Marketing Plan

Marketing Plan

Stephen Lawrence and Frank Moyes Graduate School of Business University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80309-0419

Company Overview

Company Overview 

Introduction (1 paragraph) 

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Name, location, organization

Slogan Mission Statement History and Current Status (1 paragraph) Markets and Products Objectives Length: about 1 page

Slogan Pithy 4 to 10 word statement of company purpose  Use in business plan, advertising, descriptions of business, business cards, … 

Mission Statements 

Examples…

Mission Statement

Semiconductor Equipment [Semiconductor Equipment] will become a world leader in supplying lithography automation and productivity enhancement products for the semi-conductor industry through innovative design and unique customer insights.

Mission Statement

Website Management Co The mission of [Website Management Technologies] is to help businesses engaging in ecommerce achieve their sales and customer service objectives by enabling a better understanding of Web site visitors’ behavior.

Mission Statement

Tech Support Company [Tech Support Company] exists to provide outstanding technical support service and technical training to its customers. The Company’s target customers are developers of computer applications, companies with high demands for technical service and support, and retail consumers of computer products. We are committed to becoming the premier provider of technical help desk solutions and professional training for IT personnel. Towards this end, our management has affirmed that it will adhere to the qualities of integrity, challenge, innovation, enjoyment, shared leadership and customer satisfaction.

Mission Statements What is a mission statement?  What makes a good mission statement? 

Mission Statements

Fast Food Industry To make, distribute and sell the finest quality all-natural ice cream and related products in a wide variety of innovative flavors made from Vermont dairy products. Ben & Jerry‘s

To satisfy the world's appetite for good food, well served, at a price people can afford. McDonald’s

Mission Statement

LL Bean

Sell good merchandise at a reasonable price; Treat your customers as you would your friends. Leon Bean, 1911

Collins and Lazier, Managing the Small to Mid-sized Company

Mission Statement

General Electric Become #1 or #2 in every market we serve and revolutionize this company to have the agility of a small enterprise. Jack Welch, 1983

Collins and Lazier, Managing the Small to Mid-sized Company

Mission Statement

Shipbuilding

We will always build good ships. At a profit if we can, At a loss if we must, But always good ships. Bath Ship Works

Mission Statement

Great Britain – WWII Our whole people and empire have vowed themselves to the single task of cleansing Europe of the Nazi pestilence and saving the world from the new dark ages. We seek to beat the life and soul of Hitler and Hitlerism. That alone. That all the time. That to the end. Winston Churchill, 1941 Collins and Lazier, Managing the Small to Mid-sized Company

Mission Statements What makes a good mission statement? Compelling  Inspiring  Clear, measurable objectives  Concise 

Marketing Plan

Marketing Plan Objectives     

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Most important piece of your plan Build on industry and marketplace analysis – define your niche Identify your customers Demonstrate how you will solve problems for customers Describe how you will reach customers – advertising sales Convince reader that there is an eager market for your product or service

Marketing Plan Outline        

Introduction Target Market Product/Service Strategy Pricing Strategy Distribution Strategy Advertising and Promotion Sales Strategy Sales and Marketing Forecasts

Introduction 

Seven sentence introduction 1. The first sentence tells the purpose of the marketing strategy. 2. The second tells how you’ll achieve this purpose, focusing upon your benefits. 3. The third tells your target market – or markets. 4. The fourth, the longest sentence, tells the marketing weapons you’ll employ. 5. The fifth tells your niche. 6. The sixth tells your identity. 7. The seventh tells your budget, expressed as a percentage of your projected gross revenues.

Introduction – Example The purpose of Prosper Press is to sell the maximum number of books at the lowest possible selling cost per book. This will be accomplished by positioning the books as being so valuable to freelancers that they are guaranteed to be worth more to the reader than their selling price. The target market will be people who can or do engage in free-lance earning activities. Marketing tools to be utilized will be a combination of classified advertising in magazines and newspapers, direct mail, sales at seminars, publicity in newspapers and on radio and television, direct sales calls to bookstores, and mail-order display ads in magazines. The niche to be occupied is one that stands valuable information that helps freelancers succeed, the ultimate authority for free-lancers. Our identity will be one of expertise, readability, and quick response to customer requests. Thirty percent of sales will be allocated to marketing.

Target Market Strategy Identify the market niche you will serve  Be as specific as possible 

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Better to be too specific

Benefits to target market What problems do you solve?  What needs do you fulfill? 

Two Types of Benefits  Emotional 

Hope, fear, love guilt, greed, convenience

 Financial 

Increased profit, value pricing, save money, payback period

Talk to Your Customers 

Imperative that you talk with customers!    

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Casual conversations Interviews Surveys Focus groups

Identify needs Listen! NOTE: see “The New Market Research” (online INC article)

Target Market Questions        

What buy now? How get service? Would you be interested in …? Demographics Newspapers, magazines, TV Would you buy? Where would you expect us to advertise? Who do you consider our competition? Other comments? Levinson, “Guerrilla Marketing” 3rd edition

Creating New Market Space HBR, Kim & Mauborgne

Reduce What factors might be reduced well below industry standards?

Eliminate What factors might be eliminated that the industry has taken for granted?

Create New Market Space

What factors might be created that the industry has never offered?

What factors might be raised well beyond industry standards?

Raise

Product/Service Strategy 

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Describe how the design of your product/service fulfills unmet marketplace needs Differentiate your product/service from the competition Explain why and how customers will switch to your product or service Describe how you will defend your product or service from competition

Product Attribute Map Attribute 1 Competitor 3

You

Competitor 1

Attribute 2 Competitor 2

Pricing Strategy   

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Describe and justify your pricing strategy Provide evidence that your target market will accept your price Position your strategy relative to current and potential competition NOTE: Low price often (usually) is NOT a good strategy for a startup!

Advertising/Promotion 

Describe how you will communicate with current and potential customers     

Advertising Public relations Personal selling Printed materials Other means of promotion

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Explain why this be strategy is most effective in reaching your target market

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Note: See Guerrilla Marketing

Distribution Strategy 

Explain how you will deliver your product or service to your customers 

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How will your customers acquire your product or service

Describe and justify the distribution channels you will use Describe how you will gain access to your planned distribution channels

Sales Strategy  

Describe to whom you must sell your product or service (not always obvious) Explain how you will “sell”   

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An internal sales force Manufacturer's representatives Telephone solicitors

Describe how you will support your sales effort  

internal staff service operations

Goals for Marketing Plan    

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Compelling “story” that there is a need in the market Need flows logically from industry analysis Product/service designed to fulfill market needs Advertising, price, distribution, and sales all flow logically, convincingly from characteristics of the market “WOW! What a great idea! I wish I had thought of that…”