resources needed to execute plan Costs associated with these resources Who is responsible for covering these

costs?

Resources in place or will they be obtained?

Projected Outcomes

Briefly describe the projected outcomes of marketing efforts Payback period? ROI? When will proposed e-marketing plan

produce a profit? Short term and the long term

objectives?

Company Description

Overview of the companyOverview of the product linesOverview of the overall marketing strategy

Strategic Focus and Plan

Mission/VisionGoalsCore Competency

Situation Analysis: Internal Factors

Strengths and Weaknesses:ManagementOfferings MarketingPersonnelFinanceEtc.

Situation Analysis: External Factors

Opportunities and ThreatsConsumer/SocialCompetitiveTechnologicalEconomicRegulatory

Situation Analysis: Other

Industry Analysis Competitor AnalysisCompany AnalysisCustomer Analysis

Market – Product Focus

Marketing and Product Objectives Target MarketsPoints of DifferencePositioning

Branding Concepts/Objectives

How to create a brand imageHow to maintain a brand imageHow to be distinct from the other businesses/products

Creating a Brand Image

Brand image that is consistent with what is delivered.Uniqueness of product offering that can be used in branding.Product differentiation in eyes of the consumer.

Maintaining Brand Image/Branding Concerns

How brand will be maintained. How to keep your brand “fresh” in the eyes of the consumer.How to consistently maintain your brand image.

Target Market and Profile

Demographics Psychographics

Geo-demographics Usage and Usage Rate

Demographics

Customer Demographics Income Occupation(s) Gender Age?

Specific and relevant demographic variables that describe target customer

Geo-demographics

Geo-demographics of customer base Areas of the country/world where

these customers are more likely to exist (i.e., Northeast U.S. suburbanites)?

Geographic areas that are more responsive to marketing efforts than others?

Psychographics

Psychographics of customers Customers’ favorite activities,

interests, and opinions (AIO)?

Psychological profile or profiles

Usage and Usage Rate

How often customer uses product or service How often can they be expected to use product or service? Are there different usage rate segments? Are there other possible uses for product or service?

Marketing Program

Product Strategy Price StrategyPromotion StrategyPlace Strategy

Product Strategy

Product ClassCurrent Stage of the Product Life CycleCore & Augmented ProductSupporting services neededWarranty

BrandingPackagingCultural sensitivity of productFit with product line

Price Strategy

Nature of demand Demand/Cost analysisMarkup chain in channelPrice flexibilityPrice levelsAdjustments to list price

Promotion Strategy

Promotion ObjectivesMajor messages/themes for IMCPromotional BlendMix of push and pull requiredWho will do the work?

Place Strategy

Objectives (degree of market exposure)Types of channelsValue chain coordination neededTransportation requirementsInventory/Product handling requirementsFacilities requiredReverse channels (optional)

Distribution Strategies

Intermediary Type Number of Trade Intermediaries

Number of Channels Used

Degree of Channel Integration

Intermediary Functions and Responsibilities

Channel Management

Intermediary Type

Direct to customerTraditional retail format customized for the webVirtual shopping mallsInternet exchanges

Number of Trade Intermediaries

Exclusive distributionSelective distributionIntensive distribution

Number of Channels Used

How many distribution channels?What types?

Degree of Channel Integration

What degree will distribution channels be integrated? Are they discrete? What synergies may be realized through channel integration?

Intermediary Functions and Responsibilities

Define intermediary functions and responsibilities. What intermediaries to do? What are

their boundaries? How to make certain that

intermediaries have clearly defined roles and boundaries?

Channel Management

How to plan to manage channel conflict? Will roles and boundaries be defined by contract?

Data and Projections

Sales Forecasting Method UsedSales dataCostsFinancial projections (pro forma)Financial Information Systems needs

Sales Forecast Summary

For the next fiscal yearSales by quarterSales by monthAssumptions Growth rates or market share

Marketing Budgets

Budgeting Limitations and Assumptions The budgeted amount for launching

and supporting marketing plan Budgeted needed to execute the plan Who will provide the funding? Are there budget assumptions that

have an impact on the execution of the plan (i.e., benchmarks, drop-dead dates, etc.)?

Organization

Use an organizational chart to illustrate how the company is currently organized and the formal chain of command More elaborate plans show the positions to be added as the firm growsAppendix A: Biographical sketches of key personnel

Implementation Plan

People requiredManufacturing, financial and other resources neededTiming Specific sequence of activities and

events

Evaluation and Control

Describe how you will monitor and control the marketing plan once you begin to receive feedbackThe essence of evaluation and control is comparing actual sales with targeted values set in the plan and taking appropriate actions