Reference no: EM13392281

A Marketing Plan for a product (not a service or idea). Below is the outline for this project.

1. Executive Summary

The Executive Summary "sells" the marketing plan to readers through its clarity and brevity. The summary should present a description of the product/service, its target market, and its need within the market. The summary should also provide an overview of the main points of the plan and should emphasize an action orientation.

2. Company Description

The company description should highlight the recent history and successes of the company or organization.

3. Environmental Analysis (includes 6 parts)

Economic Analysis: The economic analysis section should provide the backdrop for a more detailed analysis of the economic situation of the region the company operates in. The emphasis should be on the business cycle of the industry. An in-depth analysis will give both internal and external readers of the plan confidence in the company’s ability to understand its own industry.

Political Analysis: Provide the analysis of political forces that affect your decision making process.

Legal and Regulatory Analysis: You company's management should be aware of all the federal and local regulations that form a framework for your company's operations.

Competitor Analysis: An effective analysis of the competition should demonstrate that the company has a realistic understanding of its major competitors and their marketing strategies. As in with the industry analysis, a realistic assessment makes readers feel confident that the marketing actions in the plan are well grounded.

Technological Analysis: The technological analysis provides details of a company’s use of new technologies that will enable it to achieve its marketing goals.

Socio-Cultural Analysis: A thorough social and cultural analysis answers the question: "Who are our customers?" Understanding your customers, trends in social development and what your target markets want is critical in satisfying them and providing genuine value.

 4. SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis is an effective short-hand summary of the environmental analysis. The acronym is used to describe an organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses and its external opportunities and threats. This analysis provides a solid foundation as a springboard to identify subsequent actions in the marketing plan. The SWOT analysis can be effectively presented in a tabular format (bulleted list).

An analysis to identify internal strengths and weaknesses usually includes the following areas in an organization: management experience level, management style, size; product uniqueness, quality, price; quality and experience of workforce; sales revenues; quality and dependability of suppliers; plans for continual product improvement, R & D budget.

An analysis to identify external opportunities and threats usually includes the following factors: size and stability of market; number and size of competitors; the effect of technology on any facet of the business; current and projected economic situation of market; the effect of legal and regulatory factors on any facet of the business.

5. Marketing Objectives

Setting marketing objectives and identifying target market segments significantly increases the chance that a product will be successful. The objectives and goals should be stated in measurable terms so that they can be measured during the program implementation and control phases of the marketing plan.

6. Marketing Strategy (Target Markets and Marketing Mix)

Target Markets

Since an organization cannot satisfy the needs of all consumers, it must concentrate its marketing efforts on the needs of specific niches or target markets. In describing the target markets, consider why a particular target market was selected and how the product or service meets the needs of the target market.

Marketing Mix

Everything that has gone before in the marketing plan sets the stage for the marketing mix actions---the 4 Ps----covered in the marketing plan. Product, price, promotion, and place (distribution) strategies are all detailed in the Marketing Strategy section of the plan.

Product: Three layers of a product (Core Product - basic product platform, Actual Product - features, brand name, packaging, etc., and Augmented Product - service, warranty, etc.)

 Price: List price, discounts, allowances, credit terms, payment period.

 Promotion: Advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, net relations.

 Place: Outlets, channels, coverage, transportation.

7. Implementation Plan
The implementation plan shows how a company will turn plans into results. To implement a marketing program successfully, hundreds of detailed decisions are often required. These marketing tactics are detailed operational decisions essential to the overall success of marketing strategies. Unlike marketing strategies, marketing tactics involve actions that must be taken immediately.

For each strategy describe what has to be performed to carry it out. For example, if the plan calls for adding television advertising, implementation might involve contacting an ad agency and arranging a meeting, agreeing on objectives, targeting audiences, and scheduling a flight of advertisements. If the plan calls for increasing the price, a break-even schedule of alternative prices might be performed.

8. Evaluation and Control

The purpose of the control phase of the strategic marketing process is to keep the marketing program moving in the direction set for it. In the control phase, the marketing manager compares the results of the marketing program with the goals in the written plans to identify deviations. The marketing manager then acts on the deviations to correct the negative and exploit the positive ones.

9. References (Works Cited)

In this section you need to provide a list of your sources of information.

10. Appendixes
Enclose any tables, graphs, pictures of your product, samples of your print ads, TV and/or radio commercials, etc. that illustrate and support your ideas.