CHAPTER

2
Marketing Planning
and Management

Stressing speed,
function, and
an easy-to-use
interface, the
Slack platform
lets employees
message
one another
individually or in
groups.
Source: imageBROKER/
Alamy Stock Photo

D eveloping the right marketing strategies over time requires a blend of discipline and flexibility.
Firms must stick to a strategy but also constantly improve it. In today’s fast-changing marketing
world, identifying the best long-term strategies is crucial. At the core of any successful marketing
strategy is the development of an enduring value proposition that addresses a real customer need. One
company that has developed a distinct offering designed to address an unmet customer need is Slack.

>>> Slack, launched in 2013, is a communications platform that lets team members message
one another, one-on-one or in groups. Slack has a flexible architecture that offers an unstructured
environment—similar to an open-plan office space—where employees can share, collaborate, and
see what everyone else is working on. It makes conversation threads easy to search, and custom-
ized notifications let users concentrate on the task at hand without missing something relevant. The
distinct features that set Slack apart from similar apps are its speed, functionality, and user-friendly
interface. Slack comes in a free version with limited storage and features but also offers several tiers
of expanded plans, priced per active user. Employers like Slack because it decreases the burden of
e-mailing and helps streamline work-related communication. More important, Slack integrates the

54

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 PART 1 | FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

tools many companies already use, such as Google Drive and other popular business a­ pplications,
making it easy to centralize communications and the work flow. Another important benefit of Slack
is its ability to bring work-related social media into the workplace, making work life more like digi-
tal life. In this context, Slate magazine described Slack’s app as “cool office culture, available for
instant download.” Despite the lack of a formal sales force—the vast majority of its new customers
are ­referrals who hear about it from friends, co-workers, and social media—in less than four years,
Slack amassed more than 10 million daily active users in 150 countries and reached a valuation
of $7 billion.1

This chapter begins by examining some of the strategic marketing implications involved in creating
customer value. We’ll look at several perspectives on planning and describe how to draw up a formal
marketing plan.

Corporate and Business Unit Planning

and Management
To ensure that they execute the right activities, marketers must prioritize strategic planning in three
key areas: managing the company’s businesses as an investment portfolio, assessing the market’s
growth rate and the company’s position in that market, and developing a viable business model.
The company must develop a game plan for achieving the long-run objectives of each business unit.
Generally speaking, marketing planning and management can occur on three different levels: cor-
porate, business unit, and specific market offering. Corporate headquarters is responsible for designing
a corporate strategic plan to guide the whole enterprise. It makes decisions on the amount of resources
to allocate to each business unit, as well as on which businesses to start or eliminate. Each business
unit develops a plan to carry that business unit into a profitable future. Finally, each market offering
involves a marketing plan for achieving its objectives (Figure 2.1).
This section addresses the key issues involved in analyzing, planning, and managing a company
or distinct business units. The remainder of the chapter examines the process of analyzing, planning,
and managing a company’s offerings.
Companies undertake four planning activities: defining the corporate mission, building the cor-
porate culture, establishing strategic business units, and assigning resources to each strategic business
unit. We’ll briefly look at each process.

DEFINING THE CORPORATE MISSION

An organization exists to accomplish something: make cars, lend money, provide a night’s lodg-
ing. Over time, the mission may change to respond to new opportunities or market conditions.
Amazon.com changed its mission from being the world’s largest online bookstore to aspiring to be

Learning Objectives After studying this chapter you should be able to:

2.1 Identify the key tasks required for company and 2.4 Describe the key components of an actionable
business unit planning. marketing plan.
2.2 Describe the process of developing a market 2.5 Explain how and when to modify the marketing
offering. plan.
2.3 Explain the process of marketing planning.

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 56 PART 1 | FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

FIGURE 2.1
Corporate Business unit Offering
The Strategic planning planning planning
Planning Processes

the world’s largest online store; eBay changed from running online auctions for collectors to run-
ning online auctions that offer all kinds of goods; and Dunkin’ Donuts switched its emphasis from
doughnuts to coffee.
A mission is a clear, concise, and enduring statement of the reasons for an organization’s exis-
tence. Often referred to as its core purpose, a company’s mission is a long-term goal that provides com-
pany employees and management with a shared sense of purpose, direction, and opportunity.2
To define its mission, a company should address Peter Drucker’s classic questions:3 What is our
business? Who is the customer? What is of value to the customer? What will our business be? What
should our business be? These simple-sounding questions are among the most difficult a company will
ever face. Successful companies continuously ask and answer them.
A clear, thoughtful mission statement, developed collaboratively with managers, employees, and
often customers, provides a shared sense of purpose, direction, and opportunity. At its best, it reflects a
vision, an almost “impossible dream,” that provides direction for the next 10 to 20 years. Sony’s former
president, Akio Morita, wanted everyone to have access to “personal portable sound,” so his company
created the Walkman and the portable CD player. Fred Smith wanted to deliver mail anywhere in the
United States before 10:30 am the next day, so he created FedEx.
Consider the following mission statements:
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and
useful.4
At IKEA our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea sup-
ports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products
at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.5
Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer
together.6
Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.7
To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time
(Starbucks).8
Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more
(Microsoft).9
Good mission statements have five major characteristics.
• They focus on a limited number of specific goals. Mission statements containing a laundry
list of unrelated activities tend to be less effective than focused mission statements that clearly
articulate their ultimate goals.
• They stress the company’s major policies and values. Narrowing the range of individual
discretion lets employees act consistently on important issues.
• They define the major markets that the company aims to serve. Because the choice of tar-
get market defines a company’s strategy and tactics, it should be defined by and follow from the
company’s mission statement.
• They take a long-term view. The corporate mission defines the ultimate strategic goal of the
company; it should be changed only when it ceases to be relevant.
• They are as short, memorable, and meaningful as possible. Three- to four-word corporate
mantras are typically more effective than long-winded mission statements.

BUILDING THE CORPORATE CULTURE

Strategic planning happens within the context of the organization. A company’s organization consists
of its structures, policies, and corporate culture, all of which can become dysfunctional in a rapidly
changing business environment. Whereas managers can change structures and policies (though with
difficulty), the company’s culture is very hard to change. Yet creating a viable corporate culture is
often the key to market success, as the experience of Southwest Airlines shows.

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 CHAPTER 2 | Marketing Planning and Management 57

<< Southwest Airlines’

resolve to stand out from
other airlines is based on
providing a supportive,
inclusive, and fun com-
pany culture.

Source: Richard Ellis/Alamy Stock Photo

Southwest Airlines Established in 1967, Southwest Airlines continues to differentiate
itself from other airlines with outstanding customer service. At the core of this service is the
company’s culture, which inspires its more than 58,000 employees to delight the airline’s
passengers. By creating an inclusive and fun culture where every team member feels responsible
for the success of company, Southwest motivates employees to take pride in their work, which
often translates into a superior customer experience. In fact, Southwest ranks its employees
first in importance, followed by customers and company shareholders. The airline explains its
company culture: “We believe that if we treat our employees right, they will treat our customers
right, and in turn that results in increased business and profits that make everyone happy.” This
supportive environment has helped Southwest create a loyal customer base and become the
nation’s largest domestic air carrier—a ranking it has maintained since 2003.10

What exactly is a corporate culture? Some define it as “the shared experiences, stories, beliefs,
and norms that characterize an organization.” Walk into any company and the first thing that strikes
you is the corporate culture—the way people dress, talk to one another, and greet customers.
A customer-centric culture can affect all aspects of an organization. Enterprise Rent-A-Car fea-
tures its own employees in its latest “The Enterprise Way” ad campaign. Through its “Making It Right”
training program, Enterprise empowers all employees to make their own decisions. One ad in the
campaign, themed “Fix Any Problem,” reinforces how any local Enterprise outlet has the authority to
take actions that maximize customer satisfaction.11

DEFINING STRATEGIC BUSINESS UNITS

Many large companies manage a portfolio of different businesses often referred to as strategic busi-
ness units, each requiring its own strategy. A strategic business unit (SBU) has three characteristics:
(1) It is a single business, or a collection of related businesses, that can exist separately from the rest of
the company; (2) It has its own set of competitors; and (3) It has a manager responsible for strategic
planning and profit performance, who controls most of the factors affecting profit.
Strategic business units make up a company’s portfolio. Based on the diversity of the individual
strategic business units within the portfolio, these units can be defined as specialized or diversified.
A specialized portfolio involves SBUs with fairly narrow assortments consisting of one or a few
product lines. To illustrate, Ferrari (high-performance sports cars), Glacéau (bottled water), GoPro
(action camcorders), and Roku (digital media streaming) have strategically limited their product mix
to a fairly narrow product line.

