Marketing Planning Using SOSTAC on Easy Gyms - Business Plan Example

MARKETING PLANNING USING SOSTAC ON EASY GYMS] Introduction SOSTAC provides the steps that should be followed when designing a marketing plan, especially marketing communications. It incorporates situation analysis and writing of objectives and strategies in a succinct manner (Smith & Taylor, 2004, p, 35). In addition, tactics and action plans should have an appropriate and detailed planning. Managers and marketing teams should ensure that control, feedback and monitoring mechanisms are intact so as determine performance of the marketing plan in terms of success or failure, and make appropriate changes early enough before it is too late (Smith & Taylor, 2004, p, 35). This essay discusses a marketing plan for Easy Gyms using tactics, actions and control, which are the last three elements of SOSTAC. In the tactics section, the objectives and goals of Easy Gyms are outlined. Some of the 7Ps of marketing that will be used in the marketing plan are also discussed, along with explanations on how they can be used to achieve the objectives of Easy Gyms. In addition, this marketing plan incorporates an actions section, where teams and leadership in terms of how they will contribute to organisation performance of Easy Gyms. The types of teams and leadership, motivation and recording are all highlighted and discussed in this section. Finally, in the control section of this marketing plan, details about how performance of tactics will be measured so as to control the marketing plan and how performance of the company will be monitored to enhance achievement of its goals and objectives are provided. Also, determination of whether the company is on the right is made by making reports to managers and administration. Tactics The details of a marketing strategy are called tactics. Communication tactics include advertising, PR and direct mail. Advertising can be carried out through press and TV while publicity can be achieved through public relationships. Some of the marketing tactics that are commonly used include working with clients who can be requested to refer the services of a company to other people. This is simply asking satisfied clients to actively market services on behalf of the company (Winston & Crane, 2012, p, 71). In addition companies develop materials that clients can pass along to prospects and opinion leaders to help spread word about products and services. The 7Ps of marketing include people, processes, physical evidence, product, place, price and promotion. As far as people are concerned, every organisation should ensure that interactions are positive. This can be achieved by carrying out prior preparations, in terms of ensuring that staff members are motivated so as to deal with customers effectively (Needham & al, 1999, p, 69). Therefore, selection, training and motivation of personnel should focus on highest level of assistance to clients. Companies should ensure that employee skills, attitudes and motivation enhance positive interaction (Drummond & Ensor, 2005, p, 10). Processes determine the success of a marketing plan of an organisation. For instance, it is through the process of service delivery that effective service can be achieved. The delivery process should also respond to individual needs in a flexible manner. In addition, information about what is happening should be provided to customers to enable them make plans. An organisation may opt to make payment an easy process so as to make it convenient for clients (Needham & et al, 1999, p, 69). Provision of services should be focused on fulfilling customers’ needs (Drummond & Ensor, 2005, p, 10). Physical evidence is a component of a marketing plan, which helps clients to get quality services and enjoy the organisation’s atmosphere, while seeking services from the organisation. For instance, an organisation can ensure that its interior has a good design and it is welcoming. The interior structure of an organisation may also facilitate easy access and include quality facilities. Organisational staff will also have to ensure that they offer intimate and welcoming services. According to Needham & et al (1999, p, 70), an organisation’s layout should be made welcoming and understandable and not threatening. In addition, customer benefits and quality should be assured. This can be achieved through the organisation’s ambience, fixtures and fittings appearance and attitude of staff (Drummond & Ensor, 2005, p, 10). A marketing plan also incorporates product as a major determinant of its success. The benefits of a service or product that customers get influence success of a marketing plan. Place defines where the product or service is delivered to the client while price determines whether an organisation’s services or products are premium priced to reflect high quality or whether they are differentiated (Donnelly, 2009, p, 217). Promotion is about positioning of a company’s services or products so as to occupy customers mind. It includes sponsorships, public relations and promotional licensing (Shilbury, Westerbeek, Quick, & Funk, 2014, p, 7). The objectives of this marketing plan for Easy Gyms include the aim to increase the range of chosen and targeted audience in order to reach more customers by 20-30% in the next six months and to increase sales by 10% annually. The marketing plan for Easy Gyms seeks to obtain the UK best fitness gym for 2015 by increasing branches, staff and digital marketing. In consideration of 5 out of the 7Ps of marketing, various tactics that will be applied to achieve the aforementioned objectives of Easy Gyms are discussed. The marketing P’s used in this marketing plan include processes, physical evidence, people, products and promotion. In marketing the services of Easy Gyms, the marketing plan will include people as a significant component and contributing factor towards the achievement of objectives. Management will ensure the process of recruitment of staff is rigorous. This will ensure that that Easy Gyms hires skilled employees whose resilience can promote positive interactions with clients. Employees will be trained on customer handling skills. As a result, these prior preparations will lead to provision of high quality services by staff members. When clients are dealt with in an effective manner, they will always come back to Easy Gyms and will propose the services of Easy Gyms to other people. In turn, the number of clients is expected to rise significantly. Secondly, Easy Gyms management will ensure that staff members are adequately motivated through rewards and appraisals so that they deal with customers effectively and promote the company’s sales. Therefore, selection, training and motivation of personnel by Easy Gyms will have to ensure that staff members are able to offer the highest level of assistance to clients and ensure that staff members’ skills, attitudes and motivation enhance positive interaction. Secondly, Easy Gyms will have to ensure that the services offered to clients correspond to the individual needs of clients in a flexible manner. This means that service offered to clients who visit Easy Gyms will be customer tailored to satisfy their needs and ensure that clients who register with Easy Gyms will come back with their family members and friends. Additionally, staff members of Easy Gyms will ensure that they provide information to clients about the current activities so that clients will make decisions and plans. The structure of Easy Gyms will be designed in a way that will allow