Chapter 8
Marketing planning Phase Three: marketing strategy formulation
The situation review should have brought to light most of the key data which enables the marketing strategy formulation phase of the planning process to be undertaken. Even so, it is likely that this next phase will uncover further gaps in the information required if the services organization is to move forward with certainty.
This underlines the point we raised earlier, that the planning process is not as relentlessly linear as the diagram suggests, but is an interactive process, shown by the arrows between the boxes, involving going back to earlier stages from time to time.
The marketing objective and strategy formulation phase of the planning process is, perhaps, the most important of all. Unless this step is carried out well, everything that follows will lack focus and cohesion. Not only does it outline the company’s marketing strategy, but it also specifies how it will be accomplished.
In this chapter, we will look at each of the three planning steps in Phase Three in more detail, paying particular attention to the area of developing competitive marketing strategies.
Step 6 Marketing objectives and strategies
It is important to be clear from the outset about the difference between marketing objectives and marketing strategies. Although these terms are frequently used fairly loosely within companies, ...
