Marketing strategy. Marketing strategy - what it is, types, goals, stages and basics for the development, evaluation and selection of an enterprise’s marketing strategy

TOPIC 10. STRATEGIC PLANNING

AND MARKETING CONTROL

2. Approaches to strategic planning: product-market matrix, BCG matrix, " Pims ", Porter's strategic model

3. Marketing control

1. Strategic marketing planning and its stages

Planning is the process of establishing goals, strategies and specific ways to implement them. Marketing planning is usually divided into strategic (usually long-term) and tactical (current). The strategic marketing plan is aimed at implementing the strategic objectives of marketing activities, and the current plan (most often annual) characterizes the marketing situation of the enterprise in the current year.

Strategic planning- this is the managerial process of creating and maintaining strategic alignment between the goals of the company and its potential chances in the field of marketing.

A strategic marketing plan, as a rule, is long-term and is developed over several years. It includes the following interrelated sections:

· marketing long-term goals of the enterprise;

· marketing strategies;

· development of the enterprise's business portfolio.

Marketing goals There can be any goals aimed at converting the needs of customers into the income of the enterprise, at achieving the desired results in specific markets, as well as goals - missions that embody the social significance of the enterprise.

Marketing goals are achievable only if:

· the enterprise has available resources;

· do not contradict environmental conditions;

· correspond to the internal capabilities of the enterprise.

The formation of the marketing goals of an enterprise should be based on “SWOT” - analysis (the first letters of the English words: strengths - strengths, weaknesses - weaknesses, opportunities - opportunities, threats - dangers). As a result of this analysis, the company’s position in the competition for product markets is identified and marketing goals are set.

The marketing goals of an enterprise are achieved through a marketing strategy. Marketing strategy- an integral set of fundamental principles, methods for solving key problems to achieve the general goal of the company. General marketing strategies specify the development strategy of the enterprise as a whole and include specific strategies for marketing activities in target markets. Marketing strategies can be very diverse, for example:

· increasing the volume of production of goods of the old range for developed markets;

· penetration into new markets;

· development of new products;

· market formation;

· diversification.

Business portfolio - a list of products manufactured by the enterprise. The development of a business portfolio is a set of strategic directions for the development of production and product range.

The strategic planning process includes:

1) definition of corporate missions . The mission (program) of the company is its long-term orientation towards any type of activity and the corresponding place in the market. What consumer groups are served, what functions are performed.

2) setting goals. There are the following categories of goals: higher goals, subordinate goals (higher goals are specified in terms of specific functions). By content, goals are classified into:

· market goals: sales, market share;

· financial (profit, profitability);

· goals related to the product and society - quality, ensuring the guarantee of the enterprise.

3) agricultural development plan (business portfolio). SHP - strategic business units, i.e. independent divisions responsible for a product range, with a concentration on a specific market and a manager with full responsibility for combining all functions into a strategy.

SHP are the main elements of building a strategic marketing plan. Characteristics: specific orientations, precise target market, control over resources, own strategy, clearly defined competitors, clear differentiating advantage. The concept of agricultural production systems was developed by McKinsey for General Electric in 1971, which operates 30 agricultural production systems (household appliances, lighting, electric motors, engines, etc.).

4) situational analysis . The company's capabilities and the problems it may encounter are identified. Situational analysis seeks answers to two questions: what is the current position of the company and where is it moving in the future. They study the environment, opportunities, and identify strengths and weaknesses in comparison with competitors.

5) with marketing strategy . How the marketing structure should be applied to satisfy target markets and achieve organizational goals. Each agricultural enterprise needs a separate strategy, these strategies must be coordinated.

Company growth strategy can be developed based on analysis carried out at three levels. At the first level, opportunities are identified that the company can take advantage of at its current scale of activity (opportunities intensive growth ). At the second level, opportunities for integration with other elements of the industry’s marketing system are identified (opportunities integration growth ). At the third stage, opportunities opening up outside the industry are identified (opportunities diversification growth ).

INTENSIVE GROWTH. Intensive growth is justified in cases where the company has not fully exploited the opportunities inherent in its current products and markets. There are three types of intensive growth opportunities.

1. Deep market penetration consists of the firm finding ways to increase sales of its existing products in existing markets through more aggressive marketing.

2. Expanding market boundaries consists of the firm's attempts to increase sales through the introduction of existing products into new markets.

3. Product improvement consists of a firm's attempts to increase sales by creating new or improved products for existing markets.

INTEGRATION GROWTH. Integration growth is justified in cases where the industry has a strong position and/or when the firm can obtain additional benefits by moving backwards, forwards or horizontally within the industry. Regressive integration consists of a firm's attempts to gain ownership or greater control of its suppliers. To increase control over the supply chain, the Modern Publishing Company may purchase a paper supply company or a printing company. Progressive Integration consists of a firm's attempts to gain ownership or greater control of the distribution system. The Modern Publishing Company may see benefits in acquiring wholesale magazine distributors or subscription bureaus. Horizontal integration consists of the firm’s attempts to gain ownership or place under tighter control a number of competing enterprises. The Modern Publishing Company could simply buy up other health magazines.

DIVERSIFICATION GROWTH. Diversified growth is justified in cases where the industry does not provide the firm with opportunities for further growth or when growth opportunities outside the industry are significantly more attractive. Diversification does not mean that a firm should grab every opportunity that comes along. The company must identify for itself areas where the experience it has accumulated will be used, or areas that will help eliminate its current shortcomings. There are three types of diversification.

1. Concentric diversification, those. replenishment of its product range with products that, from a technical and/or marketing point of view, are similar to the company’s existing products. Typically, these products will attract the attention of new classes of customers. For example, the Modern Publishing Company could acquire its own production of paperback books and take advantage of the already established network of distributors for its magazines to sell them.

2. Horizontal diversification, that is, replenishing its assortment with products that are in no way related to those currently produced, but may arouse the interest of the existing clientele. For example, the Modern Publishing Company might open its own health clubs in hopes that subscribers to its health magazine will become members.

3. Conglomerate diversification, those. replenishment of the assortment with products that have nothing to do with either the company's technology or its current products and markets. The Modern Publishing Company may want to enter new areas of activity, such as the production of personal computers, the sale of real estate franchises, or the opening of businesses fast food service.

6) tactics represents specific actions performed to implement a given marketing strategy. Should take 2 important decisions- determine: 1) investments in marketing; 2) the sequence of marketing operations over time.

7) control for the results. When implementing marketing plans, various deviations may occur, so monitoring their implementation is necessary. Marketing control is aimed at establishing the effectiveness of the enterprise. Monitoring the implementation of the strategic marketing plan consists of regularly checking the compliance of the initial strategic goals of the enterprise with the available market opportunities. Monitoring the implementation of the tactical plan consists of identifying deviations of results from the planned level. To do this, they use budgets, sales schedules, and costs. In some cases, plans are revised.

Hello! In this article we will talk about an integral element of any modern enterprise - a marketing strategy.

Today you will learn:

What is a marketing strategy;
What levels and types of marketing strategies exist;
How to create a marketing strategy for your business.

What is an enterprise marketing strategy

Let's turn to the etymology of the word "strategy" . Translated from ancient Greek it means "the art of a commander" , his long-term plan for the war.

The modern world dictates its terms, but strategy today remains an art that every entrepreneur must master in order to win the battle for profit and market share. Today, strategy is a long-term action plan aimed at achieving the global goals of the enterprise.

Any organization has a general strategy that corresponds to its global goals and strategy by type of activity. One of these is the marketing strategy of an enterprise.

Despite the fact that the number of companies in various markets is constantly growing, store shelves are crowded with a variety of goods, and consumers are becoming more and more whimsical and picky, many Russian companies still neglect marketing. Although it is the marketer who is able to highlight your product on the store shelf among competitors, make it special and bring profit. Therefore, developing a marketing strategy is one of the key issues in planning an organization’s activities.

Marketing strategy – a general plan for the development of each element (physical product - product, distribution, price, promotion; service - product, distribution, price, promotion, physical environment, process, personnel), developed for the long term.

The marketing strategy, as an official document, is enshrined in the company's marketing policy.

The practical importance of marketing strategy for an enterprise

The marketing strategy, being an integral part of the overall strategy of the enterprise, directs activities to achieve the following strategic goals:

Increasing the enterprise's market share in the market;
Increasing the company's sales volume;
Increasing the profit of the enterprise;
Gaining leading positions in the market;
Other.

The goals of the marketing strategy must be consistent with the mission of the enterprise and overall global goals. As we see, all goals are related to competitive or economic indicators. Achieving them without a marketing strategy is, if not impossible, then very difficult.

To achieve any of the above goals, it is necessary to include the following elements in the company’s marketing strategy:

Target audience of your company/product. The more detailed you can describe your target client, all the better. If you have chosen several segments for yourself, then describe each of them, don’t be lazy.
Marketing complex. If you offer a physical product, describe each of the four Ps (product, distribution, price, promotion). If you are selling a service, you will describe the 7 Ps (product, distribution, price, promotion, physical environment, process, people). Do this in as much detail as possible and for each element. Name the core benefit of your product, indicate the key value for the client. Describe the main distribution channels for each product, determine the price of the product, possible discounts and desired profit per unit. Think about what marketing activities will be involved in the promotion. If you offer a service, then determine who, how and where (in terms of room design, work tools) will implement it.

Each of the elements must also form its own strategy, which will be included in the overall marketing strategy of the business.

Marketing budget. Now that you have a detailed marketing strategy, you can calculate your overall budget. It doesn't have to be exact, so it's important to include a reserve here.

Once you have identified each of the listed elements, you can begin to realize your goals through a series of tasks:

Formulation of a strategic marketing problem (this point needs to be given the greatest attention);
Needs analysis;
Consumer market segmentation;
Analysis of business threats and opportunities;
Market analysis;
Analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise;
Choice of strategy.

Levels of an enterprise's marketing strategy

As we can see, the overall marketing strategy includes strategies for marketing elements. In addition, the marketing strategy must be developed at all strategic levels of the enterprise.

In the classical reading, there are four levels of enterprise strategies:

Corporate strategy(if your company is differentiated, that is, it produces several products, otherwise this level will not exist);
Business strategies– strategy for each type of activity of the enterprise;
Functional strategy– strategies for each functional unit of the enterprise (Production, marketing, R&D, and so on);
Operational strategy– strategies for each structural unit of the company (workshop, sales floor, warehouse, and so on).

