Introduction

You are a marketing consultant for Money Maker Marketing you have the option of taking on one of four new clients. You will be creating a marketing plan for the client. The company is really depending on you to do a spectacular job so that they can land other accounts from the same client , gain a great reputation in the business world, and receive referrals for new clients.

Purpose of the Marketing Plan

Why prepare one? A marketing plan helps you establish, direct and coordinate your marketing efforts. Preparing a marketing plan forces you to assess what's going on in your marketplace and how it affects your business. It also provides a benchmark for later measurement. Often, simply embarking on the process of preparing a marketing plan guides you in developing a successful marketing strategy.

Who reads it?

Just as a road map guides you on a journey, a marketing plan guides you and your staff to reach your goals; it keeps you from getting off- course. Representatives from organizations that plan to lend you money or invest in your business require a business plan&endash;and your marketing plan is a critical component of that business plan.

What is it?

A marketing plan contains information about your clients company and its products, marketing objectives and strategies, as well as how they will measure the success of their marketing activities. It describes all the marketing activities they will perform during a specified time period (usually one year). It will also include any background information and research results you used to select those marketing activities. Finally, you'll document the costs associated with your planned marketing activities as well as the measurements you'll use to determine success. Most often, a marketing plan is a component of a business plan. A business plan basically states how the client plans to run their company&endash;what their goals are, how much money it will take to achieve their goals and what activities they will perform to achieve their goals. Marketing, obviously, is one of those activities. Marketing plans sometimes stand alone but should always support and be closely linked to a company's business objectives. To view a marketing plan example push here

You need to have a thorough understanding of the following points to develop a marketing plan: your products or services and their features and benefits the problem, need or desire your product or service solves or meets for your customer your target market and its characteristics and buying habits current and potential competing products or services

When should I prepare one?

Ideally, you will develop your first marketing plan as a component of your clients overall business plan before they launch their business. If they are already in business without a written plan, however, develop one now with their goals for the next 12 months in mind. Update the plan on a regular basis. Last year's strategy may not work given this year's market conditions.

The Task

Your task is to choose one of the following companies, think of a new product, and create a marketing plan based on the four P's. During the course of this activity you will write a marketing plan that will describe a product, it's features and benefits, the pricing of the product for profitability, a promotion plan, and the places the product will be sold. A templet will be provided to insure that you discuss all the components of a marketing plan. There is a level one and level two marketing plan templet please check with your instructor for the appropriate level.

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For specific marketing plan sites click on the button of the web site.

AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION	SAMPLE MARKETING PLAN	MARKETING TOOL MAGAZINE
POWER RETAILING	MARKETING PLAN BLUEPRINT	U.S. COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

To accomplish the task of writing a marketing plan, you will be assigned to teams of four. From there you will choose one of four companies for which to complete a marketing plan. Using the appropriate templet level, you will create your marketing team's plan for your company to present to the client. Level one will require six days of class time and two weeks total for research and completion of the project. Level two requires two weeks of class time and one month total for research and completion.

All projects will be graded based on clarity and creativity.

The one hard-and-fast rule about marketing plan components is that there are no hard-and-fast rules! Marketing plans vary by industry, by size of company and by stage of growth. The form isn't as important as the process of preparing it, it's a process that makes you think about your business goals and what your marketing strategy will be to achieve those goals.