Activity: unpacking the planning process
Neil [who you met in the activities 4 university friends catch up and the small-medium business forum] has been a member of his local chamber of commerce for approximately 12 months. The chamber is made up of a group of business people and a few local government employees who meet every three months. The objectives of the chamber are networking and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of businesses in the area.
During the last meeting, one of the members mentions that she recently attended the small-medium business forum and how delighted she was to see one of the chamber of commerce members – Neil as a panel member. She then congratulated Neil on the sound advice he provided to the attendees ‘really insightful’. The other members were attentive as Neil was perceived as young, quiet, respectful and they did not realise he was so knowledgeable and well connected.
One member asked Neil to give an overview of the small-medium business forum and the general theme of his presentation.
Neil stated that when you browse through LINKEDIN you find that there are two views of marketing presented 1] marketing with a communication focus and 2] marketing with a customer satisfaction process – Neil stated that he recognises the importance of communication objectives, however, financial and strategic objectives based on customer satisfaction should not be overlooked. Neil then detailed how he believed that small-medium businesses often failed to plan through a lack of time and a limited understanding of the process. He then stated how time spent on planning would increase the chance of success for a small-medium business. Neil stated that planning was a like ‘following a recipe and if the steps were followed it was a relatively simple process’.
Impressed, by Neil’s conceptual understanding of business, the chamber of commerce members agreed that it would be beneficial to the local business community if Neil wrote an article on the business-marketing planning process.
A round table discussion followed, member comments included:
‘… I think most business people are technically competent – however, they often lack formal business knowledge’.
‘Thanks Neil, I always thought that marketing was just advertising – what you said makes sense’.
‘ In 20 years I have never actually completed a marketing audit, however, Neil’s overview of COMP factors and CADDIE was particularly insightful and I look forward to finding out more”.
‘I am interested in finding out more about the relationships between the business plan and the marketing plan’.
‘I am interested in seeing how the marketing plan is unpacked as a series of marketing action plans’.
‘I know I have been in business for 40 years and as a dentist I never use social media, but, people are always talking about social media and I want to see where it sits in the overall scheme of things – I guess I am a little mystified about how to employ social media as a communication tool’.
I don’t spend any money on advertising but I don’t like losing customers – am I doing something wrong?’.
The member who had spotted Neil at the small-medium business forum suggested a video rather than an article. Perhaps a 6 minute video and then – later we can run an intensive short course for our business community.
The chair agreed that the video was a good idea – as many organisations are now communicating through video – PLUS – if the video was uploaded to their website it would begin to close a knowledge gap; another member suggested a few diagrams during the video [as a picture in a picture] would assist the member’s understanding of marketing.
The meeting discussed the framework for the video and a number of suggestions were made including – who would benefit, how would they benefit, what are the steps in the business-marketing planning process, what is the structure, what information is needed … etc …
Task:
Taking on the role of Neil [although you should use your own name] write a script, create a 6 minute video that demonstrates how the CADDIE process may be applied by small and medium businesses. Keep in mind that the time limit requires a clear and succinct demonstration of your knowledge. You should not name or apply this to a specific organisation.