Pathways Plus

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Strategic Management

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and Leadership AT
Level 7
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Unit 7008V1
Developing a Marketing Strategy
 Pathways Plus

Unit 7008V1: Developing a Marketing Strategy

Copyright © Chartered Management Institute, Management House, Cottingham Road, Corby,

Northants NN17 1TT.

First edition 2009

Author: Ray Rowlings

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Consultant: Bob Croson
Series consultant: Roger Merritt Associates
Project manager: Trevor Weston
Editor: Suzanne Pattinson

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Page layout by: Decent Typesetting

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Revised July 2013

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A CIP catalogue record for this publication is available from
the British Library.
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ISBN 0-85946-508-X
All rights reserved, save as set out below. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with
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the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the
Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, England WIT 4LP.
Applications for the copyright holder’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be
addressed to the publisher. Permissions may be sought directly from the Chartered Management Institute in
Corby, UK. Phone Publications on (+44) (0) 1536 207379, or email publications@managers.org.uk.
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This publication is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent,
re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or
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subsequent purchaser.
Approved centres may purchase a licence from the publisher, enabling PDF files of the publication to be
printed or otherwise distributed solely within the centre for teacher and student use only according to the
terms and conditions of the licence.
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Further information is available on the licence from the Chartered Management Institute.
Phone (+44) (0) 1536 207379, or email publications@managers.org.uk.
Every effort has been made to trace holders of copyright material reproduced here. In cases where this has
been unsuccessful or if any have inadvertently been overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to address
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this at the first opportunity.

The publishers would like to thank the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:
Palgrave Macmillan for the table of the 4Cs on page 47 from Mastering Marketing Management, 2002,
by Roger I. Cartwright.
Pearson Education for Fig 1.2c, Blended mix of promotional tools, p.43; table, p.43-4; table of
marketing plan structure, p.50-1 (from Kotler, J. et al, Principles of Marketing, 2005 and for Fig 2.2a,
Allocation of targeted marketing and sales efforts, p.55, (from Chisnall, P., Strategic Business
Marketing, 1995

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Contents

About Pathways Plus .....................................5

Introduction ...............................................9

Section 1 Marketing planning ........................ 11

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Topic 1: Strategy and marketing planning ...................... 12
1.1 Marketing and strategic objectives ............................... 12

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1.2 The marketing planning process .................................. 17

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1.3 A marketing audit ................................................... 21
Topic 2: Components of marketing planning and risks ........ 24
2.1 Using a SWOT analysis .............................................. 24
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2.2 Marketing objectives ................................................ 26
2.3 Core marketing strategy ............................................ 28
2.4 Managing marketing risks ........................................... 31
Section summary .................................................... 34
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Section 2 Developing the marketing plan .......... 35

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Topic 1: Managing the marketing mix ........................... 36

1.1 An effective marketing mix ........................................ 36
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1.2 The 7Ps framework .................................................. 38

1.3 The 4Cs framework .................................................. 47
Topic 2: Managing actions and budgets.......................... 50
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2.1 Action programmes .................................................. 50

2.2 Managing the budget ................................................ 53
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2.3 Controlling the action programme ................................ 56

Section summary .................................................... 60

Section 3 Agreeing and reviewing the marketing

plan .......................................... 61
Topic 1: Organisation and implementation ..................... 62
1.1 Marketing organisation.............................................. 62

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 1.2 Implementing marketing plans .................................... 66
1.3 Marketing control .................................................... 69
Topic 2: Gaining agreement for the plan........................ 74
2.1 Gaining support and commitment ................................ 74
2.2 Implementation strategies ......................................... 77
2.3 Evaluating and reviewing the marketing plan .................. 80
Section summary .................................................... 83

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Further reading ......................................... 85

Before you move on .................................... 86

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Preparing for assessment ................................................. 86
The Management and Leadership Standards ........................... 86
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About Pathways Plus
Development guides
There are 12 development guides in the Pathways Plus series to
cover the 14 units of the qualifications at CMI Level 7: Strategic
Management and Leadership.
7001V1 Personal leadership development as a strategic
manager

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(ISBN: 0-85946-572-1)
7002V1 Developing performance management strategies
(ISBN: 0-85946-577-2)
7003V1 Financial management

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(ISBN: 0-85946-582-9)

