Marketing Plans, 9th Edition

CHAPTER 6SET TING MARKETING OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES

SUMMARY

• What marketing objectives are
• How marketing objectives relate to corporate objectives
• How to set marketing objectives
• What competitive strategies are
• How to use competitive strategies to gain competitive advantage
• How to start the process of marketing planning using ‘gap analysis’
• New product development as a growth strategy
• What marketing strategies are
• How to set marketing strategies
• Why this step is the most crucial in the marketing planning process
• Exercises to turn the theory into actionable propositions

INTRODUCTION

From our ‘map’ of marketing, repeated below as Figure 6.1, we have so far dealt in detail in Chapters 3, 4 and 5 with Box 1,‘Define markets and understand value’.

We also introduced Box 2, ‘Create value proposition’ in Chapter 3, when we gave an overview of the marketing planning process.

The purpose of this chapter is to expand on the ‘Determine the value proposition’ step and to spell out how to set marketing objectives and strategies within the strategic marketing plan. We begin by expanding Box 2, ‘Create value proposition’ (Figure 6.2). The key input to this process is the analysis of customer needs, and the relative attractiveness of different customer segments, which were discussed in detail in Chapters 4 and 5.

Figure 6.1: Map of marketing.

Figure 6.2: Determine value proposition. ...