The document provides guidance on developing a marketing plan, including analyzing the business's current position, defining customer segments, and determining growth opportunities. It discusses tools like SWOT analysis, the customer/problem matrix, and the product/market expansion grid. It also covers key marketing concepts such as branding, competitive advantage, pricing strategies, and marketing communications. The overall message is that marketing involves understanding customer needs and problems, defining the business's unique value proposition, and communicating it effectively to the right audiences.

1. Nick Webbe
Trevor Lever
Creating a Marketing Plan

2. Where are you now?
Developing an agreed understanding of
where the business currently stands

3. Where are you now?
y
• Write a brief summary of your current
business position.
• Things you might mention include:
– Sales
– Markets
– Customers
– Competition
– Products

4. Internal Information
• Too much data not enough information
• Information is not always agreed on
• Information is in the wrong format
• Have you defined what information you need,
or are you j t working with what you can
just ki ith h t
get?

5. External Information
• What external information do you have access
to as well?

6. Where are we now?
• Consists of documenting both internal and
external information relative to the business
• Internal Information
– Hi t i l Sales, P&L, Sales Forecast, Account
Historical S l P&L S l F t A t
Analysis, Turnover / Market Segment / Product…
•E
External Information
lI f i
– Market Reports, Government Statistics, Trade
Directories, Web, Competition, Trade Forums,
Companies House…

7. SWOT Analysis
y
• SWOT =
– Strengths
– Weaknesses
– Opportunities
– Threats
• For a company, product, market etc.

8. SWOT Analysis
y
Positive Negative
Internal Strengths Weaknesses
External Opportunities Threats

9. SWOT Analysis: Company
y p y
Strengths Weaknesses
Part of large UK group Sales in UK stagnant
Good Image – Quality Company Products thought of as “old
Good Resources – financial, fashioned”
f hi d”
technical Few marketing staff
Established export sales
p Website is dated
Opportunities Threats
Parent company in acquisitive Low priced
Low-priced Japanese competition
mode Local niche competitors
New group R& facility Exchange rate
Academic joint ventures Loss of patent
L f t t
Asia factory

10. SWOT Analysis: Product ABC
y
Strengths Weaknesses
Market Leader Limited options and accessories
Established Poor academic position
Large customer base Service Reliability
Opportunities Threats
Move manufacturing to Asia Alliance between competitors
New accessories open new Improved service from XYZ
markets New product from DEF
Low-Cost 2nd generation model

11. SWOT Analysis
y
• Strengths => Exploit
g p
• Weaknesses => Overcome
• Opportunities => Grasp
• Threats => Defend
One of the most important parts of the planning
p p p g
process. SWOT Analysis asks the questions that
enable you to decide if the company and its
y p y
products can fulfil your plan

12. Opportunities / Threats
pp
Likelihood
High Low
L
High
ortance
Impo
Low

13. Situation Analysis
y
• Review Economic & Business Climate
• How do we do this?

14. PEST Analysis
y
Political Economic
Social Technology

15. Summary
y
• Should now be able to agree and document
the current position of the company.
• This might be stated by:
– Product
– Market
– Geography
– Competition
– Oth ?
Other?

16. Where might we go?
A collection of tools and ideas that can be
used to develop different business strategies

17. Destination Options?
p
• Sell up after 3 years with quantified equity to
retire
• Grow business to turnover X by buying others
• Pass profitable business onto kids
p
• Be first person in my street with a Mercedes
• W k 3 days a week but maintain current
Work d kb t i t i t
income

18. What are your destination options?
y p
• If you have had to think for more than 5
seconds – then you’ve just made it up

19. What is marketing?
g
• Marketing is the vehicle that gets the business
g g
to its destination
• However, it cannot function without a defined
destination
• A business going nowhere – will usually get
there
• You cannot get to London on the M5

20. Marketing is not
g
• Something that only big companies do
g y g p
• Something that always costs lots of money
• Something that is always very difficult to do
•S
Something that i full of jargon
thi th t is f ll f j
• Something that is an optional extra

21. What is Marketing?
g
• Marketing is a business philosophy. It s a
philosophy It’s
way of thinking
• The company seeks to solve customers’
problems to their complete satisfaction whilst
creating maximum profit to the company
• It’s a long term thing
• Marketing means solving customers’
problems profitably

22. How do you do it?
y
• Define the problem(s) that the company
can solve
• Define the customer group(s) who have
these problems
• Define the customer group(s) with these
problems the company can serve profitably
• Define the method(s) of communicating
with them

23. Four Step Programme
p g
• Define the problem(s)
• What are the problems that we can solve could we solve others
solve,
• Define the customer group(s)
• How can we segment into meaningful groups
• Define the group(s) that can be served profitably
• Which can we serve profitably and which will cost us money
• Define the method(s) of communicating with them
• What is the best medium to convince customers that we
can solve their problems

