Marketing Plan Outline Cover Page Table of Contents (Use the Table of Contents function in Word) 1.0 Executive Summary This is an overview of your paper. It includes a summary of each section of your marketing plan including your strategies. 2.0 External Situation Analysis Give a brief explanation of the sections in the external analysis. Note: The external analysis consists completely of data that will be gathered by your group. None of the following information can be your own thoughts or assumptions. Therefore, every new piece of data needs a footnote with where you found this information. This should read like an analysis of data – not a stream of your own thoughts. 2.1 Customer Analysis Introduction and overview paragraph stating how many customer segments you have separated your business’s current customers into, give a brief statement naming each (i.e. wealthy, older businessmen; professional business women) and explain why you chose this customer segmentation (i.e. explain which segmentation method you used—customer characteristic segmentation vs. product related approaches was used—and why). If you have multiple product lines with different demographics for each line, you will need to state each product line and then state the segments for each. Page 1 of 39
Transcript
Marketing Plan Outline
Cover Page
Table of Contents (Use the Table of Contents function in Word)
1.0 Executive Summary
This is an overview of your paper. It includes a summary of each section of your marketing plan including your strategies.
2.0 External Situation Analysis
Give a brief explanation of the sections in the external analysis.
Note: The external analysis consists completely of data that will be gathered by your group. None of the following information can be your own thoughts or assumptions. Therefore, every new piece of data needs a footnote with where you found this information. This should read like an analysis of data – not a stream of your own thoughts.
2.1 Customer Analysis
Introduction and overview paragraph stating how many customer segments you have separated your business’s current customers into, give a brief statement naming each (i.e. wealthy, older businessmen; professional business women) and explain why you chose this customer segmentation (i.e. explain which segmentation method you used—customer characteristic segmentation vs. product related approaches was used—and why).
If you have multiple product lines with different demographics for each line, you will need to state each product line and then state the segments for each.
The information in this section comes from two sources: your customer surveys and from interviews with your customers. Surveys are your best source of information and should be used accordingly. You will need to include the results of your surveys in a summary in the appendix and you will need to turn in your individual surveys (the handwritten or typed ones if you did them over the phone) with your final paper. Remember to footnote where you got the info – either reference your survey data or footnote the business representative that you interviewed with the time and place of the interview.
If your company has not started business and therefore doesn’t have any current customers, you will only complete the last section of the customer analysis, potential customers, and you will have a very in-depth market analysis instead.
2.1.1 Name of First Segment
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Description of first segment. I.e. Company’s first customer segment is professional women between 35 and 55 years old… For each segment, you need to include:
Size of the segment relative to other current segments. Does the 80/20 rule apply?
2.1.2 Demographics
Paint a very clear picture of who these people are. Use this rule – chose five professors in the business school – can you tell if they fit into this segment. It should be clear who fits and who doesn’t. You’ll need to address gender, where they live, how much they make, their preferences, and psychographic information.
2.1.3 Customer Motivations
What is it about our company that brings these customers in the door? This should point toward the strategic competitive advantages.
2.1.4 Purchasers and Users
Who actually purchases the product? Do these purchasers differ from the users of our products? Who are the major influences of the purchase decision? Who is financially responsible for making the purchase?
2.1.5 Product usage
What do customers do with our products? In what quantities and in what combination are our products purchased? How do heavy users of our products differ from light users? Are complementary products used during the consumption of our products? What do customers do with our products after consumption? Are customers recycling our products or our packaging?
2.1.6 Purchasing habits
Where do customers purchase our products? From what type of intermediaries do customers purchase our product? Is E-Commerce part of that? Is distribution channel use changing – are more or less products being purchased from us through the Internet, from our catalog, in the store, through intermediaries?
2.1.7 Timing of purchases
When do customers purchase our products? Are the purchase and consumption of our products seasonal? To what extent do promotional events affect the purchase and consumption of our products? Do the purchase and consumption of our products vary based on changes in physical/social surroundings, time perceptions, or the purchase task?
2.1.8 Why Products are purchased
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Why customers select our products? What are the basic features provided by our products? What customer needs are fulfilled by our products and service? How well do our products fill the comprehensive needs? What are customers unmet needs? How are the needs of customers expected to change in the future?
2.1.9 How products are purchased
What methods of payment do customers use to purchase our product? Are customers prone to developing close, personal relationships with us or are they transaction oriented.
You have a choice of how to segment this section of your paper if you have more than one current customer segment. You can either break each section above (2.1.1-2.1.9) into multiple parts
Example:2.1.1 Current Customer Segments
Women between 18 and 45Info on who they are and info on how large the segment is
Women older than 45Info on who they are and how large the segment is2.1.2 Current customer demographics
Women between 18 and 45Description of this group’s demographics
Women older than 45Description of this group’s demographics
Or you can go through each section (2.1.1-2.1.9) for segment one and then start at 2.1.10 with Segment 2’s info, again going through each section. See example below.
2.1.10 Name of second segment
Description and size of second segment
2.1.11 Demographics of “name of second segment”
2.1.12 Motivations of “name of second segment”
You would need to then finish all of the required sections.
