Building a Marketing Plan

Chapter 1

Introduction to Marketing Planning

We are involved in marketing every day as marketers and as consumers. When we get up in the morning, we encounter marketing. The alarm clock on the nightstand, the bed in which we sleep, the TV we turn on, the toothbrush and toothpaste we use to brush our teeth, and the list goes on. Marketing is defined as “an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.”¹

In order to benefit the organization and its stakeholders, a customer-oriented approach needs to be established. A customer-oriented organization develops a win-win situation between ...