Industrial Marketing

Chapter 7 : Strategic Planning

+The Concept of Strategic Planning

+The Role of Marketing in Strategic Planning

+Types of Marketing Strategies

+The Marketing Planning Process

+Tools for Designing Business Marketing Strategy

Chapter Summary

Strategic planning plays a vital role in coordinating and directing the business activities toward organizational goals. It is required at all the levels of the firm from the business operations level to corporate level. In business markets, the firm can gain a competitive advantage by designing the marketing strategy aligned with strategies of other functional areas. Marketing has different roles to play at different hierarchical levels of the firm.

For example, at the corporate level, the marketing strategy supports customer oriented decisions, analyzes the market structure, and positions the value proposition of the firm. And at the business and operational level, the marketing strategy is concerned with segmenting, targeting, and deciding on marketing mix strategies.

For the development of an integrated marketing strategy there should be a clear understanding of the interdependency of marketing and different functional areas and the extent of their participation in decision making. Different types of marketing strategies are product-based, demand-based, and competitive strategies.

The marketing planning processes start with the identification of the organization’s mission, and situational analysis which includes analysis of internal and external environment. SWOT analysis is a systematic study of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization and identification of the opportunities and threats in the external environment.

After SWOT analysis, marketing strategy and marketing plan are developed and implemented. Tools like the BCG matrix, GE/McKinsey model, product lifecycle, technology life cycle, and experience curves are used to assess the position of various business units and design suitable strategies.

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