However, the marketing strategy will only cover three levels of the strategic hierarchy. Experts in the field of marketing recommend excluding the functional level, since it involves considering marketing as a narrowly functional type of activity. Today, this is not entirely true and leads to short-sighted decisions in the field of marketing.

So, marketing strategy must be considered from the point of view of three levels:

Corporate level: formation of assortment marketing strategy and market orientation strategy;
Business unit level: development of a competitive marketing strategy;
Product level: product positioning strategy on the market, strategies for the elements of the marketing mix, strategies for each product within the product line strategy.

As we can see, we should develop 6 types of strategies as part of the overall marketing strategy of the enterprise.

Choosing the type of marketing strategy for your business

Let's start moving towards a common marketing strategy from the highest level - corporate. It will be absent if you offer only one type of product.

Corporate level of marketing strategy

At the corporate level, we need to consider assortment strategy and market orientation strategy.

Assortment strategy of the enterprise

Here we need to determine the number of product units of the assortment, the width of the assortment, that is, the number of products of different categories in the assortment (for example, yogurt, milk and kefir), the depth of the assortment range or the number of varieties of each category (raspberry yogurt, strawberry yogurt and peach yogurt).

As part of the assortment policy, the issue of product differentiation (changing its properties, including taste, packaging), developing a new product and discontinuing the product is also considered.

The listed issues are resolved based on the following information about the market and the company:

Size and pace of market development;
Size and development of the company's market share;
Size and growth rates of various segments;
The size and development of the enterprise's market share in the product market.

It is also necessary to analyze information about the products that are included in the product line:

Trade turnover by product;
Level and change in variable costs;
Level and trends in gross profit;
Level and change in fixed non-marketing costs.

Based on this information, the assortment strategy of the enterprise is drawn up.

Market Orientation Strategies

As part of this strategy, we need to identify the target market and identify target segments. Both questions depend on your range and individual products.

Overall, on at this stage The decision comes down to choosing one of the following market segmentation options:

Focus on one segment. In this case, the seller offers one product in one market.
Market specialization. It is used when you have several product categories that you can offer only to one consumer segment. Let’s depict this schematically (“+” is a potential consumer)

Product specialization suitable for you if you have only one product, but can offer it to several segments at once.

Electoral specialization. This is the case when you can adapt your offer to any of the segments. You have enough products to satisfy the needs of each segment.
Mass Marketing. You offer one universal product that, without any changes, can satisfy the needs of each segment of your market.

Complete market coverage. You produce all products available on the market and, accordingly, are able to satisfy the needs of the entire consumer market

Before defining a market targeting strategy, we advise you to carefully analyze the needs of the customer segments that exist in your market. We also do not advise you to try to “capture” all segments at once with one product. So you risk being left with nothing.

Business unit level

Choosing a competitive marketing strategy is a fairly broad issue. Here it is necessary to consider several aspects at once, but first it is necessary to carry out analytical work.

First, assess the level of competition in the market. Secondly, determine your company's position among competitors.

It is also necessary to analyze the needs of your target audience, assess the threats and opportunities in the external environment, and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company.

It is necessary to carry out analytical work with the product: identify its key value for the target consumer and determine its competitive advantage. Once you have done your analytical work, you can begin choosing a competitive strategy.

From the point of view of marketing practitioners, it is advisable to consider competitive strategies from two perspectives: the type of competitive advantage and the role of the organization in a competitive market.

Competitive strategies by type of competitive advantage

Here it would be advisable to immediately present these strategies in the form of a diagram, which is what we will do. The possible types of competitive advantage of the organization are located in the columns, and the strategic goal of the product (company) is located in the rows. At the intersection we get strategies that suit us.

Differentiation strategy requires you to make your product unique in the quality that matters most to your target customer.

This strategy is suitable for you if:

The company or product is at this stage life cycle, like maturity;
You have a sufficiently large amount of funds to develop such a product;
The distinctive property of a product constitutes its key value for the target audience;
There is no price competition in the market.

Cost leadership strategy assumes that you have the opportunity to produce a product at the lowest cost on the market, which allows you to become a leader in price.

This strategy is right for you if:

You have technologies that allow you to minimize production costs;
You can save money on production scale;
You are lucky with your geographical location;
You have privileges when purchasing/extracting raw materials;
The market is dominated by price competition.

Focus on costs and differentiation implies your advantage over competitors only in one segment of your choice, in terms of costs or distinctive product properties. The choice factors that we discussed above regarding each strategy will help you choose what exactly to focus on (costs or differentiation).

The focusing strategy has the following factors:

You can identify a clearly defined segment in the market with specific needs;
There is a low level of competition in this segment;
You don't have enough resources to cover the entire market.

Competitive strategies based on the organization's role in the market

At the very beginning, we recalled that the concept of “strategy” entered our lives from the art of war. We invite you to return to those ancient times and take part in a real battle, only in our time and in a competitive market.

Before you go to the battlefield, you need to determine who you are in relation to your competitors: a leader, a follower of the leader, an industry average, a small niche player. Based on your competitive position, we will decide on a “military” strategy.

Market leaders it is necessary to hold the defense so as not to lose your position.

Defensive war involves:

Staying ahead of competitors' actions;
Constantly introducing innovations into the industry;
Attack on oneself (own competing products);
Always be on the alert and “jam” the decisive actions of competitors with the best solutions.

Follower of the leader it is necessary to take an offensive position.

First of all, you need:

Identify the leader’s weaknesses and hit them:
Concentrate your efforts on those product parameters that are a “weak” side for the leader’s product, but at the same time important for the target consumer.

Industry average Flank warfare will do.

It involves the following combat actions:

Search low competitive market/segment;
Unexpected attack from the flank.

If you are a niche player, your war is guerrilla.

You should:

Find a small segment that you can reach;
News active work in this segment;
Be “flexible”, that is, be ready at any time to move to another segment or leave the market, since the arrival of “large” players in your segment will “crush” you.

Product level of marketing strategy

The marketing strategy of a product is represented by three types of strategies at once: a strategy for positioning the product on the market, strategies for the elements of the marketing mix, strategies for each product within the marketing strategy of the product line.

Positioning strategy

We propose to highlight the following positioning strategies:

Positioning in a special segment(for example, young mothers, athletes, clerks);
Positioning on product functionality. Functional features are mainly emphasized by companies specializing in high-tech products. For example, The iPhone, seeing the target audience’s need for excellent photo quality, positions itself as a smartphone with a camera no worse than a professional one;
Positioning at a distance from competitors(the so-called “blue ocean”). There is such a positioning strategy as the “blue ocean” strategy. According to this strategy, the competitive market is a “red ocean”, where companies fight for every client. But an organization can create a “blue ocean,” that is, enter the market with a product that has no competitors. This product must be differentiated from competitors on key consumer factors. For example, Cirque du Soleil proposed a completely new circus format, which differed in price (it was much more expensive), did not have performances with animals and clowns, changed the format of the arena (there is no longer a round tent), and was aimed mainly at an adult audience. All this allowed Cirque du Soleil to leave the competitive market and “play by its own rules.”
Positioning on a branded character. There are quite a lot of such examples: Kwiki the rabbit from Nesquik, Donald McDonald from McDonald's, cowboy Wayne McLaren from Marlboro. True, sometimes a character also has a negative impact on the image of a company or product. So Wayne McLaren died of lung cancer and in the period of time from diagnosis to death he sued Marlboro, publicly telling how harmful their cigarettes were. Cartoons also sometimes cause harm. Thus, “Skeletons” from Danone were not popular among mothers due to the inflammatory images of cartoon characters used in advertising.
Discoverer. If you were the first to offer a product, you can choose a pioneer strategy when positioning;
Positioning based on a specific service process. This is especially true for the service sector. Everyone has already heard about the restaurant “In the Dark”. He will be a great example of this positioning.

Strategies for elements of the marketing mix

As part of the marketing mix strategy, there are four marketing mix strategies to consider.

Product marketing strategy

In addition to the assortment strategy, which we have already discussed, it is necessary to determine a strategy for each product unit. It will depend on the stage of the product life cycle.

The following stages of the life cycle are distinguished:

Implementation. The product has just appeared on the market, there are not many competitors, there is no profit, but sales volumes are quite high, as are costs. At this stage, our main goal is to inform the target audience. The actions should be as follows:

Analysis of existing demand;
Informing the target audience about the qualities of the product;
Convincing the consumer of the high value of the product;
Construction of a distribution system.

Height. You see rapid growth in sales, profits and competition, costs are falling. You need:

Modify the product to avoid price competition;
Expand the range to cover as many segments as possible;
Optimize the distribution system;
The promotion program should be aimed at stimulation, and not at informing, as it was before;
Reducing prices and introducing additional services.

Maturity. Sales are growing, but slowly, profits are falling, and competition is growing rapidly. In this case, you can choose one of three strategies:

Market modification strategy, which involves entering new geographic markets. In addition, as part of this strategy, it is necessary to activate promotion tools and change the positioning of the product.
Product modification strategy involves improving the quality of the product, changing the design and adding additional characteristics.
Marketing mix modification strategy. In this case, we have to work with the price, it needs to be reduced, promotion, it needs to be intensified, and the distribution system, the costs of which need to be reduced.

Recession. Sales, profits, promotional costs and competition are reduced. Here, the so-called “harvest” strategy is suitable for you, that is, the gradual cessation of production of the product.

Pricing Strategies

There are pricing strategies for new enterprises and “old-timers” of the market.

Pricing Strategies for New Businesses

Market penetration. Relevant if there is sufficiently elastic demand in the market. It consists in setting the lowest possible price for the product.
Strategy of functional discounts for sales participants. If we want large chains to promote our product, we need to give them a discount. Suitable for large companies.
Standard pricing. Nothing special. The price is calculated as the sum of costs and profits.
Following the market involves setting the same prices as competitors. Suitable for you if there is no fierce price competition in the market.
Price integration strategy applicable when you can agree to maintain the price level at a certain level with other market participants.
A strategy for balancing the quality and price of a product. Here you need to determine what you will focus on: price or quality. Based on this, either minimize costs (lower the price) or improve the quality of the product (raise the price). The first option is acceptable for elastic demand.