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 58 PART 1 | FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

In contrast, a diversified portfolio involves SBUs with fairly broad assortments containing mul-
tiple product lines. For example, companies like Amazon, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, and
Unilever offer a wide variety of product lines. The primary rationale for a diversified business mix is to
take advantage of growth opportunities in areas in which the company has no presence.
Each business unit needs to define its specific mission within the broader company mission. Thus,
a company that manufactures and markets lighting equipment for television studios might define its
mission as “To target major television studios and become their vendor of choice for lighting tech-
nologies that represent the most advanced and reliable studio lighting arrangements.” Note that this
mission statement does not mention winning business from smaller television studios, offering the
lowest price, or venturing into non-lighting products.
The purpose of identifying the company’s strategic business units is to develop separate strate-
gies and assign appropriate funding. Senior management knows its portfolio of businesses usually
includes a number of “yesterday’s has-beens” as well as “tomorrow’s winners.” Liz Claiborne has
put more emphasis on some of its younger businesses, such as Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand Jeans,
Mexx, and Kate Spade, while selling businesses without the same buzz (Ellen Tracy, Sigrid Olsen,
and Laundry).

ALLOCATING RESOURCES ACROSS BUSINESS UNITS

Once it has defined its SBUs, management must decide how to allocate corporate resources to each
unit.12 This is often done by assessing each SBU’s competitive advantage and the attractiveness of the
market in which it operates. When assessing individual business units, a company might also consider
existing synergies among them. Such synergies can be related to company processes (e.g., research and
development, manufacturing, and distribution) or to personnel (e.g., experienced management, qualified
engineers, and knowledgeable sales force). Based on the assessment of its portfolio of business units, the
company could decide whether to grow, “harvest” (or draw cash from), or hold on to a particular business.
Portfolio management focuses on two types of factors: (1) opportunities presented by a particular
industry or market and (2) the company’s resources, which determine its ability to take advantage of the
identified opportunities. Here, market opportunities are typically defined in terms of overall m ­ arket/
industry attractiveness factors such as its size, growth, and profitability. A company’s resources, on
the other hand, reflect its competitive position in the marketplace and are often measured in terms of
factors such as strategic assets, core competencies, and market share.
Because the principles for making resource-allocation decisions across different business units
are very similar across industries, many companies have developed generalized strategies for making
such decisions. These generalized strategies are often integrated into formal portfolio models that offer
guidance on how to allocate resources across multiple SBUs.

Kraft To account for the varying rates of growth of its different business units and the
differences in their strategic goals, strategies, and tactics, Kraft split into two businesses: a fast-
growing global snacks and candy business that includes Oreo cookies and Cadbury candy, and
a slower-growing North American grocery business with long-term stalwarts Maxwell House
coffee, Planters peanuts, Kraft cheese, and Jell-O. The snacks and candy business was branded
as Mondelēz International and positioned as a high-growth company with many opportunities in
emerging markets such as China and India. The grocery business retained the Kraft Foods name
(now KraftHeinz), and, because it consisted of many category-dominant meat and cheese brands,
it was seen as more of a cash cow for investors interested in consistent dividends. Mondelēz
has ramped up for rapid expansion, while Kraft Foods has focused on cost-cutting and selective
investment to back up its power brands.13

A key aspect in developing portfolio models involves identifying the metrics underlying the per-
formance of a given business unit. Depending on the assumptions of the model, these metrics can
include factors such as return on investment, market share, and industry growth rate. One widely
used—albeit somewhat oversimplified and subjective—approach to portfolio analysis is the BCG
matrix developed by the Boston Consulting Group. Newer portfolio-management methods use a more
comprehensive approach to assess the potential of a business based on growth opportunities from
global expansion, repositioning or retargeting, and strategic outsourcing.

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 CHAPTER 2 | Marketing Planning and Management 59

<< Kraft’s decision to

split into two companies,
Mondelēz International
and KraftHeinz, was
based on differing goals,
strategy, and tactics as
well as varied growth
rates.

Source: Michael Neelon(misc)/Alamy Stock Photo

Developing Market Offerings
In order to create value for target customers, collaborators, and company stakeholders, it is necessary
for a company to clearly identify the target market in which it will compete and to design an offering
that will deliver a meaningful set of benefits to target customers.14 These activities encompass the
two key components of a company’s business model: strategy and tactics.
Strategy involves choosing a well-defined market in which the company will compete and deter-
mining the value it intends to create in this market. Tactics, also called the marketing mix, make the
company’s strategy come alive: They define the key aspects of the offering developed to create value in a
given market. The tactics logically follow from the company’s strategy and reflect the way the company
will make this strategy a market reality. Tactics shape everything from the offering’s benefits and costs
to the means by which target customers learn about and buy the offering.
Strategy and tactics are fundamentally intertwined. A company’s strategy specifies the target mar-
ket and the value the company aims to create in this market, while the tactics detail the actual attributes
of the offering that will create value in the chosen market. Deciding on the specific tactical aspects of
an offering—its features, brand image, and pricing, and the means of promoting, communicating, and
distributing the offering—is not possible without understanding the needs of the target marketing and
the competing options that exist to fulfill these needs.
The key aspects of an offering’s strategy and tactics are discussed in more detail in the following
sections.

DEVELOPING THE MARKETING STRATEGY

Marketing strategy incorporates two key components: the target market in which the company will
compete and the value proposition for the relevant market entities—the company, its target customers,
and its collaborators. A carefully chosen target market and a well-crafted value proposition provide
the foundation of the company’s business model and serve as the guiding principles for determining
the tactical decisions that define the company’s offering.

Identifying the Target Market. The target market in which a company aims to create
and capture value comprises five factors: the customers whose needs the company intends to fulfill,
the competitors that aim to fulfill the same needs of the same target customers, the collaborators that
help the company fulfill the needs of customers, the company that develops and manages the offering,
and the context that will affect how the company develops and manages the offering.
These five market factors—the Five Cs—are visually represented in the 5-C framework as a set of con-
centric ellipses: Target customers are in the center, with collaborators, competitors, and the company

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 60 PART 1 | FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

FIGURE 2.2
Identifying the Target Market:
The 5-C Framework

Co
yan
Source: Alexander Chernev, ­Strategic Marketing

lla
mp

bo
­Management: Theory and Practice (Chicago, IL:

rat
Co
Cerebellum Press, 2019). Customers

ors
Competitors

Context

in the middle and the context on the outside (Figure 2.2). The central placement of target customers
in the 5-C framework reflects their defining role in the market. The other three market entities—the
company, its collaborators, and its competitors—work to create value for the target customers. Form-
ing the outer layer of the 5C framework is the market context, which defines the environment in which
customers, the company, collaborators, and competitors operate.
The Five Cs and the relationships among them are discussed in more detail in the following
sections.
• Target customers are the individuals or organizations whose needs the company plans to fulfill.
Target customers in business-to-consumer markets are typically the end users of the company’s
offerings, whereas in business-to-business markets, target customers are other businesses that
use the company’s offerings. Two key principles determine the choice of target customers: The
company and its collaborators must be able to create superior value for target customers relative to
the competition, and the target customers chosen should be able to create value for the company
and its collaborators.
• Collaborators work with the company to create value for target customers. A company should
base the choice of collaborators on the complementary resources they can offer to help the com-
pany fulfill customer needs. Collaboration involves outsourcing (rather than developing) the
resources that the company lacks but that it requires to create an offering that fulfills the needs
of target customers. Instead of building or acquiring resources that are lacking, a company can
gain access to necessary resources by partnering with entities that have them and can benefit
from sharing them. Collaborators can include suppliers, manufacturers, distributors (i.e., dealers,
wholesalers, and retailers), research-and-development entities, service providers, external sales
forces, advertising agencies, and marketing research companies.
• Competitors aim to fulfill the same needs of the same customers that the company is targeting.15
Companies should avoid falling prey to the myopic view of competition that defines their rivals
using traditional category and industry terms.16 A company should examine the main competi-
tors and their strategies by asking the following questions: What is each competitor seeking in the
marketplace? What drives each competitor’s behavior? This helps clarify the company’s position
since many factors are involved a competitor’s objectives, including its size, history, current man-
agement, and financial situation. For example, it’s important to know whether a competitor that
is a division of a larger company is being run for growth or for profits, or is just being milked.17
• The company develops and manages a given market offering. For organizations with diverse
strategic competencies and market offerings, the term company typically refers to the particular
business unit that manages a specific offering. Each strategic business unit can be viewed as a
separate company that requires its own business model. For example, GE, Alphabet (Google’s
parent company), and Facebook have multiple strategic business units.
• The context is the environment in which the company and its collaborators operate. It encom-
passes five factors. The sociocultural context is characterized by social and demographic trends, value
systems, religion, language, lifestyles, attitudes, and beliefs. The technological context consists of new
techniques, skills, methods, and processes for developing, communicating, and delivering market
offerings. The regulatory context includes taxes, import tariffs, and embargoes, as well as product
specification and pricing, communication regulations, and intellectual property laws. The economic
context is made up of economic growth, money supply, inflation, and interest rates. The physical
context comprises natural resources, geographic location, topography, climate trends, and health
conditions. Context can have a dramatic impact on a company’s ability to create market value.

