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Strategic marketing planning is the basis for all marketing strategies and decisions. The marketing plan is a written
3.2 After graduation, you decide to take a position as the marketing manager for a small snack-food
manufacturer. The company, Shur Snak, is growing, and this is the first time that the company has ever
employed a marketing manager. Consequently, there is no marketing plan in place for you to follow. Outline
a basic marketing plan for your boss to give her an idea of the direction you want to take the company.
The marketing plan should contain the following sections:
Business mission statement
Objectives
4.1 Thinking back to question 3.2, write a business mission statement for Shur Snak. What elements should
you include? Evaluate the mission you wrote against some of the missions you find online.
The mission statement should focus on the market or markets that the organization is trying to serve rather than the
leadership.
5.1 Competition in the private courier sector is fierce. Companies like UPS and FedEx dominate, but others,
like Airborne, Emery, and even the United States Postal Service, still have a decent chunk of the express
package delivery market. Perform a mini situation analysis on one of the companies listed by stating one
strength, one weakness, one opportunity, and one threat. You may want to consult the following Web sites as
you build your grid:
United Parcel Service (UPS) www.ups.com FedEx www.fedex.com
USPS www.usps.gov DHL www.dhl-usa.com
The situation analysis (SWOT analysis) should include the following:
6.1 Break into small groups and discuss examples (at least two per person) of the last few products you have
purchased. What specific strategies were used to achieve competitive advantage? Is that competitive
advantage sustainable against the competitors?
To have a successful marketing plan, one must seek a differential advantage over the competition when examining
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7.1 Building on our Shur Snak example, imagine that your boss has stated that the marketing objective of
the company is to do the best job of satisfying the needs and wants of the customer. Explain that
although this objective is admirable, it does not meet the criteria for good objectives. What are these
criteria? What is a specific example of a better objective for Shur Snak?
Good criteria for objectives are: 1) they are realistic, measurable, and time specific; and 2) they are consistent and
indicate the priorities of the organization. The objectives that students write should meet those criteria.
8.1 You are given the task of deciding the marketing strategy for a transportation company. How do the
marketing mix elements change when the target market is (a) low-income workers without personal
transportation, (b) corporate international business travelers, or (c) companies with urgent documents or
perishable materials to get to customers?
Target Market: Low-income workers without personal transportation
Product: Bus or light rail service
9.1 Choose three or four other students and make up a team. Create a marketing plan to increase enrollment in
your school. Describe the four marketing mix elements that make up the plan.
Students should provide detail for the following elements of the marketing plan:
Business mission statement
Objectives
10.1 Have your school enrollment marketing plan team (from question 8.1) develop a plan to implement, evaluate
and control the marketing strategy.
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This section can use a number of formats, but a suggested format for the implementation plan is a Gantt chart or
other scheduling chart that shows the “big picture” of when important events should take place in order to put
11.1 What techniques can make your school enrollment marketing plan more effective?
The effectiveness of the plan depends on many factors: 1) how realistic the plan is (objectives, scope, and timing of
Supplemental Exercise: Group Work
Review and Applications
Review and Application Questions 3.2, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, 9.1, and 10.1 lend themselves well to group work. For these
APPLICATION EXERCISE
Purpose: The purpose of this application is to demonstrate the importance and the energy it takes for good
environmental scanning. This exercise will introduce students to the business press and so help make the connection
from the classroom to the real world.
Setting it up: The exercise is best used as an assignment. It could also be worked as an in-class group activity by asking
This exercise was inspired by the following Great Idea in Teaching Marketing:
Robert D. O’Keefe, DePaul University
Philip R. Kemp, DePaul University
J. Steven Kelly, DePaul University
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING: USING ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN REPORTS AS A MEANS OF
ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING
Two of the several objectives we’ve set for our Principles of Marketing (Mkt 301) course are common to all
principles courses. We want students to (1) Develop an understanding of the fundamental concepts involved in
For a number of reasons our class sizes have increased often to between 80 and 100 students and we have had to conduct
classes in an auditorium setting with row upon row of fixed graduated seats. Aside from the physical conditions, recent
curriculum revisions required that we add significant content to the principles course over the 10 week long quarter.
These are not optimal conditions for the traditional case study approach to learning.
In addition to the individual courses objective we are bound to meet college wide program objectives. As with
As can be seen in the instructions that follow, the environmental scan reports serve to reinforce students’
understanding of terminology and strategy. The reports provide a bridge between the text and contemporary events. To
paraphrase our instructions we want students to see that text concepts are dynamic and contemporary in their application.
