THE MARKETING PLAN
Marketing Process – Starts with
identifying the
customers’ need where you are tasked to
create a meaningful value proposition
Business Plan – Comprehensive paper that
details the situation analysis, objectives,
strategies, and tactics and how to monitor
and control the enterprise
Value Proposition – Simply states why a
customer should buy a certain product or
service
- main driver in customer purchase or
service availment.
HOW TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE V.
PROPOSITION
Prepare a situation analysis that details the
problems of the customers
Make your value proposition straight to the
point, simple, and specific
Highlight the value of your product or
service so that the customers will easily get
what benefits you can provide
Adapt to the language of your market
Add credibility-enhancing elements
Differentiate your value proposition with
your competitors
Unique Selling Proposition – refers to
how you will sell the product or service to
your customers. It addresses customers’
wants and desires
HOW TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE U.S.
PROPOSITION
Identify and Rank the uniqueness of the
product
or service attribute
Be specific
KISS (Keep It Short and Simple)
Market Research – comprehensive
process of understanding the customers’
intricacies and the industry they revolve in
- one of the most critical tasks of an
entrepreneur
Market Size – size of the arena where the
entrepreneur’s business will play
- it is the approximation of the of the
number of buyers and sellers in a particular
market
First Step – Estimate the Potential Market
(the approximate number of customers that
will buy the product or avail the service;
market/market universe)
Second Step – eliminate the customers
who are probably unlikely to buy the
product or avail the service
Last Step – Estimate the Market Share
(plotting and calculation of the competitor’s
market share to determine the remaining
portion for the new venture
Customer Requirements – are specific
features and characteristics that the
customers need from a product or a service
- is where business opportunities originate
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TARGET
MARKET
Market Intelligence – includes customer
profiling
- drives entrepreneur on what correct
strategies and tactics to employ
*Market segmentation – grouping similar
or homogenous customers according to
demographic, psychographic, geographic,
behavior
*Demographic segmentation – also
called socioeconomic segmentation
- grouping customers according to relevant
socioeconomic variables for the business
venture
Income Range and social class,
gender and age, occupation, religion,
ethnicity)
*Psychographic segmentation –
grouping costumers according to their
perception, way of life, motivations and
inclinations
Perception – individual receives
external stimuli using the 5 senses (hearing,
seeing, etc.)
Way of life – will give an entrepreneur
an overview pf what products and services
can best suit the problems of the customers
Physiological Motivation – needs of a
person (house, food, clothes)
Psychological – customers preferences
(likes and dislikes)
Aspiration – what the customer wants
to achieve
Deprivations – customers’ recognition
of certain voids to fill
Inclinations – preferring one product
over the other
~Smooth Sailers – highly sociable, secure,
active but conservative, simple, essential
- high purchasing power, not choosy on
clothes
- price doesn’t seem as a factor in purchase
~High Spirits – vibrant and fun-loving,
trendsetters, not the homebody type, high
social profile
- purchases based on images/reputation of
brand
~Tight Guards – strongest feeling of
uncertainty, meticulous about personal
family cleanliness, importance on trust,
occasionally force financial constraints
~Home makers – upscale (traditional
values), homebodies, study the value
- study the value of products/services
before buying
- choice of brands are not usually influenced
by ads
~Bystanders – passive, not driven to
achieve anything, bargain hunters
- they go for external appearances, status
and styles and material possessions but
may not have the purchasing power
- they mind paying more for prestigious
brands but would not mind if buying
luxury/premium goods sold cheaply
Geographic Segmentation – groupings
customers according to their location
- critical in the analysis of the target market
as this encompasses the cultures, beliefs,
preferences, politics and lifestyle of certain
geography
Behavioral Segmentation – Grouping
customers according to their actions
Occasions – drastically affect the
customers’ buying behavior
Desired Benefits – entrepreneur
determines the exact needs of the
customers and offer the suited
product/service for them
Loyalty – result of maintaining satisfied
customers
Usage of products or availment of
service
FOUR COMMON METHODS OF
COLLECTING DATA
1. Interview 2. Focus Group
Discussion
3. Observation 4. Survey
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH - identifying the
written or spoken opinions of customers
QUANTITATIVE – involves analyzing the
customers preferences using relevant
statistics
INTERVIEW – one of the most reliable and
credible ways of getting relevant
information from the target customers
- face-to-face contact between the
entrepreneur and a respondent where the
researcher asks pertinent questions that will
give him significant pieces of information
about the problem that he will solve
Unstructured interview – interview
