We are progressing through themarketingconcept [e-book] and have completed section 1: marketing philosophy and section 2 marketing application. After this preview of section 3 we undertake the modules Collect & Analyse, Design & Develop, & Implement and Evaluate. We employ the acronym CADDIE to aid learning and recall.

Section 3 explores how marketing practitioners apply the marketing philosophy, marketing concepts and theories, and marketing data to design, develop, and deploy marketing strategies and tactics; we could describe this section as organisational decision-making. This section explores how organisations collect and analyse information, then design and develop their strategical and tactical plans and how marketing practitioners implement and evaluate the organisation’s performance against stated objectives.

When we revisit our contemporary definition that defines marketing from an organisational perspective we see that marketing is a philosophical approach that guides how an organisation selects which markets to enter,  approaches the market and the basis of competition within a market.

Marketing practitioners, like practitioners of all disciplines, must be able to demonstrate the return on marketing investment or risk not being included in the strategic business planning group.

In this slide we see some of the ways that marketing practitioners must demonstrate their value. Some marketing practitioners forget that in addition to communicating value externally the must communicate value internally.

In this slide we provide a diagrammatic view of the people involved in the CADDIE process – we also have a step by step view of the stages in the caddie process on the next slide. The first step is the announcement that the business planning process will commence and the collection & analysis stage. You may have thought you had seen the back of the COMP factors, however, what we have been doing is studying them in preparation for the business-marketing planning process. Marketing practitioners will begin this process in readiness for organisational wide meetings to design and develop strategies. Now this slide depicts what would happen in a largish organisation, however, the same process would occur in a small-medium enterprise – just lest people involved and sometimes, in a small organisation, for example a sole trader the business owner would do all the steps. The design in development stage is the crafting of strategies and tactics. Then in the last stage we see the implementation and evaluation of the tactics designed to meet the strategies.

This slide highlights  how historical, current, and future COMP factors are considered in the business-marketing planning process. How marketing practitioners consider historical  COMP data, audit the current COMP data, and then forecast the future COMP data which are the basis of strategies and tactics. Therefore, the forecast COMP data are the predicted situational factors will be managed by the forthcoming strategic business plan, the discipline plans, and the discipline action plans.

This slide shows how the COMP factors influence the design and development of an organisational philosophy, the 3 time-zones of the buyer decision process, and the CADDIE business planning process.

In this group of slides we explore the business planning process, however, it may pay to revisit the product considerations outlined in the total product module – as many of these are contributors of product and ultimately brand development.

In the module ‘The CADDIE process: collect and analyse’ we explore marketing research and the role of a marketing audit. A marketing audit collects and analyses historical and current information on the customer, organisation, market, and products; the objectives are to assess present performance and to assess the market attractiveness and ability to compete within each market segment. This marketing information is reported and presented to the Strategic Business Planning Group.

Marketing research is the foundation of marketing practice. We discuss how marketing practitioners are involved in two types of marketing research; as needed marketing research and everyday marketing research.

This slide shows the people involved in the crafting of the strategic marketing plan. What is important to realise is that the strategic marketing plan [and other discipline pans] are CONGRUENT with the strategic business plan. The role of the discipline plans is to outline each disciplines’ role in achieving the objectives and strategic intent articulated in the strategic business plan.

This slide shows the people involved in the crafting of the strategic business plan – A Strategic Business Planning Group is a group of senior executives who represent the various disciplines of the organisation, it will vary from organisation to organisation,  however, generally it will include the Chief Executive Officer, and the Chief Finance Officer [CFO], Chief Operating Officer [COO], Chief Information Officer [CIO] and Chief Marketing Officer [CMO].

This slide shows the strategic marketing plan and where it is located on the CADDIE process. The strategic marketing plan outlines the strategic direction for the organisation’s marketing activities.

In the module The CADDIE process: implement & evaluate there are a number of chapters. The chapters are to expand on the ‘typical’ marketing action plans of an organisation. Although as needed marketing action plans will be common, the e-book will only explore the following everyday marketing action plans: managing quality, internal and channel marketing, customer retention, external marketing, sales and salesforce management, software for marketing practitioners, the relational sales process.

This slide shows the people involved in the crafting of the tactical marketing plans [note more than one]. The tactical marketing plans break down & detail the objective, responsibilities, roles, & timelines within the marketing discipline. Although this looks like it is the smallest component of the business-marketing planning process it is a continuous & ongoing process to ensure that the objectives outline in the strategic and tactical plans are achieved.

Marketing practitioners need information as constant evaluation and corrective action is needed to ensure the marketing objectives are achieved. This requires comparing the performance outlined in the marketing action with the actual performance. The appropriate software for marketing practitioners will enable marketing practitioners to make better informed decisions and to take the appropriate corrective action in a timely manner. The other point to keep in mind is that software for marketing practitioners is constantly evolving and it is wise to keep up with the latest software.

In the module ‘The CADDIE process: design and develop’ we discuss how the Strategic Business Planning Group will meet and craft the strategic business plan for the organisation. This provides the strategic direction for the various discipline plans [for example, the finance plan, the operational plan, the information plan, and the marketing plan]. All discipline plans must be congruent and work towards the organisational objectives. The strategic business plan will outline the future directions of the organisation and after an iterative process will set parameters for each discipline to begin the discipline planning process. Sufficient money, time, and effort should be invested in designing and developing the business strategy.

One of the characteristics of a strong marketing culture, and certainly displayed by the French Wine industry, is the desire to collaborate to build quality and value and to create an aggregate brand that can enjoy a price premium and compete with other products and brands.

