Strategic Marketing Planning Questions

As part of the marketing planning process, marketing managers typically develop and answer a series of planning questions. The answers to these planning questions are used to develop a logical framework for creating an effective strategic marketing plan. In this assignment, you will consider and answer a series of typical marketing planning questions as they pertain to a competitor’s retail organization.

Instructions:

1. Conduct research regarding a competitor’s brand positioning statement.
2. Use the results of your research to answer the following marketing planning questions:
   1. What is your competitor’s message to consumers? (What value does the competitor want to communicate, in order to attract customers to shop in its stores?)
   2. Identify those consumers who are most likely to value what your competitor’s business has to offer. (Who are the people who would recognize the value of shopping at one of its stores? The more specific you make your definition, the easier it will be to craft marketing messages for that specific group.)
   3. When are consumers going to be most interested in what your competitor’s company offers? (Is there a time of day, week, month, or year when the target market will be most interested in your competitor’s offerings?)
   4. Where does your competitor reach its target audience? (Are there geographical locations that are better than others for marketing your competitor’s offerings? Are there specific marketing channels (TV, radio, social media, billboards, business directories, newspaper ads) that are particularly effective for communicating with its target market?)
   5. Why do your competitor’s target consumers shop at its stores? (What brings them in the doors, and what keeps them coming back?)
3. Compose a final paragraph summarizing your answers to the preceding questions, so that your final post is a minimum of six paragraphs in length.