doesn’t follow specific set of questions
Structured interview – follows a
specific set of questions and produces
qualitative data
FOCUSED GROUP DISCUSSION – - be specific and direct
commonly used by market researchers to
capture qualitative results from target
customers
- process of mining customer/noncustomer
experience and insights about a specific
product/service
- lead by a moderator, lasts for 1-2 hrs
usually
- more credible of actual product/service is
showcased
- must be recorded by audio/video
OSERVATION – preferred/practical
methods of generating ideas because the
researcher documents the behavioral
patterns of people without necessarily
requiring them to participate in the research
process
Human Observation
Customer Purchase Patterns – uses
the researcher to understand the buying
behavior of the customer
Mystery Shopping – researcher
pretends he or she is a customer of his
business or competitors
Machine Observation – video
cameras/closed-circuit television (cctv),
traffic counters, web analytics (tracks the
performance of a website as to the number
of its visitors, the contents the usually
assess, and other info), barcode scanners,
gps technology
TRADITIONAL/ONLINE SURVEYS
Surveys – getting answers from a sample
of respondents, simple and practical to run
because it requires preparation of
predetermined questions answerable by
definite responses using equitable scales
Traditional – telephone, face-to-face
Online – emails, websites, social media
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
SAMPLE – percentage of a specific
population carefully chosen by the
researcher to generally represent the whole
population
Probability Sampling - equitable
chances/nonzero chances of being selected
from a population
Non-probability Sampling – samples
are instead selected according to their
accessibility / personal choice of researcher
Sampling Error – range of inaccuracy to
which sample might vary from the particular
population
Census – when population is small the
researcher includes the whole population
SAMPLE SIZE – must be accurately
calculated/must be right size
QUESTIONNAIRE BLUEPRINT (TIPS)
- be flexible w/ the respondent’s way of
answering (telephone, mail, online, face-
face)
- each question is necessary
- questions must be coherent
- the questionnaire should look professional
MARKETING MIX – widely accepted
strategic marketing tool that combines the
original 4P’s (product, place,
promotion) with the additional
(process, people, packaging) in formulating
marketing tactics for a product/service
7 P’s OF MARKETING
**PRODUCT – any physical
good/service/idea of an entrepreneur or and
innovator in serving the needs of the
customers addressing their existing
problems
THREE-LEVEL CONCEPT
PRODUCT/SERVICE
Core benefits of the product/service –
major factors why a customer buys a
product/avails a service
Physical characteristics of
product/service – better packaging for
products or a better evidence or customer
experiences for services
Augmented benefits of
product/service – additional benefits only;
distinguished from competitors
**PLACE – place/medium of transaction
- physical and cyber location
**PRICE – peso value that the entrepreneur
assigns to a certain product/service after
considering its costs, competition,
objectives, positioning, target market
PRICING STRATEGIES ING
*Bundling – two or more products/services
in one reduced price
*Penetration Pricing – setting low prices
to increase market share, but the
entrepreneur will eventually increase the
price once the desired market share is
achieved
*Skimming – prices are initially high and
then they are lowered to offer the
product/service to wider market
*Competitive Pricing – refers
benchmarking prices with the competitors
*Product Line Pricing – pricing different
products/services within a parallel product
array using varying price points
*Psychological Pricing - considering
psychology and positioning of price in the
market
*Premium Pricing – setting very high price
to reflect elitism and superiority
*Optional Pricing – adding an extra
product/service on top of the original to
generate more revenue
*Cost-based Pricing – basis of the mark-
up is the cost of sales
*Cost-plus Pricing – mark-up is based on
certain percentage of cost
CLASSIFICATION OF COST
*Variable/Controllable Cost – costs are
directly proportional to the number of
products to the number of products
manufactured/performance of the service
price, *Fixed/Uncontrollable Cost – costs are
3P’s not directly proportional
**PROMOTION – involves presenting the
products/services to the public and how
these can address the public’s needs,
wants, problems, and desires
Integrated Marketing Communication
(IMC) Plan
- value proposition/unique selling
proposition of the product/service
OF - product/service/business image
- business values and philosophy
Advertising – influences the behavior of a
customer to choose the product/service of
the the entrepreneur over the competitors
Selling – trading a product/service for a
price/fee
Sales Promotions – short term gimmicks
the wherein practical incentives and appealing
activities are incorporated to entice the
customers to buy the product and avail the
service (ex: discounts, coupons, raffles,
premiums)
Public Relations – image-building
initiatives of the entrepreneur to make the
business name reputable to stakeholders
(press conference, launching events, social
responsibility events)
**PEOPLE – how employees serve
customers
**PACKAGING – how the product/ service is
presented to customers.
