Principles of Marketing

Quarter 2
Preparation of Marketing Plan

Integrate the marketing concepts and techniques

Lesson learned by preparing a marketing plan

What’s In

A marketing plan is a comprehensive document or blueprint that outlines a company’s

advertising and marketing efforts for the coming year. It describes business activities
involved in accomplishing specific marketing objectives within a set time frame. The
marketing plan is to clearly show what steps or actions will be taken to achieve the plan
goals.

What I Need To Know

At the end of this module, you are expected to be:

1. Integrate the marketing concepts and techniques learned by preparing a
marketing plan;
2. Present a mini-marketing plan

What I Know

I. Study Background

A. Brief Description of the Product

Present the product’s history - its origin and inspiration. Cite the rationale behind
having or producing the product. Then, introduce your product and its distinct identity.

B. Vision and Mission

Construct the company’s vision and mission statement. Present vital information on
what the product is, the business’s philosophy and long-term directions.

III. Macro-environmental analysis

Make an assessment on each of the company’s macro-environments. Get the latest
data possible. A marketing plan of a particular product is a plan of action for the future and
is intended to be implemented in the coming year. It is therefore important that after
accessing current information, secure also authoritative information on how figures may
look like in the following year. Since the marketing plan is to be implemented a year after, it
is the following year’s macro-economic environment that the product will have to contend
with. Future indicators are readily available in the internet.

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 A. Economic
Latest economic data is projected. Inflation rate and peso-dollar exchange rates are
usually critical in determining future cost, price, and consumer purchasing power.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can indicate the general business environment in the
coming year. These data are available at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas website
www.bsp.gov.ph. Make sure only relevant economic data are used. Economic factors
should be concisely stated and the accompanied figures and projections acquired
should also be indicated.

B. Political/Legal
The political macro-environment is assessed. Unless there is obvious political
stability, there is no need to project the political environment. An exception would be
a national election, which may cause the economic and business climate to change
dramatically. Bills currently pending on the senate or in congress that maybe enacted
into law in the coming year should be considered.

C. Socio-cultural
Identify relevant socio-cultural factors that may affect the manner of how the
selected will be marketed. There may, however, be no possible change in the coming
years because socio-cultural factors take years, if not generation, to change.

D. Demographic
Based on the target market, cite current and relevant figures that may affect the
marketability of the product. Therefore, if and target market is “female residents of
Metro Manila between the ages of 18 and 25, who are career oriented”, determine
the population of Metro Manila, the gender mix of population, and the distribution of
population by age are all relevant to your brand’s marketability.

E. Technological
Depending on the industry relevant technological developments that may favorably
or unfavorably affect the chosen brand. This may include, for example, a new
production process which the company can adopt to reduce manufacturing cost, or an
innovative type of packaging, the patent which may be owned by one of the
competitors.

F. Natural
A thorough analysis of the natural macro-environment is undertaken in this section:
pollution, global warming and acts of God, among others. There’s no need to project
this into the marketing plan’s implementation phase, however, because these issues
are not volatile over the short term period.

IV. Opportunities and Threats

Enumerate identified opportunities and threats from the macro-environment analysis.
Arrange them chronologically. Relate them directly to a specific macro-environmental
factor and justify why they classified as opportunities or threats.

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V. Micro-environmental Analysis
The six macro-environmental factors assessed and evaluated. Because the micro-
environment is not expected to change dramatically over the short-term, it is largely
unnecessary to project the situation to the following year. The only aspect which may
situationally require projection is the competitive situation. It may be possible that there is
public knowledge of the entry of new competitor that may affect the industry’s competitive
advantage.

A. The Company
The Company is evaluated in term of its organizational ability to implement
marketing strategies. The relationship among functional areas must be evaluated to
determine if there are bottlenecks in decision-making, and if other functional
departments are supportive of the marketing. It would also be helpful to look at the
latest company income statement to evaluate the company’s structure. Financial
statements are available from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

B. Supplier
In this section, the relationship between the company and its suppliers is assessed.
This is especially for suppliers involved in the supply of raw materials vital to product
manufacturing. Any opportunities to improve the company’s supply chain should also
be investigated with the objective of reducing the product cost and increasing the value
to customers.

C. Marketing Intermediaries
The company’s distribution network illustrated and explained in this section. The
choice of distribution type is reviewed and possible improvements in intermediary
relationships are determined.

