Current Marketing Situation

The current marketing situation section requires a situational analysis that considers the current market situation, the product situation and the competitive situation and various other variables.

A – Market Situation

This section provides data on the current market situation. The size of and trends in the market in total and by segments are shown. Data on customer needs, perceptions and behaviour may be presented.

B – Product Situation

In this part of the plan, sales, prices, contribution margins and net profits are shown for several years. The availability of computer spreadsheets, such as Lotus 1-2-3 or Excel, has facilitated the manager’s task in this regard. Not only is the preparation and display of topical data made that much easier, but projections, graphics and sensitivity analysis of future data can be achieved.

Bill Jones has used Excel to prepare his past product situation data. These figures are presented in the table below.

Past Product Situation Data-Tica-Treat

C – Competitive Situation

Major competitors are identified and their postures in terms of size, product quality, market share and strategies described. Part of Bill Jones’s plan was a market share analysis of major competitors for Tica-treat, which used the graph presented in Figure.

D – Distribution Situation

This section presents data on the volume of products sold through each distribution channel, changes in the distribution situation and the motivation of intermediaries. Bill Jones mentioned in his plan that “…mines exert considerable buying power due to their relative size and strong financial backing. For this reason, distribution will require special attention."

E – Macro Environment Situation

This section of the plan describes broad macro environmental trends that may have a bearing on the product – trends in the political, legal, economic sociocultural and technological environment.