24. Customers / Problems Matrix
Problem 1 Problem 2 Problem 3
Group A
Group B
p
Group C

25. Marketing Summary
g y
• Marketing places the customer at the
centre of the business
• The objective of the enterprise is to
satisfy customers above their expectation
and make a good profit
• This is very difficult to achieve. If it was
easy, then everybody could do it

26. Key Statement No.1
y
CUSTOMERS ARE THE
MOST IMPORTANT
PEOPLE IN YOUR WORLD

27. Customers
And solving their problems

28. Customers Cost Money
y
• The real cost of doing business is the sum of the
costs incurred in finding satisfying and keeping
finding,
customers
• Customers are the only real assets of a company as
they are the only source of revenue.
• Costs fall into four categories
– Acquisition costs
q
– Product/Service cost
– Fulfilment costs
– Retention costs
R i

29. Customers Cost Money
y
• Fi di customers - A
Finding t Acquisition Costs
i iti C t
– All those marketing and communication costs targeted at
potential customers
• Making it - Product / Service Costs
– The prime manufacturing or service delivery costs -
materials, labour and overhead
• Delivering it - Fulfilment Costs
– All costs incurred in creating the product and delivering it
from the point of creation to the point of consumption
• Keeping customers - Retention Costs
– All those marketing and customer care costs targeted at
existing customers

30. Finding and Keeping Customers
g p g
• Finding Customers - Acquisition Costs
– You must be able to able to communicate with potential
customers to convert them into actual customers
– What to say
– How to say it
– What medium to use
• Keeping Customers – Retention Costs
– Customers need to believe that they should continue to
buy from you and not try elsewhere
– What to say
– How to say it
– What medium to use

31. Customer Segmentation
g
• What ways are there to classify the types of
y y yp
customer you currently sell to?
• How do you do this at the moment?
• Here a e so e opt o s to c ass y custo e s
e e are some options classify customers…

32. Basic Customer Types
yp
Loyalty
y y
High Low
High
Box 1 Box 2
True friends Butterflies
Profitability
Box 3 Box 4
Barnacles Strangers
Low

33. Add 5 of your customers to each box
y
Loyalty
y y
High Low
High
Box 1 Box 2
Profitability
Box 3 Box 4
Low

34. True Friends
True Friends
– Good fit between customer’s needs and
company s
company’s offering
– Highest profit potential
• What actions should we take?
– Build loyalty in thought and action
– Communicate consistently but not too often
– Delight them by delivering superior value
– Beware of discounting = Barnacles

35. Butterflies
Butterflies
– Good fit between customer’s needs and company’s
offering
– High profit potential
• What actions should we take?
– Identify those that can be turned into True Friends
– Profit from the remainder
– Monitor profitability routinely

36. Barnacles
Barnacles
– Limited fit between customer’s needs and the
company’s needs
’ d
– Low profit potential
• What actions should we take?
– Learn to say “No”
– Consider other products
– Identify those than can be converted into True
Friends
d

37. Strangers
g
Strangers
– Little fit between customer’s needs and the
company’s offering
’ ff i
– Lowest profit potential
• What actions should we take?
– Make no investment in these relationships
– M k a profit on each transaction
Make fit ht ti

38. Options for Business Growth
p
Products/Services
oducts/Se v ces
Existing New
Existing Box 2
Box 1
Market Product
Penetration Development
Markets/Customers
Box 3 Box 4
Market Diversification
Development
New

39. Business Growth
• Market Penetration
– This is a safe place to be but will not produce a significant revenue
increase unless each customer buys more
• Product Development
– A good understanding of customer's needs reduces the risks involved
in selling new products (cross selling up-selling)
selling, up selling)
• Market Development
op
– Go out and find new customers, either non users or competitive users
• Diversification
– Be very bold - develop new products and sell to new
customers.
customers Dangerous

40. What are your options for g
y p growth?
Products/Services
oducts/Se v ces
Existing New
Existing Box 2
Box 1
Markets/Customers
Box 3 Box 4
New

41. How are we going to get there?

42. Brands
What is a brand?
What does it do?
What can be a brand?

43. How Brands Began
g
• Branding cattle with a hot iron goes back to 2,000 BC and still
continues today where cattle are allowed to roam
y
• This way of identifying ownership was adapted to differentiate
one grocery product (tea coffee, flour salt etc) from another
(tea, coffee flour, salt, another.
Prior to that these products were undifferentiated commodities
• The branded product became the way to guarantee the quality
and consistency of the product. This offered better value to
customers f which they were prepared to pay more money
for h h h d

