Strategic Marketing Management: Guidelines for Developing and Managing a Strategic Marketing Plan

Read the following scenario, and prepare a report with the guidelines provided.

Scenario: 

Choose an organization (either the one you are working with or any other organization of your choice) and assume that you are the marketing manager of the chosen organization. You have been asked to write a report, to be presented to the board of directors, on how a strategic marketing plan should be developed and managed in the organisation.

Note:  Choose a specific product / for your chosen organization. If your chosen organization has (n) products or services, it is enough you prepare the report based on a specific product / service among them of your choice.

The report should include the following:

1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction of the Chosen Organization
   
   
3. Explain the role of strategic marketing, the marketing process involved and evaluate how the marketing strategies can be linked to the corporate strategy of the chosen organization.
   
   
4. Discuss and assess the value of two models that contributes to strategic marketing planning. The report should include discussion and assessment of Porter’s Five Forces Model and PESTLE Analysis).
   
   
5. Discuss the STP (Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning) options and explain how they can be linked to the proposed marketing tactics.
   
   
6. For the proposed strategic marketing strategy, analyze the benefits of relationship marketing.
   
   
7. Critically evaluate and ascertain growth opportunities for the organization in a specific market using Ansoff Matrix.
   
   
8. Plan how to use Marketing Strategy Options for the specific market chosen using BCG Matrix.
   
   
9. Create appropriate Strategic Marketing Objectives for the specific chosen market.
   
   
10. Conduct an internal analysis to identify current strength and weaknesses in the existing marketing strategy of the chosen organisation. In addition, report on the impact of changes in the external environment on the marketing strategy. (Both internal and external analysis can be conducted using the SWOT tool).
    
    
11. Identify key local, national and global emerging marketing themes and propose marketing responses for these themes.
    
    
12. Conclusions and recommendations.

Recommended guidelines for learners and assessors:

The report should address the essence of the ACs within the guidelines provided below:

For AC1.1, learners need to show that they understand the difference between strategic and tactical marketing. They need to use established models and definitions to develop their discussion.

For AC1.2, learners will be expected to understand and explain the processes involved in strategic marketing. This will involve looking at a range of processes and learners may wish to draw on their own experiences in the workplace to amplify their points.

For AC1.3, learners are expected to understand that the process of strategic marketing does not take place in a vacuum. They will need to show that they can evaluate the links between strategic marketing and corporate strategy and provide examples of those links.

For AC2.1, learners need to research the models used in strategic planning. They will need to make judgments and assess the value of the models for strategic marketing planning.

For AC2.2, learners need to understand that when strategic plans are put into operation, day-to-day tactical decisions have to be made. In their discussion, they need to provide examples of how tactics are related to strategic positioning decisions.

For AC2.3, learners need to show that they understand the nature of relationship marketing. They need to discuss the place of relationship marketing in a strategic marketing plan and then analyse the merits of using this marketing technique.

For AC3.1, learners need to use a selected organization to research and ascertain growth opportunities in a specific market. Evidence needs to be more than anecdotal and include real-time data to support the research, for example statistical data, current economic data, data from the organization and data on markets.

For AC3.2, learners need to show that they understand the importance of marketing strategy options. They need to plan appropriate options and apply them to the organizational context they are using.

For AC3.3, learners need to pull all the strands of their learning together successfully to create appropriate strategic marketing objectives for their selected market. The objectives should follow logically from the research undertaken on the organization and the selected market.

For AC4.1, learners need to research the current external environment. They need to report on the extent to which identified changes will impact on the marketing strategy for their selected organization.

For AC4.2, learners need to look closely at their selected organization. They need to conduct an internal analysis to identify current strengths and weaknesses in their marketing strategy as applied to their selected organization.

For AC4.3, learners need to identify key emerging themes affecting their selected organization. These could be local, national or global. They will need to apply their understanding and propose strategic marketing responses to these emerging themes.