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Many recent developments—including the advancements in artificial intelligence, the initiation

of trade wars, global warming, and the coronavirus pandemic—have forced many companies to
completely rethink the way they operate and pivot their business models.
The key component of the target market is the selection of target customers, which determines all
other aspects of the market: This includes specifying the competition, choosing collaborators, defining
the company resources needed to develop a superior offering for customers, and outlining the context
in which the company will create market value. It follows that a change in target customers typically
leads to a change in competitors and collaborators, different resource requirements, and a change in
context factors. Because of its strategic importance, the choice of the right target customers is the
foundation for building a successful business model.

The Five Cs and the Five Forces of Competition

The Five-C framework is similar to the Five Forces The 5-C framework, on the other hand, defines the market
framework originated by Michael Porter.18 The Five based on customer needs rather than on the industry in
Forces framework identifies industry competitiveness which the company competes. Accordingly, it defines
according to five factors: the bargaining power of competitors in terms of their ability to fulfill customer
suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the threat of needs and create market value. The 5-C framework is not
new entrants, the threat of substitutes, and rivalry among concerned with whether the company and its competitors
existing competitors. These five factors jointly define operate within the same industry, which makes the
the competitive environment in which a firm operates. concept of substitutes superfluous because from a
The Five Forces framework suggests that competition customer’s point of view, substitutes are merely cross-
within an industry increases along with greater bargaining category competitors that aim to fulfill a particular need.
power of suppliers and buyers, a higher threat of new The Five Forces framework’s focus on industry
competitors and substitute products, and intensified makes it particularly relevant for marketers analyzing the
rivalry among existing competitors. competitive structure within a given industry. However,
The Five Forces framework is similar to the 5-C the Five Forces approach has much less relevance when
framework in that both are meant to facilitate analysis of it comes to analyzing an offering’s ability to create market
the market in which a company operates. The difference value. In this case, the 5-C framework is typically more
between these frameworks is the way in which each useful because of its customer focus and its market
defines the market. The Five Forces framework analyzes perspective based on customer needs rather than on a
the competition in the market from an industry perspective. particular industry.19

Developing a Value Proposition. A successful offering must create superior value not only
for target customers but also for the company and its collaborators. Accordingly, when developing
market offerings for the relevant entities in the market exchange, a company needs to consider all three
types of value: customer value, collaborator value, and company value.
• Customer value is the worth of an offering to its customers and hinges on customers’ assessment
of how well an offering fulfills their needs. The value that an offering creates for its customers is
based on three main factors: the needs of the target customers, the benefits customers receive and
the costs they incur when they purchase the company’s offering, and the benefits and costs of the
alternative means—competitive offerings—that target customers can use to fulfill their needs.
Thus, the customer value proposition should be able to explain why target customers would
choose the company’s offering instead of the available alternatives.
• Collaborator value is the worth of an offering to the company’s collaborators. It sums up all
benefits and costs that an offering creates for collaborators and reflects how attractive an offering
is to collaborators. The collaborator value proposition should explain why collaborators would
choose the company’s offering instead of competitive alternatives to achieve their goals.
• Company value is the worth of the offering to the company. The value of an offering is defined
relative to all benefits and costs associated with it, its affinity with the company’s goal(s), and the
value of other opportunities that could be pursued by the company—for example, other offerings
that the company could launch. Therefore, the company value proposition determines why the
company would choose this offering instead of selecting alternative options.

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 62 PART 1 | FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

FIGURE 2.3
The 3-V Market Value Principle Company
value The Optimal Value
Source: Alexander Chernev, ­Strategic Marketing
­Management: Theory and Practice (Chicago, IL: Proposition
Cerebellum Press, 2019).

OVP
Customer Collaborator
value value

The market value principle is also referred to as the 3-V principle because it underscores the
importance of creating value for the three key market entities—target customers, collaborators, and
the company itself. The market value principle defines the viability of a business model by posing three
sets of questions that must be addressed:
What value does the offering create for target customers? Why would target customers choose this
offering? What makes this offering superior to the alternative options?
What value does the offering create for the company’s collaborators (suppliers, distributors, and
co-developers)? Why would collaborators partner with the company instead of with other entities?
What value does the offering create for the company? Why should the company invest resources in this
offering rather than pursuing other options?
The need to manage value for all three of these market entities begs the question of which value
to prioritize. This requires the creation of an optimal value proposition that balances the value for
customers, collaborators, and the company. The term optimal value as used here means that the value of
the offering is connected across the three entities, such that it creates value for target customers and col-
laborators in a way that enables the company to achieve its strategic goals. The market value principle
optimizes customer, collaborator, and company value and is the basis of market success (Figure 2.3).
Failure to create superior value for any of the three market entities inevitably leads to an unsustainable
business model and dooms the business venture.
Consider the means that Starbucks uses to create market value. Customers receive the functional
benefit of a variety of coffee beverages and the psychological benefit of expressing their personality
by choosing a customized beverage, for which they deliver monetary compensation to Starbucks.
Collaborators (coffee growers) receive monetary payments from Starbucks for the coffee beans they
provide and derive the strategic benefit of having a consistent demand for their product; in return,
they invest resources in growing coffee beans that conform to Starbucks’ standards. Starbucks receives
revenues and profits from investing company resources in developing and offering its products and
services to consumers, in addition to deriving the strategic benefits of building a brand and enhancing
its market footprint.

DESIGNING THE MARKETING TACTICS

The market offering is the actual good that the company deploys in order to fulfill a particular cus-
tomer need. Unlike the target market and the value proposition, which reflect the company’s strategy,
the market offering reflects the company’s tactics—the specific way the company will create value in
the market in which it competes.
Marketing managers have seven tactics at their disposal to develop an offering that creates mar-
ket value: product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication, and distribution. Also called the
marketing mix, these seven attributes (also referred to as tactics or Ts) represent the combination of
activities required to transform the market offering’s strategy into reality (Figure 2.4).
The seven attributes that delineate the market offering are as follows:
• The product is a marketable commodity that aims to create value for target customers. Products
can be tangible (like food, apparel, and furniture) or intangible (like music and software). Pur-
chase of a product gives customers ownership rights to the acquired good. For example, with the
purchase of a car or a software program, the owner is granted all rights to the acquired product.
• The service also aims to create value for its customers, but it does so without entitling them to
ownership. Examples of services include appliance repairs, movie rental, medical procedures,
and tax preparation. At times, the same offering can be positioned as a product or a service.

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 CHAPTER 2 | Marketing Planning and Management 63

FIGURE 2.4
Company Marketing Tactics: The Seven Tactics
value
(7 Ts) Defining the Market Offering
Source: Alexander Chernev, Strategic Marketing Management:
Theory and Practice (Chicago, IL: Cerebellum Press, 2019).
OVP
Customer Collaborator
value value

Strategy
Tactics
Market Offering

Product Service Brand

Price Incentives

Communication Distribution

This occurs, for example, when a software program can be offered as a product that gives purchas-
ers the rights to a copy of the program, or as a service that allows customers to lease the program
and temporarily receive its benefits.
• The aim of the brand is to identify the products and services produced by the company and dif-
ferentiate them from those of the competition, in the process creating unique value over and above
the product and service aspects of the offering. The Rolls-Royce brand identifies the cars manu-
factured by BMW subsidiary Rolls-Royce to differentiate these cars from those made by Bentley,
Maserati, and Bugatti, as well as to evoke a distinct emotional reaction from its customers, who
use the Rolls-Royce brand to call attention to their wealth and socioeconomic status.
• The price is the monetary charge that customers and collaborators incur to receive the benefits
provided by the company’s offering.
• Incentives are targeted tools designed to enhance the value of the offering by reducing its costs
or increasing its benefits. Incentives are typically offered in the form of volume discounts, price
reductions, coupons, rebates, premiums, bonus offerings, contests, and monetary and recogni-
tion rewards. Incentives can be directed to consumers or to the company’s collaborators—for
example, its channel partners.
• Communication apprises target customers, collaborators, and the company stakeholders of the
specifics of the offering and where to acquire it.
• Distribution encompasses the channel(s) used to deliver the offering to target customers and
company collaborators.
Again, a Starbucks example can illustrate these attributes. Starbucks’ product includes the variety of
beverage and food items available. The service consists of the assistance that Starbucks offers to custom-
ers before, during, and after purchase. The brand consists of the Starbucks name and logo, as well as the
associations it evokes in customers’ minds. The price is the amount of money that Starbucks charges
customers for its offerings. Incentives include promotional tools such as loyalty programs, coupons, and
temporary price reductions that provide additional benefits for customers. Communication consists of
the information Starbucks disseminates via advertising, social media, and public relations to inform
the public about its offerings. Distribution includes company-owned stores and company-licensed retail
outlets that deliver Starbucks’ offerings to its customers.
The seven marketing tactics—product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication, and
distribution—can be regarded as a process of designing, communicating, and delivering customer value. The
value-design aspect of the offering comprises the product, service, brand, price, and incentives, while
communication and distribution form the information-value and delivery-value aspects of the process
(Figure 2.5). Thus, even though the different tactical attributes play distinct roles in the value-creation
process, they optimize customer value across all three dimensions.
The value-creation process can be considered from the perspectives of both the company and the
customer. The company regards value creation as a process of designing, communicating, and delivering value;
however, the customer looks at the value-creation process from a different perspective, viewing it in

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 64 PART 1 | FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

FIGURE 2.5 Designing value

Marketing Tactics as a Process
Product Service Brand
of Designing, Communicating,
and Delivering Customer Value
Source: Alexander Chernev, Strategic Marketing
Management: Theory and Practice (Chicago, IL:
Cerebellum Press, 2019). Price Value Incentives

Communication Distribution

Communicating value Delivering value

terms of the attractiveness, awareness, and availability of the offering.20 Attractiveness reflects the benefits and
costs that target customers associate with the product, service, brand, price, and incentives aspects of the
offering. Awareness highlights the methods through which target customers are informed about the spe-
cifics of the offering. Availability consists of the ways in which target customers can acquire the offering.