2.1.10 Potential customers
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The last section of your customer analysis should be an overview of any potential segments that the business owner is planning to or has contemplated targeting. Do not include segments that you think would be a good fit – that goes in the market analysis – this is strictly for segments desired by the business owner. In addition, there may be segments that are specifically not desired by the business owner – you can also include those segments in this section. If your business owner does not have a segment that he or she thinks would be a good fit – you can say that instead.
2.2 Market Analysis
The market analysis is basically an overview of potential customers – you are analyzing certain geographic regions or certain demographics within a region to decide where the company has the best growth potential.
This section starts with an introductory paragraph stating in what market or markets your company competes and what potential markets this section of your plan will examine and why.
The information in this section can come from many sources including interviews, magazines, newspapers, the library and the web. One of the most popular sites for data is www.census.gov. However, this site will not give you cultural information.
Your company should not appear anywhere in this section. When you have finished writing this section, do a word find for the name of your company – if it appears in the market section, it is probably misplaced.
This section can be as inclusive or exclusive as you wish to make it. A common mistake is to pack this section with information that isn’t usable or relevant to the marketing plan. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself how the information that is being reported fits into your SWOT and will help your strategies. If you don’t see any relevance to your company, then don’t include it in your paper.
2.2.1 Market size(s) and location(s)
This is a description of the potential market and where it is located. Include map of area if necessary. Include the population or the number of businesses (whichever is relevant). Example: The in-state Montana market that Company A competes for includes the area from Butte to Philipsburg to Hamilton to Polson (including the Missoula valley) to Helena. This area is home to 210,000 people; or, this area includes 68 health clubs.
2.2.2 Market growth
How is the area market population growing. Use past trends with current events to map growth. A chart with a description of the information in the chart is a helpful way to display this information.
Give an overview of the macro economic condition of the market(s) and predictions for the next few years. Use benchmarks or indicators of the economic condition such as income, housing costs, etc.
2.2.4 Culture
Give a socio-cultural overview of the market. This needs to be from verified sources and footnoted, but it is a cultural statement about the population or the businesses. For example, if you were looking at three potential markets – Florida, Virginia, and Portland – you can find information that explains some major cultural differences and preferences in the customer base. Some benchmarks that could be used include education, political affiliations, religion, etc. Only use benchmarks that are applicable to your business.
2.2.5 DemographicsIn this section, you will paint a clear picture of who’s in the market. This could include ages, incomes, geographic dispersion, motivations, needs, and other benchmarks that are relevant to your business. This needs to be as inclusive as the demographic overview of the present customers.
In this section, like the section above, you may have multiple markets that you want to analyze separately. Again, it is at your discretion how they are separated – either present one market completely, then the next, etc or you can break each section above into sections for each market.
2.3 Competitor Analysis
The information in this section can come from three sources: (1) interviews with customers of competitors, (2) interviews with business representatives of the competitors, and/or (3) interviews with your own business. Interviews are your best source of information and should be used accordingly. You will need to include the results of your interviews in a summary in the appendix and you will need to turn in your individual interviews (the handwritten or typed ones if you did them over the phone) with your final paper. Remember to footnote where you got the info – either reference your interview data or footnote your business representative that you interviewed with the time and place of the interview.
Your company should not appear anywhere in this section. When you have finished writing this section, do a word find for the name of your company – if it appears in the competitor section, it is probably misplaced.
This section begins with an introduction and overview paragraph stating how many competitors or competitor groups you will be analyzing (how many exist), how you have grouped them, and why was the best way to group them. You need to make an argument
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for your competitor choices – this is why we chose them and this is why our list is inclusive of everyone that we need to analyze. In many cases marketing plans analyze both individual and groups of competitors. For example, if you were writing a marketing plan for The TrailHead in downtown Missoula, you might analyze Pipestone Mountaineering, REI, and the Canoe Rack individually as well as a competitor group of outdoor box stores that included the characteristics of all of the larger sporting good stores such as Gart, Bob Ward, Sportsmans Surplus, etc.
In some instances, you may have competitors that you choose not to examine. If that is the case, you must explain why you have made this decision. For example, if you were analyzing competitors for a vodka company, you might make the decision to analyze five competitors – high end vodka, low end vodka, other distilled spirits, beer and wine. For your high end, you might choose to only look at Absolut and Skyy. If this were the case, you would say that while you recognize that there are x number of high end vodkas including vodka a, b, c, etc, your data shows that Absolut and Skyy hold the majority of the marketshare and typify high end vodkas – therefore, the analysis of those two will provide the necessary information for understanding the high end competitors. You could do the same for the remainder of your categories of competitors.
What follows is a list of the information that you will need for each competitor. Again, it is at your discretion how you group that info – either presenting one competitor with all of the data that you have collected on it, followed by the next, etc. Or, breaking the competitor analysis into the sections below with each competitor’s information presented under each section.
