Quiz 16: The Marketing Plan

The average tenure of a CMO is 26 months or less.

Marketing is a business function where performance is difficult to quantify due to its creative nature.

Many companies create marketing plans at the divisional level.

Typically,the CMO is solely responsible for creating a marketing plan.

Team members creating a marketing plan can be specialists in a certain area.

Brand managers are typically permanent members of the team creating a marketing plan.

Marketing plans aid CMOs in: A)setting their organization's marketing expectations. B)funding employment salaries and benefits. C)understanding the roles of their customers. D)setting customer service tolerance zones. E)tracking advertisements.

The ____ is a document that is designed to communicate the marketing strategy for an offering. A)research paper B)market plan C)mission statement D)annual report E)execution strategy

A(n)_____ examines the competition's financial and marketing performance. A)forecast specialist B)engineer C)market analyst D)brand manager E)market director

CMOs must set their organization's _____ expectations.

_____ are likely to be permanent members of the CMO's staff.

A(n)_____ is likely to be a part of the team creating a marketing plan when there is a need for data to aid in the planning process.

What are the functions of a marketing plan?

What is the purpose of the marketing plan?

A firm's sales force will use the marketing plan to determine its sales strategies and how many salespeople are needed.

Only specific personal within marketing are impacted by the marketing plan.

An executive summary is typically about two to three pages in length,as it is summarizing a very long document.

The company's mission statement should be referenced in the business challenge section of the marketing plan.

The marketing plan is intended to be a persuasive document.

Customers are central to all marketing plans.

Strengths and opportunities are positive situational factors arising from within the firm.

A SWOT analysis can be utilized in the company analysis portion of the marketing plan.

Collaborators are typically limited to suppliers and distributors.

A good marketing plan often sparks retaliation from one or more competitors.

A complete coverage of the business climate includes an analysis of the political climate,economic climate,and technological environment.

Part of an offering is the service support consumers need to extract the offering's full value.

The plan for the offering is focused on pricing,benefits,value,and customer support.The communication part of the marketing plan includes the plan for introducing offerings that will follow the initial launch.

The first portion of the budget section of the marketing plan will most likely cover the investment required for the launch.

A complete budget section is entirely focused on discussing the money needed to launch the new offering.

Projections for a product's sales and profits should include a timeline.

In the _____ section of the marketing plan,the planner describes the offering and provides a brief rationale for why the company should invest in it. A)business challenge B)customers C)executive summary D)collaborators E)market

The marketing plan should constantly answer the question: A)"What is the biggest challenge of the company?" B)"Why should I invest in this plan?" C)"How will the company aid shareholders?" D)"How will this help the CMO?" E)"Why should I buy your brand?"

When discussing the customer segments in the marketing plan,it is important to include: A)segmentation analysis strategies. B)market research objectives. C)market share and sales goals for each segment. D)differentiated segment strategies to reduce risk. E)concentrated segment peripherals.

Lucy lists the positive factors associated with her company,such as sales growth,world class distribution,and industry recognition for product quality.She is listing the company's _____. A)weaknesses B)opportunities C)allowances D)strengths E)threats

Threats include: A)internal positive conditions of the firm. B)external positive conditions of the macroenvironment. C)collaborative factors with competitors. D)internal negative conditions of the firm. E)external negative conditions of the macroenvironment.

A scan of the _____ should include any new government regulations as well as legislation. A)political climate B)technological environment C)demographic climate D)economic climate E)social and cultural environment

Understanding the history that Hispanics have had with financial institutions in their home countries is important to marketers when developing campaigns.This is an example of understanding the: A)political climate. B)technological environment. C)demographic climate. D)economic climate. E)social and cultural environment.

The _____ section details the tactics the organization will use to develop,market,and sell the offering. A)executive summary B)strategy C)business challenge D)market E)conclusion

When describing the _____,it is important to provide detail concerning features,benefits,and pricing options. A)marketing strategy B)marketing plan C)offering D)communications strategy E)distribution strategy

The _____ addresses the question "How will the offering be launched?" A)offering B)business climate C)customers D)communication plan E)distribution plan

Bob specifies that it is important to have 1,000 units of product available to five of their key retailers at all times in his company's warehouse.Which part of the marketing plan would ideally contain this information? A)Offering B)Business climate C)Customers D)Communication plan E)Distribution plan

Target markets,the offer,and the communication plan are summarized in the _____ section of the marketing plan. A)offering B)communication plan C)business climate D)strategy E)conclusion

The market section of the plan should describe the firm's: A)customers. B)competitors. C)collaborators. D)business climate. E)all of the above.

