The BASIC marketing planning process: a practical framework for the smaller business

Roger Brooksbank University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

Notes that although in recent years much has been written about the critical, if not overwhelming contribution of effective marketing planning to the achievement of competitive success, most of the literature deals with the application of marketing planning as it relates to big business. By contrast, this article provides an understanding of how all the key principles can be applied in the smaller business, in the form of a practical step-bystep framework for plan development.

Introduction
In the fast-changing and increasingly competitive business environment of the late 1990s, the right marketing approach for todays conditions will almost certainly not be right for those of tomorrow. No companys strategy or operations can afford to be frozen in time and, as the new millennium draws near, the ability to develop effective marketing plans which enable the rm to become more responsive and adaptable to the marketplace will, perhaps more than ever before, differentiate the winners from the losers. The vast majority of books and articles on the subject, however, deal with marketing planning as it relates to big business, citing big business cases and examples. By contrast, this article focuses on marketing planning as it relates to small businesses. Specically, it aims to provide an understanding of how all the key concepts, tools and techniques of textbook marketing can be applied in the form of a simplied and practical framework for marketing plan development in the smaller business. The article begins by providing the rationale for the proposed framework, followed by a detailed description of each of the ve planning phases it incorporates.

not involve them all will almost certainly be suboptimal because they are mutually supportive of one another in enabling a company to create and keep satised customers successfully over the long term. The third principle is to keep on marketing planning. The fast-changing nature of the modern business environment means that marketing planning should be a continuous, ever-evolving process, which seeks to exploit these changes to the companys best advantage (Brooksbank, 1991).

Putting it all together

The BASIC marketing planning process combines the three fundamental principles and goes through ve main phases: businesscustomerizing, analysing; strategizing; implementing and controlling, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 also serves to highlight the key aims at each phase of the process (in the left-hand column) and the key tasks involved (in the right-hand column). Note how the three building blocks underpin the process. First, a marketing-oriented business philosophy is a prerequisite. Second, the process is comprehensive with respect to the ve key management functions. Third, there are feedback arrows throughout, in order to project its dynamic, evolutionary nature. Figure 1 translates into the following denition: marketing planning involves the regular analysis of a companys competitive situation leading to the setting of marketing objectives, and the formulation and implementation of strategies, tactics, organizations and controls, all for the purpose of satisfying customers more protably .

A rationale for the proposed framework

There are three fundamental principles which underpin the proposed planning framework. The rst principle is to adopt a marketing orientation, or philosophy, of business. In contrast to a production-oriented company which focuses on producing technically excellent products at the lowest possible cost, or a sales-oriented company which focuses on persuasion techniques, the marketing-oriented company, above all else, focuses on satisfying its customers (Keegan et al., 1992). The second principle is to employ a comprehensive planning approach. The ve classic functions of management are: leading, analysing, planning, organizing and controlling and, to be effective, marketing planning must be comprehensive with respect to all ve. Any approach which does

The phases in more detail

Business-customerizing phase plan development
The term customerizing refers to the process of growing a company-wide commitment to satisfying customers and, in this rst stage of the planning process, the central aim is for senior management to provide the necessary leadership in facilitating this process. The challenge is to motivate, inspire and

Marketing Intelligence & Planning 14/4 [1996] 1623 MCB University Press [ISSN 0263-4503]

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Roger Brooksbank The BASIC marketing planning process: a practical framework for the smaller business Marketing Intelligence & Planning 14/4 [1996] 1623

encourage all staff to appreciate that, ultimately, they work for customers.

Task 1: build a marketing-led company culture

Management will be successful in building a marketing-led or customer-driven company culture only if everyone in the business believes in it and wants it to happen. That is why it is important to make everyone aware of the potential benets, such as additional repeat business, fewer complaints (less re-

Figure 1 The basic marketing planning process

ghting), more new customers by recommendation, increased sensitivity to market change and, ultimately, greater job satisfaction/security for all. In seeking to build a customer-driven company culture, some approaches that are typically used include: promoting customer awareness internally; involving all staff in marketing planning; introducing training sessions; rewarding customer-rst initiatives; encouraging customer visits by staff; and, setting more customer-based goals (Peters, 1989). It is important to appreciate, however, that without a visible commitment to making it happen among senior managers, it never will, which is why the importance of leadership cannot be overstated.