2.3.1 Market share, Size, Growth and ProfitabilityEither estimate or give the market share that the competitor or group controls. Sometimes this is an unsubstantiated estimate – make sure if that is the case, that you explain how you arrived at this estimate.
For size, growth and profitability, the information can be hard to find. You can use indicators such as number of employees, size of space (if its retail), etc to try to quantify how the company is doing. All of this data will be used to compare competitors and assess who is the largest and poses the biggest threat.
2.3.2 ProductsList and describe the products or product categories with pricing and quality. In some cases, you will need to include brands.
We are trying to understand the range of product options that customers have between competitors.
2.3.3 Distribution channelsExplain how the product moves both to the competitor and then from the competitor to the customer with all channels that are utilized. You must include a channel map(s). Below is an example from the company HTII:
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With all diagrams and charts in the paper, you must include a description of what is in the chart. The description should be able to stand alone – the chart or diagram is only there to reinforce your point. For the above diagram, you would include a summary about the three types of suppliers, how those supplies move to the company, and then that the company only uses personal selling (no Internet sales, catalogs, storefront, etc) to sell their product.
We are trying to understand the range purchasing options that customers have between competitors. For example, if I want to buy something from REI, I can go to the store, buy online, or use their catalog. If I want to buy something from the TrailHead, I can only go to the store. This points to some potential opportunities or threats for the TrailHead.
Often there are some technological advances that make pieces of the distribution chain very efficient. Assess those here and describe them. For instance, JIT inventory ordering, etc.
2.3.4 Pricing strategies
What are the prices of the products. Often it is helpful to include a pricing chart either here (if it is small) or in the appendix. What strategies for pricing are being used.
We are trying to understand the range of price options that customers have between competitors.
2.3.5 Product strategies
Describe how, when and why new products are offered by the business. This is often difficult to determine, but you need to assess if this competitor is a market leader or a follower – does the business introduce new and exciting products regularly (if so, give examples) or does the business wait to see how sales go with competitors and then follow their lead. Are there any new products on the horizon that we should anticipate this competitor releasing.
We are trying to understand which competitors offer which products.
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2.3.6 Service
What is the service package offered by the company. This includes how people are treated by the business, the atmosphere of the business, the after sales service package, etc.
We are trying to understand the range of service options that customers have between competitors.
2.3.7 Image and positioning
What is the image of the company with its customers, in the market, with its competitors, etc. What are they known for (both good and bad.)
What is their position – using the Myth of Excellence as a guide – put together what the company tries to dominate and differentiate in (and if it is successful.) And then where it is at or below industry par.
We are trying to understand why customers choose the competitors and how past strategies have helped develop the image and position.
2.3.8 Major strengths and weaknesses
What hasn’t been covered above. Are there attributes of this company that you haven’t had a chance to talk about – like they have a great website, the owner is especially loved in the community, the phone system is difficult to navigate, etc.
2.3.9 Exit barriers
What barriers are in place that would keep this business open even in difficult times? This often includes infrastructure, facilities, long-term contracts, egos, etc. Could this business close, is it likely, etc.
2.3.10 Cost structure
What can you find out or assume about the cost structure of this business. Going back to the TrailHead example, we can assume that Pipestone and the Canoe Rack have similar inventory cost structures – small businesses ordering small quantities from manufacturers or distributors. However, with REI and the box stores, we can assume that the cost structure for inventory is better than at the TrailHead – larger buying group with multiple locations and private labeling.
You would make similar arguments for overhead – the TrailHead and Pipestone own buildings in downtown Missoula, the Canoe Rack owns a warehouse on California street, REI has a very small space in a retail store front, etc.
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What we are getting at here is which competitors have a cost advantage and can therefore compete on price.
2.3.11 Organization and culture
For this section, we are trying to assess if this is this a top down organization, are entrepreneurial ideas nurtured, is the culture quick to respond, what’s the vibe? This will allow us to understand the ability to rapidly respond to customer, industry or market changes.
In the TrailHead example, if a new brand of outdoor clothing is released, the structure at the TrailHead allows for an employee to suggest that line be brought in and to have that line in place within days. A company like Gart would be slower to respond due to corporate layers that would need to be contacted.
2.3.12 Current and past strategies
In this section, you will list and describe all of the marketing and advertising strategies that have been used in the recent past. For companies with advertising campaigns, you should include copies of the advertisements in the appendices. In addition to compiling all of the strategies (remember – this includes all marketing strategies – merchandising, PR, layout changes, sales promotions, events, etc) you will need assess if they were successful. This information can be difficult to get – if you cannot determine the success of strategies, you should say that it couldn’t be determined.
2.3.13 Objectives and commitments
What are the goals of the company? This often ties in with the position or Myth of Excellence score. Again, this information can be hard to find. Using the mission statement can often be helpful.