THE SEVEN Ts AND THE FOUR Ps

The view of marketing tactics as a process of defining the seven key attributes of an offering can be
related to the widely popular 4-P framework. Introduced in the 1960s, the 4-P framework identifies
four key decisions that managers must make when designing an offering: the features to include
in the product, the price of the product, the best way to promote the product, and the retail outlets in
which to place the product. These four decision areas are represented by the Four Ps: product, price,
promotion, and place.
Because it is simple, intuitive, and easy to remember, the 4-P framework enjoys wide popularity.
However, because of that very simplicity, the 4-P framework has significantly limited relevance in the
contemporary business environment. One of its limitations is that it fails to distinguish between the
product and service aspects of the offering, which is a key drawback in today’s service-oriented busi-
ness environment, where a growing number of companies are switching from a product-based to a
service-based business model. Another important limitation of the 4-P framework is that it does not
regard the brand as a separate factor, instead viewing the brand as part of the product. The product and
brand are two distinct aspects of the offering, and each can exist independently of the other. In fact, a
growing number of companies outsource their product manufacturing so they can focus their efforts
on building and managing their brands.
Another area in which the 4-P framework comes up short is in its treatment of the term promo-
tion. Promotion is a broad concept that comprises two distinct promotional activities: incentives, which
include price promotions, coupons, and trade promotions, and communication, which encompasses
advertising, public relations, social media, and personal selling. Incentives and communication make
disparate contributions to the value-creation process: Incentives enhance an offering’s value, whereas
communication serves to inform customers about the offering but does not necessarily enhance the
offering’s value. The 4-P framework’s use of the term promotion to refer to both of these discrete activi-
ties can obscure the unique role that each plays in creating market value.
The limitations of the 4-P framework can be avoided by regarding the offering in terms of seven
factors—product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication, and distribution—instead of four.
The four Ps can be easily mapped onto the seven attributes of the 7-T framework: The first P (prod-
uct) comprises product, service, and brand; price remains the second P; the third P (promotion) is
expanded to incentives and communication; and distribution replaces the fourth P (place). Thus, the
7-T marketing mix represents a more refined version of the 4-P framework, offering a more accurate
and actionable approach to designing a company’s offering.

CREATING A MARKET VALUE MAP

The two key aspects of a company’s business model—strategy and tactics—can be represented as a
value map that defines the ways in which a company creates market value. The ultimate purpose of
the value map is to facilitate the development of a viable business model that can enable the company

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to achieve market success. Thus, the market value map can be thought of as a visual representation
of the key components of a company’s business model and the ways in which they are related to
one another.
The market value map mirrors the structure of the business model and contains three key compo-
nents that define the company’s strategy and tactics—the target market, the value proposition, and the market
offering. The target market is, in turn, defined by the Five Cs—customers, collaborators, company, com-
petitors, and context—with customers playing the key role in defining the market. The value proposi-
tion then represents the three types of value that the company must create in the market: customer
value, collaborator value, and company value. Finally, the offering component of the market value map
delineates the seven key attributes—product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication, and
distribution—that represent the tactical aspect of a company’s business model. The components of the
market value map and the key questions defining each component are shown in Figure 2.6.
The value proposition component of the market value map is central to ensuring the viability
of the company’s business model. The market success of the company’s offering is determined by its
ability to create value for the three key entities: target customers, the company’s collaborators, and the
company itself. Because these entities have distinct needs and require different value propositions, the
marketing planning process can be better served by developing a separate value map for each entity.
Thus, in addition to having a single value map, managers might benefit from developing three value
maps: a customer value map, a collaborator value map, and a company value map.
These three value maps depict the distinct aspects of the company’s business model that concern
the key entities involved in the value-creation process. The customer value map captures the ways in
which the company’s offering will create value for its target customers and outlines the strategic and
tactical aspects of the customer-focused aspect of the company’s business model. The collaborator
value map delineates the strategic and tactical aspects of the ways in which the company’s offering

FIGURE 2.6
Target Market Market Offering
The Market Value Map
What customer need does Customers Product
Source: Alexander Chernev,
the company aim to fulfill? What are the key ­Strategic Marketing ­Management:
Who are the customers with this need? features of the company’s product? Theory and Practice (Chicago, IL:
Cerebellum Press, 2019).
What other entities will Collaborators
work with the company Service
to fulfill the identified customer need? What are the key
features of the company’s service?
What are the company’s Company
resources that will enable
it to fulfill the identified customer need? Brand
What are the key
What other offerings aim Competition features of the offering’s brand?
to fulfill the same need of
the same target customers?
Price
What are the sociocultural, Context What is the
technological, regulatory, economic, offering’s price?
and physical aspects of the environment?
Incentives
Value Proposition
What incentives
Customer Value does the offering provide?
What value does
the offering create for target customers?
Communication
How will target
What value does Collaborator Value
customers and collaborators become
the offering create aware of the company’s offering?
for the company’s collaborators?
Distribution
Company Value How will the offering
What value does be delivered to target customers
the offering create for the company? and collaborators?

Strategy Tactics

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 66 PART 1 | FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

will create value for collaborators. Finally, the company value map outlines the ways in which the offer-
ing will create value for the company’s stakeholders. Note that these three value maps are intricately
related as they reflect different aspects of the process of creating market value. Only by creating value
for target customers, collaborators, and the company can a manager ensure the market success of
an offering.

Planning and Managing Market Offerings

A company’s future depends on its ability to develop successful market offerings that create superior
value for target customers, the company, and its collaborators.21 Market success typically results from
diligent market analysis, planning, and management; rarely is it a lucky accident. Succeeding in the
market requires a company to develop a viable business model and an action plan that allows the
business model to become a reality. The process of developing such an action plan is encapsulated in
the G-STIC framework described in the following sections.

THE G-STIC APPROACH TO ACTION PLANNING

The action plan, which articulates the company’s goal and delineates a course of action to reach this
goal, is the backbone of marketing planning. Five key activities guide the development of an action
plan: These activities include setting a goal, developing a strategy, designing the tactics, defining an
implementation plan, and identifying a set of control metrics to measure the success of the proposed
action. The G-STIC (Goal-Strategy-Tactics-Implementation-Control) framework comprises these five
activities and acts as the lynchpin of marketing planning and analysis. At the core of the action plan
is the business model based on the offering’s strategy and tactics.
The individual components of the G-STIC approach to marketing planning and management are
as follows:
• The goal describes the company’s ultimate criterion for success; it specifies the end result that
the company plans to achieve. The two components of the goal are its focus, which defines the
metric (such as net income) used to quantify the intended result of the company’s actions, and
the performance benchmarks that signal movement toward the goal and define the time frame for
achieving the goal.
• The strategy provides the basis for the company’s business model by delineating the company’s
target market and describing the offering’s value proposition in this market.
• Tactics carry out the strategy by defining the key attributes of the company’s offering. These seven
tactics—product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication, and distribution—are the tools used to
create value in the company’s chosen market.
• Implementation consists of the processes involved in readying the company’s offering for sale.
Implementation includes developing the offering and deploying the offering in the target market.
• Control measures the success of the company’s activities over time by monitoring the company’s
performance and the changes in the market environment in which the company operates.
The key components of the marketing plan and the key factors describing each component are
outlined in Figure 2.7 and are examined in more detail in the following sections.

SETTING A GOAL
Defining the goal that the company aims to achieve sets the marketing plan in motion. The goal can
be regarded as the beacon that guides all company activities. Two key decisions are involved in setting
a goal: identifying the focus of the company’s actions and specifying the performance benchmarks to be
achieved. These decisions are discussed in more detail next.

Defining the Goal Focus. The goal’s focus defines the desired outcome of the company’s
activities, an important criterion of a firm’s success. Based on their focus, goals can be monetary or
strategic.
• Monetary goals are based on such outcomes as net income, profit margins, earnings per share, and
return on investment. For-profit firms use monetary goals as their primary performance metric.

