The marketing plan

ln Units 2 and 3, uou will look at a case studu that shows all of the
stages in the development of the marketing plan.

a ln pairs, look at the pictures (1 -4) and discuss the following

questions.
1 The cars all belong to a new generation of motor vehicle. What do
you think might make these cars different from traditional cars?
2 Who do you think buys these types of car?
5 Would you buy one of these cars? Which one? Explain why / why not.

b ln pairs, look at the mission statement below for Frezna Motors, a

British car manufacturer, and discuss the following questions.
1 Which of the cars in the pictures most closely represents the type of
car that Frezna makes and sells?
2 Who do you think Frezna Motors' customers are?
5 Who do you think their competitors are?
4 What do you think the company's core (most important) values are?
5 What predictions can you make about the organisation's marketing
strategy and objectives, based only on the mission statement?

14 Unit 2 The marketing plan 1: audit and objectives

a Complete the following definitions with p/an or sfrafeggr.
1 marketing how an organisation intends to achieve its
marketing objectives
2 marketing a written document that details the actions an
organisation must take in order to achieve its
marketing objectives

b ln pairs, discuss the following questions.

1 Have you ever written or contributed to a marketing plan? lf so, describe
what information it contained. If not, discuss what information you think it
might contain.
2 Who do you think is responsible for researching and writing the marketing
plan in your organisation or an organisation you know well?

C Look at the words in the box. The words all describe sections of a typical
marketing plan. What kind of information would you expect to find in these
parts of the plan? In pairs, discuss your ideas.

d Read the following email from Gavin Hamilton, Sales and Marketing
Director for Frezna Motors. Complete the headings (I -6) with the words in
the box in Exercise 2c.

To.>, , crees,sdavis,jmanvell,dsubramaniam

ghamllton

Dear All,
As you know, it's time to start thinking about this year's marketing plan. Please find below an
outline of what the plan will contain, and who will be responsible for what. Please remember that
the purpose of the marketing plan is to help us define our marketing objectives for the year, and to
formulate our strategy for achieving those objectives.

I will take responsibility for writing this once all of the other sections of the plan are complete.

Cathryn, can I ask you to take this forward? You'll need to do a comprehensive FE\8TEL
analysis. Please use last year's as a starting point. Scott and Jessica, can you take
responsibility for the awol-analysis? You'll also need to do SWOTs for our main competitors.

We will meet as a team to set these once the audit is complete. Please remember that these
need to be SMART.

Once stages 2 and 3 are complete, we can start to think about how we can achieve our
marketing goals. I will schedule a meeting to discuss this as a team.

Scott, Cathryn and Jessica, you will be responsible for developing this section, outlining how
the plan will be implemented over the next 12 months, referring to the full marketing mix.

Deepa, as Chief Financial Officer, you will need to input into this section. Let's arrange a
meeting to discuss once the rest of the plan is complete.

Unit 2 The marketing plan 1: audit and objectives

 e Can you explain what the highlighted acronyms/letters in the email stand
for and mean? Use the words in the box.

f Read Gavin's email again and find six phrases he uses to set action points.

9 Which of the following (a, b or c) best describes the tone of Gavin's email?
a friendly and informal
b politeand direct
c coldandformal

h Gavin uses several structures to create an appropriate tone in his email.

Look at the following sentences, which are all too direct or rude. How did
Gavin express these things differently? Find his exact words in the email.
1 Cathryn, take this forward.
2 Do a comprehensive PESTEL analysis.
5 Use last year's as a starting point.
4 Scott and Jessica, take responsibility for the SWOT analysis.
5 Also do SWOTS for our main competitors.
6 Remember that these need to be SMART.

The audit: PESTEL

a The development of a marketing plan usually begins with an audit. Can you
explain what an audit is? In pairs, discuss your ideas.

b Imagine you were going to carry out a PESTEL analysis of Frezna Motors.
In pairs, discuss the following questions. Then compare your answers with
the key on page 100.
1 What questions would you ask in each of the sections of the PESTEL
analysis?
2 What internal and external sources of information would you use for
research?

