Marketing Planning Process

Coca-Cola is the company of choice to be discussed in this scenario of “strategic marketing planning process”. Coca-cola is the company which is mainly dealing with soft drinks as its main product (Gertner and Rifkin, 2018). The company has more than one product, this enables Coca-cola company to penetrated and explore large market territory using the different alternative of products. This is a worldwide organization which encourages customers so more to like and consume their products improving competitive advantage.

Every business needs a market plan to succeed in outsourcing its product and services to the customer (LaTour, LaTour and Wansink, 2018). Marketing as a strategy needs to be developed through a certain process. These are ways which will help the organization to achieve goals and objectives towards the target market. Good strategies will increase competitive advantages of an organization, if down streaming activities are used than upstream activities (Dawar, 2013). The following is a brief description of the strategic marketing planning process which is employed in achieving organization goals. According to McCamley and Gilmore (2018), the following are the strategic marketing process:

1. Market opportunity analysis. This is an analysis which focuses towards an organizations’ products or services and to find the source of information. The demand and supply forces affects the influence of the product and service in the marketplace. The market analysis aims to satisfy the customer needs more than the competition in the market. This analysis involves market segmentation analysis meaning is trying to reach the customers who shares the common product needs. This helps to estimate sales and the size of the market targeted. Internal, integrated and performing marketing should also be analyzed so as to improve the customers’ business relationship. After market is analyzed generally to find the opportunity, the next step follows is selection of target market.
2. Selection of target market.This involves dealing with segmented market and evaluating its stability towards the business. This involves focusing only on selected groups of people in terms of age, income, location, and lifestyle. Selecting a target market is very important since helps in dealing with a specific customers and easy to measure the resources required in the market.
3. Situation analysis. This involves studying the environment surrounding the business and its effects to the business operations. This analysis involves the use of several techniques like SWOT Analysis which used to study the strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat of the environment towards the business. PESTEL Analysis helps to evaluate the external environment which the business has no power over it (Shtal and Toiboldinova, 2018). Therefore, for the success of the business should analyze and evaluate both macro and micro-environment available in the business surroundings.
4. Developing market strategies.After getting the market opportunity, analyzing the situation and target market, now the business should come up with tactics on how to implement these strategies. Using market strategies, the business should analyze competitors available in the market, distribution channels and market mix. Marketing mix as a tool of marketing when is properly used, the business marketing strategies they come out successfully. Pricing and promotional techniques are amongst the strategies to be developed towards targeting market.
5. Planning of market programs.These are programs which focuses on the implementation of successful market strategies. These programs are established using budget based on the sales volume and providing the right marketing mix to be used. After establishing all this, now the business should allocates appropriate budget over the marketing mix operations to be used (Bocconcelli and Splendiani, 2018). Generally, this means that business is supposed to allocate some budget on marketing strategies.
6. Management of the market effort. After all those processes are over begin analyzed, everything in the market and inside the organization should ensure these strategies are well managed effectively for better outcomes. This is done after the implementation of the whole process of the market planning process. Therefore, the managerial function here is to monitor and regulate all strategies in place (Biroscak, Aguado Loi and Bryant, 2018). Also, this is achieved by putting measures on those strategies in place. This also involves controlling the revenue earned and budget accordingly so as minimize the cost as well as maximizing the profit.

As expressed in the first paragraph, Coca-cola is a company of many products all belonging in the line of soft drinks. The Company needs a strong marketing as a strategy which will enable it to penetrate in the market easily and have competitive advantages. Coca-Cola Company has been among the most leading companies in the worldwide in the market due to the use of effective market planning process (Sinha and Sheth, 2018). This company has invested much in marketing so as to maintain strong relationships with the existing customers and win others in the market. Coca-Cola Company has a strong competitive advantage compared to other surrounding companies because it focuses a lot on down streaming activities than up streaming. This means Coca-Cola is aiming to shape customers’ perception and eliminating unnecessary cost towards the product than coming up with superior production as their competitors did (Dawar, 2013).

