MARKETING RESOURCES

Marketing Functions

The following functions are commonly ascribed to marketing:

• Understands and defines market opportunities
  
• Understands and defines competitive threats
  
• Develops market plan
  • Market plan establishes specific market goals and strategies,
  • Market plan establishes marketing communication budgets, tasks and action plans to support:
    • Market research
    • Advertising
    • Company literature
    • Trade shows
    • Telemarketing
    • Marketing public relations
    • On-line presence and activity
    • All other tactical marketing activities
      
  • Manages marketing budget to ensure marketing tactics are effective
  • Manages ongoing process of plan follow up by team
    
• Sets price for company products based on market conditions
  
• Facilitates company goal-setting process in context of market opportunities and threats
  
• Provides overall direction for company:
  • Appropriate responses to specific market situations, for example:
    • What products will we emphasize if resources are constrained?
    • What customers will we emphasize if resources are constrained?
    • How will we respond to a quality “issue” with a customer?
    • How will we respond to a request from a customer to expedite delivery?
      
  • Sets priorities for product line and product decisions, for example:
    • What products do we make and/or promote?
    • What products do we “milk” based on their product life cycle status?
    • What new product lines will we develop?
      
  • Strategic guidance for questions of investment,
  • Creates “market driven” environment within company
    
• Decides which customers and products to keep and cultivate and which customers and products to eliminate
  
• Provides annual forecast by product line or product based on market opportunity.