Essentials of MarketingWharton School – University of Pennsylvania

Marketing Plan Template

Consumers Competitors Company Collaborators

Positioning

ProductPricePlacePromotion

Step 1: Marketing Analysis 4C’s

Step 2: Positioning

Step 3: The Marketing Mix – The 4P’s

Positioning

● Target Segment● Point of Difference● Frame of Reference

● Who is buying your product and for what purpose?● Positioning may change over time.

○ Customer perceptions○ Customer wants○ Competition

Who am I going after?Why should they buy the product?Who am I stealing the business from?

Lifetime Value of Customer (LTVC)

●Why Customers are profitable over time?○Premium price○Referrals○ Increased purchases○Base profit

● Develop a buyer decision making model – which product , which seller ?

● Identify the rate limiting steps

The greatest danger to a company is the inability to retain customers

Profit Strategy Checklist

● Increase Unit Volume○ Increase primary demand (Develop new products, Target new segments)○ Manage brand Switching (keep customers loyal, Steal new customers from

competition)○ Increase purchases by current customers ( Increase usage rate, trade-ups and

complements selling.

● Increase prices○ Increase Value for the customer ( Higher benefits , lower transaction costs)○ Decrease price Sensitivity ( Communicate quality , target upscale segments)

● Decrease Costs○ Decrease Fixed costs ( less advt. expenses , R&D )○ Decrease Variable Costs ( Improve negotiations with

suppliers/resellers)

Branding

●Important to invest in brand●Go where you are strongest.●Regularly measure and manage brand

value●Have the brand value on your balance

sheet.

Is Network Solutions a Sincere Exciting brand?

Relationship with CustomersWhere does network Solutions want to be ?

Intense

Superficial

Functional/Objective Symbolic/Emotional

● Master/Slave

● Best Friends

● WorkMates ● Drinking Buddies

● Committed

Partnerships

Effect of Transgressions on Brand Personality

● Expectations are higher for Sincere brands.● In the absence of transgressions Sincere brands have Higher Trust over

time.● Post recovery of Trust and Expectations after transgression is higher for

Exciting brands.What should companies do ?

● Repair identified deficiencies● Balance introduction vs. growth vs.

maintenance● Develop committed partnerships vs casual

friendships

Brands Communities

● Emergence of brand communities○ Specialized non-geographic bound community based on a set

of social relationships among admirers of a brand● Customer to customer communities

○ Customers are brand missionaries○ Customer communities are more forgiving of transgressions

● Risks of brand Communities○ Communities may not like company decisions○ Marketers have no control over community○ Competitors can snoop on communities.○ Nurturing brand communities is time consuming

Customer Analysis

● Conjoint analysis● Cluster analysis.( Attributes , Attribute levels, Part-

worth's )

● Define segments● Approaches to segments● Margins , size and ability to reach markets● Comparative advantages

Channel Strategies

●Trends:○Emergence of new channels

■ Cars sold on the internet○Wholesalers changing roles

■ Do a variety of other functions like sales etc.○Consolidating from regional to national.

■ Globalization

Pricing Strategies

●Random Discounting ●Price Signaling●Premium pricing●Experience Curve pricing

3 Important learning

●Importance of positioning●Brand Equity●Pricing Strategy

3 changes to implement

●Positioning of product for both the company and competitors.

●Change pricing and promotion strategy.●Critical incident management.

Steps company should take

●Brand value●Brand Communities●New markets