Marketing Planning - Assignment Example

Running head: MARKETING PLANNING 18th March Introduction Marketing planning refers to the process by which business analyze the micro environment as well as the macro environment. This is done through the use of models such as the SWOT and PESTLE. Additionally, marketing planning involves checking the capabilities of the firm including raw materials, human resources, financial resources, physical resources, knowledge of the market and customers. Marketing planning can also be defined as the process of deciding on the courses of marketing action and implementing the decisions made. The major elements that are involved in the market planning are market research and marketing mix. Market research aims at identification and anticipation of customer requirements while marking mix role is to meet these requirements. During market research, marketers are involved in gathering of information that touches on customers, their products and competition among other issues. The information gained from the research is used to make marketing decisions that are useful for the success of any organization. This paper aims at discussing changing perspectives in marketing among other issues related to market planning. Question 1.1 Reviewing the changing perspectives in marketing planning Marketing refers to the process of communicating the value of the services and products to the consumers with an aim of promoting and selling the brand. Some of the major techniques that are applied in marketing include choosing the right target market, segmenting the market and understanding consumer behaviors. The second definition of marketing is that it is a management process that entails movement of services and goods from a concept to the consumers. This is achieved through the coordination of the 4Ps that include product, price, promotion and place. Market planning on the other hand refers to the process of analyzing potentially interesting market places in order to come up with an idea of how the business can effectively compete in them. One of the notable aspect of market planning is that results into marketing strategy that is used by firms to enhance their sales. One of the importances of market planning is that it helps individuals to develop products that meet the needs of their customers. In order for the planning to be effective, businesses should identify goals and objectives that are smart in nature. This entails scanning macro and micro environments. Macro environment refers to the external factors that affect the operations of any company. On the other hand, micro environment refers to the internal factors such as employees, finance and assets that directly affect firm’s activities. Marketing planning has undergone changing perspectives in a number of ways, for example during the production era, Kotler emphasized for mass production and efficiency. This also encompassed securing the widest distribution of products. In the production era that started during US civil war till 1920s, the primary goal of the firms was to reduce the manufacturing costs. Due to the industrial revolution, there was mass production. Marketing was focused at cost leadership thus resulting to profit maximization (Armstrong, 2006). Today, production era remain important since consumers must get quality products that meet their needs. In sales era, firms viewed extensive promotion as the major way to succeed leading to increased sales. In this era, that took place from 1930 till 1950s, companies focused at making products that consumers wanted to purchase instead of persuading the consumers to buy the products (Kerin, 2012). In marketing era that took place from 1940 until 1960, the manufacturers realized that the new generation could not work effectively with hard sell. Brand owners initiated consolidated marketing related activities including sponsorship and advertising resulting to higher sales and profitability. In the relationship era that took place from 1980s up to 1990s, firms aimed at creating strong relationship with the customer as a way of increasing their sales. Value based marketing refers to the companies whose values are strongly connected to their strategies. It also entails appealing to customer ethics and values. Societal era is the most recent to take place. Having occurred in 1990s till 2000s, the era holds that firms’ role is to determine the wants and needs of target markets. Additionally, organizations are tasked to deliver customer’s satisfaction more effectively than their competitors. Value based marketing refers to the activities by companies whose main values are closely aligned with the business strategies. In this marketing, consumers buy based on emotional connection with quality of the products. Notable firms that apply value based marketing include The Body Shop and Kraft Foods. Digital marketing entails the use of modern technology such as personal computers, tablets, smartphones and cellphones among others to sell products and services. In the contemporary society, digital marketing has become a common strategy for local and global firms. Social marketing which took place from 1970 up to now refers to the approach adopted to develop activities whose aim is to change or maintain people’s behaviours. Kotler and Zaltman noted that the marketing principles that were used to sell products and services could be used to sell ideas and attitudes. The changes that have occurred in the area of marketing as indicated by above mentioned eras have made organizations to adopt various strategies with an aim of facing off their competitors. Similarly, companies adopted various strategies to deal with the challenges that occurred at each of the eras. Question 1.2 Evaluating organization’s capability for planning its future marketing activity Marketing planning refers to the process of analyzing potential market places in order to identify how a business can effectively compete in the segments. On the other hand, marketing analysing refers to the process of understanding how the market works and the customer’s wants that are vital. For an organization to be successful, it must be in a position to appropriately plan its future marketing activities. This entails analyzing the environment in order to identify the factors that will affect the operations of the company. First an organization should identify the microenvironment including opportunities and threats. Opportunities involve the interesting trends that can emanate from changes in government policies and social patterns among others. Threats on the other hand refer to the obstacles that an organization face, debt and cash-flow problems (Westhues, Lafrance &Schmidt, 2001). In order to identify the factors that may affect an organization internally and externally, it is essential for companies to undertake a PESTEL analyzes. This includes identifying the political, environment, social, technological, economic and legal factors that affect its operations. Another issue that an organization should consider is its capabilities that include its strengths and weaknesses. Strengths refer to the advantages that a firm faces. Additionally, the organization should identify its unique selling proposition as well as the aspects that make it better than any other. On the other hand, weaknesses refer to the areas that a business should improve, factors to avoid and the one that affect the sales. Other aspect that an organization should consider human resources which include the level of skills and training needed. Human resources should always be motivated to enhance their performance. Based on the importance of finance while undertaking marketing activities, an organization should consider financial resources. In this way, it will be in a position to allocate adequate funds to cater for advertising and promotion strategies. As the demand for technology in marketing increases, an organization should consider the technology that it has and which is needed in the marketing process. In addition, the company should consider the raw materials and physical resources needed during marketing. For proper marketing strategies, an organization should maintain a marketing department that will be responsible for allocating the resources needed. Another important aspect an organization should undertake is market segmentation. This will help in identifying the market and then applying the 4Ps as well as the 7ps that includes product, price, promotion, place, people, physical evidence and processes. Once an organization considers these resources, it will be in a position to put in place effective market planning. Question 1.3 Examination of the techniques for organizational auditing and for analyzing external factors that affect marketing planning Organizations should be ready to address any challenge that might emanate in their marketing strategies. This means that marketing managers must come up with ways to analyze the external factors that affect their firms. For example, the organization can use PESTEL model to analyze the external factors. Political factors refer to the issues that might emerge in the government for example, conflicts and peace initiatives. Economic factors refer to the determinants of the economy that may affect the performance of an organization. For instance, an increase in the rate of inflation may have an effect on the company prices. Additionally, inflation may affect the consumer’s purchasing power. Social factors entail the issues within the environment that has an effect on the demand or usage of the products and services. These include cultural trends, population, and demographics among others. Technological factors refer to the aspects such as innovation in technology that may impact on the performance of the business. As the business engage on more research and development, the quality of its brands improves thus attracting more customers. Legal factors refer to the laws that are adopted in a certain country. For example, during their operations, organizations must act according to consumer laws, labor laws and safety standards. Environmental factors refer to aspects such as climate, weather, and changes in climate, geographical location and environmental offsets among others. To appropriately understand the micro environment, an organization can use the Porters 5 forces. This is done by identifying first, the supplier power. Supplier power involves aspects like supplier concentration, cost differentiation, presence of substitute and threat of forward integration. Secondly, a firm should consider the threat of new entrants involves brand identity and identifying issues that may create stiff competition for the firm. The third issue as depicted by Porters 5 forces is the threat of substitute which includes switching costs, buyer inclination to substitute and trade-offs (McFall, 2004). Fourthly is the buyer power which entails identification of buyer information, price sensitivity, product differentiation and buyer’s incentives among others. Fifthly an organization should identify the degree of rivalry on its part entails industry concentration, industry growth, brands identity and corporate stakes among others. Question 1.4 Organizational auditing of a fast food business by use of Porters 5 forces and PESTLE forces Porters 5 forces for my organization Threat of new entrants Within the fast food sector, there is freedom of entry. In this regard, I will be faced with a cutthroat competition since other businesses will be free to enter the industry. Thus, I will need to adopt strong marketing policies for my products. Power of suppliers Since I will still continue to use the existing supplier, they will have an impact on the company’s margin and volumes. As a result they will have a substantial power (Collins, 2015). The strong relationship between the business and suppliers will make them to provide quality materials. Power of buyers My business will continue to serve more customers as it expands. This implies that no single customer will have an impact on the business volumes and margin. As a result, customer will have lesser powers Availability of substitutes Our customers will have an opportunity to switch to a competitive product for example from the supermarket. Thus, there is a threat since the cost of switching is low (Jobber, 2010). This means that I will need to invest in brand improvement to create stronger positive consumer-brand relationship. Competitive rivalry As the result of high demand of fast foods and free entry to the industry, the competition is likely to be stiff (Kotler, Kevin, 2009). Thus, I need to adopt extensive marketing strategies to attain strong brand awareness and image. PESTLE forces affecting my business Political Tax policies Trade tariffs Fiscal policies Economy Inflation Economic growth patterns Interest rate Foreign direct investment Social Cultural trends Demographics Technology Use of computer Innovation in the social media Legal Consumer laws Safety standards Labor laws Environment Agriculture practices Climate change Geographical position SWOT analysis for my business Strengths Lower prices that competitors Product diversification Branded image Skilled man power Opportunities Opening new outlets Targeting new location near colleges Weaknesses Limited funds available Offering products already in the market