3:1:2 positioning [marketing strategy]
Section 3 is arranged into 3 modules – positioning, communication, and controlling. The first module ‘positioning’ is then arranged in three chapters – marketing research, marketing strategy and the marketing planning process. In the previous chapter, we discussed marketing research; how marketing practitioners collect and analyse information through a marketing audit and report to the strategic planning group. We noted that this is an important step and the outcome is the articulation of the desired market position and the basis of competition. This step is prior to the designing and development of a marketing plan and the implementation of the relevant marketing action plans.
Learning objectives of the chapter: After completing this chapter students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the strategic options that marketing practitioners must consider when designing, developing, and deploying strategies and tactics during the business planning process and when designing, developing and deploying tactics to achieve the desired market position and how an organisation will compete to achieve the strategic objectives communicated in the overall business plan of the organisation.
Directions: In this chapter, we briefly discuss the origins of strategy, the evolution of strategy, the role of strategy, and the types of strategic decisions that marketing practitioners may consider. The chapter presents the foundations of marketing strategy, this is the strategic thinking [theory] that marketing practitioners would employ when designing, developing, and deploying a marketing strategy for an organisation. Furthermore, this chapter presents the strategic language that marketing practitioners employ to communicate strategic options with other member or the strategic planning group and then the organisation when tactics are implemented. This language is employed to ensure a better understanding of how/why/where and with whom an organisation will compete – the basis of competition.
In the previous chapter, marketing research, we discussed how marketing practitioners collect and analyse information through a marketing audit and report, generally through a written Marketing Audit Report and SWOT presentation to the strategic planning group. In most organisations, the chief marketing office CMO is a member of the strategic planning group which answers to the chief executive officer CEO.
In this chapter the difference between strategies and tactics is outlines; this is important because the business-marketing planning process involves the design and development of strategies and tactics. The strategies are presented in the business plan, the discipline plans [i.e., the finance plan, operational plan, information plan, and the marketing plan]; whereas the tactics are presented in the discipline action plans – the marketing action plans. Whilst the business and the marketing plans are broad in nature the marketing action plans are detailed and specific.
The last step in the CADDIE process is IE the implementation and evaluation of the tactics presented in the marketing action plans.
Many marketing practitioners are focused on communicating value to external customers and forget that it is vital to communicate the value of the service they provide to internal customers.
This slide outlines the 10Ds of the unique product value proposition and the objective of marketing strategy.
