Marketing Plan Project overview

The outline below describes the critical elements and a suggested organization for the Marketing Plan Project.  All submitted Marketing Plans should strive for these basic attributes:

• Creativity

• Thorough, practical and realistic

• Integrated

• Strategic and tactical, and a guide on which to base decisions

• Plain English and clear thinking, that clarifies and distills the marketing problem

• Tied to the organization’s mission and business objectives, strategies, and tactics

Project Outline

1. Background information on company

   • Name

   • Geographic location

   • Objectives/Resources (financial and staffing)

   • Product mix

     • Single product

     • Product line

     • Several product lines

2. Mission Statement

   • Company’s basic values and philosophy

   • Corporate vision

3. New Product Description

4. Situational Analysis

   • Historical background of the industry

   • Scope of the market

   • Competitive Analysis

     • Identification of competitors

     • Competitors’ strategies

5. Market Research
   • Consumer analysis
     • Demographics
     • Psychographics
     • Behaviors (e.g., purchase of use habits)
     • Geographical considerations
   •  Industrial analysis, if applicable
6. Competitive Analysis

   • Identification of competitors

   • Competitors’ strategies

7.  Target Market

   • Primary and secondary market

   • Market segmentation

   • Niche market

8. Marketing Objectives and Strategies

   •  Product

     • Type (e.g., good, service, and idea)

     • Features (how will it be different from the competition)

     • Stage of the Product Life Cycle

     • Identification (brand name, label, and packaging)

     • Adoptive process

     •  Regulations regarding your product

     • Sample of product

   • Place

     • Channels of distribution (manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer)

     • Product location availability

     • Physical distribution/location of facilities/modes of transportation

   • Pricing

     • Policy (above, below, or with the market)

     • Elasticity of demand

     • Skimming or penetration strategy for introducing new product

     • Cost (to produce)

     • Break-even point

     • Markup

     • Suggested selling price

     • Sales prices, discounts, coupons, credit terms

     • Price and quality relationship (customer’s perception)

   • Promotion

     • Personal selling

       • Profile of the sales force

       • Number of salespeople

       • Selling techniques

       • Compensation system for salespeople

     • Advertising

       • Media mix (e.g., television, magazines, outdoor, direct mail, radio, Web page, etc.)

       • Media Schedule (e.g., frequency and reach)

       • Slogan and message

     • Sales promotion activities

     • Public Relations

     • Samples (display ad, video of TV ad, audio of radio ad, Web page, etc.)

9. SWOT analysis

   • Strengths (internal)

   • Weaknesses (internal)

   • Opportunities (external)

   • Threats (external)

10. Budget

11. Risks and Contingency Plans

12. Control

    • Feedback mechanism to monitor progress

    • Evaluation process

13. Conclusion

14. References

15. Appendices (If applicable)

Updated: January 11, 2005