gre28833_c2a_062_081.indd-APPENDIX.PDFVIP

A P P E N D I X Writing a 2A Marketing Plan Have a plan. Follow the plan, and you’ll be surprised how successful you can be. Most people don’t have a plan. That’s why it’s easy to beat most folks. —Paul “Bear” Bryant, football coach, University of Alabama WHY WRITE A MARKETING PLAN?1 s a student, you likely plan out much for the firm, marketing objectives and strategy in your life—where to meet for din- specified in terms of the four Ps, action programs, ner, how much time to spend study- and projected or pro forma income (and other Aing for exams, which courses to take financial) statements—enables marketing per- next semester, how to get home for winter break, sonnel and the firm as a whole to understand and so on. Plans enable us to figure out where we their own actions, the market in which they want to go and how we might get there. operate, their future direction, and the means to For a firm, the goal is not much differ- obtain support for new initiatives.2 ent. Any company that wants to succeed (which Because these elements—internal activ- means any firm whatsoever) needs to plan for ities, external environments, goals, and forms a variety of contingencies, and marketing repre- of support—differ for every firm, the marketing sents one of the most significant. A marketing plan is different for each firm as well. However, plan—which we defined in Chapter 2 as a written several guid