C Imagine your organisation or an organisation you know well is carrying out

the audit section of its marketing plan. Write a polite and direct email to
the marketing team, giving them instructions for carrying out the PESTEL
analysis. Use the language you studied in Exercises 2f and 2h to help you.

d Cathryn Rees, a Marketing Executive, has been working on the PESTEL

analysis for Frezna Motors. Complete the sections of her analysis on the
opposite page with the words in the box.

16 Unit 2 The marketing plan 1: audit and objectives

e Certain verb tenses are often used in PESTEL analyses. Match I-6 below
to a-f. Then find underlined examples in Cathryn's PESTEL analysis above.
To express ... use ,,,
1 a future certainty a will probably (not) + VERB
2 a future event that is very ttkety but not certain b would (wouldn't) + VERB
3 a future possibility c may (not) + VERB
4 something that we imagine to be the result/ d is/are (isn't/aren't) + VERB-ing
consequence of another event
5 a past event which has an important result/ e will (won't) + VERB
consequence for now
6 a current trend f have/has (haven't/hasn't) + PAST PARTICIPLE

f Complete the following sections of a PESTEL analysis with the correct form
of the verb in brackets. There may be more than one possible answer.
The pound (currently/get) weaker against the dollar.
The government (recently/announce) a commitment to
reducing carbon emissions.
People (now/make) more buying decisions based on
environmental issues.
Government investment in electric car infrastructure from next year
(eventually/make) it easier for customers to charge their cars.
The US government might introduce stricter emissions standards - if they
did, the European Union (certainly / have to) do the same.

Unit 2 The marketing plan 1: audit and objectives

 8 The words and phrases in the box come from Cathryn's PESTEL analysis.
Decide if each word or phrase is used to talk about an upward (J) trend or
a downward {`) trend. The first one is done for you.

• ecohomtc c^own+t^w\

i\
h Write a PESTEL analysis for the organisation you work for or an
organisation you know well. First, make a list of the questions you need
to answer, using ideas from Exercise 3b. Use the correct tenses (see
Exercise 3e) and try to use some of the words and phrases from above.

The audit: SWOT and the Five Forces

a ln pairs, answer the following questions.
1 What do you think the purpose ofa swoT analysis is?
2 A SWOT analysis focuses on both internal and external factors. Which parts
of the SWOT deal with internal factors? Which parts deal with external ones?
5 Do you have any experience of doing SWOT analyses? Can you give any
examples of their effective use?

b + 2,I Scott Davis and Jessica Manvell, of Frezna Motors' marketing team,
are meeting to carry out a SWOT analysis for the marketing plan. Their
goal is to help define the company's marketing objectives. Listen. In what
order do they discuss the four elements of the SWOT?

C > 2.1 Listen again and make notes under the following headings.

18 Unit 2 The marketing plan 1: audit and objedives

d Complete the following SWOT analysis, which was produced after the
meeting. Use the words and phrases in the box.

Talking about streftgths Talking about weaknesses

... ollr (1) strength is ... But isn't that also a (1)
that our customers weakness?
Can ... Price is (2) our weaknesses.
Our customers are (3) ... we (3) a product for . . .
because ... ... our (4) market is very
... our technological know-how is small.
strength.
Talking about opportunities Talking about threats
.., that could (1) ... there are some external issues which are
opportunities, too. affecting that market (1)
... that means (2) for us. too.
... we should start thinking about
European and American people spend, especially when it
markets. Luxury goods such as
sports cars.

e ln pairs, carry out a short SWOT analysis of the organisation you work for,
an organisation you know well, or a competitor to your organisation. Use
some of the phrases from Exercise 4d.

a How do you think organisations monitor their competitive environment?

What tools do they use? In pairs, discuss your ideas.

b + a.2 Gavin calls Jessica to discuss the progress of the audit. Listen and
answer the following questions.
1 Whatdoes Gavin askJessica to do?
2 Have you ever used this model? In pairs, discuss what you know about it.

