Jenny Brown and Alex Cleevelend are discussing the main principles of a marketing plan.
JENNY: Can you instruct me on some principles of developing a marketing plan?
ALEX: Well, the marketing plan should be flexible enough and supported by well-developed and effective marketing services. But first of all the problem of target market is to be settled.
JENNY: And has our target market been identified yet?
ALEX: Yes, it has, and now the company has to decide what goods or services to offer while always remembering the existence of its competitors. Companies are always looking for marketing opportunities - possibilities of filling unsatisfied needs in areas in which they are likely to enjoy a differential advantage, due to their particular competencies.
JENNY: Are there any problems in this area?
ALEX: Marketing opportunities are generally isolated by market segmentation - dividing a market into submarkets or segments according to customers' requirements or buying habits.
JENNY: You see, we were told at the Business School that marketers do not only identify consumer needs; they can anticipate them by developing new products.
ALEX: That's right. Marketers should design marketing strategies and plan marketing programmes, and then organize, implement, and control the marketing effort.
JENNY: What do you mean by controlling the marketing effort?
ALEX: Well, once the basic offer, for example a product concept, has been established, the company has to think about the marketing mix - the set of all the various elements of a marketing plan, their integration, and the amount of effort that a company can expend on them in order to influence the target market.
JENNY: If I am not mistaken the best-known classification of these elements is the four P's: Product, Price, Promotion and Place, isn't it?
ALEX: Good for you! I am sure very soon you'll make an effective marketer!