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FACT SHEET
24
Preparing a Marketing Plan
This fact sheet focuses on the standard model of marketing planning
endorsed by several writers in the field. The model contains formalised
procedures, although the degree to which these are followed will depend
on the culture and requirements of the organisation.

The discipline of marketing planning has been widely debated. Depending

on their standpoint, academics have defended the standard textbook
model or proposed alternative versions. McDonald, one of the principal
writers in the field, in his article Ten barriers to marketing planning,
acknowledges that "marketing planning is still the most enigmatic of all
the problems facing management."

Definition

"Marketing planning is simply a logical sequence and a series of activities

leading to the setting of marketing objectives and the formulation of
plans for achieving them." McDonald, as above.

Advantages of formalised procedures

They encourage a rational approach to making business decisions

Everyone follows the same strategy thus reducing potential conflicts,
misunderstandings and operational difficulties
They allow senior management to set out marketing strategy while
leaving the day-to-day implementation to junior management
They help to highlight areas you might otherwise miss

Disadvantages of formalised procedures

They form a complex process which needs basic knowledge and skills
They are time consuming and therefore costly to construct and follow
There is a loss of flexibility for firms composed of small business units
They can tend to take over and become an end in themselves

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Action checklist

1. Set strategic objectives

These have been traditionally set by top management although current

practice is to employ more democratic processes involving the key
stakeholders if not all the staff. They are not usually within the brief of
the market planner alone. They must be kept firmly in mind and the
strategies and action plans drawn up must be broadly in line with them.
The market planning process can't go forward without them. The written
plan should include a copy of the strategic objectives and the
organisation's mission statement.

2. Carry out a marketing audit

This process enables a company to analyse and understand the

environment in which it operates. It is the key to the SWOT analysis, the
next stage in the marketing planning process. It is carried out in two
parts: the external audit and the internal audit. The external audit should
cover the business and economic environment, the market and the
competition; this should examine the important trends which have
affected and which will be affecting the market and the industry. It also
involves searching questions about competitors and customers, now and
in the future. The internal audit should concentrate on the planner's own
company, its operational efficiency and service effectiveness, its key
skills, competences and resources, its products / services and the 'core'
business it is in.

3. Carry out a SWOT analysis

This is a summary of the audit under the headings Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and should be included in the
final written plan. Strengths and weaknesses refer to the company and
its internal environment while opportunities and threats are external
factors over which the company has no control but which it must
anticipate, evaluate and try to exploit. Only key data should be included.
(There is a related checklist on SWOT analysis in this series.)

4. Make assumptions

These assumptions are the strategic drivers of the marketing plan and
they may relate to economic, technological or competitive factors.
Assumptions should be based on accurate information and sensible
estimates of what can be achieved in the light of past performance.

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Sound information is problematic because the pace of change is making
the future discontinuous from the past. Coming up with viable and
challenging assumptions involves creative, lateral thinking and breaking
with the past. Only a few major assumptions should be included in the
written plan.

5. Set marketing objectives

This is the central step in the marketing planning process because the
setting of achievable and realistic objectives is based on the analysis of
the marketing audit, while strategy decisions cannot be made without
reference to objectives. Marketing objectives are concerned with which
products are to be sold in which markets: it is important not to confuse
objectives (what you want to do) with strategies (how you are going to
do it). The objectives should be included in the written plan.

6. Estimate expected results

Marketing objectives should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable,

Realistic and Time-tabled. For example, "to gain a 6% share of the
overall market" or "to achieve 600 customers by the end of the year".
Terms such as "increase" or "maximise" should not be used unless they
can be quantified.

7. Generate marketing strategies

These are the broad methods by which the marketing objectives will be
achieved and they describe the means of doing so within the required
time. They are generally referred to as the marketing mix or as the four
Ps: Product - what are its benefits to the customer; Price - how it is
priced to attract the right, or the appropriate customer base; Place - who
are those customers; Promotion - how may they be reached. They should
appear in the written plan.

8. Define programmes

The general strategies must be developed so that they have their own
programmes or action plans. The combination of these plans and their
relative importance will depend on the company. A large company with
several different functions or departments may have several plans
covering advertising, sales promotion, pricing and so on. Other
companies may have one plan, for example, a product plan embracing all
four Ps. Details of the programmes should be included in the written plan.

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9. Communicate the plan

Everyone should understand the plan. It is advisable to make a

presentation of it rather than to circulate written copies. If the plan is not
effectively communicated, it will fail.

10. Measure and review progress

The plan should be monitored as it progresses. Make sure the measures

you collect are meaningful to the success of the plan. If circumstances
change, it should be revised to take advantage of unforeseen
opportunities or to counter unforeseen threats. Details of how this should
be done need to be included in the written plan and should relate directly
to stages 4-9 above.

Dos and don'ts for marketing planning

Do

Be clear on the organisation's strategic objectives

Adjust the plan to suit the size, culture and circumstances of the
organisation
Consult on and communicate the plan
Be aware that it is a time-consuming exercise

Don't

Confuse objectives (what you want to achieve) with strategies (how

you are trying to achieve them)
Neglect to analyse information carefully and spend too long on
projecting future markets from historical data
Forget the plan is a means to achieve objectives, not a rigid control
mechanism
Let the planners alter the shape of the objectives

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Useful reading

Books

Successful Marketing Plans in a Week

Ros Jay
London: Headway, 1997

Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them 3rd ed.
Malcolm H B McDonald
Oxford: Heinemann Professional, 1995

The Marketing Plan: A Practitioner's Guide

John Westwood
London: Kogan Page, 1990

The 12 Day Marketing Plan: Construct a Marketing Programme

That Really Works in Less Than Two Weeks
James C Makens
Wellingborough: Thorsons, 1989

Journal Articles

Ten Barriers to Marketing Planning

Malcolm H B McDonald
Journal of Marketing Management, vol 5 no 1, Summer 1989, pp1-18

Marketing Plans or Marketing Planning?

Laura Cousins
Business Strategy Review, Vol 2 no 2, Summer 1991, pp35-54

Marketing Planning: Observations on Current Practices and

Recent Studies
Tom Griffin
European Journal of Marketing, Vol 23 no 12, 1989, pp21-35

Related management thinker

Theodore Levitt

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Thought starters

Is your marketing unsystematic, opportunistic, haphazard or initiative-

led?
Have you set measurable market targets in the past?
Are your marketing objectives and tactics known and co-ordinated
throughout the organisation?
Do you really know what your customers think of you?
Is your market stable, and your market position secure?

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