2.3.14 Competitor analysis chart
Include all relevant information from the above analysis that can be compared in a chart format
Bob Ward REI TrailHeadMarketshare 30-40% 15% 15%Products** XC – Skis Fisher Brand
AlpinaREI Brand Europa
Fisher Downhill skis Atomic
RossignolREI Brand N/A
Pricing Competitive with frequent sales
Prestige with some sales
Prestige with two annual sales
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Distribution One retail outletHours 9-9Days – 7 per weekOnline sales minimal
One retail outletHours 9-7Days – 7 per weekHuge online sales
One retail outletHours 10 -7Days – 7 per weekNo online sales
**Product brands are listed from highest quality to lowest quality for each competitor
2.3.15 Potential Competitors
We will discuss six strategies that potential competitors use to enter the market. You will need to explore each of those strategies and see if there are potential competitors on the horizon. Using the TrailHead example, if you went back six years and wrote their marketing plan, you would analyze market expansion and see that the national competitor REI was potentially on the horizon given our demographic and location. If you were writing a marketing plan for the Good Food Store, you might look at Whole Foods and see if the Missoula demographic fit their needs. The six types of strategies for potential competitors to enter the market are listed below.
1. Market expansion2. Product expansion3. Backward Integration4. Forward Integration5. Export of Assets or Competencies6. Retaliatory or defense strategies
2.4 Industry Analysis
This section begins with an introductory paragraph describing which industry you will be analyzing. “Allstate Insurance competes in the insurance industry in Florida or in the US.”
The information for this section will come from interviews with your business owner, interviews with other people working in this industry, trade journals, newspapers, and the web. Again, all information must be footnoted.
Again, your company should not appear anywhere in this section with the exception of the introductory paragraph.
This section can be as inclusive or exclusive as you wish to make it. A common mistake is to pack this section with information that isn’t usable or relevant to the marketing plan. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself how the information that is being reported fits into your SWOT and will help your strategies. If you don’t see any relevance to your company, then don’t include it in your paper.
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2.4.1 Industry size and growth
How large is the industry in the market as defined in your introductory paragraph. How is the industry growing. You may need to use US data scaled with smaller geography census data.
You will use this information to understand how large your company is compared to the industry and what types of opportunities or threats that poses. You will also use the industry growth to benchmark how your company is doing with growth – if the industry is growing at 8% and your company is growing at 10%, then you are gaining ground and you’ll be trying to find out what advantages are making you more successful than competitors. If you are growing at only 5%, you’ll need to figure out what the company is doing wrong.
2.4.2 Economics
Give an overview of the macro economic condition of the industry. For example, what’s a standard ROI, are companies growing, making money, not making money. You are trying to figure out what your company can use as an economic benchmark to gauge their own success and if your goals are realistic.
2.4.3 Industry profitability
You will need to include Porter’s chart of industry profitability with a summary of each of the five categories. The five components are:
a. Competition among existing firmsb. Threat of substitute productsc. Threat of potential entrantsd. Bargaining power of supplierse. Bargaining power of customers
And each is described in your text. For each component, include a discussion of the most important components of each. Be consistent with the rest of your strategic analysis.
Before your chart, include an explanation of what the chart is intended to do and explain how you will use it. You should assume that your business owner will not be familiar with any traditional business models.
You will use this information to understand opportunities and threats and to assess the attractiveness of this industry for your business owner.
2.4.4 Industry cost structure
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What is the standard cost structure for the industry. You have this information for your competitors, now summarize it for the entire industry.
Again, you will use this information to see if your business has a cost advantage or disadvantage to the industry which should point to opportunities or threats.
2.4.5 Distribution systems
You need to include all of the distribution diagrams that are used in this industry and an explanation of each.
Often there are some technological advances that make pieces of the distribution chain very efficient. Assess those here and describe them. For instance, JIT inventory ordering, etc.
You will use this information to see if your business is using all of the distribution chains and efficiencies within those chains the industry which should point to opportunities or threats. Remember, there may be good reasons that you will stay away from distribution chains for your company even if competitors are using them.
2.4.6 Trends, fads and technology
What trends or fads are affecting this industry? Are long are they expected to last. What has happened in the past?
What technology is used in this industry. What new technology could change your industry? What has happened in the past?
You will use this information to assess opportunities and threats.
2.4.7 Key success factors
What does every company in this industry need to compete. How are those changing – how have they changed in the past?
You will use this information to make sure that your company has those attributes and is not viewing them as competitive advantages.
2.4.8 Government What (if any) governmental regulations will affect your industry.
You will use this information to assess opportunities and threats.
3.0 Internal Analysis
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This section will begin with a brief introductory paragraph stating what information will be reported in the internal analysis.
The information for your internal analysis typically comes from four sources: (1) interviews with your business owner, (2) interviews with employees, (3) your own observations, and (4) information that your business has made public such as advertisements and its website.
3.1.1 Company Overview
This is a short history (a short paragraph) with a brief overview of what the company does.
3.1.2 Mission and Goals
State the company’s mission statement and the long-term and short-term goals.
3.1.3 Product Offering
List and describe all of the products or product categories (with brands if applicable) including product quality, attributes, other product specific information, and photos (if applicable.)
Also explain new product strategies – how, when and why are new products offered. Give examples if applicable.