C + 2.3 Look at the five fot-ces from Porter's model (1 -5) and try to match
them to the questions a marketer might ask when carrying out a Five
Forces analysis (a-e). Listen to the rest of the conversation and check your
answers.
1 Bargaining power of buyers a How easy is it for our suppliers to increase the price
they charge?
2 Bargaining power of suppliers b How easy is it for new competitors to enter the
market?
3 Competitive rivalry c Are there alternative products or services available to
customers which fulfil the same need?
4 The threat of new entrants d How many existing competitors do we have and how
influential are they?
5 The threat of substitute e How easy would it be for our customers to reduce how
products or services much they pay for our product?

Unit 2 The marketing plan 1: audit and objectives

 d Complete the descriptions (I -5) with Porter's
Five Forces (A-E).

• We design and manufacture the

batteries, which are our key
component; that puts us in a
strong position.
• However, we have few supplier
choices for other key inputs
(specifically high-performance
transmission and braking systems),
meaning suppliers can drive up prices.

• We have few customers, but they are powerful;

each customer is highly important to the business.
• Customers have the power to negotiate and drive prices down.
• However, customers have a small number of options if they
want a high-performance electric sports car,

• We have no direct competition in the British electric sports car market.

• However, there is strong competition in the petrol sports car market (Ferrari, Porsche, etc.).

• If customers want a high-performance sports car, they have lots of options.

• However, if they want a high-performance electric car, they have no real options; therefore
direct substitution is not viable.

• Barriers to entry are currently high: large investment in research and development is
needed; there are high manufacturing costs; it is a small, niche market.
• However, once electric car technology becomes more mainstream (and cheaper), barriers to
entry will be lower.

e Answer the following questions.

1 Which verb tense does Jessica mainly use in her analysis? Why?
2 Which word does Jessica use to contrast a point with the previous point?

f In pairs, make notes for a Five Forces analysis for the same organisation you discussed in
Exercise 4e. Try to answer the questions in Exercise 5c.

Marketl.ng objectives
a The acronym SMART is used to describe good objectives. Match the beginnings (1 -5) to the
endings (a-e) to make definitions of the elements of SMART objectives.
has been given a realistic deadline.
:::Peea::::::eoctb:::tffsv:::ownhejcwhhh: says exactly what needs to be achieved.
3 An achievable objective is one which c can be successfully completed using only the
resources which you have.
4 A realistic objective is one which d :::pbL: Swuhcoceasrsefur:L¥p:°nTf£L[:tefodrt%etht:spk:rs°n/

5 A timebound objective is one which e results can be objectively evaluated.

20 unit 2 The marketinq Dlan 1: audit and obiedives

b As Sales and Marketing Director, Gavin Hamilton is responsible for
presenting Frezna Motors' marketing plan to the board. Look at Gavin's
slide for the marketing objectives section of his presentation. Based on
what you know about Frezna Motors, do you think Gavin's objectives are
SMART? Would you change any of them to make them SMARTer?

C Complete the phrases used for setting marketing objectives with the
verbs and prepositions in the box. You will need to use some of the words
more than once. Use the SMART objectives in the key for Exercise 6b on
page 101 and the slide above to help you.

{a product/service)
(number/amount) (time period) or
customers competing products/services, etc.
new markets, etc.
market share (number/amount)
(time period) or
a return on investment (ROI) (number/amount)
(time period) or

d There are several other verb/noun collocations used to talk about

marketing objectives. For eacli of the following examples, choose the verb
that does not collocate.
I maintain/position/increase sales
2 increase/maintain/enter market share
3 position/raise/increase brand awareness
4 decrease/t.mprove/fci// delivery/waiting times
5 establish/enter/position now marke+s
6 develop/enhance/raise product offer.ing
7 enAcmce/esfcrb//.sA/posf.fi.on (an organisation) as market leader, etc.
8 enhcmce//.mprove/pos/.£/.o„ profile/reputation/standing, etc.

e ln pairs, write a list of marketing objectives for the organisation you

discussed in Exercises 4e and 5f. Use some of the above collocations. Swap
lists with another pair and check that their objectives are SMART.

unit 2 The marketing plan 1: audit and objectives