Chapter 12: Managing The Marketing Process

Question 1

Explain what a marketing plan is

Answer 1

It is a document that includes an assessment of the prevailing marketing situation, marketing objectives, marketing strategy and planned marketing initiatives

Question 2

The outcome of the marketing planning process is _____

Answer 2

a formal marketing plan

Question 3

What is typically contained in a marketing plan

Answer 3

-a n executive summary
- the firm’s description
- the firms mission statement
- a situation analysis, including a SWOT analysis
- the objectives
- the marketing mix strategies
- the financial budget
- the positioning strategy
- the market overview

Question 4

The Foundation of any marketing plan is _____, which answers the question _____

Answer 4

The firm’s mission statement which answers the question, what business are we in.

The mission statement should focus on the market or markets the firm is a tempting to serve rather than the goods or services offered

Question 5

What is a situation analysis

Answer 5

A situation analysis is a process that helps the marketer identify opportunities and potential threats both internal and external to the firm, service for product. It typically leads to understanding the firms mission and objectives and includes conducting a SWOT or a PESTLE analysis

Question 6

What is the purpose of a situation analysis (pg 370)

Answer 6

• to identify the potential drivers of change such as the economy, political development, social changes among customer needs, new legislation and government regulations
• to assess the likely impact of these forces of change on the markets the firm intends to serve
• consider how the firm is positioned to compete successfully in the future

Question 7

Name and explain the acronym PESTLE

Answer 7

• political-legal factors: include any proposed legislation or other regulatory process likely to affect the industry in which the firm competes
• economic indicators: changes to the GDP, the local and global business cycle trends etc.
• socio-cultural factors: include the role of consumers and potential consumers and their behavior focusing on demographic sociological and cultural elements
• technological: refers to the impact of technological changes Society and the industry
• eco environmental: can affect the available and quality of the supply of raw materials, energy supply and costs, government policies concerning factors such as pollution and recycling.

Question 8

What is an industry review

Answer 8

This review includes understanding the market and making certain assumptions and expectations about future market demand, some of the tools to assist in this part of the review are the product life cycle

Question 9

What are the three target market selection strategies

Answer 9

Concentrated strategy, differentiated strategy and undifferentiated strategy

Question 10

The effective formulation of objectives may be expressed in the acronym _____, which refers to what five requirements

Answer 10

SMART.

> specific- does the objective refer to a unique identifiable event

> measurable- can the realizing of the objective be measured

> achievable- is the objective possible given the prevailing business constraints

> relevant- will the realization of the objective support a desired business strategy

> timebound- is there a specific time frame for realizing the objective

Question 11

What are the advantages of having SMART objectives

Answer 11

• they communicate the firm’s marketing management philosophy to all concerned
• they provide direction for management
• they motivate employees
• they force executives to think clearly about what they want to do
• they allow for better evaluation of the actual results

Question 12

What is a marketing mix

Answer 12

It is a group of marketing variables that a firm controls with the intent of implementing a marketing strategy directed at a specific target market, it refers to the combination of the product, place, pricing and promotion strategies or also known as the 4P’s of marketing

Question 13

Explain the 4P’s of marketing

Answer 13

> the product strategy identifies the product and service portfolio including decisions on the products to be offered, packaging, branding and warranties

> the place strategy identifies where, how and when products and services are made available to target consumers

> the pricing strategy refers to decisions such as what a business will charge for its products or services, cost, expenditure and discounting

> the promotion strategy specifies how a firm communicates product or service benefits and value to its target market

Question 14

What is internal marketing

Answer 14

Refers to a strategy when the market offering and brand are communicated to employees (regarded as internal customers) similarly to how they would be communicated to external customers of the firm

Question 15

What is implementation

Answer 15

It involves allocating resources effectively by converting marketing information into marketing actions. During this phase action memos specify who must do what and by when. Time schedules are developed and the specification of activities are part of the marketing mix execution

Question 16

Explain evaluation

Answer 16

After the implementation of a marketing plan it should be evaluated. Evaluation involves assessing the extent to which the marketing objectives have been achieved during the specific time

Question 17

What are the four common reasons for failing to achieve marketing objectives

Answer 17

• unrealistic marketing objectives: objectives are over ambitious and unrealistic
• inappropriate marketing strategies: marketing strategies are not relevant to the needs of the target market
• poor implementation: strategies are not well executed
• unfavorable changes in the environment: unforeseen events which happen after the objectives were specified and the strategy was implemented

Question 18

What are the two basic approaches to budgeting for the execution of a marketing plan

Answer 18

The top down or the bottom down approach.

Using the top-down approach the budget amount is determined at the top management level and then the funds are passed down to the various departments to execute the planned activities and actions.

Using the bottom up or build up approach, the plan’s objectives are formulated first and the cost of the realization is used to determine the budget, the most popular version of this method is the so-called objective-and-task method this process consists of three steps:

1. formulating the communication objectives
2. deciding on the specific strategies and actions needed to attain them
3. estimating the cost associated with the execution of these strategies and tasks

Question 19

What are the disadvantages of assessing the effectiveness of the marketing plan before and after implementation

Answer 19

• avoiding costly mistakes
• evaluating alternative strategies
• increase the efficiency of the plan in general
• assessing weather objectives have been materialized

Question 20

Why do marketers not adequately introduce sufficient control measures to track the execution of plans and activities

Answer 20

> cost: the cost of conducting measurement is often far greater than the benefits

> research problems: sometimes the measures used are not appropriate for what is being used

> disagreement on what to measure and track: team members may disagree on the best measure and what needs to be tracked to decide whether a plan or campaign is deemed successful

> time: control and measurement are time consuming which may deter some firms from implementing such measures