Pricing strategies for market watchdogs

Open competition on price. If you are ready to reduce the price to the last player on the market, then this strategy is for you. Don't forget to estimate the elasticity of demand, it should be high.
Refusal of "price transparency". In this case, you need to make it impossible for consumers to compare your price with your competitors' prices. For example, make a non-standard volume of product, for example, not 1 liter of milk, but 850 ml. and set the price a little lower, but so that your liter of milk is actually more expensive. The consumer will not notice the trick.
Strategy for offering a package of goods. The strategy of offering a package of goods is to provide the consumer with the opportunity to purchase a “set of products” at a better price than if they were purchased separately. For example, in the McDonald's restaurant chain, such a package of products is a Happy Meal for children. When purchasing it, the consumer receives a toy at a reduced price, and the company receives an increase in sales.
Stepped pricing strategy for the offered assortment. Break down the entire assortment into price segments. This will allow you to cover a larger part of the market.
Price linking strategy. We all remember the “makeweight” that was attached to scarce goods. This is a great example of this strategy.
Price differentiation strategy. If your core product needs complementary products, then this strategy is for you. Set the price low for the main product and high for the complementary product. After purchasing the main product, the consumer will be forced to purchase a complementary one. A good example is a capsule coffee machine and coffee capsules.
Introduction of free services. This strategy is similar to the strategy of abandoning price transparency. In this case, the consumer will also not be able to compare your prices with those of your competitors.

Next step in determining pricing strategy– determination of a price differentiation (or discrimination) strategy; their use is optional for the company.

There are two price differentiation strategies:

Geographical price differentiation strategy. It is divided into zonal price, uniform price, selling price, basis point price and manufacturer's delivery cost strategies.

If your company has a presence in several areas (multiple geographic markets), then use the strategy zonal prices. It involves charging different prices for the same product in different geographic regions. The price may depend on the average salary in the region, differences in delivery costs, and so on.

If you set the same prices for products in all regions, then your strategy is single price strategy.

Selling price strategy applies if you do not want to transport the goods at your own expense to the consumer (point of sale). In this case, the consumer bears the cost of delivery.

Basis point price involves fixing a certain point from which the delivery cost will be calculated, regardless of the actual location of shipment.

Manufacturer's delivery cost strategy speaks for itself. The manufacturer does not include the cost of delivery of the goods in the price.

Price differentiation strategy for sales promotion. Suitable for you if the product is at the maturity stage of its life cycle. There are several other strategies that can be highlighted here.

“Bait Price” strategy. If your range includes sufficient quantity goods, you can apply this strategy. It consists of setting prices much lower than market prices for one particular product. The rest of the goods are offered at the average market price or above the average price. The strategy is especially suitable for retail stores.

Pricing strategy for special events – promotions, discounts, gifts. We won't stop here. Let's just say that there are discounts for timely payment of goods in cash (wholesale), discounts for volume, discounts for dealers, seasonal discounts (if you sell seasonal goods, you need to stimulate sales during the off-season).

Product distribution strategy

As part of the distribution strategy, it is necessary to determine the type of distribution channel and the intensity of the distribution channel. Let's deal with everything in order.

Distribution channel type

There are three types of distribution channels:

Direct channel– movement of goods without intermediaries. Used when a company offers high-tech or exclusive products to a small segment.
Short channel with the participation of a retail trader. In this case, an intermediary appears who will sell your product to the end consumer. Suitable for small companies.
Long channel with the participation of a wholesaler (wholesalers) and a retail trader. If you have a high production volume, then this channel will provide you with a sufficient number of outlets.

Distribution Channel Intensity

The intensity of the distribution channel depends on the product and production volume.

There are three types of distribution intensity:

Intensive distribution. If you own a large production facility and offer a mass product, then this strategy is for you. It assumes the maximum number of retail outlets.
Selective distribution. Selection of retail traders based on any criteria. Suitable for those who offer a premium, specific product.
Exclusive distribution. Careful selection of traders or independent distribution of products. If you offer an exclusive or high-tech product, you should choose this type.

Having considered these elements, we will obtain a product distribution strategy that will be part of the company's overall marketing strategy.

Product promotion strategy

There are two main promotion strategies:

Pulling promotion involves stimulating demand in the market by the manufacturer independently, without the help of distributors. In this case, the consumer himself must ask the distributors for your product. This can be done using promotion tools (advertising, PR, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing). In this case, the promotion strategy must specify all the tools used and the timing of their use;
Push promotion. In this case, you must make it profitable for distributors to sell your product. You must “force” him to promote your product. This can be done through discounts for sales representatives.

At first glance, choosing a marketing strategy seems to be a very labor-intensive and lengthy process. However, after going through all the described stages of defining a marketing strategy for each level of the strategic pyramid, you will understand that it is not so difficult. Let us give you an example to prove our words.

Marketing Strategy Example

Step 9 Calculation of the total marketing budget. We repeat again, these are only approximate figures.

Step 10 Analysis of marketing strategy.

That's it, our marketing strategy is ready.

Strategic marketing planning is an integral part of the work of any enterprise whose goal is competitiveness and increasing profits. Planning is the most important link in the marketing management system.

Main goals

Strategic planning is necessary to achieve the following enterprise goals:

Sales of products are the most High Quality;
Increasing the market share controlled by the organization;
Ensuring previously agreed upon delivery time of goods or services;
Taking into account the conditions set by competing enterprises;
Creating and maintaining a positive reputation about products among consumers.

IN general outline The main objectives of strategic marketing planning come down to increasing the company’s profits, improving the social status of the company, as well as increasing sales and successfully planning the possible costs of the enterprise.

Marketing planning stages

The marketing planning process consists of seven stages that are interconnected. They are put into practice with the help of the company's management together with employees of marketing enterprises and, together with marketing tasks, represent a marketing planning system. So, the stages:

Goals, their development, search for optimal solutions;
Finding goals that are more specific and for a shorter period of time, for example, several years;
Identification of ways and means to achieve the above goals;
Monitoring the implementation of the plan, comparing deadlines and work completed to achieve goals.

It is important to understand that planning is a process that is focused on historical data. In accordance with this information, the enterprise is able to more clearly define goals for future periods and, accordingly, monitor the implementation of plans. Refer to the financial statements for the previous half year. The quality of planning directly depends on the level of qualifications of employees.

Special marketing techniques are to be able to adjust previously drawn up plans. This is a very important point. Correct strategic planning contains “safety allowances” - these are special reserves that leave room for changes.

When planning, it is also important to consider the marketing budget. The marketing budget is part of the marketing strategy, which reflects the planned indicators of income, profit and expenses.

In addition to planning, marketing and marketing control is also an important step.

There are several forms of marketing control:

strategic control - involves monitoring the compliance of strategic marketing decisions with external circumstances and conditions of the company's activities.

operational control - the purpose of such control is to compare planned and actual indicators of the implementation of current plans.

profitability control and cost analysis - involves assessing the payback of marketing activities carried out by the company.

Main Strategies

The role of marketing in strategic planning cannot be overestimated. An example of this is competitive marketing strategies that are aimed at ensuring that the company takes a strong position in the market. According to Porter, this goal can be achieved using three strategies that do not contradict each other:

1. Cost minimization strategy. In most organizations, managers pay great attention to working with costs. Their main goal is to reduce the level of costs for production and sales of products compared to competing firms. This strategy has a number of advantages:

firstly, it protects the company from buyers who seek to reduce prices, since they can only reduce them to the level of competitors’ prices;

secondly, low costs provide the firm with flexibility in relation to suppliers who seek to increase prices;

thirdly, those factors that lead to cost savings are usually at the same time an obstacle to competitors entering the industry;

if a company saves on costs, this puts it in an advantageous position in relation to firms offering substitute products;

It should be noted that this cost saving strategy is not suitable for all companies. It can be implemented by those companies that control fairly large market shares in their industry. When a company becomes a leader in cost minimization and its profitability increases, managers will need to wisely manage additional profits and invest it in production development, equipment upgrades, etc. Thus, the company will be able to maintain its leadership position for a certain time. It is also worth remembering that when implementing such a strategy, competitors will always be able to take advantage of the leader’s cost-saving method and enter the fight. Therefore, it is possible that the leading company will lose and give way to competitors.

2. Differentiation strategy. This is an alternative strategy in which manufacturers are offered a unique product in their industry. Unlike the first strategy, the differentiation strategy allows for the presence of several leaders in the market, each of which will offer some special product or service.

This strategy involves increasing costs because it is necessary to invest money in product development. Such companies need to invest in product design, use the best raw materials for its production and provide quality service.

Like the strategy of minimizing costs, differentiation is fraught with certain risks. If the price for a product from a company that uses a cost minimization strategy is much lower than for a product from a company that uses a differentiation strategy, then the consumer may sacrifice some of the unique properties of the product, its design, etc. and choose a product with a lower price. In addition, the uniqueness that a company offers today may become outdated tomorrow or customer tastes may change. Competing firms that adhere to a cost minimization strategy can imitate the product offered by firms that adhere to a differentiation strategy and thereby lure customers to their side.

3. Concentration strategy. Firms that adhere to this strategy concentrate on satisfying the needs of a narrow circle of consumers, or on offering a narrow range of products. The main difference between this strategy and the previous two is that the company deliberately refuses to compete in the entire industry and competes only in a narrow segment of the market. Firms that adhere to this strategy do not offer cheap or unique products and services. Instead, they serve a very specific group of customers. By competing in a narrow area, this company can also use differentiation or cost minimization strategies.

Strategic planning is one of the management functions, which is the process of choosing the goals of the organization and ways to achieve them. Strategic planning provides the basis for all management decisions; the functions of organization, motivation and control are focused on the development of strategic plans.

The dynamic process of strategic planning is the umbrella under which all management functions are sheltered; without taking advantage of strategic planning, organizations as a whole and individuals will be deprived of a clear way of assessing the purpose and direction of the corporate enterprise. The strategic planning process provides the framework for managing organizational members. Projecting everything written above onto the realities of the situation in our country, it can be noted that strategic planning is becoming increasingly relevant for Russian enterprises, which are entering into fierce competition both among themselves and with foreign corporations.

The concept of “planning” includes defining goals and ways to achieve them. In the West, enterprise planning is carried out in such important areas as sales, finance, production and procurement. At the same time, of course, all private plans are interconnected.

Strategic Planning Objectives

Planning is necessary for the company to achieve the following goals:

* increasing controlled market share

* anticipation of consumer requirements

* production of higher quality products

* ensuring agreed delivery times

* setting price levels taking into account competitive conditions

* maintaining the company's reputation among consumers.

