Confirming Pages Section IV Developing Marketing Plans 231 example, a brand manager may have to present a marketing plan to senior executives in a firm to get a budget request filled. This would be an internal source. Similarly, proposals for funding from investors or business loans from banks often require a marketing plan. These would be external sources. Figure 1 presents a format for preparing marketing plans. Each of the 10 elements will be briefly discussed. We will refer to previous chapters and sections in this text and to other sources where additional information can be obtained when a marketing plan is being prepared. We also will offer additional information for focusing particular sections of the plan as well as for developing financial analysis. Title Page The title page should contain the following information: (1) the name of the product or brand for which the marketing plan has been prepared—for example, Marketing Plan for Little Friskies Dog Food; (2) the time period for which the plan is designed—for example, 2008–2010; (3) the person(s) and position(s) of those submitting the plan—for example, submitted by Amy Lewis, brand manager; (4) the persons, group, or agency to whom the plan is being submitted—for example, submitted to Lauren Ellis, product group manager; and (5) the date of submission of the plan—for example, June 30, 2008. While preparing the title page is a simple task, remember that it is the first thing readers see. Thus, a title page that is poorly laid out, is smudged, or contains misspelled words can lead to the inference that the project was developed hurriedly and with little attention to detail. As with the rest of the project, appearances are important and affect what people think about the plan. Executive Summary The executive summary is a two- to three-page summary of the contents of the report. Its purpose is to provide a quick summary of the marketing plan for executives who need to be informed about the plan but are typically not directly involved in plan approval. For instance, senior executives for firms with a broad product line may not have time to read the entire plan but need an overview to keep informed about operations. The executive summary should include a brief introduction, the major aspects of the marketing plan, and a budget statement. This is not the place to go into detail about each and every aspect of the marketing plan. Rather, it should focus on the major market opportunity and the key elements of the marketing plan that are designed to capitalize on this opportunity. It is also useful to state specifically how much money is required to implement the plan. In an ongoing firm, many costs can be estimated from historical data or from discussions with other executives in charge of specific functional areas. However, in many situations (such as a class project), sufficient information is not always available to give exact costs for every aspect of production, promotion, and d.

1. Confirming Pages
Section IV Developing Marketing Plans 231
example, a brand manager may have to present a marketing plan
to senior executives in a
firm to get a budget request filled. This would be an internal
source. Similarly, proposals
for funding from investors or business loans from banks often
require a marketing plan.
These would be external sources.
Figure 1 presents a format for preparing marketing plans. Each
of the 10 elements will
be briefly discussed. We will refer to previous chapters and
sections in this text and to other
sources where additional information can be obtained when a
marketing plan is being
prepared. We also will offer additional information for focusing
particular sections of the
plan as well as for developing financial analysis.
Title Page
The title page should contain the following information: (1) the
name of the product or
brand for which the marketing plan has been prepared—for
example, Marketing Plan for
Little Friskies Dog Food; (2) the time period for which the plan
is designed—for example,
2008–2010; (3) the person(s) and position(s) of those
submitting the plan—for example,
submitted by Amy Lewis, brand manager; (4) the persons,

2. group, or agency to whom the
plan is being submitted—for example, submitted to Lauren
Ellis, product group manager;
and (5) the date of submission of the plan—for example, June
30, 2008.
While preparing the title page is a simple task, remember that it
is the first thing readers
see. Thus, a title page that is poorly laid out, is smudged, or
contains misspelled words can
lead to the inference that the project was developed hurriedly
and with little attention to
detail. As with the rest of the project, appearances are important
and affect what people
think about the plan.
Executive Summary
The executive summary is a two- to three-page summary of the
contents of the report. Its
purpose is to provide a quick summary of the marketing plan for
executives who need to be
informed about the plan but are typically not directly involved
in plan approval. For
instance, senior executives for firms with a broad product line
may not have time to read
the entire plan but need an overview to keep informed about
operations.
The executive summary should include a brief introduction, the
major aspects of the
marketing plan, and a budget statement. This is not the place to
go into detail about each and
every aspect of the marketing plan. Rather, it should focus on
the major market opportunity
and the key elements of the marketing plan that are designed to
capitalize on this opportunity.

3. It is also useful to state specifically how much money is
required to implement the plan.
In an ongoing firm, many costs can be estimated from historical
data or from discussions with
other executives in charge of specific functional areas.
However, in many situations (such as
a class project), sufficient information is not always available to
give exact costs for every
aspect of production, promotion, and distribution. In these
cases, include a rough estimate of
FIGURE 1
A Marketing Plan
Format
• Title page.
• Executive summary.
• Table of contents.
• Introduction.
• Situational analysis.
• Marketing planning.
• Implementation and control of the marketing plan.
• Summary.
• Appendix: Financial analysis.
• References.
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Confirming Pages
total marketing costs of the plan. In many ongoing firms,
marketing cost elements are
concentrated in the areas of promotion and marketing research,

4. and these figures are
integrated with those from other functional areas as parts of the
overall business plan.
Table of Contents
The table of contents is a listing of everything contained in the
plan and where it is located
in the report. Reports that contain a variety of charts and figures
may also have a table of
exhibits listing their titles and page numbers within the report.
In addition to using the table of contents as a place to find
specific information, readers
may also review it to see if each section of the report is
logically sequenced. For example,
situational analysis logically precedes marketing planning as an
activity, and this ordering
makes sense in presenting the plan.
Introduction
The types of information and amount of detail reported in the
introduction depend in part
on whether the plan is being designed for a new or existing
product or brand. If the product
is new, the introduction should explain the product concept and
the reasons it is expected to
be successful. Basically, this part of the report should make the
new idea sound attractive
to management or investors. In addition, it is useful to offer
estimates of expected sales,
costs, and return on investment.
If the marketing plan is for an existing brand in an ongoing
firm, it is common to begin
the report with a brief history of the brand. The major focus
here is on the brand’s

5. performance in the last three to five years. It is useful to
prepare graphs of the brand’s
performance that show its sales, profits, and market share for
previous years and to explain
the reasons for any major changes. These exhibits can also be
extended to include predicted
changes in these variables given the new marketing plan. A
brief discussion of the overall
strategy followed in previous years also provides understanding
of how much change is
being proposed in the new marketing plan.
Also useful in the introduction is to offer a precise statement of
the purpose of the report
as well as a roadmap of the report. In other words, tell readers
what this report is, how it is
organized, and what will be covered in the following sections.
Situational Analysis
The situational analysis is not unlike the analysis discussed in
Chapter 1 and Section II of
this text. The focus remains on the most critical and relevant
environmental conditions (or
changes in them) that affect the success or failure of the
proposed plan. While any aspect
of the economic, social, political, legal, or cooperative
environments might deserve
considerable attention, there is seldom if ever a marketing plan
in which the competitive
environment does not require considerable discussion. In fact,
the competitive environment
may be set off as a separate section called industry analysis.
The strengths and weaknesses
of major competitors, their relative market shares, and the
success of various competitive
strategies are critical elements of the situation analysis.

6. Marketing Planning
Marketing planning is, of course, a critical section of the report.
As previously noted, it
includes three major elements: marketing objectives, target
markets, and the marketing mix.
Marketing Objectives
Marketing objectives are often stated in plans in terms of the
percentage of particular outcomes
that are to be achieved: for example, 80 percent awareness of
the brand in particular markets,
increase in trial rate by 30 percent, distribution coverage of 60
percent, or increase in total
232 Section IV Developing Marketing Plans
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