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Lesson 4.1:

A 4E-based Marketing Plan to Help Define the Firm’s Position and Image

Lesson 4.2: 4E-based Strategy Formulation

Lesson 4.3: Strategy Implementation and Evaluation

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A marketing plan is important in order to:

• Align all marketing activities with the firm’s

mission statement and long-term strategic plans

• Help operators/owners to review and think

objectively through all steps in the marketing

process

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A marketing plan is important in order to:

• Assist in the budgeting process to match

resources with marketing objectives

• Create a process to monitor actual against

expected results

• Help position the firm competitively in the

marketplace

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Building blocks of a 4E-based marketing plan:

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Components of the 4E-based strategy formulation include:

• Mission statement

• Situation analysis

• Segmenting, marketing, and positioning

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The business mission statement should express an organization’s:

• Purpose

• Approach to managing the business

• Primary offerings

• Target customers

• Concerns for employees and the community

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The situation analysis:

• Refers to collecting, analyzing, and interpreting

information and trends that affect the company

– An operator needs to constantly monitor these trends

and conditions to estimate how the changes may

affect the business

• Identifies current organizational strengths and

weaknesses and emerging opportunities and

threats (referred to as a SWOT analysis)

• Helps operators determine the direction of their

business, including the use of the 4Es

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For a 4E-based situation analysis consists of:

• Internal audit of offerings

• Market trends analysis

• Market potential analysis

• Competitive analysis

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Internal audit of offerings: Evaluating the 4Ps

• Identify current strengths and weaknesses

including the 4Es offered to the customer

• Evaluate the 4Ps in conjunction with the 4Es

– 4Ps of the firm: Property, Product Presentation,

Promotions, and People

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The 4Ps: Property

• Property becomes the stage for the business,

including buildings and interiors, where

customers interact with goods or partake of a

service

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The 4Ps: Property

• Property = relatively permanent (i.e., physical

and time-wise permanence) business assets

such as:

– Architectural design elements

– Interior design elements

– Landscape design elements

– Business name or location signage

– Artwork

– Business vehicles

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The 4Ps: Product Presentation

• Product Presentation elements enrich the

experience for the customer, and goods and

services are enhanced through sensory

elements (e.g., music, scent) and physical

elements (e.g., display units, props)

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The 4Ps: Product Presentation

• Product Presentation = easily changeable elements of the

setting that surround and enhance goods or services including

– Display units and props

– Product labels

– Product samples

– ‘In-store’ signage

– Presentation materials, such as:

• Packaging, wrapping paper for retail products

• Tableware, table linens, menus for food service

• Bedding and linens for B&Bs

– Music

– Scents and tastes

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The 4 Ps: Promotions

• Promotions announce and emphasize the experiential

aspects of the business

• Promotions = informational outlets and activities for

publicizing/promoting the business offering or name including

– Advertisements

– Brochures or catalogs

– Banners

– Newsletters

– Stationary and business cards

– Press releases

– Public relations and special events

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The 4Ps: People

• People refers to the interaction of the customer with the staff, which has a potential to create experiential offerings for the business

• People = qualities of staff and/or customers that affect customer experience including

– Physical appearance, such as:

• Staff uniforms or costumes

• Hairstyles and grooming

– Interpersonal behavior, such as:

• Warmth, humor, interpersonal communication skills

• Displaying or sharing of knowledge, skills, or experiences

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Market trends are identified by analyzing:

• Customer behavior trends and preference for

the key business offerings (e.g., 4Es) of the

business

• Trends among business competitors: emerging

new competitors, modifications of offerings by

key competitors, and new product

developments

• Industry trends: industry standards of offerings,

general direction of industry movement, and

other changes within the industry

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Information on trends obtained from:

• Chambers of commerce

• Convention and visitors bureaus

• Universities

• Government agencies, such as small business

development centers

• Trade associations

• Commercial organizations, such as marketing

research firms and advertising agencies

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Market potential analysis:

• Total demand estimates for the business

offerings through a logical process

• Estimates expressed in concrete terms such as

percent, number, and dollar

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Competitive advantage analysis: SWOT analysis

• SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities, and Threats

– Strengths and Weakness of the business identified

from the internal audits

– Opportunities and Threats to the business identified

from market trends/potential and competitive

analyses

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Segmenting, targeting, and positioning:

• Market Segmenting: grouping customers based

on their common characteristics, such as needs

and preference

• Targeting: being focused on the chosen market

segments, which have been evaluated carefully

for profit potential

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Segmenting, targeting, and positioning:

• Positioning: placing a business clearly in the

minds of customers by instilling a strong,

salient, and positive image

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Positioning begins with:

• Development of a strong theme that fits

– Mission and core offerings (4Es in particular)

– Target markets’ needs and preferences

– Effective differentiation from those of competitors

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Components of the 4E strategy implementation and evaluation:

• Setting marketing objectives and strategies

• Developing a budget and allocating resources

• Creating a marketing control plan

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Marketing objectives and strategies are:

• Achievable and realistic

• Expressed in clear numeric terms such as

dollars, percent, number, or other quantitative

measures

• Time-specific--containing a specific business

deadline for achieving the goals

• Partially achieved by adding 4E strategies

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Marketing strategies:

• 4E offering strategies

• Pricing strategies

• Advertising strategies

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What are 4E offering strategies?

• Encompassing tangible goods, instrumental services,

and the 4Ps (Property, Product Presentation,

Promotional Application, and People) that contribute to

the experiential offering

• (Re)designing or selecting goods, services, and

experiences to better meet the needs and preferences of

the selected target market segments

• Addressing the SWOT for your organization

• Thinking about how you can specifically enhance value

for the customer through 4E aspects of your total

offerings

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Guiding principle for the 4E offering strategy by Pine and Gilmore (1999):

• Theme the experience

• Harmonize impressions with positive cues

• Eliminate negative cues

• Mix in memorabilia

• Engage the five senses

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Pricing strategies:

• Affect the demand for a business offering and becomes

an unavoidable focus of competition

• Should be done carefully in a way to maximize profit

margin and, at the same time, minimize the customer’s

switch to competitors

• Need to include the new business offering

• Should reflect how much customers are willing to pay for

the new offerings

• Are determined by trial and error in many cases

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Advertising strategies:

• Create the customer’s initial expectations about

the company’s offerings and such expectations

bring the customer to the business

• Should best reflect the business offerings,

especially the newly added 4E elements

• Must be consistent with the positioning theme

• Must be convincing to the chosen target

customer groups

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Budget development and allocation of resources:

• Should be as detailed and realistic as possible

• Must provide information on costs of materials

at the unit level of materials planned for

improvements

• Needs to include the advertising budget in the

final marketing budget

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The marketing control plan:

• Provides a roadmap for proposed marketing actions

• The operator must develop a “master” chart that shows

detailed time plans for implementing the suggested

actions from above, and should include:

– Each proposed marketing action’s implementation

– Time sequence and time frame of each action

implementation

– Plans to check the progress and measure the major

implementation outcomes