Planning tasks are determined by each company independently depending on the activities in which it is engaged. In general, the tasks of strategic planning of any company come down to the following:

1. Planning for profit growth.

2. Planning of enterprise costs, and, as a result, their reduction.

3. Increase in market share, increase in sales share.

4. Improvement social policy companies.

Thus, the main task of planning is to obtain maximum profit as a result of activity and the implementation of its most important functions: marketing planning, productivity, innovation and others.

Company goals:

Stages of strategic planning

The strategic planning process consists of seven interrelated stages; carried out jointly by the company's management and marketing employees.

Planning block diagram

The planning process itself goes through four stages:

* development of common goals;

* determination of specific, detailed goals for a given, relatively short period of time (2,5,10 years);

* determination of ways and means to achieve them;

* monitoring the achievement of set goals by comparing planned indicators with actual ones.

Planning is always guided by past data, but seeks to determine and control the development of the enterprise in the future. Therefore, the reliability of planning depends on the accuracy and correctness of past accounting calculations. Any enterprise planning is based on incomplete data. The quality of planning largely depends on the intellectual level of competent employees and managers. All plans must be drawn up in such a way that changes can be made to them, and the plans themselves are interconnected with existing conditions. Therefore, plans contain so-called reserves, otherwise known as “safety allowances,” but too large reserves make plans inaccurate, and small reserves lead to frequent changes to the plan. The basis for drawing up a plan for specific areas of the enterprise’s production areas are individual tasks, which are defined both in monetary and quantitative terms. At the same time, planning should start from the so-called bottlenecks: recently, sales, finance or labor.

short and long term planning

Any company must use both long-term and short-term planning. For example, when planning the production of a product as one of essential elements market strategy, it is advisable to use long-term and operational planning in combination, since planning the production of a product has its own specific features and is determined by the goal set, the timing of its achievement, the type of product, and so on.

long-term planning

A long-term plan usually covers three-year or five-year periods. It is rather descriptive in nature and determines the overall strategy of the company, since it is difficult to predict all possible calculations for such a long period. A long-term plan is developed by the company's management and contains the main strategic goals of the enterprise for the future.

Key areas of long-term planning:

* organizational structure

* production capacity

* capital investments

* financial needs

* Research and development

Short-term planning

Short-term planning can be for a year, six months, a month, and so on. The short-term plan for the year includes production volume, profit planning and more. Short-term planning closely links the plans of various partners and suppliers, and therefore these plans can either be coordinated, or certain aspects of the plan are common to the manufacturing company and its partners.

The short-term financial plan is of particular importance for the enterprise. It allows you to analyze and control liquidity taking into account all other plans, and the reserves contained in it provide information about the required liquid funds.

Short-term financial planning consists of the following plans:

1. Next financial plan:

* turnover income

* running costs (raw materials, wages)

* winnings or losses from current activities

2. Financial plan for the neutral area of activity of the enterprise:

* income (sale of old equipment)

* expenses

*gains or losses from neutral activities

3. Credit plan;

4. Capital investment plan;

5. Liquidity plan. It covers the gains or losses of previous plans:

* sum of winnings and losses

* available liquid funds

* liquid funds reserve

In addition, the short-term plan includes:

* turnover plan;

* plan for raw materials;

* production plan;

* labor plan;

* plan for the movement of finished goods inventories;

* profit realization plan;

* credit plan;

* capital investment plan and more.

Stages of drawing up a short-term plan:

1. Analysis of the situation and problem.

2. Forecasting future operating conditions.

3. Setting goals.

4. Selecting the optimal option.

5. Making a plan.

6. Adjustment and linking.

7. Specification of the plan.

8. Execution of the plan.

9. Analysis and control.

Requirements for a strategic plan

Several key messages related to strategy must be understood and, more importantly, accepted by senior management. First of all, strategy is mostly formulated and developed by senior management, but its implementation requires the participation of all levels of management. The strategic plan must be supported by extensive research and evidence. To compete effectively in today's business world, a business must continually collect and analyze vast amounts of information about the industry, competition, and other factors.

The strategic plan gives the enterprise certainty and individuality, which allows it to attract certain types of workers, and, at the same time, not attract other types of workers. This plan opens the way for a business to guide its employees, attract new employees, and help sell products or services.

Finally, strategic plans must be designed to not only remain coherent over long periods of time, but also to be flexible enough to allow modification and reorientation as needed. The overall strategic plan should be viewed as a program that guides the firm's activities over an extended period of time, recognizing that the conflictual and constantly changing business and social environment makes constant adjustments inevitable.

A strategy is a detailed, comprehensive, comprehensive plan. It should be developed from the perspective of the entire corporation rather than the individual. It is rare that the founder of a company can afford to combine personal plans from the organization's strategies. The strategy involves the development of reasonable measures and plans for achieving the intended goals, which should take into account the scientific and technical potential of the company and its production and sales needs. The strategic plan must be supported by extensive research and evidence. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly collect and analyze a huge amount of information about industries National economy, market, competition, etc. In addition, a strategic plan gives a firm a sense of identity that allows it to attract certain types of employees and help it sell products or services. Strategic plans must be developed in such a way that they not only remain coherent over time, but also maintain flexibility. The overall strategic plan should be viewed as a program that guides the firm's activities over an extended period of time, subject to constant adjustments due to the constantly changing business and social environment.

Strategic planning by itself does not guarantee success, and an organization making strategic plans may fail due to failures in organization, motivation, and control. Nevertheless, formal planning can create a number of significant favorable factors for organizing the activities of an enterprise. Knowing what the organization wants to achieve helps clarify the most appropriate courses of action. By making informed and systematic planning decisions, management reduces the risk of making the wrong decision due to erroneous or unreliable information about the organization's capabilities or the external situation. That. planning helps create unity common goal within the organization.

Types of management activities within planning

Strategic planning is a set of actions and decisions taken by management that lead to the development of specific strategies designed to help the organization achieve its goals. The strategic planning process is a tool that helps in making management decisions. Its task is to ensure innovation and change in the organization to a sufficient extent. There are four main types of management activities within the strategic planning process:

* resource distribution

* adaptation to the external environment

* internal coordination

* organizational strategic foresight

Resource distribution.

This process involves the allocation of scarce organizational resources, such as funds, scarce management talent, and technological expertise.

Adaptation to the external environment

Adaptation covers all actions of a strategic nature that improve the relationship of an enterprise with its environment. Businesses need to adapt to both external opportunities and threats, identify appropriate options, and ensure that strategy is effectively adapted to environmental conditions.

Internal coordination

Involves coordinating strategic activities to reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise in order to achieve effective integration of internal operations. Ensuring efficient internal operations of an enterprise is an integral part of management activities.

Awareness of organizational strategies

This activity involves systematically developing the thinking of managers by creating an enterprise organization that can learn from past strategic decisions. The ability to learn from experience enables an enterprise to correctly adjust its strategic direction and improve professionalism in the field of strategic management. The role of the senior manager involves more than simply initiating the strategic planning process; it also involves implementing, integrating and evaluating the process.

The model of the strategic planning process is presented in Diagram 1.

Diagram 1 Strategic planning process

GOALS OF THE ORGANIZATION (ENTERPRISE)

The first and perhaps most significant decision in planning will be the choice of enterprise goals. It must be emphasized here that those enterprises that, due to their size, have a need for multi-level systems also need several broadly defined goals, as well as more specific goals related to the overall goals of the organization.

Enterprise mission

One of the most significant decisions in planning is choosing the purpose of the organization. The main overall goal of the organization is designated as the mission, and all other goals are developed to achieve it. The significance of the mission cannot be exaggerated. The developed goals serve as criteria for the entire subsequent management decision-making process. If leaders don't know the organization's core purpose, they won't have a logical point of reference for choosing the best alternative. Only the individual values of the leader could serve as a basis, which would lead to scattered efforts and unclear goals. The mission details the status of the company and provides direction and guidelines for defining goals and strategies at various levels of development. Mission formation includes:

* finding out what kind of business activity the company is engaged in;

* determination of the company's operating principles under pressure from the external environment;

* identifying the company culture.

The mission of the firm also includes the task of identifying the basic needs of consumers and effectively satisfying them to create a clientele that will support the firm in the future.

Often, company managers believe that their main mission is to make a profit. Indeed, by satisfying some internal need, the company will ultimately be able to survive. But in order to earn a profit, the company needs to monitor the environment of its activities, while taking into account value-based approaches to the concept of the market. The mission is of utmost importance to the organization; the values and goals of senior management must not be forgotten. The values shaped by our experiences guide or orient leaders when they are faced with critical decisions. Western scientists have identified six value orientations that influence management decision-making, and have associated these orientations with specific types of target preferences.

Company-wide goals are formed and established based on the overall mission of the organization and the specific values and goals that senior management focuses on.

Specific and measurable goals (this allows you to create a clear reference point for subsequent decisions and evaluation of progress).

Orientation of goals in time (here it is necessary to understand not only what the company wants to accomplish, but also when the result should be achieved).

Achieving the goal (serves to increase the efficiency of the organization); setting a goal that is difficult to achieve can lead to disastrous results.

Mutually supporting goals (actions and decisions necessary to achieve one goal should not interfere with the achievement of other goals).

Objectives will only be a meaningful part of the strategic management process if senior management articulates them correctly, effectively institutionalizes them, communicates them, and encourages their implementation throughout the organization.

The main overall purpose of the enterprise - the clearly expressed reason for its existence - is designated as its mission. Goals are developed to achieve this mission.

The mission details the status of the enterprise and provides direction and guidance for defining goals and strategies at various organizational levels. The mission statement of the enterprise should contain the following:

1. The mission of the enterprise in terms of its main services or products, its main markets and its main technologies

2. The external environment in relation to the company, which determines the operating principles of the enterprise

3. Organizational culture. What type of work climate exists within the company?

Mission selection

Some leaders never bother choosing and articulating the mission of their organization. Often this mission seems obvious to them. If you ask a typical small business owner what their mission is, the answer will probably be, “Of course, to make a profit.” But if we think carefully about this issue, then the inadequacy of choosing profit as the overall mission becomes clear, although it is undoubtedly an essential goal.