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The ultimate FIGURE 2.7

Goal
criterion for success The G-STIC Action-Planning Flowchart
Focus Benchmarks Source: Alexander Chernev, Strategic Marketing Man-
agement: Theory and Practice (Chicago, IL: Cerebellum
The value created Press, 2019).
Strategy
in the target market
Target market Value proposition
The specifics of the
Tactics
market offering
Product Service Brand

Price Incentives

Communication Distribution
The logistics of
Implementation
creating the offering
Development Deployment
Monitoring
Control
goal progress
Performance Environment

• Strategic goals are centered on nonmonetary outcomes that are of strategic importance to the
company. Among the most common strategic goals are increasing sales volume, brand awareness,
and social welfare, as well as enhancing the corporate culture and facilitating employee recruit-
ment and retention. Nonprofit companies and for-profit companies looking to support items
that are bigger revenue producers than the focal offering have strategic goals as their main per-
formance metric. As an example, Amazon might only break even or actually take a loss on some
of its Kindle devices and yet view them as a strategically important platform for its retail business.
Companies are increasingly looking beyond sales revenue and profit to consider the legal, ethical,
social, and environmental effects of their marketing activities and programs. The concept of a “triple
bottom line”—people, planet, and profits—has gained traction among many companies taking stock
of the societal impact of their activities.22 For example, one of Unilever’s key initiatives—its Sustainable
Living Plan—has three major goals: to improve people’s health and well-being, to reduce our environ-
mental impact, and to enhance livelihoods. These goals are underpinned by metrics spanning social,
environmental, and economic performance in the company’s value chain.23

Defining Performance Benchmarks. Quantitative and temporal performance benchmarks

work in tandem to provide the measurements that track the progress of the company toward reaching
its established goal.
• Quantitative benchmarks set out the specific milestones to be achieved as the company moves
toward its ultimate goal. These benchmarks quantify the company’s focal goal, which might, for
example, include increasing market share by 5 percent, or improving retention rates by 15 percent,
or growing revenues by 10 percent. Quantitative benchmarks can be stated in relative terms, such
as aiming to increase market share by 20 percent, or in absolute terms, such as aspiring to achieve
sales of one million units per year.
• Temporal benchmarks identify the time frame for achieving a specific quantitative or ­qualitative
benchmark—e.g., revamp the company’s website by the end of the first quarter. The timeline set
for achieving a goal is a key decision that can affect the type of strategy used to implement the
goal, the number of people involved, and even costs. For example, the goal of maximizing next
quarter’s profits is likely to require a different strategy and tactics than the goal of ensuring long-
term profitability.
Implementing the company goal requires that three main objectives be specified: what the com-
pany aims to achieve (goal focus), how much the company wants to achieve (quantitative benchmark),
and when the company wants to achieve it (temporal benchmark). Thus, a company might have the goal

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 68 PART 1 | FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

of generating net income (goal focus) of $40 million (quantitative benchmark) in one year (temporal
benchmark). Clearly delineating the goal that is to be achieved and establishing realistic quantitative
and temporal benchmarks help fine-tune the company’s strategy and tactics.

DEVELOPING THE STRATEGY

Because the processes involved in developing a sound marketing strategy were covered in detail previ-
ously in this chapter, this section contains only a brief mention of strategy in relation to the G-STIC
framework. The strategy denotes the value that the company intends to create in a particular market
and includes the company’s target market and its value proposition for this market.
• The target market in which the company aims to create value is defined by five factors: customers
whose needs will be fulfilled by the offering, competitors whose offerings aim to fulfill the same
needs of the same target customers, collaborators that help the company meet the needs of target
customers, the company managing the offering, and the context in which the company operates.
• The value proposition defines the benefits and costs of the market offering with which the company
plans to meet target customers’ needs. The three components of the value proposition are customer
value, collaborator value, and company value. The value proposition is often complemented by a positioning
statement that highlights the key benefit(s) of the company’s offering in a competitive context.

DESIGNING THE TACTICS

The development of marketing tactics was also discussed in greater detail earlier in this chapter, so
here we briefly mention tactics as they relate to the G-STIC framework. Tactics, or the marketing mix,
are a logical sequence of components of the company’s strategy that make this strategy a market real-
ity. They define the actual offering that the company introduces in the target market through seven
attributes—product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication, and distribution—that work together to
create the market value embodied by the company’s offering.
Implementation is a direct outcropping of the company’s strategy and tactics. After the strategy is
translated into a set of tactics, it is converted into an implementation plan that spells out the activities
that will give life to the business model. Implementation consists of three key components: development
of the company resources, development of the offering, and commercial deployment of the offering.
• Resource development entails securing the competencies and assets needed to implement the
company’s offering. Resource development may involve developing manufacturing, service, and
technology infrastructure; securing reliable suppliers; recruiting, training, and retaining skilled
employees; creating products, services, and brands that serve as a platform for the new offering;
acquiring the skills necessary for development, production, and management of the offering;
developing the communication and distribution channels that inform target customers about
the company’s offering and make it available to them; and securing the necessary capital to make
resource development possible.
• Development of the offering transforms the company’s strategy and tactics into an actual good
that will be offered to target customers. This involves overseeing the flow of information, mate-
rials, labor, and money that will create the offering the company brings to the market. Offering
development includes designing the product (procurement, inbound logistics, and production)
and specifying the service (installation, support, and repair activities); building the brand; setting
retail and wholesale prices and incentives (coupons, rebates, and price discounts); designing the
manner of communication (message, media, and creative execution); and procuring distribution
channels (warehousing, order fulfillment, and transportation).
• Commercial deployment is the logical outcome of offering development and establishes the
company’s offering in the market. Deployment includes setting the timing of the offering’s market
launch, as well as determining the resources involved and the scale of the market launch. Initial
deployment can be selective, focusing on specific segments of the target market to allow the com-
pany to assess market reaction to the offering. Alternatively, deployment can involve a large-scale
rollout across all target markets. Selective commercial deployment calls for the marketing plan
to define the primary market in which the offering will first be introduced and to outline the key
activities associated with the offering’s initial launch. The marketing plan then spells out the tim-
ing and the processes involved in expanding the offering beyond the primary market, allowing it
to reach all target customers and achieve its full market potential.

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IDENTIFYING CONTROLS
Because the business environment undergoes constant change, companies must be agile in order
to consistently realign their actions with current market realities. Controls steer a company in the
direction of its ultimate goal by ensuring that company actions are in line with its strategy and tac-
tics. Furthermore, controls make marketing operations more effective and cost efficient, and they
make it possible to better assess the return on marketing investment by helping companies determine
whether they are on the right track to achieve their goals.
Controls have one primary function: to inform the company whether it should stay with its cur-
rent course of action, modify the underlying strategy and tactics, or completely abandon its current
course of action and develop an offering that better reflects the realities of the market. Controls have
two key components: evaluating the company’s performance and monitoring the market environment.

Evaluating Performance. Evaluating a company’s performance means using benchmarks to

track the company’s progress toward its goal. For example, evaluating a company’s monetary perfor-
mance might consist of comparing the desired and actual sales revenue outcomes or assessing desired
and actual net income to identify operational inefficiencies. Here are some common performance
measures:24
• Sales metrics such as sales volume, sales growth, and market share
• Customer readiness-to-buy metrics such as awareness, preference, purchase intent, trial rate, and
repurchase rate
• Customer value metrics such as customer satisfaction, customer acquisition costs, customer
churn, customer lifetime value, customer profitability, and return per customer
• Distribution metrics such as number of outlets, average stock volume, out-of-stock frequency,
share of shelf space, and average sales per channel
• Communication metrics such as brand awareness, gross rating points (GRP), and response rate
Evaluating the company’s performance can reveal either adequate progress toward its goal or a
performance gap between the desired and the actual performance. If the progress is deemed adequate,
the company can stay the course with its current action plan. However, when performance evaluation
reveals a discrepancy and shows a gap between company performance and the benchmarks set, the
company’s action plan must be reevaluated and modified to put the company back on a path that will
enable it to achieve its goal.

Monitoring the Environment. Monitoring the environment allows early identification of

changes in the market context that have implications for the company. It enables the company to take
advantage of opportunities such as favorable government regulations, a decrease in competition, or an
increase in consumer demand. In addition, it alerts a company of impending threats such as unfavor-
able government regulations, an increase in competition, or a decline in customer demand.
When a company is vigilant about identifying opportunities and threats, it can take corrective
measures to modify the current action plan in a timely manner, taking advantage of available oppor-
tunities and counteracting impending threats. Because keeping a close eye on the market environment
helps coordinate company actions with market conditions, it enhances business agility, which is a
prerequisite for sustainability of the company’s value-creation model.
The importance of controls in marketing management and, specifically, the significance of
monitoring the environment in which the company operates are perhaps best exemplified by the
profound market changes stemming from advancements in technology. Companies like Amazon,
Google, ­Netflix, Salesforce, Uber, and Express Scripts were among the first to recognize the benefits
of the various technology-driven innovations and realign their business models to take advantage of
the impending market changes. Thus, they were able to gain ground on companies that were oblivious
to the changes in the environment around them.