D. Customers
In this section of the marketing plan, identification of the geographic, demographic
and psychographic profile of the brand’s typical customer is expected and understood,
e.g. why they buy, where they buy, how frequently they buy, and how they use your
product.

E. Competition
This is where the brand competitors and the companies that manufacture them are
identified. If necessary, draw a perceptual map to identify the closest competitors.
Identify also the relative positions of the different competing brands (including your
own) in terms of market share.

In this case high organized industries, information is available from Euromonitor

(www.euromonitor.com/philippines). Otherwise, interview with product retailers can
be used and self-checks conducted (normally the larger the shelf space a particular
brand occupies, the larger its sales). It would also be important to discuss the recent
competitive actions of competitors in order to anticipate how they will most likely to
respond to the proposed marketing strategies.

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 F. Publics
Evaluate the company’s relationship with its publics; corporate stockholders, the
community, financial institutions, media, the government, and society as a whole. This
can prevent any future need for the company to engage in public relations and
publicity.

VI. Strengths and Weaknesses

Enumerate the identified strength and weaknesses from the micro-environmental
analysis. Arrange them chronologically. Relate them directly to a specific micro-
environmental factor and justify why they are classified as strengths and weaknesses.

VII. The Market

A. Market size
Show the size of your market. The total market is the sum total of the group of
individual or organizational customers who have both the willingness and financial
capability to purchase a particular product or service. Some industries have their total
market size published in Euromonitor. If you can identify your industry competitors,
simply add the total sales of all different brands to arrive at the market size. If this
information is not available, you may need to conduct interviews or surveys to
determine purchase size, frequency of purchase, and average price paid. When this is
combined with the market population data you will arrive at market size. Market size is
expressed either in units or in value (pesos).

B. Market needs
Know your market intimately to be able to serve its needs. Understand and express
what exactly the market is looking for in the product that you are offering. Describe the
market needs and wants and its value perceptions of various product/service attributes.

C. Target market
Describe in detail the target market of the product/service. Use as many or a few
segmentation variables as necessary to outline the target market’s geographic,
demographic, and psychographic profile. Quantify the size of your target market. If you
plan to expand, contract, or totally change your brands present target markets, indicate
the changes and justify it convincingly.

C. Market trends
Based on the historical trend, the segment or sub-segment’s growth rate is projected
over the plan period. Trends are also identified with the respect to market needs and
preferences.

VIII. Marketing Objectives

In this section state the marketing objectives. Arrange the objectives in sequence.
Marketing objectives may include brand awareness target and sales revenue objectives.
They must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bounded. An example of
marketing objective pertaining to brand awareness is as follows:

“To attain a brand awareness level of 65% by December 31, 2020”

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IX. Marketing strategies
In this chapter, marketing strategies are proposed based in a thorough analysis of
opportunities and threats, strengths and weaknesses, and the market for the proposed
product/service. Strategies must collectively be able to achieve all marketing objectives.

A. Product strategy
Product should be fully explained. Indicate any innovations you plan to implement in
your product or service; e.g. a change in packaging label, supplements in your service
offering, etc. Identify the value propositions or unique selling proposition of the
product/service.

C. Positioning strategy
State the current positioning of the brand/service. Fully explain what you think is
relevant for use. If revision is needed, state the proposed alternative brand positioning.
Fully justify the proposed brand positioning and explain convincingly why it is more
appropriate than the current one. Remember that positioning of your proposed
product/service must be unique, beneficial and credible, and must revolve around a
product or service attribute that is relevant to your target market.

D. Pricing strategy
Based on the marketing objective formulated, decide on a general pricing strategy for
the brand. It is possible to implement general pricing strategies for a rand during an
operating year. For example, a brand may have a general strategy of going-rate-pricing
but implement promotional pricing during the last quarter of the year.

E. Placement strategy
Review the brands current distribution strategy to determine if it still applicable for the
marketing plan’s implementing period. When adjustments or modification are
required, give recommendations as to how the selected brand can be distributed more
efficiently.

F. Promotional Strategy
In this section, propose your advertising and promotion strategy. Based on the
advertising and promotional objectives and target audience profile, decide on the
message, creative style, vehicles, media your will utilize. Provide details of media and
promotional plan, including locations for advertising placements, their frequency and
approximate cost. Also indicate the mechanics of the trade and consumer promotions.
If nay, their corresponding costs. Select media carefully, giving consideration on cost
effectiveness.