2.4 The strategic marketing management process
We now understand the distinction between controllable and uncontrollable factors that affect an organisation's marketing activities, and how these uncontrollable factors are found in different environments. Now that we have set the groundwork, we can continue with marketing planning and strategy.
If you turn back to Figure 1.1 in Chapter One you will see that the first input to the marketing process comprises 'planning' and 'executing'. As demonstrated in this figure, planning and executing drive the next input to the marketing process, the development of the concept, and the marketing mix. The marketing mix in turn drives what happens to the ideas/goods/services that an organisation inputs to have an exchange with a customer.
However 'planning' and 'executing' in the marketing definition are a very simple way of representing what is another complex process in its own right. This is the strategic marketing management process (SMMP).
There are three key stages to the SMMP, namely, planning, implementation, and the evaluation/control stage. Different authors present these stages a little differently. An adaptation based on Quester et al. (2004) is presented in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1 The strategic marketing management process
Source: Quester et al. (2004, p. 36)
Figure 2.1 illustrates that plans are implemented and performance results are evaluated to provide information used to plan for the future. The process is continuous and allows for adapting to changes in the environment.
Importantly, Figure 2.1 shows very explicitly that there is a feedback loop in the SMMP. In other words, the purpose of the evaluation stage is to provide input to the next planning stage in the cycle. Evaluation (or control) allows you to work out how to do it better next time around, where the outcome of that assessment contributes to what you do about future activities (planning).
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