3.1.4 Pricing
List and/or describe the product or product line pricing. Also explain any pricing strategies that are used or have been used. If it works better for your paper, you may include this with the product offering info above – renaming the section Product and Pricing.
It is useful to include a price list as a chart (either here if it is short or in an appendix.)
Also include any pricing strategies that were used in the past and are no longer used and why.
You will compare this information with your competitors and industry for analysis in your SWOT to help you develop strategies if applicable.
3.1.5 Distribution
This section will include all of the distribution chains used by your company. This includes both incoming supplies and the channels between the company and the end user.
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Also include any efficiencies, technologies, etc that affect your distribution channels. In some cases, descriptions of how much volume runs through each channel is necessary to understand the viability and profitability of each channel (i.e. 10% of sales are on the web, 80% are in the store, 5% from catalogs, and 5% from phone orders.) Include the diagram of the distribution chain(s) here.
Also include any distribution strategies that were used in the past and are no longer used and why.
You will compare this information with your competitors and industry for analysis in your SWOT to help you develop strategies if applicable.
3.1.6 Financial Performance
In this section, you will examine sales, ROI or ROA, gross margin, profitability, and market share. Much of this information can be presented as graphs and charts with descriptions of each. If the company cannot or will not provide you with this information, you need to say that in this section.
Include which product lines, business units, etc. are the most profitable, which have the highest sales, etc.
It is up to you how far back in time you go with this analysis. Remember to state any substantial business changes in your analysis that would affect changes in the financial performance. For example, the TrailHead bought a building and moved in 2004, so you would include that as a note with the numbers that were presented.
This data will be analyzed against anything that you were able to gather about your competitors, the industry, and your own internal goals.
3.1.7 Non-Financial Performance Measures
Begin with a brief paragraph stating what non-financial performance measures you will use to examine the company.
3.1.7.1 Brand Loyalty
Explain the level of brand loyalty that your company’s products and/or company itself holds. Is it recognition, preference, insistence? Is there any brand awareness?
This should point to strengths and weaknesses and help guide your awareness strategies.
3.1.7.2 Service quality
What type of service does your company offer. In section 2.3.6, you analyzed your competitors service package. Include the same information here but for your company.
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You can then compare this to your competitors, to what your customers said they liked and didn’t like and to what’s happening in the industry. This should give you a good idea of your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities or threats.
3.1.7.3 Brand/Firm Associations
If your company has some brand awareness, what do people associate with your company. Its often helpful to break this section into two parts – brand/firm associations from current customers and brand/firm associations in the target market. For example, when you think of the TrailHead, what comes to mind. When you think of Pepsi, Cellular One, what comes to mind.
This is a very tough section. This cannot be based on your own thoughts, but is instead a compilation of what your customers said, what the business said, and information that you’ve gathered in the market. Be sure to confirm or deny any information that you get from your business owner.
The best way to gather data for this section, is to ask customers what they associate your company with and then do a quick survey within the target market asking the same question. All survey results must be summarized and included in the appendix.
This section will help guide your awareness strategies. You will either need to create one, reinforce the one that you have, or change the perception in the target market.
3.1.7.4 Relative Cost
What is the cost structure for your company. Review section 2.4.4 and include the same type of information for your business. You will then use this to see strengths or weaknesses compared to your competitors and the industry.
3.1.7.5 Manager and Employee Capabilities and Performance
In this section you will explain the company hierarchy, who does what, what people are good at, and what people are not good at. In addition, you will see if there are business areas that are not being covered.
You will use Porter’s Value chain to assess the business’s strengths and weaknesses in successfully and efficiently covering all aspects of the business functions. The basic model of Porters Value Chain is as follows:
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Before your model, include an explanation of what the model is intended to do and explain how you will use it. You should assume that your business owner will not be familiar with any traditional business models.
3.1.8 Past and current strategies
This will be a list, description, and explanation of outcome of all communication strategies that have been used in the past. This includes PR, advertising, merchandising, and personal selling. Include any accompanying information such as newspaper clippings of ads or stories, etc in the appendix.
Be specific here, state what was done, why, when, how the effectiveness was measured, and if it was effective (use numerical returns if possible.)
This will help guide what communication strategies are used in the future.
3.1.9 Strategic Problems
Are there any issues that put constraints on potential strategies that the company could use. Examples from past marketing plans include (1) exclusive rights to certain brands by competitors that the company has no way to change, (2) the Missoulian and the business owner had a falling out so the Missoulian cannot be used as a method of advertising, (3) prices are set by distributors so there is no discretion in pricing by the business owner, (4) legal agreements that the owner has entered into, etc.
3.1.10 Organizational Capabilities and Constraints
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In 3.1.7.5, you have addressed what the company is doing, can do, is not doing with its employees. In this section, you will see what the company has, is doing, does not have, etc in terms of property, equipment, strategic alliances, unused assets, etc. You are examining the infrastructure of the company. This includes all aspects of the business’s infrastructure from its parking, to telephones and equipment, to partnerships with other businesses.
If you have a manufacturing company, you will need to include all aspects of the manufacturing process.