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7004V1 Strategic information management
(ISBN: 0-85946-587-X)
7005V1 Conducting a strategic management project
(ISBN: 0-85946-592-6)
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7006V1/ Reviewing organisational strategy plans and
7011V1 performance/Strategic planning
(ISBN: 0-85946-597-7)
7007V1 Financial planning
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(ISBN: 0-85946-503-9)
7008V1 Developing a marketing strategy
(ISBN: 0-85946-508-X)
7009V1 Strategic project management
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(ISBN: 0-85946-513-6)
7010V1 Implementing organisational change strategies
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(ISBN: 0-85946-518-7)
7012V1 Strategic human resource planning
(ISBN: 0-85946-523-3)
7013V1/ Strategic leadership/Strategic leadership practice
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7014V1 (ISBN: 0-85946-528-4)

7021V1 Introduction to strategic management and leadership
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(ISBN: 0-85946-533-0)
7022V1 Developing risk management strategies
(ISBN: 0-85946-538-1)
7023V1 Strategic corporate social responsibility
(ISBN: 0-85946-543-8)

For further details on the development guides:

Phone: (+44) (0)1536 207379
Fax: (+44) (0)1536 207384
Email: publications@managers.org.uk

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Developing a Marketing Strategy

How to use the development guide

The development guides provide a critical commentary to the
ideas of writers and thinkers in the management and leadership
field. They offer opportunities for you to investigate and apply
these ideas within your working environment and job role.

Structure
Each guide is divided into sections that together cover the
knowledge and understanding required for the equivalent unit or

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units of the Chartered Management Institute Level 7 Strategic
Management and Leadership qualifications.
Each section starts with a clear set of objectives linked to the
learning outcomes of the qualification. You don’t have to

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complete the sections in the order they appear in the guide (the

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mind map at the beginning of each guide will help you decide
which sections and topics are of particular need or interest) but
you should try to cover all sections if you are aiming for a full
diploma qualification.
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Activities
Throughout the guides there are activities for you to complete.
These activities are designed to help you reflect on your own
situation and apply your research to your organisation. Space and
tables are provided within the activities for you to enter your
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own thoughts or findings, but in some cases you may choose to

copy out the table or make notes in a separate notebook.

Timings
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Timings are suggested for each activity to give you a rough idea
of how long you should devote to them. They’re not hard and
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fast, and you must decide whether you will benefit from
spending longer on some activities than stated.

SR Supporting resources
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The text of the guides is designed to provide you with an

introduction to the subject and a commentary on some of the
key issues, models and thinkers in the field. The activities are
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there to help provide a framework for your thinking. A key

component of Pathways Plus (Pathways Plus because the
development guides work together with the online supporting
resources to provide an overall learning journey) is the list of
references given throughout the text and at the end of each
topic guiding you to the most appropriate supporting resources
for you to explore yourself. These are marked with the symbol SR
(as shown above).
You have the opportunity to select those resources that are of
most interest or relevance to you and to use them as a source of
guided research on a particular topic. Many of the supporting
resources are immediately available by logging into CMI’s online

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 About Pathways Plus

management and leadership portal, ManagementDirect (MDir)

(http://mde.managers.org.uk/members), or where you work for
an organisation that subscribes to this service use the specific
link for your organisation
(http://mde.managers.org.uk/(organisation name) . These
resources are marked in the reference list at the end of each
topic with P+ standing for Pathways Plus. Once logged into
P+ ManagementDirect click on More…. on the navigation bar and
select Senior Manager Resources, this will take you straight to
the list of supporting resources as listed in the Pathways Plus
topics. When there, click on the title of your development guide,

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the section and the topic you’re interested in and then click
straight to the article, video, checklist, extract or report that
you want to find.
For those resources that are not available through the CMI site,

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you will be directed to other sources (some also online) to reach

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what you need.

Preparing for assessment

Further information on assessment is available in the Student
Guide produced as part of the Pathways Plus series. If you have
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any further questions about assessment procedures, it’s
important that you resolve these with your tutor or centre
coordinator as soon as possible.

Further reading
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Suggestions for further reading and links to management

information are available via ManagementDirect through the
Study Support section of the Institute's website at
http://mde.managers.org.uk/members. Alternatively, email
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ask@managers.org.uk or telephone 01536 207400. You will also

find titles for further reading in the Bibliography at the end of
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this workbook.
The CMI Management Library holds an extensive range of books
and pamphlets for loan to members. A postal loan service is
offered to members in the UK only. You will only pay your return
postal charges. Go to www.managers.org.uk/library to review
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the collection and to place your requests.