Marketing philosophy

Task 2: develop a customer-driven mission statement

Tasks
A effective mission statement represents a clear, long-term vision of where a company is going and what it is striving to achieve, thereby providing a focal point for integrating a companys overall planning effort, and reinforcing its commitment to being totally customer-driven. Its overall scope should cover two interrelated components: 1 the companys basic business in terms of products and services to provide and markets to serve; and 2 the establishment of an appropriate set of business values, attitudes and beliefs (Brown, 1984). Once claried, it should ideally take the form of a concisely written statement, which should then remain the focus of the companys energies for a considerable period of time. Notably, a successful mission is one which communicates, both in terms of the way in which it is written and presented, and the means by which it is promoted throughout the company, thereby serving to instil in employees a common sense of meaning, purpose, opportunity, and direction (Cavanagh and Clifford, 1986).

Aims

Business-customerizing phase
To encourage a company-wide commitment to customer satisfaction (leading) 1 Build a marketing-led company culture 2 Develop a customer-driven mission statement

Analysing phase
To define where the company is now and where it could go in the future (analysing) 3 Conduct marketing research 4 Analyse and chart SWOT profile(s)

Strategizing phase
To determine where the company 5 Set marketing objectives for is going to go, and how best to each product/service get there (planning) 6 Formulate a positioning strategy for each product/service

Implementing phase
To translate the strategy into action (organizing) 7 Assemble the 4Ps mix for each product/service 8 Organize the marketing effort

Analysing phase plan development

Aims
Controlling phase
Strategic control To maintain efficiency and effectiveness over time (controlling) 9 Design a marketing information system 10 Prepare a performance tracker Tactical control

Optimum market results

This stage of the planning process involves the thorough analysis of the companys competitive situation. In short, the aim is to be able to answer the questions, where are we now? and where could we go in the future? (Drucker, 1973), so providing a sound basis for marketing decision making. An effective marketing plan is not just based on gut-feel and industry experience alone, it is also based on a good deal of structured information and analysis.

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Task 3: conduct marketing research

To analyse a companys competitive situation, information is needed and marketing research may be dened as the process by which such information is obtained/collected. The main areas on which to focus should relate to all aspects of the marketplace but of particular importance are a companys actual/potential customers, its competitors, and its markets. For example, some key areas for marketing research typically include nding out about market size and trends, customer needs and wants, customer satisfaction levels, competitor activity, and competitor performance.

Figure 2 The SWOT prole development process

Conduct internal analysis

Conduct competitor analysis

Conduct market analysis

Evaluate strengths and weaknesses

Evaluate opportunities and threats

Successful marketing strategy development is fundamentally a process of nding the optimum t between the rm and the competitive environment in which it operates

Chart SWOT profile Source: Developed from Walker (1986)

capabilities, technical abilities, location, plant and equipment, personnel, distributor relationships, customer relationships, and so on. In particular, the rm should try to identify its core competences (Hamel and Prahalad, 1994). This concept is useful because it emphasizes the need to consider market opportunities in the light of a companys particular skills relative to its actual or potential competitors. When analysing actual or potential competitors, not only should their numbers be taken into consideration but also key competitors should be examined individually, in an effort to identify the rms potential for creating a sustainable competitive advantage in the market. The main questions to ask about competitors are: What is their (marketing mix) offer? What is their competitive advantage? How well are they performing? What does their SWOT prole look like? How are they likely to compete in future? In conducting a market analysis there are two types of market which should be considered: the immediate market and the wider world. The immediate market refers to the specic market(s) in which the rm actually/potentially operates, with customers and other, more general, market characteristics comprising the most important aspects of this analysis. A customer analysis revolves around asking questions such as why customers buy and what benets they seek, when and where they buy and who is involved in the purchase decision. Central to a customer analysis is the concept of market segmentation. This is the process of subdividing a market into smaller groups of customers with similar needs and wants/responsiveness to

As far as possible, existing secondary sources of information should be employed (for example, trade publications, government publications, competitors literature, commercial market reports, business directories, distributors and suppliers information , and so on). Only when it is considered absolutely necessary should the rm consider undertaking primary (original) eld research because, compared with other forms of research, it can be costly and time-consuming.

