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Everyone who has a part to play in the project, including outside organizations, participates, страница 3

2.  Don't assume that past trends can be extrapolated into the future forever.

3.  If drawing conclusions from statistical data, make certain that the sample size is sufficiently large to make the statistical inference meaningful.

4.  Don't establish objectives or goals simply on the basis of current or past rates of growth unless there are factors and good reason for you to believe that these rates will continue.26

Making Your Marketing Plans More Effective

Researchers have found that certain actions will make your plans more effective if you follow them than if you do not. Some of these factors have been mentioned earlier. However, to draw them all together, you should consider the following:

1.  Senior managers should participate in all stages of planning, especially the early stages.

2.  Product managers and others who have the ultimate responsibility for the marketing plans should be kept informed and contin-            67

ually guided by top management and top management staff plan- The Marketing Plan and ners involved in planning.                                                                                  Planning Process

3.  Individuals ultimately responsible for the marketing plan should be required to get the best inputs from all feasible sources, both internal and external.

4.  Line managers responsible for planning should be encouraged to suggest new planning ideas at, the beginning of the planning period before the plan is fixed.

5.  Line managers responsible for planning should communicate both horizontally to other organizations as well as up the organization to senior top management.

6.  Planning procedures should include methods whereby marketing plan development is channeled in directions desired by top management. These may include guidance documents, presentations, and so forth.

7.  Marketing plans must be joined with the overall business strategy of the corporation as developed in the previous chapter; otherwise it may contradict this strategy and result in "suboptimization." That is, although the marketing plan in itself is excellent and may succeed, this "success" may harm overall corporate strategy.

8.  Marketing plans must reflect the fact of a product's life cycle and not an assumption of arithmetical increase in sales growth.27,28

___________________________________ Summary

Marketing plans will always be subject to risks, and the process and the product are as much an art as a'science, with judgment and experience being crucial.20 Yet mastering marketing planning is essential for any marketing manager in today's highly competitive environment. In this chapter we've seen why formal planning is absolutely essential as well as what a marketing plan will do for you as a marketing manager. Further, we've seen that while there are criticisms of formal marketing planning, these criticisms can be overcome. There are two general categories of marketing plans: the strategic plan discussed in the previous chapter, as well as operational plans, including that for new product, product line or service plans, or the annual plan. We have looked at a typical marketing plan structure and investigated various sources, both primary and secondary, to provide informational input to the marketing plan.

We have also looked at several marketing plan processes and at successful marketing plan characteristics. The question of who does planning has been explored, especially as to the ultimate responsibility



Подпись: 68 being the line manager responsible for implementation of the plan and The Marketing Manager: the critical involvement of top management. Several alternative plan Tasks and Responsibilities ning approaches have been explored, including top-down planning, bottom up planning, and a combination of top-down/bottom-up. We have seen that which approach is used is dependent on the organiza tion, management style, internal environment, external environment, and the main objectives of the plan. We have also seen that the plan is constantly reworked over its lifetime through constant review, revi sion, and updating. Finally, we have looked at common ingredients to good plans, cau¬tionary notes for effective planning, and how to make marketing plans more effective. This chapter on marketing plans is perhaps one of the most important in this book, since the marketing plan brings together all other aspects of marketing management and when implemented results in successful marketing of the product or the service. The re¬mainder of this book discusses elements that are somehow used to help prepare or are part of the marketing plan.
Questions_____________

1.  You are a marketing manager in a small com pany. Your immediate supervisor, the vice-president of marketing, thinks that formal marketing planning is a waste of time. How would you answer this criticism?

2.  Why is it necessary to write down a marketing plan? Why can't you have a marketing plan in your head?

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