44. What do Brands do?
• They give the customer reassurance of the quality and
consistency of th product
i t f the d t
• Th give something extra to th customer – it doesn’t j t
They i thi t t the t d ’t just
play music – it’s an iPod. It’s not just a training shoe it’s a
lifestyle – Nike
• Because they deliver more to the customer they command a
customer,
higher price

45. The Evolution of the Brand
• When a business starts out the business
o
owner is the brand
• As the business grows and begins to
establish a reputation the business
becomes the brand
b th b d
• As the business matures its product(s)
become the brand

46. Why create Brands?
y
• The major payoffs are:
– Creates consumer preference or even loyalty
– Provides greater strength to withstand competitive
pressure
– Creates a stronger bargaining position in the
supply chain
pp y
– Produces an improvement in profit

47. Your Competitive Advantage
How to develop and maintain it

48. How do you compete in y
y p your market?
• How many competitors do you have?
• How are you different from them?
y
• How do you compete against them?
o o p aga
• How do they compete against you?

49. What is Sustainable Competitive Advantage?
a s us a a e Co pe e d a age
• SCA is a distinctive way of competing. It is not just
doing the same things more efficiently
• It i not gene ted b a single activity – th t
is generated by ingle ti it that
competitors can easily copy
• It is achieved by creating advantages in one area
which allows you to create advantages in other area

50. Competitive Advantage
p g
Do you have a competitive advantage?
What are you doing to create one?

51. Price Setting
What is the value (£) to the customer
in having their problem solved

52. What is the price?
p
• For a glass of water?
• For a airline ticket to New York?
• For a printer cartridge?
• For AA breakdown cover?
• For a mobile phone?

53. Pricing Plan
g
• Product pricing is one of the most fundamental
decisions made by a company.
• Price represents the amount of value that a customer
has to give up in order to acquire your product.
g p q y p

54. Pricing Plan
g
• Almost every aspect of the marketing of a product
will impact upon the pricing decision.
decision
What are the key considerations in setting your price?
– What is the prime cost of the product
– What is the product’s perceived competitive advantage
– What are the prices of competitive products
– Is the product or service a strong brand

55. The Pricing Plan
g
Objectives
Company’s
Costs market
p
profile
Legal THE
constraints PRICING Competitors
PLAN
Customer’s Potential
attitudes competitors
Differentials

56. Marketing Communications
What to say
How to say it
Who to say it to
Where to say it

57. Marketing Communications
g
Marketing Communications
Marketing Strategy
Marketing Planning
(Everything we talked
about before lunch)

58. Marketing Communications
g
Marketing Communications
Marketing Strategy
Marketing Planning
(Everything we talked
about before lunch)

59. There are three different audiences
• First time buyers/non users
• Existing buyers
• Competitive buyers

60. What to say and to whom?
y
First Time Buyers
- Could this problem be yours?
- Are you concerned by this?
- W understand your situation
We d t d it ti
- Here is a possible solution

61. What to say and to whom?
y
- Existing Customers
- Thanks for buying us
- Lots of others are like you
- We appreciate your custom
- Relax, you’ve made the right decision
- There is no need to look elsewhere

62. What to say and to whom?
y
- Competitive Buyers
- You know you have this problem
- You value an answer to this
- Y h
You have experience of a solution
i f l ti
- Here is a superior alternative

63. How to say it
y
• When communicating with customers it is not
sufficient to say we exist and we have things
to ll
t sell you
• It is the first step to building a relationship
with the customer which is designed to be
long term and mutually beneficial
• The communication will be more powerful if it
contains and idea which transcends the simple
benefits of the product

64. Where to say it?
y
•Advertising
– Powerful, expensive, takes time to work
•Direct marketing
– Powerful, good value, immediate
•Sales Promotion
– In store/on pack, good value, immediate
•Internet
– Need to promote website, very competitive
•Events
– Expensive but targeted audience

65. Where to say it?
y
•Public Affairs (PR)
( )
– Slow, opinion forming, not under your control
•Selling
– Requires intense knowledge of product and customers
•Email Marketing
– Cheap, low level background, controlled
•Corporate Identity
– Low Cost, essential sta t g po t Dangerous to do in-house
o esse t a starting-point. a ge ous ouse
•Networking
– L
Low cost, t k ti
t takes time t work. N t controlled
to k Not t ll d

66. Assessing Marketing Communications
g g
MEASURE ANALYSE
ACTIVITY MODIFY

67. Marketing Communications
g
• Message – what is it you want to say?
• Market – who is it you want to say it to?
• Motive – why are you sending this message out?
• Map – where is the message going to?
• Moment – when is the right time to do it?
g
• Media – how will you communicate the message?
• Motivation – what will encourage a response?
g p
• Measurement – how will you define and measure success?
• Management
g – how will you manage / review the p g
y g program?
• Money – what are the total costs?