Our experience with using the environmental scan reports over the past several years has been positive in a
number of ways. We’ve found that the reports allow us to determine whether or not students are developing a working
ETHICS EXERCISE
1. Is marketing adult-styled undergarments to a younger audience unethical? Why or why not?
Abercrombie, a company known for using sex as a primary advertising tool, has attracted younger ages to its
2. Would Abercrombie have been in the spotlight had the sexy words been omitted from the product?
Explain your answer.
The parental backlash may not have been so strong if the sexy words had been omitted. Without the phrases, the
MARKETING PLAN EXERCISE
Purpose: The purpose of this exercise and the Career Appendix is to help students develop a marketing plan aimed at
getting the career they want. Students will answer the following questions about a chosen company.
1. Describe your chosen company. How long has it been in business? Who are the key players? Is the company small
or large? Does it offer a good or service?
CASE STUDY
Disney: The Happiest Brand on Earth
1. Do a brief market opportunity analysis for Disney, identifying the major markets that Disney has
expanded into.
A market opportunity analysis is the description and estimation of the size and sales potential of market segments
2. How does Disney’s cross-platform franchising help create sustainable competitive advantage?
Disney takes advantage of cross-platform franchising by getting the most out of its popular franchises. For
3. Describe the marketing mix for one of Disney’s franchises.
Students may describe the marketing mix for any of Disney’s franchises, not limited to Cars, Jonas Brothers,
4. Describe the major components of Bob Iger’s strategic plan.
When Bob Iger became CEO of Disney, he shifted Disney’s focus around its stable of franchises to take
LESSON PLAN FOR VIDEO
Company Clips: Method – Healthy Home
Segment Summary:
Cash-strapped startup companies generally do not spend a great deal of time and money on planning. Founders are so
busy with the rudiments of business – finding customers and creating, manufacturing, and delivering the product – that
they may even forget important things, like invoicing. Eric Lowry reinforces this notion in the opening of the second
method video segment. Nonetheless, strategic planning is an important part of successful marketing. Listen closely to the
segment, which introduces method’s CEO, Alastair Dorward, and gauge for yourself how much planning you think this
innovative startup did before launching its brand.
Chapter 2 ♦ Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage 2-17
1. Based on what you heard in the video, does Method have a marketing plan?
Founder Eric Lowry and CEO Alastair Dorward describe in detail the plan they put in place for marketing the
method brand:
2. Explain the elements that make up Method’s competitive advantage. Is it sustainable?
The elements that contribute to Method’s competitive advantage include their speed to market, unique product, and
3. What are the elements of Method’s marketing mix?
The elements of Method’s marketing mix include a unique and premium product, word–of–mouth of “influence
4. What are Method’s target market strategies and how does it use them in its operations?
Method’s target market strategy is to focus on the narrow demographic of young, environmentally aware Gen Xers,
Supplemental Exercise: Video
Company Clips
These teaching notes can be assigned for students to prepare before class, in-class before watching the video, during
class while watching the video, or after students watched the video.
During the viewing portion of the teaching notes, stop the tape periodically where appropriate to ask students the
Pre-Class Prep for You:
• Preview the Company Clips video segment for Chapter 2. This exercise reviews concepts for LO1, LO4, LO6, LO8,
Pre-Class Prep for Students:
• Have students familiarize themselves with the following terms and concepts: competitive advantage, marketing mix,
Video Review Exercise Activity
• Warm Up – Begin by asking students: “What is the goal of strategic planning?” [on the board, write “long-term
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profitability and growth”]
• In-Class Preview
o Segue into a discussion of the elements that make up a marketing plan. Copy Exhibit 2.4 onto the board.
answer them after viewing the video.
• Follow-up
o Send students back to method’s Web site at http://www.methodhome.com. Have students write a brief
paragraph about how method’s Web site identifies its target market segment.
Supplemental Exercise: Class Activity
Marketing Strategy Analysis
Divide the class into small groups of 4-5 people to answer the following questions. In this exercise, students are asked to
brainstorm with you, using an overhead projector or blackboard.
Let the students select several high-profile goods and services. Then get the class to help analyze the marketing strategy
by answering these questions.
1. What is the product?
6. How is the product packaged? Why?
7. Who is the direct competition? Indirect competition? Which firms would be appropriate benchmarks for this firm?
What competitive advantage does this product have?
8. How are environmental factors affecting the marketing of this product? Consider social, demographic, legal,
political, economic, technological, and competitive factors.