Profit is a completely internal problem of the enterprise. Since the organization is open system, she can ultimately survive only if she satisfies some need outside herself. To earn the profits it needs to survive, a firm must monitor the environment in which it operates. Therefore, it is in the environment that management looks for the overall goal of the organization. The need for mission selection was recognized by prominent leaders long before the development of systems theory. Henry Ford, a leader who understood the importance of profit, defined Ford's mission as providing people with low-cost transportation.

Choosing an organization's mission as narrow as profit limits management's ability to explore acceptable alternatives when making a decision. As a result, key factors may not be considered and subsequent decisions may lead to low levels of organizational performance.

Characteristics of targets

Company-wide goals are formulated and established based on the overall mission of the organization and the defined values and goals that senior management focuses on. To truly contribute to the success of an organization, goals must have a number of characteristics.

1. First, goals must be specific and measurable. By expressing its goals in specific, measurable terms, management creates a clear frame of reference for subsequent decisions and evaluation of progress.

2. A specific forecast horizon is another characteristic of effective goals. Goals are usually set for long or short time periods. A long-term goal has a planning horizon of approximately five years. A short-term goal in most cases represents one of the organization's plans that should be completed within a year. Medium-term goals have a planning horizon of one to five years.

3. The goal must be achievable in order to improve the effectiveness of the organization.

4. To be effective, an organization's multiple goals must be mutually supportive—that is, the actions and decisions needed to achieve one goal must not interfere with the achievement of other goals.

Objectives will only be a meaningful part of the strategic management process if senior management defines them correctly, then effectively institutionalizes them, communicates them, and encourages their implementation throughout the organization. The strategic management process will be successful to the extent that senior management is involved in setting goals and to the extent those goals reflect management's values and the firm's realities.

General production goals are formulated and established on the basis of the overall mission of the enterprise and certain values and goals that are oriented by top management. To truly contribute to the success of an enterprise, goals must have a number of characteristics:

* specific and measurable goals

* orientation of goals in time

* achievable goals

1. General (global), developed for the company as a whole:

a) reflect the concept of the company;

b) designed for the long term;

c) determine the main directions of the company’s development programs;

d) must be clearly formulated and linked to resources;

e) ranking of goals based on priority.

2. Specific goals are developed within the framework of general goals for the main activities in each production division of the company and are expressed in quantitative and qualitative indicators (profitability, profit margin).

Other specific goals (subgoals):

Marketing (sales level, diversification, distribution system, sales volume);

Scientific research and development (new products, product quality, technological level);

Production (costs, quality, savings in material resources, new and improved products);

Finance (structure and sources of financing, methods of profit distribution, tax minimization);

Formation of strategic business units (SBU).

SHP - independent departments or divisions responsible for an assortment group, or any product department within an organization with a concentration on a specific market and a manager with full responsibility for combining all functions into a strategy. SHP are the main elements of building a strategic marketing plan. Each of them has the following general characteristics: specific orientation; precise target market; one of the company's marketing managers at the head; control over your resources; own strategy; clearly identified competitors; clear differentiating advantage.

ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS OF THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

After establishing its mission and goals, business management begins the diagnostic phase of the strategic planning process. On this path, the first step is to study the external environment:

* assessing changes affecting various aspects of the current strategy;

* identification of factors that pose a threat to the current strategy of the company; control and analysis of competitors’ activities;

* identification of factors that present greater opportunities for achieving company-wide goals by adjusting plans.

Analysis of the external environment helps to control factors external to the company, obtain important results (time to develop an early warning system in case of possible threats, time to forecast opportunities, time to draw up a contingency plan and time to develop strategies). To do this, you need to find out where the organization is, where it should be in the future and what management should do to achieve this. The threats and opportunities that a firm faces can be divided into seven areas:

1. Economic factors. Some factors in the economic environment must be continually diagnosed and assessed because... the state of the economy affects the firm's goals. These are inflation rates, international balance of payments, employment levels, etc. Each of them can represent either a threat or a new opportunity for the enterprise.

2. Political factors. The active participation of business firms in the political process is an indication of the importance public policy for organization; Therefore, the state must monitor regulatory documents local authorities, state and federal government authorities.

3. Market factors. The market environment poses a constant threat to the firm. Factors that influence the success and failure of an organization include the distribution of income of the population, the level of competition in the industry, changing demographic conditions, and ease of market penetration.

4. Technological factors. An analysis of the technological environment may, at a minimum, take into account changes in production technology, the use of computers in the design and delivery of goods and services, or advances in communications technology. The head of any company must ensure that he is not exposed to “future shock” that destroys the organization.

5. Competition factors. Any organization should examine the actions of its competitors: an analysis of future goals and an assessment of the current strategy of competitors, a review of the prerequisites regarding competitors and the industry in which the company operates, an in-depth study of the strengths and weaknesses of competitors.

6. Factors of social behavior. These factors include changing attitudes, expectations and mores of society (the role of entrepreneurship, the role of women and minorities in society, the consumer movement).

7. International factors. Management of firms operating internationally must continually assess and monitor changes in this broader environment.

That. Analysis of the external environment allows an organization to create an inventory of the threats and opportunities it faces in that environment. For successful planning, management must have a complete understanding not only of significant external problems, but also of the internal potential capabilities and shortcomings of the organization.

After establishing its mission and goals, management must begin the diagnostic phase of the strategic planning process. The first step is to study the external environment. Managers evaluate the external environment according to three parameters:

1. Assess changes that impact different aspects of the current strategy

2. Determine which factors pose a threat to the company's current strategy.

3. Determine which factors present greater opportunities to achieve company-wide goals by adjusting the plan.

Environmental analysis is the process by which strategic planners monitor factors external to the enterprise to determine opportunities and threats to the firm. Analysis of the external environment helps to obtain important results. It gives the organization time to anticipate opportunities, time to plan for possible threats, and time to develop strategies that can turn previous threats into any profitable opportunities.

In terms of assessing these threats and opportunities, the role of environmental analysis in the strategic planning process is essentially to answer three specific questions:

1. Where is the company located now?

2.Where does senior management think the company should be located in the future?

3. What should management do to move the enterprise from the position it is in now to the position where management wants it to be?

The threats and opportunities facing an enterprise can generally be categorized into seven areas.

Scheme 2 Impact of the external environment

MANAGEMENT SURVEY OF THE INTERNAL STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE ENTERPRISE

Firm management must determine whether the firm has the internal strength to take advantage of external opportunities and whether it has weaknesses that could complicate problems associated with external threats. This process is called a management survey. It represents a methodological assessment functional zones firm, designed to identify its strategic strengths and weaknesses. The survey includes functions such as marketing, accounting, operations (production), human resources, culture and corporate image. When examining the marketing function, there are seven areas of analysis to consider:

competitiveness and desired market share as a percentage of its total capacity, which is an essential goal for the company;

the diversity and quality of the product range, which is constantly monitored and evaluated by senior management;

market demographic statistics, monitoring changes in markets and in the interests of consumers;

market research and development of new products and services;

pre-sales and after-sales customer service, which is one of the weak points in business;

effective sales, advertising and promotion of goods (an aggressive, competent sales team can be the most valuable asset of a company; creatively directed advertising and promotion of goods is a good addition to the product range);

profit (nothing, even the best, will be worthwhile if there is no profit as a result).

Financial analysis can benefit a firm

identify existing potential internal weaknesses of the organization in comparison with its competitors.

Continuous review of operations management is essential to a firm's long-term survival. When examining the strengths and weaknesses of the operations management function, consideration should be given to the following questions:

1. Can a firm sell goods or services at a lower price than its competitors? If not, why not?

2. What access does the firm have to new materials? How many suppliers does it involve?

3. What equipment does the company have?

5. Are the company's products subject to seasonal fluctuations in demand? If so, how can the current situation be corrected?

6. Can the firm serve markets that its competitors cannot serve?

7. Does the firm have an effective and efficient quality control system? How effectively is the production process planned and designed?

The origins of most problems in an organization lie in human resources. Here it is necessary to take into account: the type of employees, the competence and training of management, the remuneration system, the succession of leadership positions, the training and development of employees, the loss of leading specialists and their reasons, the quality of products and the work of employees. A firm's culture (the atmosphere or climate of an organization) is used to attract certain types of employees and to encourage certain types of behavior. The image of a corporation is created with the help of employees, customers and public opinion. A firm's culture and image are strengthened or weakened by the company's reputation.

Having aligned internal strengths and weaknesses with external threats and opportunities, management is ready to select appropriate strategic alternatives.

The next challenge that management faces is determining whether the enterprise has internal strength. The process by which internal problems are diagnosed is called a management survey.

A management survey is a methodical assessment of the functional areas of an enterprise, designed to identify its strengths and weaknesses.

Marketing.

Seven things worth considering when examining the marketing function: general areas for analysis and research:

Market share and competitiveness

Variety and quality of product range

Market Demographics

Market Research and Development

Pre-sales and after-sales customer service

Finance/Accounting

Financial analysis can benefit an organization and help improve the effectiveness of the strategic planning process. A detailed analysis of the financial position can reveal existing and potential internal weaknesses in the organization, as well as the relative position of the organization in comparison with its competitors. Examining financial performance can reveal areas of internal strengths and weaknesses to management over the long term.

Operations

Continuous analysis of operations management is essential to the long-term survival of an enterprise. Here are some key questions to answer when examining the strengths and weaknesses of the operations management function.

1. Can we produce our goods or services at a lower cost than our competitors? If not, why not?

2. What access do we have to new materials? Are we dependent on a single supplier or a limited number of suppliers?

3. Is our equipment up to date and well maintained?

4. Are purchases designed to reduce the amount of inventory and lead time? Are there adequate controls over incoming materials and outgoing products?

5. Are our products subject to seasonal fluctuations in demand, which forces us to resort to temporary layoffs of workers? If this is so, how can this situation be corrected?

6. Can we serve markets that our competitors cannot serve?

7. Do we have an effective and efficient quality control system?

8. How effectively did we plan and design the production process? Can it be improved?

Human resources

The origins of most problems in organizations can ultimately be found in people. If an organization has skilled employees and managers with well-motivated goals, it is able to pursue various alternative strategies. Otherwise, performance improvement should be sought because the weakness is most likely to jeopardize the future performance of the organization.

Culture and image of the enterprise

The culture and image of an enterprise are strengthened or weakened by the company's reputation. Does the firm have a good reputation for achieving its goals? Was she consistent in her activities? How does this business compare to others in the industry?