68. Decision Support Structure
pp
WISDOM
KNOWLEDGE
INTERPRETATION
INFORMATION
DATA
INTERNAL / EXTERNAL SYSTEMS

69. Marketing Consistency
Everything that can be given, shown, heard
or seen by anybody who might want to buy
your product must be consistent

70. Key Statement No.2
y
WHATEVER MARKETING
MATERIAL YOU CREATE
– BE CONSISTENT

71. Marketing Material
g
• There must be a consistent and appropriate look
pp p
and feel to all your business material:
Business Cards
Letterhead
Brochures
Product Information
Presentations
Case Studies
Emails
Newsletters
Web Site
Packaging

72. Repetition and Consistency
p y

73. Marketing Collateral
g
Make it very easy for a potential customer to:
– Understand what you do
– Understand what problems you solve
– Understand you are relevant to them
– Make contact with you
– Obtain relevant information from you
y
– Ultimately, to say “yes” to you

74. Advertisement or Announcement?
• An advertisement creates a relationship
d ti t
between the brand and viewer/reader
– It creates an understanding between the seller
and the potential buyer
– It persuades the potential buyer that the seller
is best able to solve his/her problem
• An announcement says we have stuff to sell
p
please will you buy it?
y y

75. Key Statement No. 3
y
TELL THE EXPERTS
WHAT YOU WANT
TO ACHIEVE
– NOT HOW TO DO IT

76. How to brief the experts
p
• Do not tell them what to do
• Tell them what you want to achieve
• Tell them the type of company you are
• Tell them about the target customers
• Tell them about the problems you solve
Write all this down – use it to judge their work

77. Creating your Marketing Plan
Putting it all together

78. Stages in creating a Marketing Plan
g g g
• Defines where are we now
• Defines where are we going
• Defines how will we get there
g
• Defines how will we know we have arrived

79. Marketing Plan - Structure
g
• Introduction
– Overview of current situation
•E
Executive Summary
ti S
– 1 page A4 summary of the entire plan
• Situation Analysis
– Where are we now
• Assumptions
• S l History
Sales Hi t
• Key Markets
• K Products
Key P d t

80. Marketing Plan - Structure
g
• Marketing Objectives
• Marketing Strategies
• Sales Tactics
• What are we doing & when
• Sales / Promotions
• Costs / Projected Profits / Cash-Flow
• Controls and Measures
• Resources

81. Marketing Planning (
g g (What & When)
)
2006 Marketing Communications Plan
Messages:
Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Total
Advertsing
yellow pages
local press
trade press
total advertising
Literature
company brochure
product overview
case studies
Direct Mail
summer promotion
newsletter
Internet
email newsletter
ad-words
web site updates
Events
seminars
open-house
PR
case studies
new premises
new staff
Promotional Gifts
seminar gift
mouse mats

82. The Marketing Plan
g
• Management Summary: Provides an
g y
overview of your marketing plan and what you
feel the marketing function should deliver
g
• Situation Analysis: What business you are
in and the key issues and objectives
• Targets: Sales target for the year ahead +
the
th number of contracts / clients you will need
b f t t li t ill d
in order to hit your sales target

83. The Marketing Plan
g
• Market Overview: Your target market in terms of
geography, client types, needs and trends, market
growth
• Market Research: How many potential new clients
are there? Profiles of different types of
client. Analysis of their specific needs
• Competitive Analysis: Approximate number of
competitors. Brief profiles key competitors,
competito s B ief p ofiles of ke competito s
including: SWOT analysis; key products / services;
how they differentiate themselves

84. The Marketing Plan
g
• Segmentation Strategy: Smart businesses focus
on niche market areas. Thi k hard about this – it
i h k t Think h d b t thi
may be the single most important thing you do
• Positioning Strategy: How do you want clients to
p
perceive you in your marketplace? For example -
y y p p
Lowest price? Best service? Highest quality? This is
all part of the differentiation process...
• Differentiation: Your decisions on segmentation
and positioning, combined with your competitive
analysis, will help you to decide on how you are
going to make your business 'stand out from the
crowd'

85. What do you do with the plan?
y p
• Written Down
• Agreed
• Circulated
• Acted Upon
• Reference for future decision making

86. Thank You
Emaiil: trevor@trevorleverconsulting.com
Website: www.trevorleverconsulting.com
www trevorleverconsulting com
Blog: www.theorderpreventiondepartment.blogspot.com
Blog: www.trevorlever.co.uk
www trevorlever co uk
Twitter: @RealTrevorLever
Facebook: Trevor_Lever
Trevor Lever
Ecademy: Trevor_Lever
Skype: Trevor.Lever