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Developing a Marketing Strategy

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Introduction
Welcome to this development guide on strategic marketing. This
guide is about identifying, developing, agreeing and monitoring a
marketing plan that supports strategic objectives.
It’s divided into three sections:
Section 1 looks at understanding the marketing plan, the links
between strategy and marketing and the key components of a

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marketing plan and risks.
Section 2 considers developing the marketing plan and
focuses on the key aspects of managing the marketing mix
and marketing actions and budgets.

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Sections 3 focuses on agreeing and reviewing the marketing

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plan, taking into account the organisation, gaining agreement
from the various stakeholders involved and then
implementing it.
Marketing planning, according to David Jobber, consists of
tackling five key questions with nine key stages.
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Key questions Stages in marketing Addressed
planning in this guide
Where are we now Business mission Section 1
and how did we get
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Marketing audit
here?
SWOT analysis
Where are we Marketing audit Section 1
heading? SWOT analysis
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Where would we Marketing objectives Section 1

like to be?
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How do we get Core strategy Section 1

there? Marketing mix decisions Section 2
Organisation
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Implementation Section 3
Section 3
Are we on course? Control Section 3
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Source: Jobber, D., 2001, Principles and Practices of Marketing, McGraw-Hill

Publishing Company

These questions and stages provide a helpful framework for

exploring marketing planning, in particular, strategic marketing
planning, and so provide a basic structure for this development
guide.

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Developing a Marketing Strategy

Development guide mind map

Section 1: Marketing
planning

Section 2: Section 3: Agreeing

Developing the Strategic and reviewing the

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marketing plan marketing marketing plan

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Assessment

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If you’re studying for the Level 7 in Strategic Management and
Leadership qualifications you will be assessed by your approved
centre on your knowledge and understanding of the following
learning outcomes:
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Unit 7008V1:
1 Understand how the marketing plan supports strategic
objectives
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2 Understand the construction of a marketing plan
3 Be able to construct a marketing plan
4 Understand how to promote the marketing plan in support of
strategic objectives
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Section 1 Marketing planning
Introduction
This section will help you understand how the marketing plan
supports strategic objectives. It begins by considering the
relationship between strategy and marketing planning, and then
moves on to explore the components of marketing planning and
the risks associated with it.

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Learning outcomes
This section covers the following learning outcome:
7008V1.1 Understand how the marketing plan supports

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strategic objectives

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Section mind map
There are two topics in this section as shown below. Check the
subjects within each one and then continue with the areas you
need to explore.
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Section 1:
Marketing
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1.1 Marketing planning
and strategy 2.4 Managing
objectives marketing
risks
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Topic 2:
Topic 1: Components of
Strategy and marketing
market planning planning and
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risks

1.2 The
2.3 Core
marketing
marketing
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planning
strategy
process

2.1 Using a
1.3 SWOT analysis 2.2 Marketing
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A marketing objectives
audit

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Developing a Marketing Strategy

Topic 1: Strategy and marketing planning

Introduction
In this topic you’ll consider the links between strategy and
marketing planning. You’ll begin with marketing and strategic
objectives, looking first at a definition of marketing strategy and
then at how marketing strategies are developed. You’ll then look
at the role of marketing in strategic planning, in particular, at a
strategic windows and external analysis.

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The topic then moves on to the marketing planning process. It
focuses on strategy and marketing planning, key planning
questions, a process for marketing planning and planning at
business and product level.

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The topic concludes by exploring the marketing audit, looking at

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both external and internal marketing audit techniques.

1.1 Marketing and strategic objectives

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An organisation’s marketing strategy should support its strategic
objectives and strategic planning. The Chartered Institute of
Marketing defines marketing strategy as follows:
The set of objectives which an organisation allocates to its
marketing function in order to support the overall corporate
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strategy, together with the broad methods to achieve these

objectives.
SR 2 And Hammonds in Kotler and Keller suggests the following:
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A key ingredient of the marketing management process is

insightful, creative marketing strategies and plans that can
guide marketing activities. Developing the right marketing
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strategy over time requires a blend of discipline and

flexibility. Firms must stick to a strategy but must also find
ways to constantly improve it.
Kotler and Keller propose that a marketing plan operates at two
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levels:
Strategically: A strategic marketing plan identifies target
markets and the value proposition, based on an analysis of
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market opportunities.
Tactically: A tactical marketing plan drills down and defines
marketing tactics, which should include:
product features
promotion
merchandising
pricing
sales channels
service.

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 Section 1 Marketing planning

You’ll explore the tactical level in Section 2.

