Planning allows organisations to adapt to a changing business environ-
ment and provides a framework for resource allocation. Additionally,
sound planning promotes a consistency of approach and facilitates: inte-
gration of activity, communication, motivation and control of activities. In
order to achieve these benefits, we must overcome the numerous barriers
to successful planning. These include: culture, internal politics or lacking
the requisite skills to make planning a successful activity. Truly successful
plans make use of analytical techniques but also address the behavioural
and organisational dimensions of the process.
The structure and content of a strategic marketing plan will vary.
However, plans tend to have common elements – industry analysis,
internal analysis, opportunity identification, formulation of strategy,
marketing programmes/actions and implementation/control.
Formulating marketing plans can take a top-down, bottom-up or
hybrid approach.■ References
Doyle, P., Marketing Management and Strategy, 2nd edn, Prentice Hall, London,
1994.
McDonald, M., Marketing Plans, 4th edn, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1999.
Piercy, N., Market-Led Strategic Change, 2nd edn, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford,
1997.■ Further reading
Aaker, D., Strategic Market Management, 4th edn, Chapter 17, Wiley, Chichester, 1995.
Piercy, N., Market-Led Strategic Change, 2nd edn, Chapter 12, Butterworth-
Heinemann, Oxford, 1997.252 Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control