- it is the overall identification (look and feel
the product/ service. It is the first element
that customers see because they don’t
know what’s inside yet.
Servicescape – refer to the overall
ambiance of the place where the service is
to performed.
**PROCESS – step by step procedure or
activity workflow that the entrepreneur or
employees follow to effectively serve
customers.
- includes input, throughput and output.
Internal process: employees/ machines
process customers’ request
External process: actual servicing where
customers are part of the process
Fundamentals and Brand Management
Brand – refers to the identity of a company,
product, service or an entrepreneur
himself/herself.
Brand Management – supervision of the
tangible and intangible element of a brand.
Branding – process of integrating the
strategies formed from the marketing mix to
give an identity to the product or service.
Goals:
 - Establish to target customers that
the business is reliable/ trustworthy.
- Differentiate with competitors
- Drive customers loyalty
Brand name – a major differentiator of the
entrepreneur against the competitors
- Unique
- Extendable
- Easy to remember
- Can describe the benefits of the product/
service
- Can describe a product category
- Positive and inspiring
MODULE 4
Product Development – the process of
developing, testing and commercializing a
product or service with ultimate objective of
solving the problem of the primary target
market.
It is composed of four sequential steps:
1. Develop a product/ service description
2. Creating a prototype
3. Testing the prototype
4. Validating the market
Product/ Service Description – simply
describes how a product or service works
and how it benefits the customers. An
entrepreneur has to take the following
regarding the product/service description:
1. It should address the primary target
market in a personal manner using
everyday language.
2. It should highlight the features that
will cater the customer’s needs or address
the customer’s problems.
3. Realistic superlatives should be used
for the product description.
Prototype – is a preliminary model or
sample of a new product or service that is
create to test a product concept or service
process.
TESTING THE PRODUCT PROTOTYPE
1. Focus Group Discussion
2. Legality and ethical test
3. Safety test
4. Product costing test
5. Component test
6. Competitor’s product/ service test
Validation of Market Acceptability – the
process of finding out if the intended
primary target market will be buying the
product or availing are more likely to be
answered in the whole process of market
acceptability validation:
1. Will the primary target market like the
product or service?
2. Will the primary target buy the
product or service when it is already in the
market?
4Ms OF OPERATIONS
**METHOD – the methods aspect
represents the day-to-today operations of a
business. It describes how an entrepreneur
will run the business from all the facets of
the business such as the manufacturing of
goods, service delivery of goods and
services, logistics for delivery of goods and
inventory management, to name few.
Manufacturing – the process of translating
raw materials into finished goods that are
acceptable to the customer’s standards.
- Consists of three elements (Inputs,
Process, Output)
Manufacturing Cites – Home-based,
Commercial space for rent, commercial
space purchase
SERVICE DELIVERY PROCESS
*Service Blueprint – a detailed flowchart
of the service business. Every process in the
blueprint must be relevant to the service
business to minimize wastage.
*Bottleneck – a part of the process where
there is an apparent inefficiency and where
the customer waits longer.