In section 1 we introduce that once an organisation has adopted the marketing concept & then after considering the COMP factors organisations design & develop a customer centric marketing philosophy. You may recall that the other business concepts are organisational centric. Due to the unique characteristics facing each organisations each organisational philosophy is unique. In section one this may have sounded as if this was a once-off event. However, it is a continuous process – part of this process happens in the business-marketing planning process.

The ancient Greek word for strategy is strategos; which means the ‘art of the general’ and relates to the deployment of military forces. Often, when business-people consider strategy, they immediately think of Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’; a popular book, that was originally written as a bamboo book some 2,500 years ago, however, has received renewed attention in recent years – The Art of War is worth a read – some time in the future.

Another military strategist who has received a great deal of business attention is the Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831). The work of von Clausewitz was interpreted into marketing thought by marketing authors Trout & Ries (1986) in their popular book ‘Marketing Warfare’.

There are many who would think that war and marketing should never be related. I share this view. So, when I think of strategy, I think of the Italian renaissance genius Michelangelo – then I think of the ‘David’ in the Galleria dell’ Accademia in Florence [check it out www.accadamia.org]. Michelangelo, in his art and architecture clearly saw the finished product before he started and was so focused on achieving his objectives that he did everything needed to achieve his strategic objectives – including a number of inventions that are still in use today.

There are many who would think that war and marketing should never be related. I share this view. So, when I think of strategy, I think of the Italian renaissance genius Michelangelo – then I think of the ‘David’ in the Galleria dell’ Accademia in Florence [check it out www.accadamia.org]. Michelangelo, in his art and architecture clearly saw the finished product before he started and was so focused on achieving his objectives that he did everything needed to achieve his strategic objectives – including a number of inventions that are still in use today.

If we consider the work of Chamberlin (1938), Black (1951), Boulding (1948) and Bowman and Bach (1949) and then Porter (1996; 2008), we can conclude that a competitive strategy requires an organisation to offer products that are distinctive, discernible and desirable from the products offered by other organisations. In addition, the products should offer meaningful benefits to the selected customers. This means that to be successful the products should have a recognisable unique product value proposition.

As marketing practitioners, we should be mindful that consumers search rigorously for the best product quality and the best exchange value; therefore, markets are competitive and dynamic, therefore, maintaining market share is an ongoing challenge for organisations. This search by customers for best satisfying products [product leadership] requires an organisation to continually improve their product offering – product vigilance. Should a product and brand be perceived as less than satisfactory then the product/brand will be mentally dropped from the customers’ considered set – with a corresponding reduction in market share. This is a normal event and part of the product life cycle.

According to Michael Porter [& others], organisations can select one of two product market strategies – to compete on a low price with minimal augmentation or a higher price basis with appropriate augmentation. Regardless of which strategy is chosen the organisation must then craft a unique product value proposition for each product and the target market for that product.

There is a prevailing view that rarely does an entire market have the same needs and rarely does a product meet the needs of the entire market. In fact, a market is generally described as a group of consumers with heterogeneous needs [different needs]. Marketing practitioners find it more efficient and effective to breakdown an entire market into groups [segments] of consumers with homogeneous needs [similar needs]. Therefore, most products are targeted towards a selected group of customers; market segmentation is the process of dividing a heterogeneous market into homogeneous segments. Once this task has been completed organisations then select a market segment [or segments e.g., Toyota offers products for multiple segments] that is/are most attractive to their capabilities.

Target market selection is the process of designing and developing a new product offering, or modifying an existing product, to suit the needs of a selected homogeneous market segment. Designing and developing and then communicating the unique product value proposition to a selected target market is generally described as product positioning.

Porter’s (1980) five forces framework is a useful tool to employ when analysing the attractiveness of the market and an organisation’s ability to compete in the market. He presents five forces that should be investigated, particularly when entering a new marketplace or deciding on a product’s future: Competitive nature and rivalry of the industry, Threat of potential entrants [entry-exit barriers], Threat of substitute products, Bargaining power of buyers [influence of consumers], Bargaining power of suppliers

Design Thinking is a process often adopted by marketing practitioners. It begins with the articulation of a marketing philosophy, how the organisation will best satisfy their customers, best satisfy their organisation, how the organisation will engage with the market, and what types of products they will design and develop. 

A marketing philosophy is ‘a way of thinking’ ‘a rationale’ that helps an organisation to achieve their marketing objectives. Design Thinking and a marketing philosophy help to nurture a marketing culture, which influences the creation of best satisfying products, and sought-after brands; which in-turn generates a competitive advantage for the organisation. By synthesising the ideas of Design Thinking and the marketing concept, marketing practitioners are better able to understand the customer’s journey through the buyer decision process, and view products as total products where the success of the product is measured by how best they satisfy the customers’ and organisation’s needs.keting practitioners. It begins with the articulation of a marketing philosophy, how the organisation will best satisfy their customers, best satisfy their organisation, how the organisation will engage with the market, and what types of products they will design and develop.

Blue Ocean Thinking [aka Blue Ocean Strategy] is also looking for best satisfying products. However, Blue-Ocean products compete in uncontested markets, markets that have never been explored or have been neglected. Clearly, not all products can be Blue-Ocean products, however, often, Blue-Ocean products are those that generate greater returns for the organisation and establish a stand-alone product value proposition [UPVP] in the mind of the consumer. Blue-Ocean products are often products that define an organisation. Although we highlight the advantages of Blue-Ocean products we also have to be realistic and be able to compete in Purple and Red Ocean markets.

In this group of slides we will re-acquaint you with a few key strategic considerations.

In this group of slides we will re-acquaint you with a few key strategic considerations.