Developing a Marketing Plan

The marketing plan directs and coordinates all company marketing efforts.25 It is a tangible outcome
of a company’s strategic planning process, outlining the company’s ultimate goal and the means
by which it aims to achieve this goal. In order to serve its ultimate purpose of guiding a company’s

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actions, the marketing plan must effectively communicate the company’s goal and its proposed course
of action to relevant stakeholders—company employees, collaborators, shareholders, and investors.
The scope of the marketing plan is narrower than that of the business plan because marketing cov-
ers only one aspect of a company’s business activities. A company’s business plan addresses not only
the marketing aspect of the company’s activities but also the financial, operations, human resources,
and technological aspects of the company. The marketing plan may briefly touch on other aspects of
the business plan, but only if they are relevant to the marketing strategy and tactics.
The marketing plan serves three main functions: It describes the company’s goal and proposed
course of action, informs the relevant stakeholders about the goal and action plan, and persuades the
relevant decision makers of the viability of the goal and the proposed course of action.
Marketing plans typically start with an executive summary followed by a situation overview. The
plan then describes the company’s goal, the value-creation strategy it has devised, the tactical aspects
of the offering, and its plan to implement the offering’s tactics. This is followed by delineation of a set
of control measures that will monitor the company’s progress toward its goals, and the plan concludes
with a roster of relevant exhibits. Figure 2.8 illustrates the key components of the marketing plan and
the main decisions underlying its individual components.
• The executive summary can be regarded as the “elevator pitch” for the marketing plan. It pres-
ents a streamlined and succinct overview of the company’s goal and the proposed course of
action. Typically, the executive summary consists of one or two pages that outline the pertinent
issues faced by the company—an opportunity, a threat, or a performance gap—and the proposed
action plan.

FIGURE 2.8
Executive Summary
The Organization
of the Marketing Plan What are the key aspects of the company's marketing plan?
Source: Alexander Chernev, The
Marketing Plan Handbook, 6th Situation Overview
ed. (Chicago, IL: Cerebellum
Press, 2020). What are the Company What are the key Market
company’s history, culture, aspects of the markets in
resources, offerings, and ongoing activities? which the company competes?

Goal
What is the key Focus What are the criteria Benchmarks
performance metric the company (temporal and quantitative)
aims to achieve with the offering? for reaching the goal?

Strategy
Who are the target customers, Target Market What value does the offering Value proposition
competitors, and collaborators? create for target customers,
What are the company’s resources and context? collaborators, and company stakeholders?
G-STIC Action Plan

Tactics
Market offering
What are the product, service, brand, price, incentives,
communication, and distribution aspects of the offering?

Implementation
Development Deployment
How is the company What processes will be
offering being developed? used to bring the offering to market?

Control
How will the Performance How will the company Environment
company evaluate the monitor the environment to
progress toward its goal? identify new opportunities and threats?

Exhibits
What are the details/evidence supporting the company’s action plan?

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 CHAPTER 2 | Marketing Planning and Management 71

• The situation overview provides an overall evaluation of the environment in which the com-
pany operates, as well as of the markets in which the company competes and/or will compete.
Thus, the situation overview is composed of two sections: the company overview that outlines the
company’s history, culture, resources (competencies, assets, and offerings, and the market overview
that outlines the markets in which the company currently manages offerings and those that the
company could potentially target for future offerings.
• The G-STIC section forms the core of the marketing plan. It includes (1) the goal the company
aims to achieve; (2) the strategy, which defines the offering’s target market and value proposi-
tion; (3) the tactics defining the product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication, and
distribution aspects of the offering; (4) the implementation, which lays out the aspects of executing
an offering’s strategy and tactics; and (5) control procedures that evaluate the performance of the
company’s offering and analyze the environment in which the company operates.
• Exhibits streamline the marketing plan by keeping tables, charts, and appendices in a distinct
section to separate the less important and/or more technical aspects of the plan from the essential
information.
The ultimate goal of the marketing plan is to guide a company’s actions. Therefore, the core of the
marketing plan is contained in the key elements of the G-STIC framework that delineate the company’s
goal and the course of action it proposes. The other elements of the marketing plan—the executive
summary, situation overview, and exhibits—elucidate the logic underlying the plan and provide specif-
ics of the proposed course of action.
In addition to the overall marketing plan, companies often develop more specialized plans. These
can include a product development plan, service management plan, brand management plan, sales
plan, promotion plan, and communication plan—which, in turn, can breed even more specific plans.
The communication plan, for example, often encompasses activity-specific plans such as an adver-
tising plan, public relations plan, and social media plan. A company might also create specialized
marketing plans targeting specific customer segments. For example, McDonald’s develops separate
marketing plans targeting young children and their parents, teenagers, and business customers. The
ultimate success of each of these highly specific individual plans depends on the degree to which it is
aligned with the company’s overall marketing plan.

Modifying the Marketing Plan

Marketing plans are not static; they need updating in order to remain relevant.26 The same is true of
marketing management, an iterative process that executes the company’s strategy and tactics while
monitoring the outcome and modifying the management process as needed. Continual monitoring
and adjustment allow the company to assess its progress toward the set goals while tweaking its plan
to reflect the changes in the marketplace. The dynamic nature of marketing management is inherent
in the G-STIC framework’s control section, which is crafted explicitly to provide the company with
feedback on the effectiveness of its actions and on relevant changes taking place in the target market.

UPDATING THE MARKETING PLAN

The marketing plan requires updating when the company’s current course of action is altered. This
may be based on the need to revise the current goal; rethink the existing strategy because new target
markets have been identified or the offering’s overall value proposition for customers, collaborators,
and the company needs modification; change the tactics by augmenting or improving the product,
service, brand, price, incentives, communication, and distribution aspects of the offering; streamline
the implementation; and/or develop alternative controls.
A common reason for updating a company’s marketing plan is in response to changes in the target
market. Market modifications can take place in one or more of the Five Cs: (1) changes in the demo-
graphics, buying power, needs, and preferences of target customers; (2) changes in the competitive
environment, such as a new competitor, price cuts, an aggressive advertising campaign, or expanded
distribution; (3) changes among company collaborators, such as a threat of backward integration from
distributors, increased trade margins, or retailer consolidation; (4) changes in the company, such as
the loss of strategic assets and competencies; and (5) changes in the market context that can include
economic recession, development of a new technology, and new or revised regulations.

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Some examples of updated marketing plans: In response to the shifting needs and preferences of
their customers, McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurants have redefined their offerings to include
healthier options. In response to increasing competition from online retailers, many traditional brick-
and-mortar retailers—including Walmart, Macy’s, Barnes & Noble, and Best Buy—have redefined their
business models and become multichannel retailers. Similarly, many manufacturers have redefined
their product lines to include lower-cost offerings in response to the widespread adoption of private
labels by collaborators’ (retailers). Developing or acquiring company assets, such as patents and propri-
etary technologies, can signal the need to redefine the underlying business models in virtually any
industry. And changes in the market context, such as the ubiquitous spread of mobile communication,
e-commerce, and social media, have disrupted existing value-creation processes, making it necessary
for companies to redefine their business models.
The ways in which a company creates market value must keep up with the changes in the market
in which it operates if a company is to succeed at achieving its goal. Inattention to changing environ-
ments has rendered a number of formerly successful business models obsolete. Companies that do not
adapt their business models and market plans to the new market conditions tend to be supplanted by
companies with superior business models that are better equipped to create market value. Ultimately,
the key to market success is not only to conceive a viable market plan but also to modify this plan as
often as needed to adapt to market changes.

CONDUCTING A MARKETING AUDIT

A marketing audit is a comprehensive examination of the marketing aspect of an offering or a com-
pany’s marketing department. It is intended to identify overlooked opportunities and problems areas
and to recommend a plan of action to improve the company’s performance. An effective marketing
audit should be comprehensive, systematic, unbiased, and periodic.
• Comprehensive. A marketing audit should cover all major marketing activities of a business, not
just a few trouble spots (these are covered by functional audits, which focus on a particular aspect
of marketing activity, such as pricing, communication, or distribution). Although functional
audits can be useful, they may be unable to accurately discern the cause-and-effect relationships
that drive the company’s performance. For example, excessive turnover in the sales force could
result from inferior company products, inappropriate pricing, and limited distribution, rather
than from poor training or inadequate compensation. A comprehensive marketing audit can
locate the real root of problems and can suggest solutions to effectively address these problems.
• Systematic. The marketing audit should examine the operating environment of the organization
in an orderly manner—from the company’s marketing objectives and strategies to its specific
activities. To achieve this systematic approach, the marketing audit should follow the G-STIC
guidelines to analyze the soundness of the company’s goals, strategy, tactics, implementation, and
controls. This enables the marketing audit to identify problems and opportunities at each step of
the design and implementation of the marketing plan and to integrate them into a meaningful
action plan.
• Unbiased. It may be more beneficial to have marketing audits conducted by an external entity.
Intra-company audits conducted by managers who rate their own operations tend to be overly
subjective, making it easier to miss problems that would be readily apparent to a more impartial
observer. Even when managers try their best to be impartial, internal assessments may still be
biased because they reflect the views, theories, and motives of the managers. Third-party auditors
can offer the needed objectivity, cross-category and cross-industry experience, and undivided time
and attention to ensure a thorough look into marketing activities.
• Periodic. Many firms consider marketing audits only when they encounter a problem, which
often presents itself in terms of the company’s inability to reach its goals. Waiting until an audit
is necessary has two main drawbacks. First, focusing solely on existing problems precludes early
identification of potential issues. This means problems are detected only when they have already
had a negative impact large enough to be noticed. Second, and more important, concentrating
only on problems can cause the company to overlook promising opportunities that could repre-
sent fruitful areas for growth. The bottom line: A periodic marketing audit can benefit companies
in good health as well as those in trouble.
Because the marketing audit resembles the organization of the marketing plan, it follows
the G-STIC framework and comprises five key components: goal audit, strategy audit, tactics audit,