3.1.11 Financial Capabilities and Constraints
This is an overview of how much capital the company has access to – both equity and leveraged capital and how much money has been allocated for marketing activities during the duration of your marketing plan. Refer back to section 3.1.2 – the company goals.
This is a very important section and will feed into your strengths and weaknesses in your SWOT. Once your strategies are developed, this will determine if you have the budget to reach your goals.
3.1.12 Strengths and Weaknesses
Just like in your competitor analysis, this section is for anything that didn’t fit above. Anything that stands out about the company – either good or bad – that didn’t fit in one of the above sections.
3.1.13 Business Portfolio Analysis
If the company has multiple business units or product lines AND if your marketing plan is addressing more than one of those business units or product lines, then you will need to complete and analyze the following two matrices. You will need to not only include the matrix, but include an analysis of what the matrix tells you.
Before each matrix, include an explanation of what the matrix is intended to do and explain how you will use it. You should assume that your business owner will not be familiar with any traditional business models.3.1.13.1 Market Attractiveness-Business Position Matrix
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3.1.13.2 BCC Growth-Share Matrix
4.0 SWOT
This section will include a traditional SWOT chart with impact ratings and bulleted information pulled from each of the five sections of analysis above.
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Before your chart, include an explanation of what the chart is intended to do and explain how you will use it. You should also include an explanation of the ranking system and how it is used. You should assume that your business owner will not be familiar with any traditional business models.
After the SWOT chart, you will need to write a short description of the big glaring items in the SWOT – those ranked with a 9.
5.0 Financial Goals
State the company’s financial goals during the timeframe of your plan. These are the goals that your strategies are going to achieve.
6.0 Goals for Image and Positioning
In this section you will state in layman’s terms, the position that the company would like to achieve. You will base this off of the Myth of Excellence score, but you will not refer to the Myth scoring system. Instead, you will use terminology familiar to your business owner. The example below is from a plan for dB Sound, a high end audio retailer in Missoula.
The desired Myth score for dB Sound was:5 Experience4 Product3 Access3 Price3 Service
The above information would mean nothing to a business owner, so instead, the section is written as:
dB will create an image of selling high quality sound rather than the latest technological gadget. It is this image that will make dB unique when compared to other high end stores like Thirsty Ear or Glacier Audio.
dB will also create a unique position by competing on the overall customer experience. When a customer shops at dB, it will be unlike any shopping experience in the Western Montana market. When a customer walks in, they immediately will be offered a cup of coffee or cappuccino. At their finger tips, they will have access to the latest technology along with a salesman will have all the answers readily available. If a salesperson does not have an immediate answer, resources will be available with the solution. dB will offer two unique solutions:. in home trials before purchase, and post purchase service including installation and warranty/repair services will also be on par for creating dB’s one of a kind customer experience.
dB will also emphasize high quality products in all of its communications…
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The two sections above – financial goals and image goals – combined with your SWOT should lead you to strategies that hit your target market and reach your goals while building a sustainable competitive advantage.
7.0 Strategies
Begin this section with an introductory paragraph that says this section contains the strategies to reach your goals and explain why you chose these strategies. See the example marketing plan for guidance.
You will have many strategies. The number of strategies is determined by your goals, budget, and current situation. Your SWOT should guide your strategies – make sure that you have addressed:
1. All of the items in the SWOT with a Impact Rating of 9. If you decide one should not be addressed, you will need to include a paragraph stating why you did not address it.
2. Strategies for Distribution, Pricing, Product, and Communications. Each one must have at least one strategy. If, for example, you are not recommending any pricing changes, your pricing strategy will be Status Quo. See an example below. For one or all of the components of the marketing mix, you will have multiple strategies. It is not unusual to have 5-10 communication strategies if you have a large budget.
3. Internal strategies – if there are internal weaknesses such as people that need to be hired, technology that needs to be purchased, etc, these will be included as Internal Strategies. See example below.
If you cannot reach your goals within your budget, you will need to include Optional Strategies. These strategies should be at the end of your strategies. They should allow the company to achieve its financial and positional goals, but they go above the allowed budget.
Remember, this is the section that the business owner really cares about. All of the prior sections have been the background information that helped guide your analysis and has allowed you to come up with the best strategies for this company. This section needs to be excellent.
Each strategy should be written with the same format. 1. Type of Strategy: Name of the strategy2. Brief explanation of the strategy with why this strategy was chosen.3. Who will be in charge of the strategy.4. Specifics of how the strategy will work and when the strategy will be executed.
This should be very complete – your business owner should be able to read and follow your directions exactly.
5. Expected Outcome of the strategy in both financial terms and non-financial (image) terms.
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Marketing Plan Outline
Multiple examples are given below. They are reproduced from previous marketing plans. The sample marketing plan on the web uses a different format for strategy development – you need to use the format of the examples listed below.