Task 4: analyse and chart SWOT prole

Successful marketing strategy development is fundamentally a process of nding the optimum t between the rm and the competitive environment in which it operates; and not just todays environment, but also that of the foreseeable future (Hooley and Saunders, 1993). This explains why charting a SWOT prole (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) is by far the most popular of all marketing planning tools. It provides a means by which all the key internal (company-related) and external (environment-related) issues can be summarized at a glance. A good SWOT prole facilitates the development of a strategy which capitalizes on a companys strengths, minimizes any weaknesses, exploits emerging opportunities and avoids, as far as possible, any threats (Webster, 1984). As shown in Figure 2, a well conceived SWOT prole depends on a through analysis of the company itself, its competitors, and its market. An internal (company) analysis involves a comprehensive appraisal of company strengths and weaknesses, and every aspect of the business should be assessed. For example, coverage should include nancial

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market offerings which are, or may become, signicant for planning a separate target marketing strategy (Brooksbank, 1994). Having dened candidate market segments, a more general market analysis then involves the assessment of the relative attractiveness of each segment. This necessitates estimating their size, growth rates, competitive structure and potential for protability . Ideally, a prole of each market should gradually be built up so that each segment can be evaluated in the light of the companys particular strengths and weaknesses, and ability to compete. Finally, the wider world comprises all those factors relating to the political, economic, social and technological environments surrounding a company which, albeit over the longer term, continually act to reshape both buyer and competitor behaviour. It is therefore important to analyse these factors so that any new opportunities or threats emanating from the wider world can be anticipated and acted on.

the use of human resources (people deployment) and, of course, the use of money (setting budgets). As far as possible, objectives should be stated in quantitative terms and given a time-scale. For example, the objective to increase sales is not as effective as to increase sales by ve per cent over the next six months (Kotler, 1991). In addition, objectives should always be set on the basis of what is realistic and achievable, rather than wishful thinking.

Task 6: formulate a positioning strategy for each product/service

The term positioning strategy refers to a companys choice of customers to serve; its choice of competitors with which it will compete; and its choice of competitive advantage which denes how it will compete. So the process of positioning strategy formulation may be broken down into three interrelated components: 1 the selection of customer targets; 2 the selection of competitors targets; 3 the denition of a competitive advantage (Brooksbank, 1994). The trick is to go for a segment of the market where, by virtue of the companys particular strengths, it is able to satisfy target customer needs and wants better than (or at least as well as) its competitors. Having segmented the market, the company must select its target market segment(s) and, when doing so, there are (as shown in Figure 3) three fundamental choices open to the rm: undifferentiated, differentiated or concentrated marketing (Doyle, 1994). In undifferentiated marketing the entire market is targeted with one marketing mix designed to appeal to the broadest number of buyers. In contrast, a differentiated approach aims to target either a number of specic segments or concentrate on a single segment.

Strategizing phase plan development

Aims
At this stage of the planning process, the aim is to determine where the company should go and how it is going to get there (Drucker, 1973). This involves setting marketing objectives together with strategies for their achievement, both of which should ow directly from, and be compatible with, the key issues identied in the companys SWOT chart.

a marketing objective may be dened as what is to be achieved, a marketing strategy denes how it is intended to go about achieving it

Whereas a marketing objective may be dened as what is to be achieved, a marketing strategy denes how it is intended to go about achieving it (French and Saward, 1983).

