Marketing Intelligence & Planning

Essential Characteristics for an Effective Marketing Plan

Roger Brooksbank
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Roger Brooksbank, (1991),"Essential Characteristics for an Effective Marketing Plan", Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol.
9 Iss 7 pp. 17 - 20
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 ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS FOR AN EFFECTIVE MARKETING PLAN 17

S
uccessful 1980s research into marketing the major area for further training perceived by UK
planning yields pointers to what will be executives was marketing planning, well ahead of other topics
essential in a plan for the 1990s. like international marketing, marketing research and sales
forecasting.
Thinking ahead to the 1990s, the trends which
characterised the 1980s — such as the technology
revolution, the explosion of new competition (especially
from small firms) and a whole host of other factors leading
to increasing market instability — look set to progress

Essential at an accelerating pace. Add to these trends the spectre

of a harsh economic recession and the onset of the 1992
Single European Market, and the outlook for the 1990s

Characteristics looks challenging indeed — characterised by even greater

levels of instability and unpredictability. It therefore seems
inevitable that effective marketing planning will continue
to be one of the dominant management themes of the new

for an decade, since the ability to cope with change will be the
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key determinant of long-term business survival and

prosperity.

Effective In view of the preceding observations and as an aid to

the marketing practitioner, this article attempts to highlight
the essential characteristics for an effective marketing plan

Marketing in the 1990s. Specifically, the aim is to isolate and examine

the key factors which have been found to differentiate the
effective from the ineffective marketing plan; compiled on
the basis of a comprehensive review of the empirical
Plan research conducted throughout the 1980s.