In today’s business environment the marketing planning process
receives inputs from various parts of the organisation. These
plans are then implemented and outcomes monitored, and, if
necessary, corrective action is undertaken. Kotler and Keller
propose a helpful model for considering the planning, control and
implementation cycle, as shown below.

Planning Implementing Controlling

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Corporate planning Organising Measuring results

Division planning Implementing

Diagnosing results

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Business planning

Taking corrective
Product planning
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Figure 1.1a: Planning, implementing and controlling cycle

Source: Kotler and Keller (2006)

Implementing and controlling the marketing plan are considered

in Section 3 of this guide. The table below sets out Kotler and
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Keller’s discussion on the four stages of planning as outlined

above.

Planning stage Summary of activity

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Corporate This is generally covered by four planning

planning and activities:
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division planning Defining the corporate mission

(Kotler and Keller
Establishing strategic business units (SBUs)
don’t see any
differences in Assigning resources to each SBU
approach for Assessing growth opportunities
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these two stages)

Business planning This is seen as a six-step process consisting of
the following:
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1 Defining the business mission (in line with

the broader corporate mission).
2 SWOT analysis — focused on the external
environment (opportunities and threats)
and an internal analysis (strengths and
weaknesses).
3 Goal formulation — objectives relating to
profitability, growth, market share, risk
containment, innovation and reputation.
4 Strategic formulation — the plan
(strategy) for achieving the goals. Kotler

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Developing a Marketing Strategy

and Keller suggest this could be based on

Porter’s definition of overall cost
leadership, differentiation or a focus on
specific niche segments. They also discuss
strategies such as strategic alliances.
5 Programme formulation and
implementation — Kotler and Keller
define these as support programmes for
the strategy developed previously. They
highlight that great strategies can be
ruined by poor implementation.

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Programmes need to be costed and the
needs of stakeholders taken into
consideration.
6 Feedback and control — an organisation

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needs to track the results of

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implementing the strategy and supporting
programmes. The market place will
change, which the organisation needs to
recognise. It must have effective systems
and procedures that monitor the external
environment and internal capabilities.
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Product planning Kotler and Keller suggest this stage is best
met by the development of a marketing plan
for individual products and services,
demonstrating how they will meet their
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objectives.
The key components of the plan are as
follows:
Executive summary and table of contents
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— summary of main goals and

recommendations, plus some navigation
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and directions for the reader.

Situation analysis — background data on
the market environment.
Marketing strategy — defines the
objectives, the target market, the
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positioning of the product or service, plus

input on finances and human resource
requirements to support implementation.
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It should also be specific about branding

and customer strategies.
Financial projections — could include sales
and expense forecasts and a breakeven
analysis.
Implementation controls — outline the
controls for monitoring and adjusting the
plan. Internal and external measures are
identified. It could include contingency
plans to respond to certain external
environment developments.

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 Section 1 Marketing planning

The marketing concepts highlighted in the business planning and

product planning stages above are explored in more detail in the
next topic and also in Section 2.

The role of marketing in strategic planning

SR 6 Lancaster and Massingham suggest that there’s often some
confusion about the relationship between marketing and
strategic planning. On the one hand, there’s the argument that
an organisation must focus on its ability to satisfy customer
needs (often a definition of the purpose of marketing).
Therefore, as planning to meet those needs becomes the focus of

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all organisational planning, strategic and marketing planning are
integrated.
The other viewpoint is that marketing is just another functional
area of the business. Marketing planning is therefore about

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responding to higher level organisational strategies and plans.

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These authors propose an alternative viewpoint. They suggest
that in functional planning, for example, marketing planning is
often part of a hierarchy of planning, led by strategic planning.
However, markets, customers and competitors are key aspects of
any organisation’s strategic planning, and any marketing
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information should contribute to overall strategic planning. They
provide the following examples of how that can work in practice.

Information on past Sales and market share analysis,

performance product life cycle analysis, profit
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analysis
Information on current Competition analysis, major market
market position segments, product portfolio analysis,
customer satisfaction
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Information on likely Sales and market forecasts, new

future trends and competition factors affecting likely
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changes future patterns of demand

Strategic windows and marketing planning

Tony Proctor builds on some earlier work by Abell (dating back to
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1978) on the concept of ‘strategic windows’. Proctor defines
these as follows:
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The principle idea behind the concept of a strategic window

is that there are only limited periods during which the fit
between the key requirements of a market and the
particular competencies of a firm competing in that market
is at an optimum.
He suggests that an organisation should try and match investment
in a new product, service or market with the ‘opening of a
corresponding strategic window’. The reverse can apply, and an
organisation should consider withdrawing a product or service
from a market where there’s no longer a good fit and the window
is either closed or closing. This can often be caused by changes in
the external environment which the organisation isn’t able to

