Everyone who has a part to play in the project, including outside organizations, participates, страница 8

Table of Contents

I.  Introduction. (What is the product and why will you be successful with it at this time?)

II. Situation Analysis

1.  The Situational Environ

A.  Demand and demand trends. (What is the forecast demand for the product? Is it growing or declining? Who is the decision maker, the purchase agent? How, when, where, what, and why do they buy?)

B. Social and cultural factors.

C. Demographics.

D. Economic and business conditions for this product at this time in the geographical area selected.

E.  State of technology for this class of product. Is it high-tech state of the art? Are newer products succeeding older ones Irequently (very short life cycle)? In short, how is technology affecting this product or service?

F.  Politics. Is politics (current or otherwise) in any way affecting the situation for marketing this product?

G. Laws and regulations. (What laws or regulations are applicable here?)

2.  The Neutral Environ

A. Financial environs. (How does the availability or nonavailability of funds affect the situation?)

B. Government environs. (Will legislative action or anything else cur- rently going on in state, federal, or local government be likely to affect marketing of this product or service?)

C. Media environs. (What's happening in the media? Does current publicity favor or disfavor this project?)

D. Special interest environs. (Aside from direct competitors, are any influential groups likely to affect your plans?)

3.  The Competitor Environ

A. Describe your main competitors and their products, plans, experience, know-how, financial, human and capital resources, suppliers, and strategy. (Do they enjoy any favor or disfavor with the customer? If so, why? What marketing channels do competitors use? What are your competitors' strengths and weaknesses?)

4.  The Company Environ

A. Describe your product, experience, know-how, financial, human and capital resources, suppliers, etc. (Do you enjoy any favor or disfavor with the customer? If so, why? What are your strengths and weaknesses?)

Figure 3-2 Marketing Plan Outline

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III.  The Target Market

1. Describe your target market segment in detail using demographics, psychographics, geographies, life style, or whatever segmentation is appropriate. (Why is this your target market and not some other segment?)

IV. Problems and Opportunities

1. State or restate each opportunity and indicate why it is in fact an opportunity. State or restate every problem and indicate what you intend to do about each problem.

V.  Marketing Objectives and Goals

1. Precisely state marketing objectives in terms of sales volume, market share, return on investment, or other objectives for your marketing plan.

VI. Marketing Strategy

1. Consider alternatives for overall strategy. Further describe your strategy as to whether you are using product differentiation, market segmentation, or positioning, etc., and how you are employing these strategies. Nole what your main competitors are likely to do when you implement this strategy and what you will do to take advantage of the opportunities created and avoid the threats.

VII.  Marketing Tactics

1. State how you will implement the marketing strategy(ies) chosen in terms of product, price, promotion, distribution, and other tactical or environmental variables.

VIII.  Control and Implementation

1. Calculate break-even and accomplish a break-even chart for your project. Compute sales projections on a monthly basis for a three-year period. Compute cash flows on a monthly basis for a three-year period. Indicate start-up costs and monthly budget for this period. IX. Summary