7.1 Communication Strategy 2: Print Advertising in the Missoulian
Due to the circulation density, number of subscribers, and type of subscribers in the Missoula area, dB will want to advertise in the Missoulian to get the new business name, product offering, and image introduced to the community. The Missoulian has wide circulation, 25,000 on weekdays and 28,000 on Sunday, and this circulation covers all of Missoula County, the Bitterroot, and various subscribers all over the US.1[1]
Dick Manning will oversee the ad campaign but will employ an agency to develop and layout the ads. Dick will hire the agency and have oversight for final ad design; the agency will do all design and layout. The recommended agency for this work is Partners Creative.
The ads will run for 2 days per week (Thursday and Sunday) for the six weeks that store is open. This ad campaign with piggyback the feature story that will be printed the week that the store opens.
dB’s position and image is all about high quality sound, the experience of shopping in a lovely atmosphere surrounded by prestige products, and very knowledgeable sales people. The ads need to emphasize product quality, incredible knowledge and service, and the ideal listening experience. The ad campaign needs to include a common theme to link the ads together, but in total, there should be four distinct ads that can be run in succession for the eight ad spots. (See Appendix K for examples of similar ad campaigns.) Placement within the Missoulian should be left to the ad designer.
Estimated cost for design and layout is $400.
The ads should be designed to by 2x3, which will cost a total for $800 for twice a week for four weeks. While a sell through rate on the Missoulian would be difficult to determine especially given the circumstances of the new business and the six communication strategies that are running together over the first six weeks of the business, the overall goal is to use the Missoulian to attract new customers. A coupon/discount/promotion is not recommended for the early ads because it is not consistent with the image of the store; therefore, it will be very important for all sales associates to ask customers at the time of purchase “where they learned about dB.” This should go into the database that will be established in Internal Strategy 2: Database Design and Implementation. After three months of sales, that data should be analyzed for the return on the advertising in the Missoulian. If the store opens on May 1st as scheduled, the analysis should be completed in August by Dick Manning or a store associate.
1
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Given an average of 25,000 readers, the overall goal is awareness of the store to 1% of readers (250 people) and sales to 3% of those people (8 new customers.) With an average purchase price of $2,000, the total sales projected through the Missoulian is $16,000 with a cost of $1,200 or an overall return of $18,820 with a cost per new customer of $150 and the added return of increased brand awareness in the community.
7.2 Communication Strategy 4: Establish Cold Calling as a Method of Personal Selling
HTII will institute cold calling as part of its personal selling strategies. While calling companies which have requested information from HTII during a trade show has been an effective strategy in the past, the number of contacts are no longer sufficient to meet HTII’s 2006 sales growth targets.
Brent Bowman will oversee this strategy, but it will be implemented with the help of two additional employees that will need to be hired by the company in January 2006 (see Internal Strategy 1 for an overview of hiring recommendations.)
This strategy needs to be implemented starting in January, 2006 and will have the following components:
HTI will need to hire 2 people with knowledge of the product that is being sold. The people that are hired will also need to have good people skills, and sales experience.
HTI will need to compile a list of potential companies within the target market. A list of 8,300 companies which own CNC machines has been compiled and is in Appendix G.
HTII will need to purchase contact management software. The recommended database is ACT which costs $950 for a three user license. Information about ACT is available at www.act.com.
A sales packet will need to be made with all of the pertinent information of the company. This packet needs to be similar to the one that is attached in Appendix H. The sales packet will emphasize the desired image of the company including high quality products and exceptional, on-site service. The sales packet will made in house and will cost HTI around $14 each which includes postage, all paper costs, and business card. (See Appendix H for the cost breakdown) This strategy will cost HTI around $1400/month for the 10 months it will be used during the year.
Sales packets will be sent to approximately 190 companies per month and 1,900 per year assuming no mailings are done in November and December.
Within two weeks of the packets being sent, calls will be made by the sales department at HTII. Calls by the two new sales agents will need to be made to 75 companies each per month and 45 calls completed by Brent Bowman. The total calls per month will equal 190, and the total for the year will equal 1,900. These calls will be to establish a relationship with the potential customer, understand the customers’ needs, give additional information about HTII and ProbeDriver, and potentially set up a sales call.
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For companies that request a meeting, the sales process will proceed with the established status quo of HTII’s 2005 personal selling strategy.
Cold calling has a variable return rate (traditionally between 1% and 5%) depending on many factors. Even though HTII has limited awareness in the market, the financial savings to companies with CNC machines that switch to HTII’s products and the size of the market, make it reasonable to assume that HTI should be able to achieve a 3% return or 56 new companies during the year. This is an increase in $855,000 in annual sales towards its goal of $1,000,000 in additional sales of ProbeDriver. This strategy will also heighten awareness of HTII in the target market.
7.3 Internal Strategy 1: Improve Financial Record Keeping
HTI does not currently have financial records that can be used for management decision and therefore needs to implement an efficient way to keep tract of the financial record keeping.
To do this HTI has two options: hire a full-time book keeper or designate Eileen Hoyt to this job. The best option is to train Eileen Hoyt, utilizing the knowledge that she already has.
Training should be done through the Florida State University’s Distance Learning program beginning in January 20XX. Four accounting classes would be necessary and would take 6 months to complete. The total cost would be $2,500.