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 CHAPTER 2 | Marketing Planning and Management 73

implementation audit, and controls audit. The key difference between the marketing audit and the market-
ing plan is that the marketing plan faces forward toward the future and plots a course of action that
the company should undertake; the marketing audit consolidates the company’s past, present, and
future by examining the company’s current and past performance to determine the right course to
ensure its future.

marketing
INSIGHT A Template for Writing a Marketing Plan
The development of a marketing plan can be greatly • Competitors. Identify the competitive offerings that
facilitated by following a logical structure that enables the provide similar benefits to the same target customers
reader to understand the company’s goals, the specific and collaborators.
activities that the company intends to undertake, and • Context. Evaluate the relevant economic, technologi-
the rationale for the proposed course of action. Such an cal, sociocultural, regulatory, and physical contexts.
approach to organizing the marketing plan is outlined in
Figure 2.7, and a template for writing a marketing plan fol- Strategy: Value Proposition
lowing this organization is outlined below.27 Define the offering’s value proposition for target custom-
ers, collaborators, and the company.
Executive Summary
• Customer value proposition. Define the offering’s
Provide a brief overview of the situation, the company’s
value proposition, positioning strategy, and position-
goal, and the proposed course of action.
ing statement for target customers.
Situation Overview • Collaborator value proposition. Define the offering’s
Provide an overview of the situation—current/potential value proposition, positioning strategy, and position-
customers, collaborators, competitors, and context—in ing statement for collaborators.
which the company operates, and identify relevant oppor- • Company value proposition. Outline the offering’s
tunities and threats. value proposition, positioning strategy, and posi-
Goal tioning statement for company stakeholders and
Identify the company’s primary goal and its market-­ personnel.
specific objectives. Tactics
• Primary Goal. Identify the company’s ultimate goal by Outline the key attributes of the market offering.
defining its focus and key performance benchmarks. • Product. Define relevant product attributes.
• Market Objectives. Identify the relevant customer, col- • Service. Identify relevant service attributes.
laborator, company, competitive, and context objectives
• Brand. Determine the key brand attributes.
that will facilitate achieving the primary goal. Define the
focus and key benchmarks for each objective. • Price. Identify the price(s) at which the offering is pro-
vided to customers and collaborators.
Strategy: Target Market
• Incentives. Define the incentives offered to custom-
Identify the target market in which the company will
ers, collaborators, and company employees.
launch its new offering.
• Communication. Identify the manner in which the key
• Customers. Define the need(s) to be fulfilled by the
aspects of the offering are communicated to target
offering, and identify the profile of customers with
customers, collaborators, and company employees
such needs.
and stakeholders.
• Collaborators. Identify the key collaborators (suppli-
• Distribution. Describe the manner in which the offer-
ers, channel members, and communication partners)
ing is delivered to target customers and collaborators.
and their strategic goals.
• Company. Define the business unit responsible for Implementation
the offering, the relevant personnel, and key stake- Define the specifics of implementing the company’s
holders. Outline the company’s core competencies offering.
and strategic assets, its current product line, and its • Resource development. Identify the key resources
market position. needed to implement the marketing plan, and
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 74 PART 1 | FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

marketing insight (continued)

outline a process for developing/acquiring deficient • Analysis of the environment. Identify metrics for
resources. ­evaluating the environment in which the company
• Offering development. Outline the processes for operates, and outline the processes for modifying
developing the market offering. the plan to accommodate changes in the
environment.
• Commercial deployment. Delineate the process for
bringing the offering to target customers. Exhibits

Control Provide additional information—market research data,

financial analyses, offering specifics, and implementation
Identify the metrics used to assess the offering’s
details—to support specific aspects of the marketing plan.
­performance and to monitor the environment in which
the ­company operates.
• Performance evaluation. Define the criteria for evalu-
ating the offering’s performance and progress toward
the set goals.

summary
1. Market-oriented strategic planning is the manage- defining the specific quantitative and temporal perfor-
rial process of developing and maintaining a viable mance benchmarks to be achieved. A company’s ultimate
fit between the organization’s objectives, skills, and goal is translated into a series of specific market objec-
resources and its changing market opportunities. The tives that stipulate the market changes that must occur in
aim of strategic planning is to shape the company’s busi- order for the company to achieve its ultimate goal.
nesses and products so that they yield target profits and 7. The strategy delineates the value created by the company
growth. Strategic planning takes place on three levels: in a particular market; it is defined by the company’s
corporate, business unit, and market offering. target market and its value proposition for this market.
2. The corporate strategy establishes the framework The target market defines the offering’s target customers,
within which the divisions and business units prepare collaborators, company, competitors, and context (the
their strategic plans. Setting a corporate strategy means Five Cs). The value proposition specifies the value that an
defining the corporate mission, establishing strategic offering aims to create for the relevant market entities—
business units (SBUs), assigning resources to each, and target customers, the company, and its collaborators.
assessing growth opportunities. 8. The tactics outline a set of specific activities employed to
3. Strategic planning for individual business units includes execute a given strategy. The tactics define the key attri-
defining their mission, analyzing external opportunities butes of the company’s offering: product, service, brand,
and threats, analyzing internal strengths and weak- price, incentives, communication, and distribution.
nesses, and crafting market offerings that will enable the These seven tactics are the means that managers have at
company to achieve its mission. their disposal to carry out a company’s strategy.
4. Marketing planning and management can occur on two 9. The implementation plan lays out the logistics of execut-
levels. They can focus on analyzing, planning, and man- ing the company’s strategy and tactics. This involves
aging the company (or a specific business unit within developing the resources necessary to implement the
the company), or they can focus on analyzing, planning, company’s offering, developing the actual offering that
and managing one or more of the company’s offerings. will be introduced in the market, and deploying the
5. From the point of view of designing a particular offer- offering in the target market.
ing, marketing planning is a process defined by five 10. The control delineates the criteria for evaluating the
main steps: setting a goal, developing the strategy, design- company’s goal progress and articulates a process for
ing the tactics, defining the implementation plan, and iden- analyzing the changes in the environment in which the
tifying the control metrics to measure progress toward company operates, in order to align the action plan with
the set goal. These five steps constitute the G-STIC market realities.
framework, which is the backbone of market planning. 11. The marketing plan can be formalized as a written docu-
6. The goal identifies the ultimate criterion for success that ment that communicates the proposed course of action to
guides all company marketing activities. Setting a goal relevant entities: company employees, stakeholders, and
involves identifying the focus of the company’s actions and collaborators. The core of a company’s marketing plan

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 CHAPTER 2 | Marketing Planning and Management 75

is the G-STIC framework, which is complemented by an 12. To ensure that its marketing plan is adequately imple-
executive summary, a situation overview, and a set of rel- mented, a company must periodically conduct a mar-
evant exhibits. To be effective, the marketing plan must be keting audit to identify overlooked opportunities and
actionable, relevant, clear, and succinct. Once developed, problem areas and to recommend a plan of action to
marketing plans must be updated to remain relevant. improve the company’s marketing performance.

marketing
SPOTLIGHT
Google

Source: Valeriya Zankovych/Alamy

From smart phones to maps to e-mail to search, today
Google is everywhere. This ubiquity makes it easy to forget
that the company was founded in 1998 by two Stanford
University PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They
named the company Google as a play on “googol,” the term