According to the strategies of the effective market planning process, Coca-Cola Company has exploited them in a successful way since the result can be witnessed in the market. Why say this? Because the company already has analyzed the market well by knowing the customers demand and needs towards their product. Use of modern competitive techniques has helped Coca-Cola to sell those brands at a high rate regardless of the season and competition in the market (Serôdio, McKee and Stuckler, 2018). The Company targets all people in the marketplace regardless their age, social class, lifestyle, and background since the products are of many varieties.

Evaluating of Effective Market Planning in Coca-Cola Company

Situation analysis well is done. The company has identified several strengths it has on the marketplace compared to that of competitors. These strengths have enabled the company to have large market territory and use of competitor’s weakness to penetrate in the market. For example, one of the strengths the company has is a use of effective down streaming activities as a weapon of winning more customers (Dawar, 2013). Also, the company has drinks for hot and cold weather, having drinks for relaxation stimulation, medical and enjoyable drinks all are available in the market from the Coca-Cola Company (Titus, 2018).

The marketing strategies and program are well managed. This is because the Company has used the best marketing mix amongst its competitors (Kwiatkowski, 2018). Pricing methodology of the product is varying with the market economy ensuring customers will not feel the difficulties of purchasing the product regardless of the economic challenges. The company practices frequent promotional activities in the market which encourages the customer to maintain the stand of their products value.

After the implementation of all these processes, the company has some measures which uses to maintain good customer relationship regardless of the production process and costs. The company believes to have competitive power based on focusing the down streaming activities than up streaming activities (Sauerbronn, Barros and Faria, 2018). This helps the company to satisfy different customers’ needs as required in the market.

This part will identify the key components for the user in developing successful marketing strategies plan for Coca-Cola Company. From all the above process of the strategic market plan we have discussed, only three components are very key to support all processes in marketing strategy: planning, implementation, and control. These component are as follows according to the Tomczak Reinecke and Kuss, (2018):

1. Good Plan.  In all these marketing strategies, a strong plan is needed for success. This plan will discuss market research required and planning all levels of decision making in the plan. In the plan is where all outlines and strategies are identified and ways to implement them as closely discussed. Product development and testing, market mix and strategies all are composed in this component of planning. For example, Coco-Cola Company had a good plan when penetrating the marketplace since was aiming innovation, building advantages which are cumulative and building good customer perception (Dawar, 2013).  
2. This is the component which deals with putting all strategies in workable condition. This involves means of distribution plan of the product to the market. Use of promotional techniques to influence more customers than your competitor by responding to their needs effectively. Also, this involves using different marketing programs. Example, Coca-Cola has implemented its plan successful by having different brands which are affordable in all weather: cold or hot season and all this attracts different prices as per the situation.
3. Control and evaluation. All the implemented marketing needs to be controlled and maintained in a good situation for organizations advantage. This involves putting in the measure over strategies implemented to protect them. Use of technology, maintaining competitive advantage and having cumulative benefits and listening customers effectively (Dawar, 2013). Through evaluation of the strategies they are no positive response the team will need to revise the planning process again. For example, if we’re not strong controlling of implemented plans and strategies, they were no place of Coca-Cola Company to be found in the current market. The company is very superior up to now because of using cumulative and effective strategies like down streaming plans (Dawar, 2013).

Conclusion

Using marketing as a strategy has promoted a competitive way of the business in the marketplace. Using down streaming strategies are most important in the modern market than only forecasting on the logistics and superiority of the production. This is the secret used by Coca-Cola Company to succeed and sustains a position in the marketplace. Also, is very advantageous for any organization to follow all steps in the processes of making strategic marketing plan. Those steps helps the organization management to have a good idea of what is expected in the market, how to deal with it and how to face the existing and any other upcoming competitor in the marketplace. Use of marketing as a strategy is very good idea in marketing since it focuses on the customers’ needs and reduce down the cost incurred by them therefore, making organization product superior in the market all times.

Reference

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