In addition to employee training, HTI needs to purchase QuickBooks and implement a book keeping program. This software package is inexpensive ($200) and has the ability to do all functions needed by HTI.
By implementing a strategy to keep financial records, HTI can keep tract of their profitability, return, and operational efficiency. This will allow better management of HTI’s four business units.
7.4 Communication Strategy 7: Improve Website
Currently, The PP lacks a completed website. However, one is in the progress of being developed. A website is crucial for The PP. This communication strategy will greatly enhance the visibility and awareness of The PP and could potentially lead to an increase in class sizes. From interviews with Teresa and her staff, it has been determined that most clients do not understand what The PP is about or what they offer. The website would be an effective tool for a potential client to learn about The PP in an environment that is private and comfortable.
ThinkHost is donating the web space for free. Matt Nord is currently in the process of building this website. The website address is www.parentingplace.net. The current
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Marketing Plan Outline
website is sparse compared to other organizations in the industry. An improved website needs to be implemented by February of 2006.
There are several ways to improve The PP’s website. Below is a web map on what The PP’s website should look like.
There are several other organizations similar to The PP that have excellent websites. Appendix E is an example from the Wilmington Parenting Place. This website has a friendly, family-oriented feel to it. It is important that The PP’s website emphasize its positions. Because The PP dominates in services, it is important that The PP’s website emphasize this. On the Our Services page, it will be detailed the services that are offered at The PP. One aspect that The PP will further differentiate itself with is access. The PP’s website will offer an online registration form. The form will allow potential new clients to sign up for classes in a convenient, comfortable environment.
The reason to implement this strategy is that it will give The PP an additional tool to accomplish its goals. It will strengthen The PP’s position will regards to differentiating on access. It will also increase its visibility in the community. In 2005, having a good website is like having a phone number. A company must have it in order to do business.
Funds:Web space: donated by ThinkHostWeb design: donated by Matt NordAnnual hosting: $50Website Marketing: Will not be done in 2006.
5.3.4 Communication Strategy 4: Missoulian’s Community Events Calendar
Home Page
DidYou
Know?
OurServices
EventsCalendar
About Us
PartnersFunders
Invest in our
Children
ChildAbuse? Links
RegistrationForm
EmailAddress
DonationBrochure
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Marketing Plan Outline
The Community Events Calendar appears in the Missoulian two times a week: Tuesday and Friday. There is no cost associated with the publication. This service provided by the newspaper is an effective way to communicate to the community. The Missoulian distributes 52,000 copies everyday. It is estimated that 4% are in The PP target market, and of that, perhaps 2% will come to be served by The PP, bring in approximately 42 clients.
It would be in the best interest of The PP to use this free service and advertise for their parenting classes. The Community Bulletin has run ads of The PP Stop Child Abuse All-Star Softball fundraiser in the past. Contact Jackie Maunder, Advertising Consultant at (406) 523-5237; Monday thru Friday 8-5. She can also be contacted by email [email protected]. The staff at the Missoulian is willing to construct the actual ad; Teresa would simply have to submit what information, logos, and art she would like to have included a week prior to publication. Community Bulletin is a free advertisement available 2-3 times every 6 months2. This strategy should be implemented at the beginning of 2006 for upcoming parenting classes for the winter.
The strategy of using the Missoulian holds the potential of reaching all the goals of The PP: to increasing the number of people that attend the parenting classes, to sustain and maintain its position, and to increase the general awareness in the community. There is no cost associated with this advertisement, which leaves money available for other forms of advertising.
Funds: Free
7.5 Distribution Strategy 1: Status Quo
HTII currently uses personal selling as its only sales channel. In the high-tech probe software industry, all companies use only personal selling due to the complexities of customization and installation. HTII will continue to use personal selling and will not implement additional sales channels in 2006.
7.6 Strategy Implementation Chart
This section should begin with a simple explanation of what information will be found in the implementation chart.
A sample chart follows:
Implementation and Control Summary ChartTable 1
Specific Activities
Person/Dept Responsible Budget Completion
Date Control Monetary Return
Customers Gained Other Return
2 Meeting with Jacie Mauner, October 15, 2006.
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Product Activities
Research and
developmentBrent/R&D 5% of sales ongoing Brent unknown N/A
future products & competition
Pricing Activities
Volume-oriented pricing
strategy
Brent N/A ongoing BrentLong term potential
$2,000,000potential 200 entry barrier
for competition
Distribution Activities
Personal selling to HAI Brent/Sales $3,000 ongoing Sales, sell-
through rate
Long term potential
$2,000,000potential 200
strategic alliance &
entry barrierDeveloping organized calling list
(120 contacts)
Sales force $8,600 ongoing Sales, sell-through rate $1,008,000 90
increased brand
awareness
Promotion Activities
IMTS trade show Brent/Sales $9,500 December,
2006 Monitor sales $300,000 27RD ideas,
competition, contacts
Promotional DVD Brent $1,000 March, 2006 Follow-up sell-
