A new product marketing plan can be comprehensive, covering a major national introduction of an entire product line, or be simply a summary of a six-month special promotion on a new product. In either case, it should be easy to understand by everyone who works with it, precise and detailed to avoid confusion, realistic in goals and means of attaining them. The marketing plan also should be adaptable to change, cover all key marketing mix factors, and identify responsibilities.
Characteristics of a good plan were probably best documented by the Department of the Army some time ago in the “Staff Officers Field Manual: Staff Organization and Procedure.”
CHARACTERISTICS OF A PLAN
The essential element of a plan is that it offers a definite course of action and a method for execution. A good plan:
a. Provides for accomplishing the mission. Does it accomplish the objective of the planning?
b. Is based on facts and valid assumptions. Have all pertinent data been considered? Are the data accurate? Have assumptions been reduced to a minimum?
c. Provides for the use of existing resources. Is the plan workable? Are there any resources organic to the organization that are not being fully utilized? Are there any resources available from higher headquarters that should be used?
d. Provides the necessary organization. Does the plan clearly establish relationships and fix responsibilities?
e. Provides continuity. Does the plan provide the organization, personnel, material, and arrangements for the full period of the contemplated operation?
f. Provides decentralization. Does the plan delegate authority to the maximum extent consistent with the necessary control?
g. Provides direct contact. Does the plan permit coordination during execution by direct contact between coequals and counterparts on all levels?
h. Is simple. Have all elements been eliminated that are not essential to successful action? Have all elements been reduced to their simplest forms? Have all possibilities for misunderstanding been eliminated?
i. Is flexible. Does the plan leave room for adjustment to change in operating conditions? Where necessary, are alternate courses of action stipulated?
j. Provides control. Do adequate means exist, or have they been provided, to ensure that the plan is carried out in accordance with the commander’s intent?
k. Is coordinated. Is the plan fully coordinated? When appropriate, has the commander been informed of nonconcurrence or noncoordination?
Typical problems in marketing planning arise frequently because of a lack of quantified objectives, too much time spent on collecting and analyzing historical data in the situation analysis step, and lack of a written plan. No forced trade-off of resource allocation in the strategy plan, no followup to compare results with plans, no commitment by top management to planning, and no involvement by “doers” who will have to carry out the plans also create problems in marketing planning. Keep these factors in mind when developing the new product plan, especially the involvement and commitment of all of the people necessary to executing the plans.
The ultimate purpose of the plan is to allocate resourcespeople and capital-to most effectively introduce the new product. This allocation of resources is often called “the marketing mix,”. The mix includes all of the elements relating to the final product configuration, how it gets to the customer, how its benefits are communicated, and how it can be purchased. The mix must be considered relative to the world it operates in and the specific customer targeted. Some questions to consider as a review of previous development efforts before finalizing an introduction plan strategy are:
1. Who are the target market customers?
2. What benefits are there for buyers if they do buy the prod
uct? If they buy from a competitor? What product features
really are important to prospective buyers?
3. What are the competitive advantages and disadvantages in
selling the product to specific buyers?
4. What environmental factors pose special opportunities or
threats for the product introduction?
5. What are the incremental revenues and costs of reaching
various groups of prospective buyers?
6. What marketing factors can be most effective in reaching specific buyers?
The marketing mix must be analyzed and selected based on an explicit definition of the target market. A thorough market segmentation effort dividing all prospective customers into subgroups with similar needs, located in the same area, and responding in the same way to various marketing factors will make a plan more cost efficient as well as more effective. Markets for consumer goods can be segmented by geographic location, behavioral characteristics of buyers (usage rate, end use, brand loyalty), personality characteristics, psychographics, benefits sought, and responsiveness to marketing factors (product features, price, advertising, retail outlet). Markets for industrial goods can be divided by geographic location, industry, size of firm, benefits sought, applications/use, and responsiveness to marketing factors (product features, price, quality, delivery, service).
It is especially important to try to identify who the “early adopters” and “influencers” are within the targets. Industrial product success often depends on reference selling using a few leading companies as case histories and demonstration sites. Consumer goods introductions can also be influenced greatly by getting distribution through a few leading retailers, creating pressure on other retailers to take the product in order to stay competitive.
Analysis of market segmentation illustrates how the planning process incorporates two major types of thinking: inductive and deductive. Inductive thinking flows from the specific to the general, from detailed facts, analysis, and assumptions to conclusions. Deductive thinking flows from the general back to the specific, from strategy, critical issues, and an outline to a detailed operations plan. Analyzing the market segments and moving toward mix decisions is an example of the first part of the planning process-inductive thinking.
The marketing mix offers a choice of many different marketing tools. The product mix is concerned with all the elements and ingredients that make up the actual product offered for sale. These ingredients should be integrated to support one another. They include product planning, product development, number of product lines carried, size, color, packaging, warranties and guarantees, branding, labeling, and servicing of each individual product.
The distribution mix is comprised of two basic components: channels of distribution and physical distribution. Channels of distribution consist of the institutions and activities involved in marketing products as reviewed in Chapter 11. Physical distribution is concerned with the physical flow of goods to market. The physical distribution mix deals with such factors as inventories, materials handling systems, storage facilities, modes of transportation, distribution centers, and related areas involved in the firm’s distribution strategy.
The promotion mix pertains to the strategic combination of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, publicity, merchandising, and other tools to communicate with the marketplace. And the pricing mix is the presentation and establishment of “value” to the customer.
The ability to select the right tools, in the right amounts, and integrate them into a coordinated and creative attack is the essence of a new product plan. A simple consumer product could be offered to the market in a seemingly endless combination of alternatives. The concept of “modular marketing” is using the marketing mix and design flexibility to meet the needs of different market segments (consumers and retailers).
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