Critical Review of the Current Issues Facing Academia or Practitioners, Answering the Dilemma: Planning Is Neither Within the Grasps of Contemporary Marketers, nor a Realistic Possibility?

The challenge in planning is that planning is essentially forecasting future actions and events. Most

The structure and design of organizations have drastically changed over the last twenty-five years. Organizations develop new goals at the beginning of the year or after the completion of previous goals, and heavily depend on planning to help achieve these goals. Planning is an integral part of organizational success, as upper management receives substantial information on various needs such as risk uncertainty, available resources, employee development, and unforeseen changes in technology (Daft, 2013). Most importantly, successful planning allows management to make effective decisions when unforeseen events arise within the organization. Not participating in planning is equivalent to taking a road trip across the country without a

What is marketing strategy? The process of matching the organisation’s strengths to the customer needs, with the aim of achieving a competitive advantage in the market. The combination of product, price, distribution and promotion most suited to a particular group of consumers. • Goal: the create a sustainable competitive advantage in the market • All the elements of the marketing strategy that lead to the development of the competitive advantage require good understanding of consumer behaviour Marketing strategy process: • 1. Segment: understand consumers a. Determine the dimensions (age, geography, subculture) b. Determine the heterogeneity c. Define the needs & goals 2. Target: choose consumers a. Evaluate each segment in

Marketing strategies are activities designed to fill market needs and achieve objectives through the marketing mix.

Marketing strategies vary greatly. Although there is no strategy that will fit every business’s needs, there are some guidelines to follow. Before doing anything, make a set of goals within a timeframe. Here is an example:

A successful marketing campaign needs a lot of planning up front, a very granular plan, down to the details can help eliminate any surprises along the way and ensure a smooth campaign and increase the chances of achieving your goals.

A successful marketing strategy will help a company to find out the trend and goals for its marketing. A strategy must elaborate how a company is going to present its products or  services in ways that will satisfy a company’s consumer. The marketing strategies of Four Seasons are the following:

Marketing strategy is a method of focusing an organization's energies and resources on a course of action which can lead to increased sales and dominance of a targeted market niche. A marketing strategy combines product development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship management and other elements; identifies the firm's marketing goals, and explains how they will be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing strategy determines the choice of target market segments, positioning, marketing mix, and allocation of resources. It is most effective when it is an integral component of overall firm strategy, defining how the organization will successfully engage customers, prospects, and competitors in

One of the toughest challenges of new businesses is attracting new customers. Having an effective marketing strategy in place is a vital implementation in increasing the awareness of your product or service. The marketing strategy section should

Effective marketing begins with an estimated marketing strategy. A good marketing strategy helps in defining vision, mission and business goals and explains the steps need to achieve these goals.

Marketing strategy is the goal of the increasing sales and achieving the sustainable competitive advantages. Marketing strategy includes all the basic and long-term activities in the field of the marketing that deal with the analysis of the strategic initial situation of the company and the formulation, evaluation and selection of the market-oriented strategies and therefore it contributes to the goals of the company and its marketing objectives.

            Other environmental influences, such as competition, may fuel the company’s desire to create more and better products that could well determine their location and standing in the global market. Increase in the number of competitors for the same line of products may mean that there

A strategy is said to be a plan that is made for the long term success of a product or brand. It is extremely important to have a strategy in order to figure out a direction towards which any company is able to focus all its resources efficiently and achieve desired outcomes. Formulating effective strategies is a considerably long process in itself that combines analysing several factors, situations and issues that are already present in a company and looking to improve on them alongside trying to implement various innovations and ideas to collectively create a direction towards which they can move and direct the resources available to them.

Organizations need to be aware of what is going on in their environments that might concern them, and more so, during the planning process. Diverse but overlapping environments ought to be monitored; the macro environment, the industrial environment, the competitive environment, and the organization’s internal environment (Ginter, 2013; Pfeiffer, 1986). At Rapha AL, my chosen organization, the environmental scanning will include distinct internal and external factors that would enable Rapha gain excellent understanding of the current and emerging issues that might affect it, and inspire the setting of clear and achievable goals. In this paper, I will analyze and address the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT); discuss current and prospective customers and evaluate the impact of environmental factors on the organization’s effectiveness to achieve the established goals within the strategic plan. Furthermore, I will address evolving external issues that could influence the strategic plan, evaluate the benefits of competitive analysis and Rapha’s capacity to achieve the strategic goals and objectives in a 3-year strategic plan.

(1) Planning and forecasting: examining the future and laying out the actions to be taken