DISTRIBUTION METHOD
*Distribution – process of bringing the
products or services to customers. It is not a
straight process from the entrepreneur to
customers: thus, the term supply chain or
distribution channel was coined.
*Manufacturer – handles the invention,
development and production of product or
service. Takes charge of acquiring
materials, production and delivery
schedules, product quality and inventory or
safety management.
*Distributor – an entrepreneur who often
buys products or services to the
manufacturers and sells them at a makeup
price to either wholesales or retailers.
*Agents – don’t own the products or
services because they do not but these from
the manufacturer. Instead, they negotiate
with buyers as to how much or how many
are able to be sold, so the manufacturer will
be to deliver the goods directly to the buyer.
*Payments Process – Credit cards,
Installment, Cash, Plans, Simple Accounts,
Payable, Pautang
**MANPOWER
*Job Description – enumerates the duties
and responsibilities of the potential
employee
*Job Tittle – summary of what the
employee will do
*Compensation and benefit range –
details the potential salary and benefits that
the employee will get.
*Duties – describe the job that the
employee will assume with allowance for
flexibility
*Responsibilities and Accountabilities –
details the expectations for the job
*Work Schedules – includes work hours
Employee Qualification
*Educational Background – this give the
entrepreneur an idea on the degree of the
candidate’s knowledge of basic things.
*Work Experience – this will tell him or her
what to expect from the applicant and what
he or she can potentially contribute to the
business based on his or her past positions
and experiences.
*Specific skills or knowledge – this one is
important especially on technical jobs that
require high proficiency.
*Work Attitude – deals with the worker’s
integrity and how he or she deals with his or
her coworkers, bosses and customers.
Preparatory Selection of Job Applicants
– once the description and employee
qualifications are finalized by the
entrepreneur, he/she now preselects a set
of candidates for the positions required.
When the business is already sizeable,
entrepreneurs usually establish a human
resource (HR) department that will handle
the selection and recruitment of candidates.
Selection of Job Applicants – once the
potential candidates are pooled; the
entrepreneurs must now do the difficult task
of screening them and picking the most
qualified and most suited for the job.
Preliminary screening can easily be done
because the entrepreneur will just need to
refer to the required qualification and
eliminate those who didn’t qualify
Job Offer – once the hiring manager has
been convinced already of the credentials
and the interview answers of the candidate,
the job contract is now prepared.
Employee Deployment – training people
is one of the biggest investments of an
entrepreneur. Therefore, he/she must
devise strategies on how to keep employees
satisfied working in the company.
- Employee orientation, On-the-job training,
Buddy System, Mentor-mentee program.
Online learning programs/webinars, Internal
training programs
**MACHINES – “best friend” of manpower
in producing goods and offering services
- it has changed the way entrepreneurs
conduct business
Equipment and Other Facilities –
manufacturing equipment must ensure that
the employees went through rigorous
training/certification to operate them. The
entrepreneur must also allocate space for
the storage of equipment, including the
parking of delivery vehicles
Telecommunications and Information
Technology
*Landline phones – order-taking,
telemarking, teleconferencing
*Mobile Phones – mobile apps, mobile
marketing, social media marketing
*Laptop and desktop computers –
marketing research, preparing reports
*POS Machines – charging customers’
debit or credit card, tracking sales
*Accounting and Inventory Software –
monitoring sales and inventory
*web Site – having online conversations
with customers, 24/7 marketing
**MATERIALS – whether the entrepreneur
will offer products or cater services, he/she
has to pinpoint a number of dependable
suppliers of quality raw materials and
supplies. The entrepreneur should decide on
what route to choose when it comes to
materials requisitioning such as:
1. Manufacturing own products/services
2. Outsourcing of manufacturing/service
activities to a third party
3. Purchasing own product/service from
present suppliers
Outsourcing – process of appointing a
third-party manufacturer to do the
manufacturing operations of the business
Logistics
Warehousing – storing the finished goods
manufactured in a facility until they are
distributed to end users
Transportation – process of efficiency
transferring the products to
retailers/consumers
Inventory – should be tackled religiously
entrepreneur/manufacturer. The law of
supply and demand must always be taken
into account