Figure 3 Market segmentation and target marketing Firm A Firm B Firm C

Task 5: set marketing objectives for each product/service

Specic marketing objectives should be set which reect desired levels of achievement both on the demand side and the supply side. Typically, demand-side objectives relate to target prot levels and the number of sales to be made both to existing and to new customers. Supply-side objectives, on the other hand, relate to marketing costs. For example, the use of physical resources (production and distribution facilities, and so on),

Market

1 2 3

Firm A = Undifferentiated marketing Firm B = Differentiated marketing Firm C = Concentrated marketing Source: Developed from Doyle (1994) [ 19 ]

Roger Brooksbank The BASIC marketing planning process: a practical framework for the smaller business Marketing Intelligence & Planning 14/4 [1996] 1623

Notably, for most smaller businesses, it usually makes sense to employ a differentiated or concentrated approach to target market selection. The really successful companies are almost always those which specialize in one or more well-dened market segments, focusing their limited resources (time, effort, money) on relatively small groups of customers whose needs they can meet most effectively (Cavanagh and Clifford, 1986; Chaganti and Chaganti, 1983). By choosing too wide a target the danger is that resources will be spread too thinly and become ineffective. When choosing a market segment the rm is simultaneously choosing its competitive battleground, so great care should be taken. Successful marketing is all about aiming to satisfy customer needs and wants better than the competition, so it is imperative that the rm identies and selects competitor targets in such a way as to enable the rm to exploit some competitive edge in the marketplace.

essential factors are twofold. First, it should be based on something that is of high value to the customer. Second, it should be sustainable, which means it should utilize a skill or some other resource of the company that competitors will nd hard to copy A sustain. able competitive advantage can be created out of any of the companys strengths or core competences relative to the competition.

Implementing phase plan development

Aims
During this phase of the planning process, the aim is to assemble a marketing mix that target customers will regard as being superior to those offered by competitors by reecting the companys choice of competitive advantage. However, it is important to remember that, ultimately, it is people who will make a chosen strategy either work or fail in the marketplace (Ames and Hlavacek, 1984). So an important additional aim during this phase is to design a supportive marketing organization which is capable of the effective implementation of the rms positioning plan(s).

ultimately, it is people who will make a chosen strategy either work or fail in the marketplace
Clearly, the selection of competitor targets should hinge on the evaluation of competitors in the light of the companys relative strengths and weaknesses, and ability to compete. Most importantly, management must also develop a competitive advantage which will distinguish the companys offer from those of its competitors in the segment or, put another way, it must dene how it is going to compete in the marketplace. A competitive advantage may be dened as a unique benet, or combination of benets, which in the eyes of target customers makes a product or service stand out as superior to its competitors in the marketplace. The aim is to make the offer as unique as possible to customers (Doyle, 1994), so they will nd it more attractive in an initial purchase situation, and be less likely to want to switch to competitors for minor price advantages in a repeat purchase situation. When developing a competitive advantage the

Task 7: assemble the 4Ps mix for each product/service

A positioning strategy is translated into action by assembling an appropriate 4Ps marketing-mix, the key elements of which are shown in Table I. The golden rule is to ensure that all the various elements are co-ordinated in a complementary fashion; working with and for one another in activating the positioning strategy in the marketplace. This means using the positioning plan to drive marketing-mix decision making, so that customers will perceive a competitive advantage (something better) is to be gained by purchasing the companys offer in preference to those of competitors. When assembling the mix, particular attention should be paid to checking that all elements are internally consistent. For example, a high price would not be consistent with low product quality and a promotional message of value for money.

Table I Key elements of the marketing mix Product Features Quality Name Guarantees Packaging Support services [ 20 ] Price List price Additional services prices Credit facilities Terms/conditions Allowances Promotion Advertising Direct mail Publicity Sales promotion Personal selling Company literature Place Distributors Wholesalers Retailers Locations Transport

Roger Brooksbank The BASIC marketing planning process: a practical framework for the smaller business Marketing Intelligence & Planning 14/4 [1996] 1623

The role of each P of the marketing mix may be summarized as follows: Product is concerned with the development of the right product and/or service package for the target market, i.e. one which will satisfy customer needs. Price is concerned with ensuring that the product and/or service is offered for sale at a price which makes the whole mix as attractive as possible to target customers and one which, over time, will enable the company to return a prot. Promotion is concerned with all methods of communicating to the target market about the products existence and its benets. Place is concerned with ensuring that the product is available to target consumers when and where they want it.