EXPLORING STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES

Strategy development is carried out at the highest level of management and is based on solving the tasks described above. At this stage of decision-making, the manager needs to evaluate alternative ways of operating the company and choose optimal options to achieve your goals. Based on the analysis, in the process of developing a strategy, strategic thinking is formed through discussion and agreement with the management line apparatus of the concept of the development of the company as a whole, the recommendation of new development strategies, the formulation of draft goals, the preparation of directives for long-term planning, the development of strategic plans and their control. Strategic management assumes that a company determines its key positions for the future depending on the priority of its goals. A firm faces four major strategic alternatives: limited growth, growth, contraction, and a combination of these strategies. Limited growth is followed by most organizations in developed countries. It is characterized by the establishment of goals based on what has been achieved, adjusted mergers of firms in unrelated industries. Managers rarely choose a reduction strategy. In it, the level of goals pursued is set lower than what was achieved in the past. For many firms, downsizing may mean a path to streamlining and refocusing operations. In this case, several options are possible:

liquidation (complete sale of inventories and assets of the organization);

deduction of excess (separation by firms of some of their divisions or activities);

downsizing and refocusing (cutting down part of one's activities in an attempt to increase profits).

Downsizing strategies are most often used when a company's performance continues to deteriorate, during an economic downturn, or simply to save the organization. The strategy of combining all alternatives will be followed by large firms that are active in several industries.

Having chosen a specific strategic alternative, management must turn to a specific strategy. The main goal is to select a strategic alternative that will maximize the long-term effectiveness of the organization. To do this, managers must have a clear, shared vision of the company and its future. One's commitment to a particular choice often limits future strategy, so the decision must be subject to careful examination and evaluation. Strategic choice is influenced by various factors: risk (a factor in the life of the company); knowledge of past strategies; the reaction of shareholders, who often limit management's flexibility in choosing strategy; time factor depending on the choice of the right moment. Decision-making on strategic issues can be carried out in different directions: “bottom-up”, “top-down”, in the interaction of the two above-mentioned directions (strategy is developed in the process of interaction between top management, planning service and operational units).

The formation of the company's strategy as a whole is becoming increasingly important. This concerns the priority of problems to be solved, the determination of the structure of the company, the justification of investments, the coordination and integration of strategies.

The company has four strategic alternatives at its disposal - limited growth, growth, contraction and a combination of these options.

Limited growth.

The strategic alternative that most organizations pursue is limited growth. The limited growth strategy is characterized by setting goals based on what has been achieved, adjusted for inflation. The limited growth strategy is used in mature industries with static technology when the organization is generally satisfied with its position.

The growth strategy is implemented by annually significantly increasing the level of short-term and long-term goals above the level of the previous year. A growth strategy is used in dynamic industries with rapidly changing technologies.

Reduction

The alternative least often chosen by managers and often referred to as a strategy of last resort is the downsizing strategy. As part of the reduction alternative, there may be several options:

1. Liquidation

2. Cutting off excess

3. Downsizing and refocusing

Combination

The strategy of combining all alternatives will most likely be followed by large firms that are active in several industries. A combination strategy is a combination of any of the three strategies mentioned.

The strategic choices made by managers are influenced by a variety of factors. Here are some of them:

2. Knowledge of past strategies

3. Reaction to owners

4. Time factor

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND COMPANY SUCCESS

Some organizations and businesses can achieve a certain level of success without spending much time on formal planning. Moreover, strategic planning alone does not ensure success. However, formal planning can create a number of important and often significant benefits for the organization.

The current rate of change and increase in knowledge is so great that strategic planning seems to be the only way to formally forecast future problems and opportunities. It provides senior management with a means of creating a plan for the long term. Strategic planning also provides the basis for decision making. Knowing what the organization wants to achieve helps clarify the most appropriate courses of action. Formal planning helps reduce risk in decision making. By making informed and systematized planning decisions, management reduces the risk of making the wrong decision due to erroneous or unreliable information about the capabilities of the enterprise or the external situation. Planning, as it serves to formulate set goals, helps create unity of common purpose within an organization. In industry today, strategic planning is becoming the rule rather than the exception.

Implementation of the strategic plan.

Strategic planning becomes meaningful when it is implemented.

Once an underlying overall strategy has been selected, it must be implemented by integrating it with other organizational functions.

An important mechanism for linking strategy is the development of plans and guidelines: tactics, policies, procedures and rules.

Tactics represent specific short-term strategies. Policies provide general guidelines for action and decision making. Procedures prescribe the actions to be taken in a particular situation. Rules specify exactly what should be done in a particular situation.

Evaluating the strategic plan.

The development and subsequent implementation of a strategic plan seems simple process. Unfortunately, too many organizations take the “implement now” approach to planning and fail disastrously. Continuous evaluation of the strategic plan is critical to the long-term success of the plan.

Strategy evaluation is carried out by comparing performance results with goals. The evaluation process is used as a feedback mechanism to adjust the strategy. To be effective, assessment must be carried out systematically and continuously. A properly designed process must cover all levels - from top to bottom. There are five questions to consider when evaluating your strategic planning process:

1. Is the strategy internally consistent with the organization's capabilities?

2. Does the strategy involve an acceptable degree of risk?

3. Does the organization have sufficient resources to implement the strategy?

4. Does the strategy take into account external threats and opportunities?

5. Is this strategy the best way use of company resources?

For an enterprise of any form of ownership and any scale of economic activity, management of economic activities, determination of strategy, as well as planning are essential. Currently, managers of Russian enterprises are forced to make business decisions in conditions of uncertainty of the consequences of such decisions, moreover, with a lack of economic, commercial knowledge and practical experience work in new conditions.

Many economic zones in which enterprises operate are characterized by increased risk, because... there is insufficient knowledge about consumer behavior, the position of competitors, the correct choice of partners, and there are no reliable sources for obtaining commercial and other information. In addition, Russian managers have no experience in managing companies in market conditions. There are many problems in the sales activities of Russian enterprises. Managers of enterprises producing final or intermediate products feel restrictions from the effective demand of the population and consumer enterprises. The issue of sales came under the direct control of enterprise management. As a rule, state-owned enterprises did not and do not have qualified sales personnel. Now almost all enterprises have realized the importance of a sales program. Most of them have to solve tactical issues, because... many have already faced the problem of warehouses being overstocked with their products and a sharp drop in demand for them. The strategy for selling products on the market remains unclear. Trying to change their assortment, many enterprises that produced industrial products are beginning to switch to consumer goods. If products for industrial purposes are produced, then in some cases enterprises also develop divisions that consume these products. By restructuring their assortment, enterprises began to predict sales in advance and find consumers for their products.

When choosing consumers, managers take into account: direct contact, communication with the end consumer, and the customer’s solvency. The search for new consumers and the development of new markets has become very relevant for the enterprise (some managers are looking for new consumers on their own).

A new phenomenon has also been noticed - the relationship between enterprises and new commercial structures, which often sell part of the enterprise’s products, and the rest is sold through old channels. In addition, the enterprise can contact the company on all complex issues of ensuring production. One of the tactics for ensuring the sales of products in modern Russian reality, in conditions where domestic effective demand for products is limited, has become access to the international market. However, this is only possible for enterprises with a high level of production technology that ensures the competitiveness of their goods.

Thus, management and strategic management of enterprise activities are necessary in any field of economic activity. At the same time, there are still many problems and significant shortcomings that require prompt resolution, which, in turn, will allow Russian economy achieve stabilization and progressive development.

Part 1. The concept of marketing strategy. Definition of marketing strategy.

Marketing strategy is a set of long-term decisions regarding ways to meet the needs of the company’s existing and potential customers through the use of its internal resources and external capabilities.

A company's marketing strategy is usually enshrined in a document with the same name or the name "marketing policy."

A marketing strategy is developed as an integral part of the company's overall development strategy.

Depending on the industry, the market situation and the prevailing characteristics of the organization’s management, a marketing strategy can be developed for a period of 1 to 25 years.

Most often in Russia, a planning horizon of 1-3 years is currently used, but now you can find enterprises developing strategies for a period of 5 and even 10 years.

Setting market goals

The development of a marketing strategy is preceded by the establishment of the company's market goals.

Target- the specific state of individual characteristics of the organization, the achievement of which is desirable for it and the achievement of which its activities are aimed.

Market objectives define the company's desired position in the market in the future. The timing for which market goals are set depends on the scale of the goal and the speed of changes in the company’s external environment. The requirements for setting market goals are similar to the general requirements for setting organizational goals.

Requirements for goals

Goals should be (SMART principle):

specific - Specific;
achievable -Measurable;
agreed (with each other) - Agreeable, Accordant;
measurable - Realistic;
bound in time - Timebounded.

Goals should be agreed upon:

with the company's mission;
among themselves (hierarchy of goals);
with those who have to carry them out.

Classification of targets

There are various classifications of goals. The only generally accepted classification is based on the time for which goals are set. Usually there are long-term and short-term goals. Sometimes intermediate goals are set between long-term and short-term goals; they are called medium-term. However, there is no generally accepted scale for classifying goals as short-term, medium-term or long-term. In our conditions, short-term goals are usually considered to be up to 1 year, medium-term 1-3 years, long-term - from 3 years.

Depending on the specifics of the industry, the characteristics of the state of the environment, the nature and content of the mission, each organization sets its own goals. For example, the following classification of objectives by functional area can be used:

Market goals(or external program goals), For example:

Number of clients.

Market share.

Sales volume in physical and value terms

Production goals(internal program goals) are a consequence of market ones. Includes everything needed to achieve market goals (excluding organizational resources), for example:

Ensure a certain volume of production (production volume = sales volume - existing inventories + planned inventories).

Build a workshop (volume of capital construction).

Develop a new technology (carrying out research and development work).

Organizational goals - everything related to the management, structure and personnel of the organization, for example:

Hire three marketers.

Bring the average salary level of employees to the level of the leader in the market.

Implement a project management system.

Financial goals - link all goals together in value terms, for example:

Net sales (from "market goals").

The amount of costs (from “production” and “organizational” goals).

Gross and net profit.

Return on sales, etc.

For existing enterprises, the establishment of market goals, as a rule, precedes the establishment of all goals of other functional areas (production, organizational, financial, etc.). Thus, market goals are the starting point for defining other functional goals.

establishing all goals of other functional areas (production, organizational, financial, etc.). Thus, market goals are the starting point for defining other functional goals.

