MODULE 5.
WRITING MARKETING PLAN
OVERVIEW
In this section, you shall finally be putting together a
reasonably comprehensive marketing plan. Before anything else
you will first have to do some pre-planning: what product do
you really want to work on what is your key insight about the
market that you would want to take advantage of?
At the end of this module, the student will:
1.produce a complete and reasonably detailed marketing plan;
and
2.understand what is involved in producing an integrated
communications strategy for a product.
WRITING MARKETING PLAN
As we noted repeatedly throughout this module, marketing is
all about communication. All the elements that have thus far
been discussed are actually elements that help send messages
to the market. From the product to the price, promotion and
the placing. This is why marketing Plan is an essential
management tool. It is a document that can aid in ensuring
that all points of communication are coordinated and not con
and not contradictory. The way to this is a via a top-down
approach where communication objectives are clearly laid down
at the start so that everything can fall into place.
Marketing Plans can be put together for new product or for
existing product-so long as it a product that requires a
communication intervention, then a marketing plan can be put
together for it.
It should be noted that a marketing plan is not any of the
following:
1.Business Plan – A business plan is a road map for a
business. It is involved more with analyzing a current
business model and proposing strategies for making it achieve
critical objectives.
2.Feasibility Study – A feasibility study is a proposal for a
new business. Here, everything is still in a conceptual
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phase, down to the market opportunities that seek to be
addressed.
The basic framework for a marketing plan would like the
following:
I. Executive summary – a brief description of the
challenge that has been selected, along with an
overview of the proposed product strategy and what it
seeks to accomplish.
II. The Challenge – Details of the challenge that is to be
undertaken. What is the situation that led to it?
New product offering
Product repositioning and relaunch
III. Situation Analysis
a.Environmental Anaysis – Political , economic. Socio-
cultural and technological. What are the relevant
trends that should be noted?
b.Company Analysis – Description of the company behind
the product, its resources, other products, and
strength and weaknesses.
c.Market Analysis- The market segments available: their
characteristics, preferences, and buying behavior, and
the market size for each identified segment.
d.Competitors Analysis- List of competitors: their
strengths and weaknesses, market shares and product
positioning.
e.SWOT analysis – A integrative summary of the
environmental factors previously listed, hinting at the
potentials strategies that could be taken.
IV. Communication Strategy
a.Positioning strategy for the product – Market
positioning, unique selling point, and how it will
compete with competitors and substitute.
b.Market Segement that is targeted – Description of
market segment: how it different from other markets,
behaviors, preferences. How the proposed product plans
to appeal to them.
c.Product Strategy –Brand, packaging, message and
benefits offered.
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d.Price Strategy – SRP,Promo pricing, comparison with
competitors, and product line pricing.
e.Place strategy- Distribution methods, locations and
logistics.
f.Promotion strategy – Communication challenge,
communication plan and objectives.
V. Metrics and Targets
A list of metrics that would help in assessing the
progress, performance, and eventual success of the
marketing plan. This can include revenues earned,
sales growth, number of stores, and other measurable
and quantifiable figures.
To inspire you into discovering key insight about your market,
here are a few examples of market insight:
Filipinos want their food not just to taste good but also
to smell good.(Jollibee )
Most people do not eat pizza crust. So let us make the
crust interesting by stuffing it with ingredients.
( Pizza Hut )
Electricity is not just a utility but an opportunity to
create a lifestyle ( Meralco )
The following is the template for constructing your
marketing communications plan.
The challenge
The marketing situations situation: problem to be resolved
or opportunity to be availed of. Include product or market
insights whenever possible.
Situation Analysis
Environmental Analysis
Assessment of critical areas regarding the external
whenever applicable. Keep an eye out for significant and
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relevant trends, opportunities and threats in any of these
areas.
Political
Economic
Socio-Cultural
Technological
Company Analysis
Assessment of the company’s capabilities as well as the
brand or product’s competencies whenever applicable.
Company resources; Strengths and weaknesses
Product/Brand resources; strengths and weaknesses
Market Analysis
Enumerate all viable market segments along with their
respective characteristics profiles, estimated market size
( if possible ) key behaviors, current products available and
needs demands. Note down key insights and opportunities per
market.
Market A
Market B
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Market C ( if Applicable )
Competitor Analysis
Enumerate the principal competitors or even critical
substitute that represent the key players in the product’s
battlefield. Identify strengths, weaknesses, market shares
(if possible), and product positioning for each.
Competitor A
Competitor B
Competitor C
Current Positioning Maps
Identify relevant axes for the map and plot the
competitive arena here. Identify the key players and how they
relate to one another in a spatial context.
Positioning Map 1:________
Positioning Map 2:________
SWOT Analysis
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Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats
Communication Strategy
Positioning Statement
Concise statement of the positioning that needs to be
accomplished, in this format brand/product will be product
positioning for the target market. Follow this with an
elaboration or explanation of the positioning.
Positioning
Elaborate on the positioning statement
Target Market
Specify the selected target market. What make it
different from other markets, key behaviors and key insights
about this market, and what products they likely patronize
( if any ). Emphasize what it is about your proposed product
position that should appeal to them.
Target Market
Product Strategy
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Discuss the brand, the product benefits and features, and
its packaging and product mix issues if any. How does the
product design help achieve the proposed position?
Price Strategy
Discuss the overall price strategy for the product, its SRP,
comparison with price points of your competitors or your
product mix, and discounting schemes ( if any ). How does it
help achieve the proposed position?
Place Strategy
Discuss how you plan to distribute your product,
recommended locations, how you plan to motivate the
distribution system, and what roles and responsibilities the
distribution points should play. How do all of these help
achieve the proposed position?
Promotion strategy
Discuss the promotion tools that will utilized in order
to communicate the proper message about the product. Discuss
how these will help achieve the proposed position.
Metric and Targets
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List down the KPAs, KPIs, and targets that you believe will
have to be monitored in order to properly manage the plan
toward the achievement of the challenge.
Key Result Areas Key Performance Target
Indicators
SUMMARY
Marketing Plans can be put together for new product or for
existing product-so long as it a product that requires a
communication intervention, then a marketing plan can be put
together for it.
The basic framework of marketing plan include the executive
summary, the challenge, situation analysis, metrics target and
metrics and target.
Suggested Readings
Developing a marketing plan
https://goo.gl/X4QavH
Reference: A.B. Llano, Principles of Marketing, 1st Edition
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