Customer travel further to get their products Threats High brand within the area High operating costs Stiff competition Price war with rivals Question 2.1 Main barriers to marketing planning Environmental barriers- social, legal, economic and others like political and technological factors may pose a lot of challenges to marketing planning. The factors pose limitation in how businesses can interact with the environment. Cultural barriers-culture considers factors like beliefs, morals customs and attitudes of individuals. Failure to consider cultural practices such as beliefs among others can lead to failure in marketing plan. Behavioral barriers- behavior traits must be considered when marketing planning is being carried. Behaviors of the individuals in the society are a critical major factor that can yield returns and steady growth. Cognitive barriers-knowledge and skills must be portrayed in the firm since if skills and knowledge are not incorporated then it implies that incompetence is likely to occur (Onkvisit, Shaw, 2004). This results in unsuccessful marketing strategy. System and procedures- system and procedures are how data concerning the market target is collected and analyzed so that the marketing planning will not depend on guesswork. The right resources- The right resources play a significant role in the market. These are time, employees, and capital. They must be considered if the firm is going to be successful in an open market economy. Confusion between tactics and strategy- tactics is the action that is taken to implement a certain strategy in marketing planning. Strategy is a process that is made by the company to attain competitive advantage. Isolating the marketing function from operation-the marketing function like SWOT, pestle among others must be done from marketing operations like digital marketing operations. confusion between the marketing function and the marketing concept- marketing function helps the firm to know its competitor while marketing concept is the strategy that is taken to ensure that a company will have competitive advantage over the other. Organizational barriers- the attitude of the employees toward work or any other perception of individuals in the firm is referred to as organizational barrier. Lack of in-depth analysis- lack of the company to carry the required marketing research resulting guess work of the firm is termed as lack of in-depth analysis. Confusion between process and output- process is the measures that businesses take to ensure that it attains the set goals while output is the final results, or the goals achieved. Lack of knowledge and skills- lack of knowledge is how the firm managements are unable to be creative and innovative while lack of competencies is how the managements lack the proper mechanism to implement a certain strategy. Lack of a systematic approach to marketing planning-failure to have a strategy that will result in attaining the goals is as a result of poor marketing planning. Market research and tactics must be employed to curb lack of the systematic approach to marketing planning. Failure to prioritize the objectives- it implies that the objectives or goals of the firm must be prioritized before any other activity in the firm. Failure to do that leads to lack of achieving business objectives. Hostile corporate cultures- favorable working conditions within the organization in considering to beliefs, attitudes, values among others leads to smooth workflow of the organization. Failure to consider those factors implies that working condition can be hostile. Question 2.2 How organization may overcome main barriers to marketing planning Organizations may overcome the environmental barrier by ensuring that social, economic, political and technological factors are considered when they are entering markets. The cultural barriers can be overcome by ensuring that beliefs, morals, customs and values among other factors are considered when a new entrant firm is entering the market. It results into the firm providing what the culture allows. To overcome behavioral barriers, the management can delegate duties to each and every individual so that status quo and other challenges can be avoided. To overcome cognitive barriers knowledge and skills should be provided to the employees. To overcome systems and procedures, the firm should carry market research accordingly (Goldstein, Lee, 2005). To overcome the right resources barrier, the firm should consider the time of it employees and capital that should be used to upgrade the firm. The other barrier is confusion between tactics and strategy, to overcome the barrier the correct measures should be taken during marketing plan and the right strategy to compete with competitors should be employed. To overcome the confusion between the marketing function and the marketing concept, the stakeholders should be aware of external and internal environment of the firm while marking concept like advertising should be analyzed carefully. Organizational barriers can be overcome by motivating the employees. To overcome in depth analysis, a well researched market should be carried. To overcome the confusion of process and output, the strategies or tactics given by the company should be transparent while the goals or output should be analyzed and displayed to the stakeholders. To overcome the lack of knowledge and skills implies that the firm should train the stakeholders. To overcome failure to prioritize objective, the firm should come up with banners indicating the objectives. To overcome hostile corporate cultures beliefs and attitudes where the firm is to be established should be considered for smooth workflow. References Armstrong, M. 2006. A handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page. Collins, R. 2015. Is there a better way to analyze the business environment? London: Sage. Goldstein, D and Lee, Y. 2005. The rise of right-time marketing. The Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management 12 (3): 12–25. Jobber, D. 2010. Principles and Practice of Marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill. Kerin, A. 2012. Marketing: The Core. New York: McGraw. Kotler, P and Kevin, K. 2009. "1". A Framework for Marketing Management .New York: Pearson Prentice Hall. McFall, R. 2004. Advertising: a cultural economy, cultural and sociological approaches to advertising. London: Sage. Onkvisit, S., & Shaw, J. (2004). International Marketing Strategy and Theory. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis. Westhues, A., Lafrance, J., Schmidt G. 2001. A SWOT analysis of social work education in Canada. Social Work Education: The International Journal 20 (1): 5–16. Read More