Figure 1. Relationship between types of goals

In some cases, setting market goals may be preceded by setting financial goals, which is usually typical for entrepreneurs at the stage of opening a new business or when preparing projects for the development of certain new areas of activity.

The limitation for developing market goals is higher-level goals. Considering that market goals are key (overriding) for the life of an organization, then a higher level for market goals are:

mission;
vision;
the organization's credo (ideology).

Components of a marketing strategy

The company's marketing strategy must contain the following elements:

Defining the target market and target segments.
Identification of target customer groups.
Positioning.
Marketing complex.

Defining the target market and target segments

Product	Product or service
Market	The area of interaction between economic entities, characterized by the presence of one part of them with a need for a certain product, which can be expressed in demand, and the ability of the other part to satisfy this need with an appropriate supply.
Segment	A part of the market that is logically separated by a homogeneous group of goods, a homogeneous group of consumers, or a homogeneous group of goods and their consumers, individual factors related to consumers, goods, etc.
Market segmentation	Identification of market segments in accordance with certain criteria characterizing the degree of homogeneity of a group of goods or consumers.
Targeted Marketing	Directing a company's efforts to serve one or more groups of consumers with common needs or characteristics.
Target group	A group of consumers homogeneous consumer behavior regarding a specific product that the company is targeting.

Determining the segment in which the company operates or intends to operate is the most important management decision and involves assessing and correlating the company’s capabilities and the attractiveness of the market. The choice of the target segment determines what needs the company aims to satisfy and what products or services it will present to customers.

If market segmentation is based on the study and consideration of the individual needs of each group of buyers, then the market is logically transformed into a set of consumer segments for which the appropriate product and marketing mix can be provided. In this case, the task of identifying the target segment and identifying the target consumer group (see below) merge with each other.

If the main criterion for segmentation is the characteristics of goods, then the market is logically transformed into a set of product segments (see Example 2 below), in which further, if necessary, separate target consumer groups are determined.

Purpose of market segmentation- divide the market into smaller groups (segments) in order to subsequently concentrate efforts on the most attractive of them.

In any case, no matter how the company segments the market, it must define for itself and write down in documents both the segments in which it operates and the target consumer groups.

Example 1. Considering the heterogeneous supply of sand in different areas of the city and the economic inexpediency of transporting sand over significant distances,
OJSC Rudas, which is the leader in the construction sand market in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, segments the St. Petersburg sand market geographically, distinguishing three segments:

South of the city.
Right Bank.
North and North-West of the city.

Each of these segments is characterized by a different ratio of supply and demand for construction sands, as well as the level of competition, so the company determines market goals in each of these segments and builds a pricing policy in accordance with this.

Defining target customer groups

The 80/20 rule of thumb states that 20% of customers generate 80% of a company's profits. Addition (William Sherdon) "80/20/30": "The 20% of the most profitable customers give the company 80% of the profits, half of which is lost in serving the 30% of the least profitable customers."

Identifying target customer groups and concentrating efforts on working with them allows the company to more fully satisfy the needs of priority customers and strengthen its position in the market. At the same time, concentration allows the organization to significantly increase the efficiency of using internal and external resources.

In some cases, a company may not carry out market segmentation by product at the first stage of analysis and may not even determine the markets in which it intends to operate, linking its activities with a specific group of customers (thus, the company determines only the needs of which group of consumers it works ).

Example 2. An example of such an organization is the Petromed holding, which manages the work of more than 10 companies in various areas of activity that provide comprehensive solutions to the problems of Russian healthcare organizations. Thus, Petromed, having identified its target group of consumers (health care organizations), segments its markets according to various types of their needs.

To identify target groups, it is necessary to define segmentation criteria , those. factors that allow you to divide existing and/or potential customers into groups. The most common criteria for consumer segmentation include satisfied needs, geographic factors, and consumer behavior.

Unjustifiably often, the level of consumer income is used a priori as the main criterion for segmentation (especially when it comes to consumer goods). At the same time, appropriate consumer research is not conducted, as a result of which the division by income level may not correspond to different types of consumer behavior.

Example 3. Based on the marketing research conducted, it was decided to divide the clients of JSC Rudas into the following groups according to the type of needs satisfied:

Factories - house-building factories, brick factories, factories of reinforced concrete products.
Road workers are road construction organizations.
Builders - construction organizations (civil/residential construction).
Others - other organizations engaged in general construction work.

The introduction of an additional segmentation criterion - the volume of average annual purchases - makes it possible to distinguish large and small customers in these groups.

Each of the selected groups has differences in requirements for the quality of purchased sand, delivery conditions and other conditions for working with the sand supplier; some of the selected groups are more attractive for JSC Rudas.

Regardless of what kind of decision the company makes regarding the choice of the target segment and target group of customers, this decision must be understood and recorded in the marketing strategy.

Positioning

When a company has decided which market segments it intends to operate in, it needs to make a decision regarding what “positions” it would like to occupy in these segments.

Positioning is very closely related to the company's competitive strategy in terms of highlighting competitive advantages. Often these competitive advantages are the basis for creating a brand image in the eyes of potential consumers. But you can also often find positioning options when the non-existent advantages of a product are highlighted for the consumer.

Marketing complex

The marketing mix determines how possible marketing tools and methods of influencing consumers will be used in four areas (product, price, promotion, distribution) to ensure the necessary positioning in the market.

The marketing complex includes:

product policy (assortment, service, etc.),
pricing policy (prices, discounts, calculations);
promotion policy (advertising, PR and point-of-sale advertising);
distribution policy (geography, location at the point of sale, maybe sales channels and transportation).

The purpose of developing a company's product policy is to determine in what range of goods the company will offer on the market, what characteristics they will have.

The purpose of developing a company's pricing policy is to determine the rules for setting and changing prices for offered goods, as well as possible price adjustments (discounts).

The promotion policy is developed in order to determine what methods the company will use to inform consumers about its activities and products, incl. for positioning purposes.

The purpose of developing a distribution policy is to determine how the delivery of a company's goods to consumers will be organized.

Part 2. The place of marketing in company management

Marketing as a functional area

We distinguish the following types of organizational strategies:

Basic strategy- a fundamental decision for the development of the organization. That is, whether the organization will grow or reduce (curtail) activities. Or it will fix the scale of activity at the existing level. The growth or curtailment of activities is usually assessed based on the volume of product sales in physical terms (rather than in value terms).

Making a decision on the basic strategy determines the need for resources (with the basic “growth” strategy, the need for resources in most cases increases, with the “reduction” strategy it decreases (funds are saved or a surplus appears)°.

Competitive strategy- choice between targeting the entire market or part of it, as well as between the main competitive advantage(low price of the product or its distinctive features*).

Portfolio strategy- choice associated with linking various management objects (products, business units, enterprises, technologies, resources) with each other and determining the place of each object among others. This solves the problem of obtaining a balanced portfolio.

For example, portfolio strategies are product strategy And corporate strategy.

Product strategy - decision on the structure (composition and volumes) of implementation main products, produced by the enterprise. That is, decisions for each individual product - for example, to maintain sales, modify or discontinue production, start developing a new product, etc.

Corporate strategy - decision regarding individual enterprises included in the corporation. For example, increase influence on the management of the enterprise by purchasing additional shares; sell the enterprise; do not interfere with the activities of the enterprise, etc. Thus, we are talking about the formation of a “portfolio of enterprises”.

The same approach can be applied to other control objects (for example, technologies).

Functional strategy- selection of decision rules in each functional area. Thus, any organization has several functional strategies (for example, marketing strategy, financial strategy, etc.).

If we take the functions performed in the organization as an object of management (vertical view), then accordingly we can identify strategies for each of the functional areas.

Figure 2. Compliance of strategies with the functions performed by the company

Note 2: Any of the functional strategies shown in the diagram can be broken down into different sections. The strategy sections shown in the diagram (see the lower level of the diagram) are exemplary.

Note 3: the product strategy determines what products the company will supply to the market (what business units the company will have), the product policy, which is part of the marketing mix, determines the product range.

Marketing strategy is an integral key part of an organization's overall strategy. The overall strategy of the enterprise is largely determined by the marketing strategy.

At the stage of developing a marketing strategy, possible production strategies are a constraint on the marketing strategy; subsequently, the marketing strategy, as a rule, determines all other strategies. There may be exceptions, for example, in high-tech markets, where new technologies (products) may determine the marketing strategy. In such cases, as a rule, the R&D strategy is independent and is not an integral part of the production strategy.

Overall strategy consists of competitive strategy, product strategy and functional strategies.

Marketing as a business process

If you look at the organization from the point of view of the work performed in the organization, i.e. If we consider processes as an object of management (horizontal view), then we can determine the influence of marketing on all the main functions performed in the organization.

Note 4: The figure shows a schematic diagram (example) of the influence of marketing activities, which does not purport to be generalized.

This view of marketing is most consistent with the idea of marketing as a business philosophy. This idea of marketing implies that everything that is done in an organization is aimed at achieving one goal - satisfying customer needs. The focus of the entire company on customer needs is a key point, indicating that the company has implemented a marketing ideology.

Difference and connection between marketing and sales strategy

What is a sales strategy

A sales strategy (sales strategy) is a set of long-term decisions regarding ways to bring a company’s products (services) to customers through the use of the organization’s internal infrastructure and external market infrastructure.

The sales strategy defines the following parameters:

distribution channels or part of the distribution policy (for example, general and private schemes for working across distribution channels, selection criteria and selection of distributors);
selling methods (eg, active personal selling, passive selling, electronic selling);
warehouse policy (for example, your own warehouse, rented warehouse, dealer warehouse, no warehouse);
inventory policy (average monthly product inventory in the warehouse, product inventory at the point of sale);
transport logistics (your own transport, rented transport, intermediary transport, client transport)*.

Communication between marketing and sales

A sales-oriented organization is an intermediate stage between a production-oriented organization and a customer-oriented organization. The most common formal signs of a sales-oriented organization in Russia are:

relatively large sales force;
commercial director (head of sales service) - one of the most influential people in the organization, as a rule, the second Manager;
relatively large advertising costs compared to investments in market research and development of new products (services);
the development of new names and product packaging is carried out in-house (lack of experience working with advertising agencies);
No one in the organization except the sales staff is incentivized to help increase sales.