Essential Characteristics
The literature review showed that, in relation to their
Roger Brooksbank marketing planning activities, virtually all successful
companies, regardless of size or type, are likely to share
at least seven common characteristics. Table I lists each
Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 9 No. 7, 1991, pp. 17-20.
of these areas and, on the basis of information gleaned
© MCB University Press, 0263-0503 from those studies, which specifically set out to compare
higher and lower performing groups of companies,
provides a direct contrast between the characteristics
Fuelled by the popularity of the DTI's Marketing Initiative typically associated with an effective versus an ineffective
(Institute of Marketing, 1989), the extensive training marketing plan. The remainder of the article now deals
activities of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and an with each area in turn, providing a succinct appraisal of
explosion of prescriptive and "DIY-style" books and their key features, benefits, and managerial implications.
manuals, the 1980s might well be described as the
"decade of the marketing plan". Amidst an increasingly
turbulent and internationally competitive business Table I. The Marketing Plan: Essential Characteristics
environment, marketing planning was seen as the
management discipline which could enable the firm to Effective Ineffective
improve its competitiveness by becoming more responsible
and adaptable to changing market conditions. Indeed, a 1. Strong top management Weak top management
plethora of research during the 1980s showed that, support support
regardless of the type or size of company, effective 2. Compiled by staff Compiled for staff
marketing planning was at the very heart of competitive 3. Thoroughly researched Scantily researched
success (e.g. Peters and Waterman, 1982; Cavanagh and 4. External competitive Internal efficiency focus
Clifford, 1986; Doyle, et al., 1985). Research also showed focus
that, among businessmen themselves, marketing planning 5. Proactive/Visionary Reactive/Based on past
became widely perceived to be of overwhelming 6. Personalised/Specific Generalised/Vague
importance, with one survey of 2,000 marketing executives 7. Continually reviewed Once-a-year ritual
(Cowell, 1987) concluding that:
 18 MARKETING INTELLIGENCE & PLANNING 9,7
Strong Top Management Support
A successful marketing plan is developed within the
context of a company-wide commitment to a marketing
philosophy of business. Such a philosophy involves the firm
aiming all its efforts at satisfying customers at a profit
(McCarthy, 1981) and necessitates a view of the customer
as the central controlling influence, with the marketing
function playing an integrative role in ensuring that all the
functional areas of the firm work together to satisfy target
customers at least as well as the competition. For example,
Peters and Waterman's study (1982) into "excellent" large
companies found that they are "more driven by close to
the customer attributes than by either technology or
cost", with similar studies into successful smaller
companies also emphasising a strong customer orientation
(e.g. Cavanagh and Clifford, 1986; Modiano and Ni-
Chionna, 1986). Perhaps most significant, however, is the
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crucial influence of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in
moulding company attitudes, values and beliefs. For
example, Brooksbank's (1990) research into UK-based
medium-sized manufacturing companies found that the
higher performers were more likely to describe their
CEOs as more strongly influential, and with an attitude
that "marketing should guide all the company's
operations" rather than holding a more functionally specific
view of marketing's role. Similarly, McBurnie and
Clutterbuck's (1987) research into the marketing
characteristics of successful large UK companies cite such
leadership and commitment as one of their ten key
marketing success factors. Not surprisingly, the strong
leadership and commitment shown by the CEO to the
achievement of a marketing-oriented "culture" facilitates
a climate of interfunctional co-operation, and the common
sense of purpose, opportunity and direction necessary
for the development of an effective marketing plan. As
pointed out by McDonald (1984), unless the CEO and
other senior directors appreciate the need for marketing
planning, understand it fully, and show interest in it, then
it becomes virtually impossible for marketing management
to develop plans that will be used in a meaningful way.
Compiled by Staff
A successful marketing plan is compiled through a process
of people involvement, and not just the involvement of
marketing people, senior management, specialist planning
staff and/or outside consultants, but staff from throughout
the organisation (e.g. Cavanagh and Clifford, 1986). As
pointed out by Brooksbank (1990), such an approach has
many advantages. First, it ensures that the full richness
of each individual's skill and experience are brought into
play. Second, it provides a mechanism whereby plans are
felt to be "owned" by employees — imparting a high
degree of personal responsibility and commitment to their
achievement. Third, it helps ensure that plans are realistic
and achievable. Fourth, it helps pull together all the various
business functions, building a marketing-led culture
focused on the common goal of customer satisfaction. In
essence the higher performers recognise that marketing
plans and those responsible for their implementation
cannot be divorced from one another and that ultimately
it is people, not the genius or sophistication of the plan,
that determines success or failure.
Thoroughly Researched
A successful marketing plan is thoroughly researched, with
more of an emphasis on structured analytical thinking
based on "hard" information, than simply a reliance on
"gut feeling" and industry experience alone. Specifically
this relates to the three key areas of: the company itself;
its competitors; and its markets and wider business
environment (e.g. Hooley and Lynch, 1985; Goldsmith and
Clutterbuck, 1984). Typically, information is collected from
a greater variety of sources and, in an effort to avoid, as
far as possible, the well known syndrome of the "paralysis
of analysis" tends to be more quality- rather than quantity-
oriented — in terms of its reliability, accuracy and
relevance. Indeed, there is a good deal of evidence which
suggests a clear association between conducting market
research and improved company performance (e.g.
Schlegelmilch, et al., 1985). In addition, successful
companies have been found to make a greater use of basic
strategic planning tools such as strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis, and the
product life cycle (PLC) analysis when developing
marketing plans (e.g. Hooley, 1984). Clearly, when used
in conjunction with the application of good old fashioned
common sense, intuition and experience; the use of these
