DEFINITION OF MARKETING STRATEGY
Marketing strategy is an organization's strategy that combines all of its marketing goals into one comprehensive plan. A good marketing strategy should be drawn from market research and focus on the right product mix in order to achieve the maximum profit potential and sustain the business. The marketing strategy is the foundation of a marketing plan.
A marketing strategy refers to a business's overall game plan for reaching prospective consumers and turning them into customers of the products or services the business provides. A marketing strategy contains the company’s value proposition, key brand messaging, data on target customer demographics, and other high-level elements.
The marketing strategy informs the marketing plan, which is a document that details the specific types of marketing activities a company conducts and contains timetables for rolling out various marketing initiatives.
Marketing strategies should ideally have longer lifespans than individual marketing plans because they contain value propositions and other key elements of a company’s brand, which generally hold consistent over the long haul. In other words, marketing strategies cover big-picture messaging, while marketing plans delineate the logistical details of specific campaigns.
STRATEGIC MARKETING PLANNING:
Strategic planning is the process of planning as to how to achieve organizational objectives with the available resources and is undertaken by the central management of the business. It is an exercise by the top management to fix the objectives of the organization and then plan to achieve them. An assessment of available resources is made at the top and then things are planned for a time period of upto 10 years. It basically deals with the total assessment of the organization, strengths, capabilities and weaknesses and an objective evaluation of environment is made for future pursuits.
Features of Strategic Planning:
The basic features of strategic planning are described as follows:
The basic mission and goals of the organization, nature of business and the nature of customers are clearly stated.
- Strategic planning is a long term planning.
- It provides cohesiveness in company’s policies and activities over a long period.
- The more the functions of an organization affected by plans the more the strategic these are.
- It is concerned both with the formulation of goals and the selection of the means by which they are to be attained.
- Since it determines basic policies and programmes, it is a top management activity.
- It is designed to improve organization’s relations with environment.
- It is comprehensive and unified plan for the deployment of scarce organizational resources.
- It sets the direction of organization’s activities for the attainment of goals.
NEED FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING:
Strategic planning is required for the following reasons:
1. Impact of External Factors:
There are a number of factors which affect the operations of the business. These factors include international environment, political and government policies, economic trends, technological and social changes. Strategic planning must have provisions for the impact of these situations.
2. Proper use of Resources:
The natural resources are becoming scarce and human resources are changing every day. Strategic planning is needed for procuring these resources and allocating them properly. The traditional work force is giving way to more educated workers. The computers have taken over the routine jobs. The proper use of various resources requires a proper planning on the part of top management.
3. Ensuring Success:
An explosion in information technology has increased the knowledge and better methods of planning. Since strategic planning helps in achieving success, there is a need to undertake it in most of the companies.
THE TIME-FRAME OF MARKETING PLANNING
In life there is time for everything. Times to be born, grow, marry, bear children, grow old and die. Therefore adequate planning is needed at every stage. In marketing management, there is a time frame within which a particular marketing programe is to be planned and executed. An example is sales promotion. A time frame of three months, six months or there about could be set to execute the sales promotional activity in the organization.
Marketers always have time frame to plan and meet any objective, goals and task of the firm. Time frame of marketing planning enables marketing managers to have a time frame within which they want to achieve a particular objective and execute certain targets. Adequate time frame should be used when planning a marketing activity so that it would enable marketing managers succeed in their program in the organization
TOTAL CORPORATE PLANNING PROCESS
We can define corporate planning as follows:
Corporate planning is a total system of planning which involves the determination of the objectives for the company as a whole and for each department of the it; formulation of strategies for the attainment of these objectives (all this being done against the background of SWOT analysis); conversion of strategies into tactical plans (or operational plans); implementation of tactical plans and a review of the progress of tactical plans against the corporate planning objectives.
On the basis of the above definition, we can state the following main features of corporate planning:
(i) Corporate planning is a total system of planning, under which concept objectives are determined for the company as a whole and for each department of it. This means that under the concept of corporate planning, no department of company is allowed to have its own independent planning. All departmental plans are a part of corporate planning, in a unified structure.
(ii) To realize the objectives of corporate planning, strategy formulation is done. Strategy formulation is the core aspect of corporate planning. Success of corporate planning depends on the success of strategy formulation
iii) Determination of objectives of corporate planning and strategy formulation – both are done against the background of SWOT analysis.
(iv) Strategies are translated (or converted) into tactical plans (or operational plans), which are detailed in nature.
(v) Tactical plans are put to action at the right time, as decided by management. This is the practical aspect of corporate planning.
(vi) Performance of tactical plans is judged in the light of the objectives of corporate planning; so that necessary modifications might be made in the corporate planning process and better corporate planning might be done in future.
(vii) Corporate planning has a long-term perspective; while operational plans have a short-term prospective.
David Hussey (Corporate Planning: Theory and Practice) defines corporate planning as follows:
“Corporate planning includes the setting of objectives, organizing the work, people and systems to enable those objectives to be achieved, motivating through the planning process and through the plans, measuring performance and so controlling progress of the plans and developing people through better decision-making, clearer objectives, more involvement, and awareness of progress.”
Process of Corporate Planning:
Major steps involved in corporate planning are as follows:
(i) Environmental Analysis and Diagnosis:
The first steps (which is, in fact, the background step), involved in corporate planning is environmental analysis and diagnosis. (A detailed account of this step is attempted subsequently, in the discussion about corporate planning).
(ii) Determination of Objectives:
All planning starts with a determination of the objectives for the plan; and corporate planning are no exception to this generality. In corporate planning, after environmental analysis and diagnosis, the planners determine objectives for the company as a whole and for each department of it; which become the beginning point of corporate planning.
All objectives of corporate planning must represent an integrated or coordinated system of objectives. In order to make corporate planning a realistic approach to attaining objectives; objective setting for corporate planning is done in the light of environmental analysis and diagnosis.
(iii) Strategy Formulation:
Strategy formulation is the core aspect of corporate planning. Strategy is, in fact, the weapon of the planner devised for attaining objectives of corporate planning. It is easier to set objectives; it is difficult to realize them. Strategies facilitate the attainment of objectives.
There is no doubt about it that success of strategies is the success of corporate planning; and vice-versa. Strategy formulation is also done in the light of environmental analysis and diagnosis.
(iv) Development of Tactical Plans:
Strategies are translated into action plans called tactical plans or operational plans. Tactical plans are necessary for implementation of strategies leading to the attainment of corporate planning objectives. For example, if the strategy of a company is to develop the skills and talents of manpower for realizing objectives; then designing of suitable training programmes would amount to making tactical plans.
Corporate planning and strategy formulation have a long-term perspective; while tactical plans have a short-term perspective, as the latter are to be implemented immediately, in the usual course of organizational life.
(v) Implementation of Tactical Plans:
Mere paper planning is no planning; unless and until it is put into practice. As such, tactical plans are put into a process of implementation, just at the right time, as decided by management. For implementation purposes, necessary communications are made to the operating staffing; who are also provided with necessary facilities to implement the tactical plans.
(vi) Follow-Up-Action:
After the tactical plans have been put into practice; a review of progress is done i.e. an examination of what results are following from the implementation of the plan and what feedback action is necessary, for the betterment of the corporate planning process.
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