Chapter 2 ♦ Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage 2-19
Handout
ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN ASSIGNMENT
Each student will do this assignment three times per term. It will be worth 90 points (3 @ 30).
The assignment involves finding a current article of substance in the business press (WSJ, BW, Fortune, etc.) Find
something about a company or industry, which discusses topics in your marketing text
The objectives of these reports are:
(1) To guide you in discovering that marketing is not simply a collection of static terms and dated theories.
You will be assigned, with other students, a group number. Check the list that’ll be distributed to see when the class
dates with your number come due. We will discuss these articles during the week. Expect to be called upon to discuss
your report; You must be prepared to hand in your assignment when requested.
Format
Please follow this format: Heading, I. Introduction, II. Environment, III. Marketing Mix Variables, IV. Questions.
Top of Page:
Section Headings:
I. Introduction: (3 paragraphs)
1. In your own words, provide a one paragraph summary of key points of the article.
II. Environment:
Explain which of the “environments” are relevant to the situation discussed in the article. Refer to Chapter 3 of
III. Marketing Mix Variables
IV. Presentation
Summarize the report in class.
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GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING CHAPTER 2
James S. Cleveland, Sage College of Albany
DISCUSSION BOARD TOPICS TO ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION
Discussion board questions provided to students to encourage them to engage in thinking and writing about the
content of the Principles of Marketing course usually take the form of a provocative statement to which students are
asked to respond. An example of this would be: All PR is good PR.
I have developed, therefore, a series of discussion board questions to use with experienced, adult students. These
questions are designed to encourage them to use their experiences as employees and consumers as doorways to better
understand the course material, and to make their own responses more interesting to themselves and to the other students
in the class who will read and comment on them.
Each question has three parts:
1. First, there is a sentence or two from the students’ textbook introducing the topic. By using the text author’s
The following example is for Chapter 2. The three parts have been separated here so they are more readily visible.
1. The term marketing mix refers to a unique blend of product, distribution, promotion, and pricing strategies
designed to produce mutually satisfying exchanges with a target market.
Martha E. Hardesty, The College of St. Catherine
BUYING AN EDUCATION: THE 4P’S ON DAY ONE
Students enrolled in my 2-credit Introduction to Marketing course may be freshmen exploring a business major,
sophomores fulfilling a requirement for the accounting degree, or even senior English majors taking the “something!”
their parents urged to helped them get a job. From the first day I must get students to recognize the experiential base of
marketing, and I must create class norms of participation.
I begin the first class by asking students to break into small buzz groups. I then pass out a sheet with the
question. “Why are you buying your education at The College of St. Catherine?” Students typically look surprised –
they have not regarded their college choice as a consumer purchase. I mention that there are well over a dozen other
Chapter 2 ♦ Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage 2-21
other colleges they mention that they had also considered. Inevitably, the discussion produces the 4 P’s of the marketing
mix and gives the foundation of our course. Typical inputs are:
The profile of the Customer, “What you have in common,” is much less obvious to them. At this private
women’s college, gender and religion are sometimes mentioned; more often students think about academic major, or
hometown. They rarely generate other demographics like income and almost never get near psychographics (which,
at our particular campus, is the most significant variable besides gender!). Yet when competitor colleges are
Paul LeMay Burr, University of Incarnate Word
Richard M. Burr, Trinity University
ANALYZING COMPANY STRATEGY VIA MULTIPLE RESOURCES
Beyond basic marketing courses, students can be expected to analyze marketing strategy of companies by
building a “data base” using widely available sources.
1. Encourage students to choose for a class project a publicly traded company. Owners of privately held firms
can never be expected to divulge confidential data for a class project, even to a friend of a close family
member.
4. Search Compact Disclosure, on CD Rom, for annual and quarterly reports and elements of 10K and 10Q
reports of over 12,000 corporations.
5. Utilize the EDGAR web site, the Security and Exchange Commission’s database of filings by public
companies to analyze 10K and 10Q reports. The reports are voluminous. Use the “print page” options for
printing ONLY the page needed.
6. Analyze Value Line’s one-page profile of highly useful data about the company, an industry overview, and
comparisons of the company to its competitors.
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P.J. Forrest, Mississippi College
MARKETING MIX REPORTS
One of the most helpful projects I’ve ever assigned in Principles of Marketing, are Marketing Mix Reports. The
students pick a good or a service at the beginning of class and throughout the semester use that good or service as a
reference and an example for each topic we cover. In additional they prepare a report on the Marketing Mix actually
used for that product.
At the beginning of the semester the students are required to choose a product by brand name. Many popular