more formalised planning tools and techniques represents
the optimum analytical approach.
External Competitive Focus
A successful marketing plan is primarily concerned with
the achievement of volume increases, through focusing
on satisfying the needs and wants of target customers
better than competitors, rather than adopting a more
internal focus primarily concerned with securing
productivity improvements or other operational efficiencies
(e.g. Doyle, et al., 1985). To employ, with adaptation,
Drucker's (1973) terminology, it is more important do "do
the right things" (to be effective — that which leads to
creating and keeping customers) than to "do things right"
(to be operationally efficient). Researchers have
consistently highlighted that it is the ability to carefully
select target markets in such a way as to distinguish the
company's offer from those of its competitors with a
clearly defined and distinctive competitive advantage,
which sets apart the higher performing companies (e.g.
Peters and Waterman, 1982; Modiano and Ni-Chionna,
1986). When developing a competitive advantage, the aim
is to make the offer as unique as possible to target
customers, so that they will be more attracted to it and
less likely to switch to competitors for minor price
advantages. The essential factors are that it must always
 ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS FOR AN EFFECTIVE MARKETING PLAN
be on the basis of something that is of value to the
customer (e.g. superior service) and "defensible", i.e.
utilising a skill of the company that competitors will find
hard to copy. A competitive advantage can be created out
of any of the company's strengths relative to the
competition.
Proactive/Visionary
A successful marketing plan adopts a more proactive
approach to the future — attempting to "make things
happen" by moulding the future to the company's best
advantage, rather than a more reactive approach whereby
events are simply monitored/forecasted and then planned
for accordingly (e.g. Hooley and Jobber, 1986). This
typically necessitates a longer-term planning horizon (e.g.
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Baker, et al., 1988), and the use of scenario planning,
which demands the capacity to think creatively and
involves predicting a range of likely futures and making
assumptions about competitive moves. In essence, the
higher performers recognise that as the pace of change
in the modern business world continues to accelerate,
plans based on a simple extrapolation of the past are
becoming less and less appropriate. The trick is to break
out of the inertia-trap by continuously questioning the
validity of assumptions upon which marketing plans are
based.
Personalised/Specific
A successful marketing plan is truly action-oriented,
concentrating more on what is to be achieved, by whom,
by when, how and why, rather than on vague
generalisations or on overemphasis on providing detailed
factual information relating to the current situation. Many
studies have shown that higher performing companies are
differentiated by having more clearly defined marketing
goals (e.g. Peterson and Lill, 1981) in terms of what is
to be achieved both on the demand side and on the supply
side (marketing costs) but, most importantly, in terms of
the allocation of personal responsibility for their
achievement (e.g. Brooksbank, 1990). Equally, objectives
should, as far as possible, be measurable and linked to
a time-scale (e.g. Baker, et al., 1988), adding up in an
interlocking and hierarchical fashion to help steer the
company towards the realisation of its longer-term mission.
In this way, the plan becomes a working document which
makes explicit the importance of each individual's role in
its successful implementation. Significantly, researchers
also stress the acute sense of direction typically displayed
by higher performing companies, reflected in their
concentration on "key result areas" when setting
objectives. For example, Cavanagh and Clifford (1986) refer
to the importance they attach to focusing time, effort and
other resources only on those areas considered to be
critical to competitive success.
I 19
Continually Reviewed
A successful marketing plan does not conform to a single
"set" format or layout. Nor does its preparation, in any
way, become a ritualistic once-a-year activity — something
which invariably leads to a general perception that it is
a form of bureaucratic "red tape" and hence of little
practical value (e.g. McDonald, 1984). On the contrary,
as previously noted, a successful plan is a working
document and is therefore open to continual reappraisal
and review. Indeed, higher performing companies have
been found to maintain much tighter control of their
operations by being more oriented towards both ongoing
marketing information gathering and performance
evaluation relative to objectives (e.g. Hooley and Jobber,
1986; Saunders and Wong, 1985). Clearly, by comparing
actual against planned performance levels, marketing
management is quickly made aware of any significant
divergence from the plan which can be investigated and,
if necessary, acted upon. In so doing, the company also
retains the degree of environmental sensitivity necessary
for maximising its competitive advantage amidst a
turbulent and rapidly changing world. In pursuing a policy
of continual plan reappraisal and review, many researchers
have commented on the importance of an appropriate
management style/organisational environment (e.g.
Cavanagh and Clifford, 1986). Ideally, plans should be
evaluated in the context of an "open" working
environment which enables opinions to be vented freely
and honestly, encourages constructive criticism as well
as innovative creative ideas, and generally provides the
necessary conditions for a participatory approach to plan
appraisal and development.
Summary and Conclusions
During the 1990s, the right approach for today's conditions
will almost certainly not be right for those of tomorrow.
No company's strategy or operations can afford to be
frozen in time, and it is clear that the ability to develop
effective marketing plans, which enable the firm to become
more responsive and adaptable to changing market
conditions will, perhaps more than ever before,
differentiate the winners from the losers.
For maximum effectiveness, a marketing plan should, at
the very least, aim to conform to each of the seven
characteristics identified. A failure to properly
accommodate any one of these areas would almost
certainly undermine the overall effectiveness of the plan,
since they are mutually supportive of one another in
enabling the firm to identify, implement and maintain a
meaningful competitive advantage over the long run. In
essence, the lesson from the 1980s is that a well-conceived
marketing plan can help the firm to exploit the modern
business environment to its greatest advantage.
 20 MARKETING INTELLIGENCE & PLANNING 9,7
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