Task 8: organize the marketing effort

Rather than trying to force a plan into an existing organizational arrangement, the need for a modied and more appropriate organizational structure should be considered (Cravens, 1982). As shown in Figure 4, there are three basic alternative marketing organizational structures: skills-centred, product-centred, and market-centred (Kotler, 1991). Whereas under the skills-centred

Figure 4 Three basic marketing organizational structures Skills-centred

Marketing director

Manager
(market) research

Manager
(sales)

Manager
(advertising)

Manager
(customer service)

Product-centred

Marketing director

Product manager
(meters)

Product manager
(transformers)

Product manager
(generators)

Product manager
(pumps)

approach, staff are organized to develop expertise in one or another of the functional areas of marketing, under a product-centred or market-centred approach they are organized to develop a specialist knowledge of a particular product range or customer/market area respectively While there is no single . best solution for any particular company, some factors inevitably act to inuence the choice of an appropriate structure. For example, the skills-centred marketing organizational structure is most appropriate when the number of products a company has is small and/or their similarities are great. The product-centred marketing organizational structure, however, is most appropriate when product complexities and differences are great. A market-centred organizational structure, on the other hand, is most appropriate when it is possible to distinguish denite differences in the needs and buying behaviour of separate customer groups and when these customer groups are large enough to justify special attention. Translating a marketing strategy into action ultimately requires that people actually do things, and that means organizing the work among staff. Above all, working objectives should be clearly dened in terms of what is to be achieved but, most importantly, in terms of the allocation of personal responsibility for their achievement. In this way, the plan becomes a day-to-day working document which makes explicit the importance of each individuals role in its implementation (Brooksbank, 1991). To a considerable extent successful marketing implementation is also dependent on an ability to systemize a whole range of marketing tasks. A marketing system is a set of procedures by which a specic marketing task is managed and operationalized, which, as the term suggests, will ensure a consistently high standard of performance. Some of the key tasks which typically lend themselves to being systematized include generating/ tracking sales leads, following-up enquiries, ordering/reordering processes, invoicing/ chasing payment, capturing customer information, complaints handling, and providing customer service.

Market-centred

Marketing director

Controlling phase plan development

Aims
In a rapidly changing business world the need for marketing control is simple; strategies either go wrong or become inappropriate. So in this nal phase of the planning process the aim is to ensure that the company will be

Market manager
(local government)

Market manager
(hotel chains)

Market manager
(hospitals)

Market manager
(corporates)

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Roger Brooksbank The BASIC marketing planning process: a practical framework for the smaller business Marketing Intelligence & Planning 14/4 [1996] 1623

sensitized to variances in its performance levels (positive and negative) relative to its objectives, as well as to any signicant changes in its competitive environment which may undermine the appropriateness of its strategies. The aim is to maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of the marketing effort as time goes by .

3 a capability for undertaking specic marketing research studies, as and when required.

Task 10: design a performance tracker

In order to make use of information feedback from a marketing information system, a procedure for comparing reality against the plan must be developed. This normally takes the form of a documented tracking system for comparing events as they unfold against the plan, so that any variances can be quickly identied and, if necessary, appropriate action taken. There are two key features to an effective performance-tracker. First, it is necessary to have established exactly what standards of performance are expected at various time points and levels within the marketing operation. At the same time, it is important to have clearly specied any assumptions that have been made about the marketplace (for example, market growth rates, competitor activity, and so on) because these are the assumptions on which the plan has been based. Second, as the plan is being executed, it is necessary to be able to log actual performance levels and actual environmental conditions on a regular basis. This enables management to see, at a glance, how well or badly the company is doing and just how appropriate its plans really are relative to the real world, so that corrective action can be taken, as necessary Conducting this kind . of marketing control is marketing planning in action because it provides the means by which plans can evolve over time, enabling the rm to exploit changes in the marketplace to its best advantage.

