Marketing plans how to prepare them, how to use them

What it’s about

Based on extensive research into the marketing planning practices of industrial, consumer, and service companies, this book strips away the confusion and mythology surrounding marketing planning. Malcolm McDonald shows that most companies that think they are planning are merely forecasting and budgeting, and suffer grave operational consequences as a result. The book takes the reader painstakingly through the entire process: understanding the marketing concept, conducting a marketing audit, performing SWOT and portfolio analyses, setting marketing objectives and strategies, building advertising, sales, pricing and distribution plans, and finally designing and implementing a simple, step-by-step marketing planning system. Crucially, it deals not only with what should happen but with what goes wrong—the cultural, organizational, and political barriers to planning—and how to overcome them. It combines current best practice with the necessary theoretical background, making it equally valuable to practising marketing directors and to students preparing for professional marketing qualifications.

The through-line

Who it’s for

A practising manager or marketing executive responsible for a company's revenue-earning activities who wants to prepare and use an effective marketing plan that secures profitable growth and competitive advantage.

The problem

Their company is only forecasting and budgeting rather than truly planning, leaving them unable to match capabilities to market opportunities or to know what to sell and to whom. They feel baffled, frustrated, and confused by a complex, jargon-laden subject where confusion 'reigns supreme' and little practical guidance exists.

The plan

1. Understand the marketing concept and the marketing mix.
2. Carry out a thorough, structured marketing audit and summarize it as focused SWOT analyses.
3. Analyze customers, markets, and products using segmentation, life cycles, and portfolio matrices.
4. Set quantified marketing objectives about products and markets, and develop matching strategies.
5. Build supporting communication, pricing, and distribution plans.

The payoff

The reader's life looks like running a company firmly in control of its diverse activities, with widely understood objectives, motivated employees, actionable market information, minimal waste, and regained profitability and confidence.

See our guide

• The Four-S Discipline — One System, Four Capabilities →
• Market A Product Or Brand →
• Set Strategy And Build Durable, Measurable Advantage →
• Find An Advantage Competitors Cannot Copy →
• Run Digital & Performance Marketing →
• Grow Without Breaking What Works →
• Measure Marketing Honestly →
• Set Goals And OKRs That Actually Move →
• Position A Brand People Choose →
• Price And Package An Offer →

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Additional reading

• The Marketing Audit: translating marketing theory into practice · Malcolm H. B. McDonald

  Mentioned in the preface as a companion text to this book, containing exercises designed to provide a practical bridge between marketing theory and practice for managers.

• Competitive Strategy · Michael Porter

  The book recommends this text for readers who wish to explore the vital subject of competitive strategy in more depth, which is an essential prerequisite to setting appropriate marketing objectives.

Featured in these guides

• Find An Advantage Competitors Cannot Copy →Cited source
• Run Digital & Performance Marketing →Cited source
• Grow Without Breaking What Works →Cited source
• Market A Product Or Brand →Cited source
• Measure Marketing Honestly →Cited source
• Set Goals And OKRs That Actually Move →Cited source
• Position A Brand People Choose →Cited source
• Price And Package An Offer →Cited source
• Set Strategy And Build Durable, Measurable Advantage →Cited source