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Developing a Marketing Strategy

respond to. For example, competitors drive the price down below
profitable levels. This happens frequently with supermarkets,
where one organisation will ‘position’ a product at below cost
level (say, white sliced bread) in order to grab market share and
encourage shoppers to visit their stores to take advantage of this
low price. In doing so, these customers then purchase the rest of
their weekly shop.
This means that when you’re doing your marketing planning you
need to be aware of strategic windows and only by constantly
scanning the external environment and the internal environment
can you make effective decisions.

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Proctor suggests the following as a five-point action plan:
1 Identify the opportunities and threats posed by the opening
and closing of strategic windows.

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2 Analyse all the relevant internal and external environmental

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factors acting upon the organisation in the context of the
strategic windows.
3 Determine the best strategy or set of strategies that are
likely to enable the organisation to take best advantage of
the strategic window while it’s open.
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4 Ensure that adequate resources are available to implement
the chosen strategies.
5 Implement the chosen strategy to take best advantage of the
opportunities presented by the strategic window and to
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minimise the risks posed by the threats.

External analysis
Lancaster and Massingham relate the value of external analysis to
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strategic planning. They suggest that the macro-environment is
changing constantly. Some changes are long term and relatively
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predictable, while others occur rapidly and often without

warning and cause the most significant opportunities and threats
to a company.
They go on to provide some examples of how such changes may
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affect marketing planning and decision making:

Long-term forecasts of world oil reserves suggest major profit
opportunities for the developer of alternative energy sources
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and major threats to those oil exploration companies that

don’t diversify.
Sudden revaluations of a nation’s currency can represent a
significant threat to would-be exporters from that country.
An unexpected technological breakthrough by a company can
represent a significant opportunity for the developer of the
technology and a significant threat to their competitors.

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 Section 1 Marketing planning

Activity Activity 1.1a 1 hour

Investigate and explore how the marketing planning in your
organisation relates to your overall strategic planning.
Note down the key points and any areas for improvement.

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You might find it useful to prepare a short report and discuss it

with a colleague or mentor. You could also present your report
to decision makers in your organisation to test its validity or any
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opportunities for organisational development.

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1.2 The marketing planning process

The marketing planning process consists of a number of key
stages, the key output being the development of a coherent
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marketing plan that supports the organisation’s strategy. There

are some key planning questions that need to be answered when
developing a marketing plan. It’s therefore helpful to follow a
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systematic process that considers planning at both the business

and product or service level.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing planning
as follows:
A written plan, usually in depth, describing all activities
involved in achieving a particular marketing objective and
their relationship to one another in both time and
importance.
And a marketing plan is defined as:
The selection and scheduling of activities to support the
company’s chosen marketing strategy or goals.

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Developing a Marketing Strategy

Strategy and marketing planning

SR 4 David Jobber sees marketing planning as the process by which an
organisation analyses its business environment, both internal and
external, and its capabilities. It then makes decisions on which
marketing actions to carry out and implements those decisions.
He sees marketing planning as part of a broader process of
strategic planning, where the aim of strategic planning is to
shape and reshape an organisation so that it can meet its
corporate objectives (say, increased profits or sales revenue
growth). Marketing management has a key role in ensuring this

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aspect of strategic planning as it is responsible for the interface
between the organisation and its environment.
Strategic planning is explored in more detail in Development
Guide 7006V1/7011V1 Reviewing organisational strategy plans

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and performance/Strategic Planning.

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Key planning questions
Jobber suggests that there are six key planning questions that
can provide a helpful framework for integrating strategic
objectives and marketing planning. These are shown in the table
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below, along with some guidance on how these questions may be
addressed.

Where are we now? Factual statements

Value judgements
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Success against expectations

How did we get here? Analysis of significant events
contributing to achievements and
shortcomings
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Where are we heading? Focuses on the future

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Assuming we carry on as before

what are the likely outcomes?
Where would we like Compares our prediction of the
to be? future with aspirations
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Do the aspirations match the

predictions?
If not, we may need to change
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organisational behaviour
How do we get there? Opportunity for creativity
Identify options
Decide on course of action
Provides us with a strategy
Are we on course? Periodically check our position
If we are on course, plan remains
unchanged
If not, then plan needs to be
modified

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