one page: Identify an alternative strategic market analysis and write a summary

Marketing Plan Coach’s (2012): http://www.mhhe.com/business/marketing/Perreault13e/marketing_coach/LA/8.htm Situation Analysis This section outlines the environment facing the organization and includes separate sections on the company, customers, competitors, and the external market environment. Hard data, facts, and assumptions about each of these elements should be made explicit – so that all readers have a good understanding of the market and the factors driving the strategy planning process. The situation analysis iterates among the analysis of these four elements – see exhibit below. Each topic cannot be analyzed in isolation, but information must be shared across these different topics. For example, the customer analysis will help to narrow down potential product-markets – which will narrow down the competitor analysis. Identification of strong competitors in some market segments may reduce the attractiveness of those segments and focus the customer analysis on more attractive opportunities. Identification of certain legal or technological trends may make may increase the perceived strength of some competitors.

The situation analysis involves gathering information and information about:

1. Company Company analysis

“Company” refers to the entity that has a product to sell. This may be a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. But it might also include an individual – a political candidate may develop a marketing plan for himself, or a student might develop a marketing plan that targets potential employers. Each of these may have a product or idea that could benefit from a formal marketing plan.

• What kind of information do we need to gather about the company? o Does the company have a mission statement? What is it? o What are the company’s objectives? o What is the company’s current marketing strategy? o What other marketing strategies make up the company’s marketing program? o What are the company’s resources? What does the company do particularly well? o What are the company’s weaknesses or constraints? What does the company not do as well as its competitors? o Does the company have any marketing collaborators to help them achieve their marketing objectives? Are there any potential marketing collaborators? o What criteria does the company use to screen opportunities? • How can I gather information about the Company?

2. Customers

Customer analysis

The customer analysis section of the marketing plan provides a detailed analysis of the customer market. Typically a few markets segments are already quickly identified and these are the focus of an analysis. But there are times when it makes sense to broadly consider many different market segments. Understanding customers helps to segment the market and determine target markets and in developing a marketing mix that meets the customers’ needs. Three activities are important in the customer analysis process. These activities are iterative – so the marketing manager must do all three back and forth.

• Learn more about customers and customer behavior o Marketing strategy planning may start with questions about customers. These questions may relate to customers’ demographic characteristics, consumer buying behavior process, and/or organizational buying behavior. • Define the product market • Apply this information for segmentation and targeting.

3. Competitors Competitor analysis

A competitor analysis is an organized approach for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of current or potential competitors. The search for a breakthrough opportunity- or at least some sort of competitive advantage- requires understanding not only customers but also competitors.Marketing managers adopt competitor analysis, an organized approach for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of current or potential competitors' marketing strategies. The basic idea is simple. You compare your current (or planned) target market and marketing mix with what competitors are currently doing, or are likely to do in response to your strategy. You also consider competitive barriers-the conditions that may make it difficult, or even impossible, for a firm to compete in a market. Such barriers may limit your own plans, or alternatively block competitors' responses to an innovative strategy. The initial step in competitor analysis is to identify potential competitors. It's useful to start broadly-and from the point of view of target customers. Companies may be offering quite different products to meet the same needs, but the companies are competitors if customers see them as offering close substitutes. Rivals who are offering similar products are usually easy to identify. However, if a strategy involves a product concept that is really new and different, there may not be a current competitor with a similar product. In that case, the closest competitor may be a firm that is currently serving similar needs with a different product. Such firms are likely to fight back if they begin to lose customers. A successful strategy will attract the interest of others who are eager to jump in for a share of the profit-even if profits are thin and short-lived. Finding a long-run sustainable competitive advantage requires special attention to competitor strengths and weaknesses. It is very difficult to dislodge a competitor who is already a market leader simply by attacking with a strategy that has similar strengths-an established leader can

usually defend its position by quickly copying the best parts of what a new competitor is trying to do. But in some cases a market leader may not be able to defend quickly if it is attacked where it is weak. This suggests some of the potential questions that should be asked in conducting a competitor analysis:

• What companies are our main competitors?

• What is the marketing strategy for each of these firms? What is each firm’s positioning?

• What are each competitor’s strengths and weaknesses? • How would the competitor react to changes in our marketing strategy?

Competitor information may be placed in a competitor matrix – to provide a simple way to compare and contrast competitors and the company. 4. External market External market environments While the company, customers, and competitors are the more direct market environment, marketing planning should also analyze external market environments. The major areas include:

• Economic environment • Technological environment

• Political and legal environment • Cultural and social environment