Strategic planning is the process of creating and maintaining alignment between an organization's objectives and resources and market opportunities. A marketing plan should include defining the business mission, performing a situation analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, setting objectives, identifying the target market, and outlining the marketing mix. The plan provides a guide for marketing activities and a basis for evaluating performance.

1. Strategic Rlanning
For Competitive Advantage
KEY TERM! KEY CONCEPTS
strategic planning the Understand the importance of strategic marketing and know a
managerial process of basic outline for a marketing plan. Strategic marketing planning is the
creating and maintaining basis for all marketing strategies and decisions. By specifying objectives and
a fit between the organization's
defining the actions required to attain them, a marketing plan provides the basis on which
objectives and resources and the
actual and expected performance can be compared.
evolving market opportunities
Although there is no set formula or a single correct outline, a marketing plan should
planning the process of anticipating
include elements such as defining the business mission, performing a situation analysis.
future events and determining
defining objectives, delineating a target market, and establishing components of the
strategies to achieve organizational
objectives in the future marketing mix (product, place, promotion, and price). Other elements that may be included
m a plan are budgets, implementation timetables, required marketing research efforts, or
marketing planning designing
activities relating to marketing elements of advanced strategic planning.
objectives and the changing
marketing environment Develop an appropriate business mission statement. The firm's mission
marketing plan a written document statement establishes boundaries for all subsequent decisions, objectives, and
that acts as a guidebook of marketing strategies. A mission statement should focus on the market(s) the organization is
activities for the marketing manager attempting to serve rather than on the good or service offered.
mission statement a Describe the components of a situation analysis. In the situation
statement of the firm's (or SWOT) analysis, the firm should identify its internal strengths (S) and •
business based on a weaknesses (W) and also examine external opportunities (0) and threats (T).
careful analysis of benefits sought by When examining external opportunities and threats, marketing managers must analyze
present and potential customers and
aspects of the marketing environment in a process called environmental scanning. The
an analysis of existing and anticipated
six macroenvironmental forces studied most often are social, demographic, economic,
environmental conditions
technological, political and legal, and competitive.
marketing myopia defining
a business in terms of goods and
services rather than in terms of the Explain the criteria for stating good marketing objectives. Objectives
should be realistic, measurable, time specific, and compared to a benchmark.
benefits customers seek
They must also be consistent and indicate the priorities of the organization. Good
strategic business unit (SBU)
a subgroup of a single business or marketing objectives communicate marketing management philosophies, provide management
collection of related businesses within direction, motivate employees, force executives to think clearly, and form a basis for control.
the larger organization
Identify sources of competitive advantage. There are three types of
SWOT analysis competitive advantage: cost, product/service differentiation, and niche. Sources
of cost competitive advantage include experience curves, efficient labor, no-
identifying internal
strengths (S) and frills goods and services, government subsidies, product design, reengineering, production
weaknesses (W) and also examining innovations, and new methods of service delivery. A product/service differentiation
external opportunities (0) and threats (T) competitive advantage exists when a firm provides something unique that is valuable to
environmental scanning buyers beyond just low price. Niche competitive advantages come from targeting unique
collection and interpretation of segments with specific needs and wants. The goal of all these sources of competitive
information about forces, events,
advantage is to be sustainable.
and relationships in the external
environment that may affect the
Identify strategic alternatives. Ihe strategic opportunity matrix can be
future of the organization or the
used to help management develop strategic alternatives. The four options
implementation of the marketing plan
are market penetration, market development, product development, and
diversification. In selecting a strategic alternative, managers may use a portfolio matrix,
marketing objective
which classifies strategic business units as stars, cash cows, problem children (or question
a statement of what is to
be accomplished through marks), and dogs, depending on their present or projected growth and market share.
marketing activities
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