Sometimes sales-oriented organizations are characterized by a low level of related service and warranty service (a legacy of a production orientation).

Sales orientation is often mistaken for customer orientation, but it is not. At the same time, the marketing concept does not deny the need for commercial efforts to sell products (services), but defines them only as one of the factors for a company’s success in the market.

The sales function in an organization, despite its great importance, must be subordinated to the marketing function: in general, marketing must set goals for sales. Therefore, the marketing strategy should also be decisive for the sales strategy.

To put it simply, a marketing strategy answers the question: "to whom", "What" And "Where" the organization will sell, and the sales strategy answers the question of "How"(And "Where") sell.

Distribution channels can be defined in both the marketing strategy and/or the sales strategy. At the same time, in the marketing strategy, in terms of answering the question “where to sell,” the geographical locations of sales must be determined, and a basic scheme for selecting sales channels can also be determined (for example, choose a scheme of working through a dealer network, or a network of your own trading houses, etc. .).

Example 4. Juice manufacturer Multon made a strategic decision to develop work with retail in the North-West directly through its trading house until official dealers began to work at the required level. The same scheme is now used by a company in Moscow. The Lebedyansky experimental canning plant, on the contrary, is gradually displacing its dealers from chain retail outlets in Moscow and working with them (retail outlets) directly.

Where the decision on which sales channels the company operates will be fixed - in marketing or sales policy - is not of fundamental importance, the main thing is that this is done. The same requirement applies to the solution for transporting goods (transport logistics).

Conflict between marketing and sales

When marketing and sales are combined within one department (service), the sales function, as a rule, pushes aside or absorbs the marketing function. To effectively implement the marketing function, it is desirable that it be managed independently of the sales management itself.

Quite often you may encounter the fact that when a company’s market share is declining (or even turnover is falling), the sales service responds to the demand for an increase in sales: “more advertising - more sales”, “less advertising - less sales”. In this case, competitors who are increasing their advertising activity are often cited as an example, but specific figures are usually not given*. The result of such requirements, as a rule, is an increase in advertising budgets, up to an operating loss. This, in turn, can create serious financial problems for the organization if the market does not respond properly to increased promotional activity. In this case, perhaps the problem lies in the area of inconsistency of the product (service) with existing market requirements.

Example 5. The Baltika company, having lost a significant part of the St. Petersburg market, last year tried to restore its leading position by repeatedly increasing advertising activity (promotion of brands N3, N8 and N0). As a result, it was possible to ensure that the absolute leader of previous years, beer N3, rose only to third place in popularity among city residents.

In 2002, Baltika actively promoted a new product to the market - beer cocktails. The long-term success of this promotion will depend entirely on the demand for this product in the market, and not on the activity of the advertising campaign and the amount of funds invested in it.

Organization of marketing activities in Russian companies

As part of the concept of a customer-oriented organization, it is necessary to position the marketing service as a representative of a potential buyer in the company.

Based on our experience of working with domestic organizations, we can say that today in most companies in Russia structural subdivision, called a marketing and advertising service, is not actually such a service. As a rule, within the framework of such services, only the promotion function is performed, i.e. only one of the elements of marketing takes place. Such services mainly report to the commercial director and play a supporting role in relation to sales.

Based on the degree to which the marketing function is performed at enterprises, the following options for organizing marketing activities can be distinguished:

marketing functions are assigned only to the top management of the company;
employees of the sales department or commercial service, in addition to their main functions, perform marketing functions;
Advertising department employees, in addition to their main functions, perform marketing functions;
in the sales department, commercial service or advertising department there is a marketing specialist who performs only marketing tasks;
a special marketing department is created in the company, reporting to the commercial director (sales director);
in the company, the marketing director is responsible for marketing functions - production and sales functions are subordinated to marketing ones;
focusing the company on horizontal connections (the main marketing processes in the company), rather than on vertical ones (the structure of divisions). Marketing functions are distributed among project teams, which include employees from various departments. Quite often, these groups may include outside experts. This form of organization is used to develop new products, attract new customers, conduct individual promotions and events, etc.

The latter form of marketing organization is not yet very widespread in Russia and can be used in a limited number of enterprises.

Example 6 . The St. Petersburg cereal manufacturer Angstrem, relying in its ongoing activities on the 4th of the listed types of organization of marketing activities, actively uses the practice of creating project teams when introducing new brands to the market. As a result, at the end of 2001 and beginning of 2002, the company developed and successfully launched a product under the new brand PROSTO (instant cereals in bags).

Part 3: How to Develop Marketing Strategies

Analysis of the external environment as a key stage in developing a marketing strategy

Analysis of the external and internal environment in any organization is carried out constantly in various forms. It is the basis for making any decisions about the activities of the organization. These materials discuss analysis methods that can be used purposefully And systematically to obtain the information necessary both for strategic planning and for assessing the success of strategy implementation.

The “environment” or “environment” of an organization is the totality of all external and internal factors influencing the activities of this organization. Analysis of the external and internal environment allows us to obtain information necessary both for strategic planning and for assessing the success of strategy implementation. Based on the data from this analysis, the organization's goals and strategies, and, to a lesser extent, its mission are determined.

Purpose of the stage- understand the situation And determine prospects development of the company for the long term by identifying external opportunities and threats, taking into account the internal potential of the company.

Before conducting an environmental analysis, it is important to keep in mind that there is an unlimited amount of information available, not all of which is equally useful in decision making. Therefore, in order to limit the time, effort and financial resources spent on environmental analysis, it is necessary to find “filters” to determine the necessary information (relevant information). Such filters are the mission, goals and strategies of the organization. But strategic planning is precisely what serves to develop them, so we can talk about the fact that before starting an environmental analysis, it is necessary to obtain an approximate formulation of the mission and, preferably, the goals of the organization *.

This is practically always what happens, only often the mission and goals of the organization are not formulated explicitly, but are only understood “on an intuitive level.” Therefore, it is highly desirable to obtain these statements in writing to avoid their ambiguous interpretation and to be able to accurately determine which information from the organization's environment is relevant and which is not.

Environmental analysis is a critical strategic management process. Based on the data from this analysis, the company's goals and strategies are determined and its mission is clarified.

External environment analysis is carried out for:

definitions opportunities what the enterprise can count on if it successfully conducts its work;
identifying threats, complications that will await the enterprise if it fails to ward off the negative influences of the environment in a timely manner.

The external environment consists of the “near environment” and the “far environment”. The immediate environment includes clients, shareholders, suppliers and competitors of the organization, the distant environment includes all other interested groups (state, society, etc.). First of all, the immediate environment (industry) is analyzed, but in the conditions of our country, an analysis of the actions of government authorities is also a very important factor.

Organization of the marketing strategy development process

The development of a company’s marketing strategy can be organized both by the company’s employees and by involving external specialists in performing individual works. To develop a marketing strategy, you must complete the following tasks:

Conduct an analysis of the external environment and evaluate the market position and current marketing strategy of the company.
Assess the state of marketing activities within the company (organization of marketing activities, marketing information system, completeness of marketing functions).

Based on the analysis of the external and internal environment, determine strategic goals companies.

Determine ways to achieve your goals (marketing strategies).

The process of developing and implementing a marketing strategy is summarized in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Key Stages of the Marketing Strategy Development Process

In terms of practical organization of the process of developing a marketing strategy, the following recommendations can be given:

Determine and record the goal of developing the company’s marketing strategy and the “internal customer” - the manager who will control the development process and accept its results.
Determine who is responsible for developing a marketing strategy with the necessary qualifications, and determine his powers within the framework of this task.
Form a working group of key company employees who will take Active participation in developing a marketing strategy.
Create a work plan for developing a marketing strategy with deadlines and responsibilities. Determine how and by whom the main stages of analysis of the internal and external environment will be carried out, taking into account the qualifications of employees and the availability of information necessary for the analysis.

Conduct an introductory meeting of the working group to discuss and accept the terminology and approaches that will be used in the strategy development process, and approve the work plan.

Allocate a budget for carrying out these works.
Further actions to develop a marketing strategy are determined based on the work plan.

In order for the developed marketing strategy not to remain “just a document”, but to become an active management tool, it is necessary to develop and apply a procedure for tracking the achievement of set goals and informing company employees about the results of marketing activities.

Marketing plan

A marketing plan is a document that defines the main activities aimed at implementing the organization's marketing strategy.

In Russian companies, two main approaches to documenting decisions made in the field of marketing strategy can be distinguished:

Creation of two documents: “Marketing Strategy” and “Marketing Plan”.
Creation of a “Marketing Plan” document, the first part of which briefly reflects the results of the environmental analysis and the adopted marketing strategy.

We believe that it is more correct to develop two documents, given that the “Marketing Strategy” usually has a more long-term nature compared to the marketing plan. In this case, the following sections are included in the Marketing Strategy document:

Summary - a brief description of market goals and ways to achieve them.
Current Market State
- Market volume and potential.
- Level of competition.
- Price level.
- Existing market structure.
Threats and opportunities.
Goals and objectives of the company’s activities in the market and in the field of marketing.
Marketing strategy.
- Target markets and consumer groups.
- Positioning.
- Product policy.
- Pricing policy.
- Promotion Policy.
- Distribution policy.

In this case, the “Marketing Plan” may consist of the following sections:

1. Summary - a brief description of the company's market goals for the planned period and what is planned to be done to achieve them.

2. Action program- detailed measures for the implementation of the marketing mix:

What events will be held?

By whom (whose forces) will they be carried out?

When will they be held (schedule).

Planned costs for holding events (marketing budget).

3. Indicators of effectiveness of marketing activities.

4. Control- how the implementation of the plan will be monitored.

In the section “Efficiency Indicators of Marketing Activities” it should be determined by what indicators the effectiveness of the company’s marketing activities will be assessed, and the control (planned) values of these indicators. Examples of indicators for assessing the effectiveness of marketing activities include:

The ratio of sales of goods in value terms to the costs of marketing activities.

The ratio of the increase in product sales in value terms for the period to the increase in costs for marketing activities.

The relative market share occupied by a company's new product or the change in market share of an old product.

It is advisable to involve key employees of various services of the organization (production, financial, etc.) in the development and coordination of the marketing plan. Approved marketing plan it is necessary to bring it to the attention of service managers, monitor its implementation, and make the necessary adjustments in accordance with the procedure defined in the “Control” section.

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