Conduct extensive primary and secondary research to build a detailed

understanding of target market, industry, competitors or opportunities

Primary research (also called field research) involves the collection of data that does not already exist,
which is research to collect original data. Primary Research is often undertaken after the researcher has
gained some insight into the issue by collecting secondary data. This can be through numerous forms,
including questionnaires, direct observation and telephone interviews amongst others. This information
may be collected in things like questionnaires and interviews.

Secondary research (also known as desk research) involves the summary, collation and/or synthesis of
existing research rather than primary research, where data is collected from, for example, research
subjects or experiments.

A target market or target audience is a group of customers that the business has decided to aim
its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise. A well-defined target market is the first element to
a marketing strategy. The target market and the marketing mix variables
ofproduct, place (distribution), promotion and price are the two elements of a marketing mix strategy that
determine the success of a product in themarketplace.

Assisting with corporate, business and market strategy

Corporate strategy refers to the overarching strategy of the diversified firm. Such a corporate strategy
answers the questions of "which businesses should we be in?" and "how does being in these businesses
create synergy and/or add to the competitive advantage of the corporation as a whole?"

Business strategy refers to the aggregated strategies of single business firm or a strategic business unit
(SBU) in a diversified corporation. According to Michael Porter, a firm must formulate a business strategy
that incorporates either cost leadership, differentiation or focus in order to achieve a sustainable
competitive advantage and long-term success in its chosen areas or industries. Alternatively, according to
W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, an organization can achieve high growth and profits by creating
a Blue Ocean Strategy that breaks the previous value-cost trade off by simultaneously pursuing both
differentiation and low cost.

Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the
greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. A marketing
strategy should be centered around the key concept that customer satisfaction is the main goal.

Assessing strategic options for growth including market, product, pricing, channel
and supply chain strategy

Product - A tangible object or an intangible service that is mass produced or manufactured on a large
scale with a specific volume of units. Intangible products are service based like the tourism industry &
the hotel industry or codes-based products like cellphone load and credits. Typical examples of a mass
produced tangible object are the motor car and the disposable razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass
produced service is a computer operating system. Packaging also needs to be taken into consideration.
Price – The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. It is determined by a number of factors
including market share, competition, material costs, product identity and the customer's perceived value of
the product. The business may increase or decrease the price of product if other stores have the same
product.
Place – Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the
distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the Internet. Place is not
exactly a physical store where it is available Place is nothing but how the product takes place or create
image in the mind of customers. It depends upon the percievedness of customers.
Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace. Promotion
has four distinct elements: advertising,public relations, personal selling and sales promotion.
Strategic network optimization, including the number, location, and size of warehousing, distribution
centers, and facilities.
Strategic partnerships with suppliers, distributors, and customers, creating communication channels for
critical information and operational improvements such as cross docking, direct shipping, and third-party
logistics.
Product life cycle management, so that new and existing products can be optimally integrated into the
supply chain and capacity management activities.
Information technology chain operations.
Where-to-make and what-to-make-or-buy decisions.
Aligning overall organizational strategy with supply strategy.
It is for long term and needs resource commitment.

Supporting the corporate strategic planning process (vision, business model,

agenda, financial performance)

Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions
on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. Various business
analysis techniques can be used in strategic planning, including SWOT analysis(Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats ), PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological), STEER
analysis (Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors), and EPISTEL
(Environment, Political, Informatic, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal).
Vision: Defines the desired or intended future state of an organization or enterprise in terms of its
fundamental objective and/or strategic direction. Vision is a long term view, sometimes describing how the
organization would like the world in which it operates to be. For example a charity working with the poor
might have a vision statement which read "A world without poverty"
Mission: Defines the fundamental purpose of an organization or an enterprise, succinctly describing why it
exists and what it does to achieve its Vision.
It is sometimes used to set out a 'picture' of the organization in the future. A mission statement provides
details of what is done and answers the question: "What do we do?" For example, the charity might
provide "job training for the homeless and unemployed"
Values: Beliefs that are shared among the stakeholders of an organization. Values drive an organization's
culture and priorities and provide a framework in which decision are made. For example, "Knowledge and
skills are the keys to success" or "give a bread and feed him for a day, but teach him to farm and feed him
for life". These example values may set the priorities of self sufficiency over shelter.
Strategy: Strategy narrowly defined, means "the art of the general" (from Greek stratigos). A combination
of the ends (goals) for which the firm is striving and the means (policies)by which it is seeking to get there.

Strategic planning outline

Analysis of the current situation - past year
Business trends analysis
Market analysis
Competitive analysis
Market segmentation
Marketing-mix
SWOT analysis
Positioning - analyzing perceptions
Sources of information

Marketing plan strategy & objectives - next year

Marketing strategy
Desired market segmentation
Desired marketing-mix
TOWS-based objectives as a result of the SWOT
Position & perceptual gaps
Yearly sales forecast