Task 9: set up a marketing information system

The term marketing information system refers to the procedures by which a company gathers and stores feedback information relating to its marketing activities. In this way, a marketing information system provides the means by which marketing planning can be linked to the principle of management by objectives. A marketing information system should facilitate both strategic and tactical marketing control (Greenley, 1986), as highlighted in Figure 1. Tactical control relates more to the short term and is concerned primarily with securing operational efficiencies at the level of the marketing mix (doing things right). For example, feedback from a promotional campaign will provide the basis on which any subsequent campaign can be improved. Strategic control, on the other hand, is concerned with a longer-term horizon, checking the suitability of overall objectives and strategies, and generally ensuring the companys continued ability to be effective at creating and keeping satised customers (doing the right things). For example, feedback from customers may reveal an emerging requirement for a radically different kind of product or service from that which is currently being offered.

Conclusion
a procedure for comparing reality against the plan must be developed
This article has presented a simplied vephase marketing planning model suitable for the smaller business. Since marketing planning, in a meaningful way, can take place only within the context of an unswerving company-wide commitment to a marketing-led overall business approach, it has been suggested that the rst phase necessitates that senior management must plan and manage the process of growing a truly customer-driven company culture. Next, since ideally marketing decisions should be made on the basis of as much information as possible, the second phase is to research and analyse in detail the companys competitive situation. Phase three is then to dene a set of marketing objectives, both on the demand side and the supply side, together with a positioning strategy for their achievement and one which

In designing a marketing information system, management will need to answer a number of basic questions such as: What type of information is needed and how much? What information sources should be used? What would be the best way of storing/ accessing it? A good marketing information system is made up of three capabilities: 1 a capability for capturing information from the companys nancial records; 2 a capability for the ongoing gathering of marketing intelligence from the marketplace; and

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Roger Brooksbank The BASIC marketing planning process: a practical framework for the smaller business Marketing Intelligence & Planning 14/4 [1996] 1623

will enable the rm to enjoy a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. Phase four then involves the planning of an appropriate marketing mix, not forgetting the need also to design a supportive marketing organization which is capable of effectively implementing the rms chosen positioning strategy(ies). Finally, the fth and last phase of the process is concerned with the development of a marketing information system, and the designing of some form of performance-tracker for comparing events as they unfold against the plan. Although the model presented here is by no means comprehensive in terms of its coverage of each phase, it nevertheless provides a structure which can easily be adapted and built on to accommodate virtually any type of small business. It is therefore recommended that businesspeople use it as the basis on which to dismantle and improve their existing marketing planning system; to restructure it, netune it, strengthen it, and inject fresh ideas.

References
Ames, B.C. and Hlavacek, J.D. (1984), Managerial Marketing in Industrial Firms, Random House, New York, NY. Brooksbank, R. (1991), The essential characteristics of an effective marketing plan in the 1990s, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 9 No. 7, pp. 17-21. Brooksbank, R. (1994), The anatomy of marketing positioning strategy, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 12 No. 4, 1994, pp. 10-15.

Brown, J.K., (1984), Corporate soul searching the power of mission statements, Across the Board, Vol. 12 No. 3, March , pp. 44-52. Cavanagh, R.E. and Clifford, D.K. (1986), The Winning Performance, Sidgwick and Jackson, London. Chaganti, R. and Chaganti, R. (1983), A prole of the protable and not so protable small business, Journal of Small Business, pp. 43-51. Cravens, D.W. (1982), Strategic Marketing, Irwin, Homewood, IL. Doyle, P. (1994), Marketing Management and Strategy, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Drucker, P. (1973), Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, Heinemann, Oxford. French D. and Saward, H. (1983), Dictionary of Management, Gower, Aldershot. Greenley, G.E. (1986), The Strategic and Operational Planning of Marketing, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. Hamel, G. and Prahalad, C.K. (1994), Competing for the Future, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Hooley, G.J. and Saunders, J. (1993), Competitive Positioning, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Keegan, W., Moriarty, S. and Duncan, T. (1992), Marketing, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Kotler, P. (1991), Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Peters, T. (1989), Thriving on Chaos, Pan, London. Walker, H. (1986), Marketing, Pan, London. Webster, F.E. (1984), Industrial Marketing Strategy, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, and Chichester.

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