4.2 Marketing planning Flashcards
Marketing planning
The process of formulating appropriate strategies and preparing marketing actives to meet marketing objectives
What are the main elements of a marketing plan?
Details of the company’s (SMART) marketing objectives
Sales forecasts to allow the progress of the plan to be monitored
Marketing budget
Marketing strategies to be adopted to achieve the marketing objectives
Detailed action plans showing the marketing tactics to be used to implement the strategies
Role of marketing planning
Focus to the work of the marketing department and a road map of the stages to be taken
Marketing strategies linked to SMART objectives will increase the likelihood of the marketing campaign’s success
Budget should be planned in advance with the finance department and should be adequate to achieve the campaign’s objectives
Achieve integration of different burins functions as all departments will need to be involved in the planning process
Planning ahead helps to ensure that the marketing mix is appropriate and fully integrated
Limitations of marketing planning
Plans that are not revised to meet changing internal or external conditions will become outdated
Plans are insufficient on their own
Need to be based on an up to date assessment of the market and consumer preferences
Marketing mix
The key decisions the must be taken in the effective marketing of a product
What is the marketing mix made of?
The 4 ps
What are the 4 Ps?
Product
Price
Promotion
Place
Product
Consumers require the right good or service. This might be an existing product, an adoption of an existing product or a newly developed one
Price
If set too low, consumers may lose confidence in the product’s quality, if too high, then many will be unable to afford it
Promotion
Must be effective and targeted at the appropriate market - telling consumers about the product’s availability and convincing them that your brand is the one to choose.
Place
Refers to how the product is distributed to the consume. If it is not available at the right time in the right place, then even the best product in the world will not be bought in the quantities expected
Coordinated marketing mix
Key marketing decisions complement each other and work together to give customers a consistent message about the product
Market segment
A sub groups of a market made up of consumers with similar characteristics, tastes and preferences
Target market
The market segment that a particular product is aimed at
Market segmentation
Identifying different segments within a market and targeting different products or services to them
Consumer profile
A quantified picture of consumers of a firm’s products showing proportions of age groups, income levels, location, gender and social class
What are the main characteristics for consumer profile?
Income levels
Age
Gender
Social class
Region
What are the 3 commonly used bases for segmentation?
Geographic differences - geographic areas
Demographic differences - age, sex, family size, ethnicity
Psychographic factors - lifestyle, personalities, values, attitudes
Advantages of market segmentation
Define their target market precisely
Identify gaps in the market
Selling specifically reduces spending of money
Small firms unable to compete in the whole market
Price discrimination can be used to increase revenue
Limitations of market segmentation
Different advertisements need costs might be high
Stock gliding costs higher as there is more than one product
Specialisation can lead to problems if consumers change their purchasing habits
Niche market
A small and specific part of a larger market
Niche marketing
Identifying and exploiting a small segment of a larger market by segment of a larger market by developing products to suit it
Mass market
A market for products that are often standardised and sold in large quantities
Mass marketing
Selling the same products to the whole market with no attempt to target groups within it
Advantages of niche marketing
Small firms may be able to survive and thrive in markets dominated by large firms
Used by large firms to create status and image
Advantages of mass marketing
Small market niches do not allow economises of to be achieved
Mass market strategies run fewer risks than niche strategies.
Product position map or perception map
A graph that analyses consumer perceptions of each of a group of competing products in respect of two product characteristics
When and why is a product position map used?
After a market has been segmented and a target market is identified. A business then has to position its product to other brands in the market in the minds of consumers.
First stage of product position map.
Identify the features of this type of product considered to be important to consumers.
Might be price, quality of materials used, perceived image, level of comfort offered.
Second stage of product position map.
Position each of the competitions products on the graph according to consumer’s perceptions of them .
How can the product positioning map be used?
Identify potential gaps in the market.
Identify the sector with the greatest niche potential the marketing manager is then made aware of the key feature of the product that should be promoted most heavily.
Unique selling point
A factor that differentiates a product from its competitors, such as the lowest cost, the highest quality or the first ever product of its kind.
A USP could be thought of as ‘what you have that competitors don’t’
What can a USP be based on?
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
How can an organisation differentiate themselves from competitors?
Low prices
Trust
Ethical stance
Convenience
Product features
