4/22/2018

The first major concept discussed this week was the differences between Strategic and Marketing Plans. Strategic plans are longer term plans that provide a general direction for the business. This means that these plans are more than a year long. It is also very generalized. This planning style also allows the firm to indicate what they want the business to look like after the time period. Marketing plan is nearly the opposite. Marketing plans are shorter terms with a one year max for time frame. Also the plans are very specific and act as a road map that gives step by step directions. Finally, this plan clearly indicates what you wish to achieve and how you want to achieve it. Companies will use both strategic and marketing plans at the same time in order to create structure for their future. We can look at these plans through the simulation of AllStar. The strategic plan can last through the entire simulation and the goal can be simple such as increase stock price to at least 15 dollars. Marketing plan can be used in each period and can have specific goals such as increasing Grocery Store sales force by 10 or increase Point of Purchase marketing to 1 million dollars. While these are very simple goals, the marketing plan would indicate what to adjust in the budget to allow for these goals to occur.

Next concept that was discussed within the video notes is the idea of Developing Marketing Strategies. Put simply, it is a way to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. This means that the company is able to produce a good at either a cheaper price or in a more desirable way. The four strategies used to achieve this goal are: Customer Excellence, Operational Excellence, Product Excellence, and Location Excellence. Customer Excellence refers to retaining loyal customers as a result of maintaining high customer service. Operational Excellence refers to efficient operations and excellence in supply chain management. Product Excellence refers to delivering products that are perceived to be valuable to customers. Location Excellence consists of making sure that there are many available physical locations and ensuring that they are kept up to par.  As a company that is just trying to enter the marketplace, HydroFit will likely look towards achieving product excellence by delivering a unique take on smart bottles.

The third concept that must be discussed is the Marketing Plan. This plan involves 5 main steps and details on how they should be achieved.
Step 1: Defining the mission/vision

  • What type of business are we in?
  • What do we need to do to achieve our goals
Step 2: Conduct a Situation Analysis

  • SWOT Analysis
Step 3: Identifying and Evaluating Opportunities

  • Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning

Step 4: Implement the Marketing Mix

  • Marketing Mix
Step 5: Evaluate Performance

  • BCG Matrix
  • Adjustments
One thing I would like to learn more about is what general goals should be used in strategic plans.

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