clients to make payments easily through online services. This will increase convenience for clients and attract more clients. In terms of structure, Easy Gyms management will ensure that the interior of the gym is redesigned. This interior design is meant to be appealing and welcoming to clients and will make clients to feel free and valued while in the gym. Management will ensure that the interior structure of Easy Gyms allows customers to access facilities easily. Easy access to facilities will aid in providing high quality services to clients. In addition, organisational staff of Easy Gyms will be urged to offer intimate and welcoming services to the gym’s clients. Further, the marketing plan will incorporate structuring of a gym’s layout that is welcoming and understandable and not threatening. As result, many customers will find it easy to carry out various activities in the gym and this will increase the quality of service that they will receive. Given that customer benefits and quality will be assured, such first time, Easy Gyms Customers will come back for more services and they will refer the services of Easy Gyms to other people. Therefore, more customers will seek the services of Easy Gyms and enable the organisation to achieve its goals of reaching more customers and increasing sales, as well as being the best Gym in UK. A friendly and easily accessible interior design for Easy Gyms will be determined by designing the organisation’s ambience attractively, use of high quality fixtures and fittings and ensuring that staff portray a positive attitude. In its bid to achieve objectives of increasing sales and reaching out to more customers, Easy Gyms will have to offer, high quality services to clients. High quality services will influence clients’ future decisions about exercise and fitness. This means that they will always want to come back to Easy Gyms. Finally, Easy Gyms will promote its services across the UK through online marketing. By designing a user friendly website for Easy Gyms, the organisation will be able to spread word about its services. Services offered, along with the associated registration costs will be outlined on the website. To increase convenience, customers will also be to register and make payments online. Other forms of promotion that Easy Gyms will use through this marketing plan to position its services so as to occupy customers mind include urging every registered member to bring family members and friends, who in turn, will bring other members. Easy Gyms will encourage its registered members to carry out fitness activities with friends and family members or relatives. This means that fitness will be made a social event and so doing, more clients will be attracted. In addition, Easy Gyms will provide various offers to motivate people to register for its services. For instance, clients will get registration fees discounts and a three day orientation and introduction, both of which will be free. Easy Gyms will also create a Face Book group, trough which it will market its services. Other promotional tactics will include television advertisements, online text advertisements, downloadable brochures, location explanations, encouraging direct messaging between members and matching services for clients who will be looking for fitness partners. Easy Gyms will also use flyers to promote its services and PR from local press. Action Through actions, the details of the tactics will be revealed. Action plans give life to the tactics because it is through actions that tactics are implemented (Smith & Taylor, 2004). Actions outline the roles of each member of the marketing personnel, ranging from team leaders to members. The roles of an advertising agency are specified in the action section of a marketing plan (Luther, 2001, p, 264). Actions are vital in a marketing plan because they help in defining responsibilities. For instance, specific actions that take place are known so that the responsibility for each action can be assigned and implemented (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011, p, 44). Management of Easy Gyms will use various types of marketing leadership to achieve the objectives of the marketing plan. First, customer intimacy leadership will enable the organisation to create close relationships with clients to provide the best customer experience and satisfaction. Also, operational excellence leadership will ensure that Easy Gyms provides services to clients efficiently by including customers in the provision of services. In addition, Easy Gyms will make use of cross functional teams, which will be responsible for the execution of the marketing plan. The marketing leader will be responsible for assigning roles to team members such as those responsible for designing the company’s website and those who will carry out other promotional activities. Team members will include Easy Gyms marketing personnel and some customers who will be chosen to aid in promoting the company’s services. Among the factors that will contribute towards the appropriate performance of marketing actions are people management skills, prioritising and the ability to get other people such as recruitment of staff and even suppliers and agencies. Easy Gyms will have to make prior plans for contingencies to address matters when things go wrong and ensure that resources are sufficient to make tactics happen. Control The control part of a marketing plan incorporates monitoring the performance of marketing plans, as well as measuring those (Smith & Taylor, 2004, p, 50). It is imperative for an organisation’s management to know early enough how its marketing plan is performing so that proper changes can be made or corrective measures can be taken (Smith & Taylor, 2004, p, 50). This means that there have to be control systems for monitoring activities and performance. Easy Gyms will monitor performance of this marketing plan by keeping a proper record of clients who come back, new clients that are brought by existing clients and new clients who decide to seek the gym’s services by visiting the organisation’s website or by receiving communication from the communication team. In addition, Easy Gym’s will evaluate the revenue earned from services to determine whether it is declining or increasing. In case of a decline, corrective measures will be taken to ensure that the marketing plan is on the right track. Also, as mentioned earlier, the company will evaluate performance of the marketing plan by establishing the number of responses from targeted clients. Effective control of the marketing plan will enable Easy Gyms to achieve its marketing objectives. References Donnelly, R., 2009. CIM Coursebook: Delivering Customer Value Through Marketing. Abingdon: Routledge Press. Drummond, G., & Ensor, J., 2005. Introduction to Marketing Concepts. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann Publishers. Ferrell, O. C., & Hartline, M.,2011. Marketing Strategy. New York: South Western Cengage Learning Press. Luther, W. M., 2001. The Marketing Plan: How to Prepare and Implement it. New York: AMACOM Press. Needham, D., et al., 1999. Business for Higher Awards. Oxford: Heinemann Publications. Shilbury, D., Westerbeek, H., Quick, S. P., & Funk, D. C., 2014. Strategic Sport Marketing. Sydney: Allen & Unwin Press. Smith, P. R., & Taylor, J., 2004. Marketing Communications: An Integrated Approach. London: Kogan Page Press. Winston, W., & Crane, F. G., 2012. Professional Services Marketing: Strategy and Tactics. Abingdon: Routledge Publications. Read More