Stock Photo
for the number 1 followed by a hundred zeroes. The name
expressed the duo’s ambition to help users sift through the
nearly limitless amounts of information on the internet. Page
and Brin further elucidated their goals in Google’s corporate
mission statement: “To organize the world’s information
and make it universally accessible and useful.” To this end, responded to while browsing content. Google also integrated
they started by focusing their energy on the nascent field of tools into its AdWords platform to help advertisers better
internet search. The result of their effort was the PageRank understand the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.
algorithm, which counted the number and quality of links to With these tools, advertisers on Google’s platform could
a given website to rate its relevance and importance. This constantly monitor and optimize their advertisements. Google
algorithm proved to be far superior to those used at the time called this approach “marketing asset management,” imply-
by competing search engines such as Yahoo, and Google ing that advertisements should be managed like assets in a
quickly became the dominant company in Web search. portfolio depending on market conditions. Companies could
Google’s revenues revolved around advertising early on. use the real-time data that Google collected to adjust their
It realized that the information from searches on its website campaigns to market conditions, instead of following market-
could be used to deliver highly targeted advertisements to ing plans developed months in advance.
consumers and took advantage of this opportunity in 2000 by Google came to dominate search and online advertising
launching AdWords. This service allowed companies to pay thanks to its ability to collect and process enormous amounts
Google to have their text advertisements show up alongside of data from the internet and make them useful. It used this
search results to queries containing specific words. Hundreds capability to provide consumers and businesses alike with
of thousands of companies grew to rely on AdWords by buy- the information they needed. Despite its early successes,
ing these “search ads.” Google also moved into displaying Google never stopped innovating. It continued to expend
advertisements beside Web content. In 2003 the company significant energy to develop and refine algorithms that could
launched AdSense, which scanned the text on a website be used to squeeze more information out of the internet and
and automatically displayed targeted advertisements relevant keep Google ahead of the competition. In addition to refining
to its contents. Website publishers could earn money every existing products, Google developed a series of free online
time their visitors clicked on these ads. Prior to this innova- services for consumers. By applying its computer science
tion, most websites were unable to automatically display and design skills to new problems, Google helped users get
highly specific ads to match their content. things done more efficiently and effectively. In many cases,
Google also provided free tools to better serve advertis- rather than coming up with novel products, Google applied
ers and content providers. In 2005, the company launched its expertise to existing categories to create a superior prod-
a suite of tools called Google Analytics that allowed con­ uct offering. By entering a slew of new categories, Google
tent providers to see custom reports on the way people gave advertisers access to consumers in an increasing num-
behaved on their websites. Among other details, these ber of contexts. Furthermore, the company gained access to
reports showed how many people visited the website, how increasing amounts of information on consumers that it could
they found it, how long they spent there, and what ads they further monetize in the future.
( continued )

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 76 PART 1 | FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Through continuous internal development and a series of processing, and programming tools for enterprises and start-
acquisitions, Google rapidly expanded its product offerings. ups alike. Companies like HSBC have signed on with Google
In 2004, Google launched Gmail, an advertising-supported as it has rushed to embed itself in this rapidly growing sector.
e-mail service that by 2016 numbered over a billion active Google has also introduced a variety of hardware products,
users every month. In 2005, the company launched Google including the 2016 release of its high-end Pixel phones,
Maps to compete with existing online mapping services. The designed to compete directly with the iPhone. In the same
company repeatedly impressed consumers as it upgraded its year it debuted Google Home, a smart speaker that not only
map service with features such as Street View, which gave connects to smart devices but also responds to voice com-
users 360-degree views of map locations. In 2006, Google mands and interacts with home automation systems.
branched into streaming video when it acquired YouTube Google has moved into many categories over its short life-
and grew it into a service that generated billions of dollars time, but all of its products are drawn together by the company’s
in advertising revenues. That same year the company also desire to harness the power of data to create better customer
launched Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides—free online alter- experiences. In an effort to continue innovating, Google has
natives to elements of the Microsoft Office suite. Google con- invested heavily in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
tinues to expand its online product offerings with everything These rapidly developing technologies offer the company a way
from translation tools to calendars to specialized searches. to automatically sift through ever-increasing amounts of data to
As Google developed into an internet giant, it realized extract useful information. Google sees the further development
that to continue growing, it would need to expand beyond of AI capabilities as pivotal to its future growth. From transla-
products used only on computers. Google identified mobile tion software to Web search to smart-phone cameras, artificial
technology as one of the ways forward and developed the intelligence has come to underpin an increasing number of the
open source Android mobile operating system. Whereas company’s product offerings and innovation.
companies like Apple created proprietary operating systems Today Google has grown into a multinational company
for their hardware, Google gave its operating system away with almost $100 billion in revenue, almost 90 percent of
free to handset makers. As part of its strategy, Google part- which is from advertising. So far, though, Google’s depen-
nered with companies like Samsung to improve and expand dence on advertising revenue hasn’t hurt growth. Google
Android. These partners were free to modify Android and use continues to dominate the online advertising market, cap-
its branding if they stuck to guidelines laid out by Google. In turing large share of the increased spending on online ads
2008, one year after Apple introduced the iPhone, Google during the previous year. In addition, its annual revenue
launched Android on handsets from a variety of companies. continued to soar by double digits. In the future, Google aims
Today Android is used on over 80 percent of smart phones to create a more varied range of income streams from its
globally. All Android users have access to Google Play, the investments in sectors like cloud computing, hardware, and
official app store for the operating system. Google gets a artificial intelligence.28
cut of all sales. In addition to developing Android, Google
became the leader in the rapidly expanding mobile advertis- Questions
ing space, garnering nearly a third of 2017 U.S. mobile ad 1. What is Google’s core business? What are the pros and
revenues in a market worth over $50 billion. cons of managing a diverse portfolio of businesses?
Google has also broadened its reach into other grow- 2. With a portfolio as diverse as Google’s, what are the
ing markets like hardware and cloud computing. With cloud company’s core brand values?
computing, Google is competing with the likes of Amazon 3. What’s next for Google? Where should the company
and Microsoft to provide remote storage capacity, data focus its resources?

marketing
SPOTLIGHT
Careem
Source: Postmodern Studio/Alamy

Uber, the global leader in ride sharing, entered the Middle

East market in 2013, but it failed to replicate the success it
had enjoyed in so many other markets around the world. It
had started its operations in the region a year behind Careem,
Stock Photo

the Middle East’s pioneering—and still leading—ride-sharing

app. Careem was the clear favorite as a home-grown brand,

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 CHAPTER 2 | Marketing Planning and Management 77

which gave it an edge over Uber, but it also had a unique offers on food orders; alternatively, customers can choose
product-service offering: its competitive advantage came to spend the points to help a refugee or to feed a child for a
not only because it was an early mover in a nascent industry day. The rewards system requires no registration or signing
but also because of its strategic planning, based on crucial up; the points are added automatically every time a customer
insights into the local markets. ­completes a ride.
Launched in 2012 by former McKinsey consultants Within a short period, Careem expanded the services
Magnus Olsson and Mudassir Sheikha in the city of Dubai, on its platform to include mass transportation, delivery, and
Careem operates in 14 countries in the Middle East, North payments, essentially becoming the region’s everyday
Africa, and Pakistan (MENAP) region, with a presence in 100 super-app. Careem Express is the brand’s logistics ­service
cities and 30 million registered users. Like so many start-ups for businesses that need to deliver their products to ­customers.
in the region, Careem’s origins lay in its founders discovering It offers super-fast delivery (within 45 to 60 minutes), route
an opportunity based on personal experience; Olsson and optimization through advanced mapping and dispatching
Sheikha had traveled extensively around the world and felt technology, real-time tracking, on-demand/same-day deliv-
that the Middle Easts’ regional transportation sector needed ery, variable pricing and volume-based discounts, and 24/7
a simpler, easier, and more reliable way of getting around. support.
Careem provided value to customers across the differ- In online transactions, Careem Pay is the cash-free
ent markets by adapting to local demands and conditions. alternative for Careem’s services (rides, packages, and food
Even the brand name was chosen for the Middle East region; delivery). This service offers a secured payment system
it sounds similar to the Arabic word “kareem,” which means where users can track their spending through a transaction
kind and generous, so it resonated well with its intended history. Customers can also send credit to family and friends
­consumers right out of the gate. Drawing from an in-depth and split ride fares, or they can even surprise loved ones
understanding of the needs of its diverse customer base, with gifts. Rewards points can be converted into Careem
Careem offered easy and simplified solutions to the ­peculiar Pay credit.
needs and requirements of the markets. For example, where In 2020, after failing to achieve market dominance, Uber
other sharing-economy start-ups relied on their apps, Careem finally decided to acquire Careem. Part of the deal was that
introduced dedicated call centers to book rides as many both the companies would maintain their independent ser-
consumers still preferred to dial in for ride booking. As many vices, apps, and brands. The acquisition would allow Uber
locations in the region lack formal addresses, it developed its to leverage its global image by focusing on expats and tour-
own location data, which worked better than Google Maps. It ists in the Middle East while Careem continues to leverage
continued to accept cash payments, which remained a widely its appeal among the local populations. With access to local
preferred mode of payment among many customers. It also knowledge and Careem’s digital infrastructure, Uber hopes
introduced Careem Ameera, a dedicated ladies-only service to try out new ideas across both brand platforms and by
with female drivers. building upon the unique strengths of each company. As a
The Careem Rewards Program and the Careem ­Package separate entity within Uber, Careem can focus more on inno-
Program are loyalty schemes through which customers can vation and strengthen its position as the region’s super-app,
earn points with each ride and order. The Careem Rewards adding more services and finding more ways to cater to its
Program has a tier-like format; customers who complete customers.29
15 rides or orders within a month are upgraded to a “gold”
status that offers more rewards. The Careem Package Questions
­Program offers bundles of rides or kilometers at a reduced 1. How does Careem create value for its customers?
price, which allows for big savings and more value for fre- 2. Discuss the relative strengths of Careem and Uber.
quent commuters. Points earned from these programs can Do you think Careem’s services and brand should be
be redeemed to earn credit and free rides or to receive integrated with Uber in the Middle East region?

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