Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic

Marketing: A

Global−Managerial

Approach, 14/e

19. Implementing and
    Controlling Marketing
    Plans: Evolution and
    Revolution

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

548 Chapter 19

Marketing managers who can get faster feedback on their decisions can often

take advantage of it to develop a competitive advantage. They can quickly fine tune

a smooth-running implementation to make it work even better. If there are poten-

tial problems, they can often spot them early and keep them from turning into big

problems.

For example, a manager who gets detailed daily reports that compare actual sales

results in different cities with sales forecasts in the plan is able to see very quickly

if there is a problem in a specific city. Then the manager can track down the cause

of the problem. If sales are going slowly because the new salesperson in that city is

inexperienced, then the sales manager might immediately spend more time work-

ing with that rep. On the other hand, if the problem is that a chain of retail stores

in that particular city isn’t willing to allocate much shelf space for the firm’s prod-

uct, then the salesperson might need to develop a special analysis to show the buyers

for that specific chain how the product could improve the chain’s profit.

When information is slow coming in and there is less detail, making implemen-

tation changes is usually more difficult. By the time the need for a change is obvious,

a bigger change is required for it to have any effect.

The basic strategy planning concepts we’ve emphasized throughout the text are

enduring and will always be at the heart of marketing. Yet the fast pace that is now

possible with e-commerce in getting information for control is resulting in funda-

mental changes in how many managers work, make decisions, plan, and implement

their plans. Managers who can quickly adjust the details of their efforts to better

solve customer problems or respond to changes in the market can do a better job

for their firms—because they can make certain that their plans are really perform-

ing as expected.

Fast feedback improves implementation and control. And computers now take

the drudgery out of analyzing data. But this kind of analysis is not possible unless

the data is in machine-processible form—so it can be sorted and analyzed quickly.

Here the creative marketing manager plays a crucial role by insisting that the nec-

essary data be collected. If the data he or she wants to analyze is not captured as it

comes in, information will be difficult, if not impossible, to get later.

The marketing manager
must take charge

Lotus software allows managers
in different locations, including
different countries, to quickly
share information, which helps to
make implementation and control
faster and more effective.

Fast feedback can be a
competitive advantage