Includes bibliographical references and index.

Step 1: Planning the Development of A Marketing Plan -- The Structure of the Marketing Plan -- The Executive Summary -- The Table of Contents -- Situational Analysis -- Situational Environs -- Neutral Environs -- Competitor Environs -- Company Environs -- The Target Market -- Problems and Opportunities -- Marketing Goals and Objectives -- Marketing Strategy -- Marketing Tactics -- Implementation and Control -- The Summary -- Keep Your Material Organized -- Step 2: Scanning Your Environment -- The Introduction -- The Situational Analysis -- Target Market -- Cultural, Ethnic, Religious, and Racial Groups -- Social Classes -- Reference Groups -- Demographics -- Family Work Status and Occupations -- Decision Makers and Purchase Agents -- Risk Perception -- Income for Each Family Member -- Disposable Income -- Additional Descriptions, Classifications, and Traits of the Target Market -- Target Market Wants and Needs -- Product Description -- Size of the Target Market -- Growth Trends -- Media Habits -- Organizational Buyers -- The Amount of Money Available or Budgeted for the Purchase -- Purchase History -- Additional Industrial Buyer Information -- Competition -- Resources of the Firm -- Technological Environment -- Economic Environment -- Political Environment -- Legal and Regulatory Environment -- Social and Cultural Environment -- Other Important Environmental Aspects -- Problems and Opportunities -- Sources of Information for Completing the Environmental Questions Form -- Primary Research -- Step 3: Establishing Goals and Objectives -- Establishing Objectives -- The Concept of Competitive or Differential Advantage -- Step 4: Developing Marketing Strategy -- The Strategy Pyramid -- Strategic Marketing Management -- The Four-Cell Portfolio Matrix for Decision Making in SMM -- Product Life-Cycle Analysis -- The Introductory Stage -- Growth -- Maturity -- Decline -- Locating the Product in Its Product Life Cycle -- Developing Strategies for the Products in Each Stage of the Product Life Cycle -- Alternative Strategies for the Marketing Plan -- New Market Penetration -- Entry -- Niche -- Dimension -- Positioning -- Market Share Expansion -- Product Differentiation versus Market Segmentation -- Limited versus General Expansion -- Entrenchment -- Repositioning -- Direct Confrontation -- Withdrawal -- Step 5: Developing Marketing Tactics -- Manipulating the Controllable Variables -- Product -- Price -- Other Tactical Pricing Tactics -- Place -- Promotion -- Use of Sales Promotion Tactics -- Advertising and Publicity Tactics -- Primary Internet Marketing Tactics -- World Wide Web -- Establishing a Web Site -- Marketing at the Web Site -- Cybermalls -- How to Market on the World Wide Web -- Using Banners -- Cyberlinks -- Give Information Away -- Usenet Marketing -- E-mail Marketing -- Using E-mail for Publicity -- Manipulating Marketplace Environs -- Tactical Questions for the Marketing Plan -- Step 6: Forecasting for Your Marketing Plan -- The Difference between Market Potential, Sales Potential, and Sales Forecast -- Finding Market Potential -- The Index Method of Calculating Market Potential -- Bottom-Up and Top-Down Sales Forecasting -- Executive Judgment -- Sales-Force Composite -- Trend Projections -- Industry Survey -- Regression Analyses -- Intention-to-Buy Survey -- Exponential Smoothing -- Leading Indicators -- Which Method to Use -- You Need More Information for Your Forecast -- The Project Development Schedule -- The Break-Even Analysis -- The Balance Sheet, Projected Profit and Loss Statement, and Cash-Flow Projections -- Step 7: Calculating Important Financial Ratios for Your Marketing Plan -- Measures of Liquidity -- The Current Ratio -- The Acid Test, or "Quick," Ratio -- Average Collection Period -- Inventory Turnover -- Profitability Measures -- Asset Earning Power -- Return on the Owner's Equity -- Net Profit on Sales -- Investment Turnover -- Return on Investment (ROI) -- Sources of Ratio Analyses from All Industries -- Step 8: Presenting the Marketing Plan -- The Marketing Plan as a Product -- The Formal Presentation -- Preparing for Your Presentation -- Planning for Visual Aids -- The Practice Sequence -- The Importance of Controlling Your Time -- Questions and Answers and How to Prepare for Them -- Use of the Mental Visualization Technique -- The Keys to Success for Marketing Plan Presentations -- Step 9: Implementation -- Sample Marketing Plans -- Promoting Healthy Families -- Chandra Thai Restaurant -- OpenAxis -- MCM Powersports -- Birralee Primary School (Australia) -- Resolve of Greater Los Angeles -- Penbridge Corporation -- Sources of Secondary Research -- Examples of Simple Research and a Marketing Research Checklist -- How to Lead a Team -- The Concept and Application of Marketing Strategy.

Whether you're starting a new business or launching a new product line within a company, you won't be able to succeed without a clear plan that defines your goals and how you will achieve them. Now, best-selling author William Cohen equips you with the knowledge, tools, and techniques you'll need to develop marketing plans like the pros. The Marketing Plan, Fourth Edition presents step-by-step procedures -- from scanning your environment and establishing goals and objectives, to developing marketing strategies and tactics, to presenting and implementing your plan, and everything in between. Plus, a new appendix shows how to apply strategy in your marketing plan. When you complete the book, you will not only know what to do, but also how and why.