Marketing Planning

Question 1

Key elements of marketing plan

Answer 1

• summary
• analysis
• objectives
• strategies
• tactics
• budget

Question 2

Marketing plan

Answer 2

a detailed, fully researched written report on marketing objectives and strategy to be used to achieve objectives

Question 3

What is included in the summary?

Answer 3

• mission statement
• any necessary information to understand the marketing plan

(e.g. a new business proposal - financial status, outline of strategy, brief sketch of goals and plans)

Question 4

Situational analysis

Answer 4

an analysis of the internal and external factors of a business

Question 5

What does situational analysis include?

Answer 5

1. Current product analysis
2. Target market analysis - consumer profiles, mass or segmented market, consumer perceptions
3. Competitor analysis - identifying competitors, strengths and weaknesses of competitors
4. Economic and political environment (PEST analysis)
5. SWOT analysis - internal attributes of the business (e.g. management skills)

Question 6

What are marketing objectives for?

Answer 6

• answers the question “where do we want to be”
• targets to focus attention and to direct effort
• must follow SMART objectives

Question 7

Advantages of situational analysis

Answer 7

• understand the business’ current information (e.g. strengths, current product range, consumer tastes and trends etc.)

Question 8

Disadvantages of situational analysis

Answer 8

• time consuming - requires extensive market research

Question 9

Advantages of marketing objectives

Answer 9

• gives a sense of direction to the entire marketing department
• final review of the company’s marketing strategy can be conducted more easily

Question 10

What is marketing strategy for?

Answer 10

• outlines how the company tends to achieve its marketing objectives
• NO TACTICS INVOLVED only overall approach

Question 11

The final marketing strategy will depend greatly on:

Answer 11

• the company’s mission and objectives
• situational analysis
• resources of the business

Question 12

What are included in marketing mix tactics?

Answer 12

The 4Ps
- must be determined consistently and linked with overall marketing objective

Question 13

What does marketing budget include?

Answer 13

• how much is required to put marketing strategy and tactics into effect (e.g. the amount spent on each type of advertising, market research, promo technique etc.)
• the expected sales performance of the plan

Question 14

Approaches to setting a marketing budget

Answer 14

• follow competitor’s budget
• correlation technique

Question 15

What is being done when reviewing the marketing plan?

Answer 15

• check with original objectives
• analysis of consumer reaction if objective not achieved
• plan changes to the overall plan
• judge overall success

Question 16

Benefits of marketing planning

Answer 16

• to convince investors to invest
• reduce risk of failure
• giving a sense of direction to the dept
• coordination and cooperation with other depts

Question 17

Limitations of marketing planning

Answer 17

• time consuming and costly
• risk of being out of date in a fast changing market
• less flexible – managers want to stick to the plan

Question 18

Income elasticity of demand

Answer 18

measures the responsiveness of demand for a product following a change in consumer incomes

Income ED = %change in demand / % change in consumer incomes

Question 19

Cross elasticity of demand

Answer 19

measures the responsiveness of change in demand for a product following a change in the price of another product

Cross ED = %change in demand / %change in price

Question 20

Promotional elasticity of demand

Answer 20

measures the responsiveness of demand for a product following the change in the amount on promoting it

Promotional ED = %change in demand / %change in promotional spending

Question 21

Evaluation of 3 elasticity

Answer 21

• Promo ED not reliable - change in sales may have been due to other factors
  > economic conditions
  > competitors

Question 22

How to analyse marketing strategies with their marketing objectives?

Answer 22

when asked to evaluate or rec a strategy, objectives and strategy MUST be linked!!!
- result
- reason
- action
- success

Question 23

Why is integrated marketing mix important?

Answer 23

• integrating with other depts of the business to ensure coordination and cooperation
• the 4Ps must be supportive and integrated with each other

Question 24

New product development definition

Answer 24

the design, creation and marketing of new goods and services

Question 25

Stages of NPD

Answer 25

1. generating new ideas
2. idea screening
3. concept developing and testing
4. business analysis
5. product testing
6. test marketing - the launch of the product on a small-scale market to test consumers’ reactions to it
7. commercialisation

Question 26

Research and development definition

Answer 26

the scientific research and technical development of new products and processes

Question 27

Benefits of R n D

Answer 27

• new products allow businesses to survive and grow in rapid changing markets
• high USP leads to high price

Question 28

Drawbacks of R n D

Answer 28

• time consuming and costly
• business success is not guaranteed