After completing the _____ section,readers should conclude that the proposed strategy is the best one available. A)strategy B)executive summary C)market D)budget E)conclusion

The actual marketing plan you create will be written primarily for _____,who will use the forecasts in your plan to make _____.

The market section of the marketing plan should describe your _____,_____,any other organizations with which you collaborate,and the state of the market.

When writing your marketing plan,begin with the _____ segment first and work your way to the _____ segment.

SWOT stands for _____,_____,_____,and _____.

_____ are those organizations,either upstream or downstream in the value chain,you need to partner with to co-create value.

_____ is the application of science to solve problems.

The _____ section of the marketing plan answers questions about where and how the offering will be sold.

Highlights are repeated in the _____ section of the marketing plan.

A good marketing plan includes how the organization should respond to various scenarios if the _____.

In a marketing plan's _____,the planner describes the offering and a brief rationale for why the company should invest in it.

The budget section of the marketing plan covers all the _____ needed to successfully launch the product.

The _____ section of the marketing plan offers the opportunity to create a compelling argument as to what you intend to do and why others should invest in the strategy.

New personnel,new equipment,and new locations are all examples of resources that should be outlined in the ____ section of the marketing plan.

Which are the five things that a marketing plan should do?

List the components in a marketing plan outline.

What is the purpose of the executive summary and what should it entail?

Which are the factors that contribute to a better SWOT analysis?

What should be included in the competitors section of the marketing plan?

What should be included in the budget section of the marketing plan?

Creating marketing strategy is a single event.

Implementation of the marketing strategy is something that is not limited to the marketing department.

Overestimating demand is much more destructive than underestimating demand because of manufacturing,distribution,and storing costs.

Accuracy is important when it comes to forecasts.

A company's sales potential is estimated prior to the market potential.

Forecasts are simply someone's guess as to what will happen.

Executive opinion is the best-guess estimates of industry experts outside of the company.

At some level,every forecast is ultimately someone's judgment.

As a sole method of forecasting,expert opinions are mostly very accurate.

A leading indicator for furniture sales is new housing starts.

Sophisticated statistical models used in forecasting that are based on how customers have responded in the past to marketing strategies are known as correlational analysis.

Competitors often try to skew the results of a firm's market test.

_____ refers to total industry-wide sales expected in a particular product category for the time period of interest. A)Market potential B)A moving average C)Sales potential D)Sales force composite E)A leading indicator

A firm's sales potential: A)is an estimate of future sales based on the sum of estimates from all of the company's salespeople. B)is the maximum total revenue it hopes to generate from a product or the number of units of it the company can hope to sell. C)is a trend analysis type of forecasting method that estimates sales based on an average rate of change over a group of previous periods of time. D)refers to the degree to which a plan is implemented as intended. E)refers to the total industry-wide sales expected in a particular product category during the time period of interest.

_____ are better at estimating market potential than sales potential in addition to being relatively costly. A)Sales force composites B)Executive opinions C)Customer and channel surveys D)Expert opinions E)Time series techniques

A(n)_____ is a forecast based on estimates of sales in a given time period gathered from all of a firm's salespeople. A)sales force composite B)executive opinion C)customer and channel survey D)expert opinion E)time series technique

The advantages of _____ are that they are low cost and fast,and they have the effect of making executives committed to achieving them. A)sales force composites B)executive opinions C)customer and channel surveys D)expert opinions E)time series techniques

Expert opinion is a tool best used: A)in conjunction with more qualitative methods. B)with those internal to the company,as they will have the most relevant opinions. C)on its own. D)in conjunction with more quantitative methods. E)in conclusion to the marketing plan.

_____ is a group of forecasting methods that base the future period of sales on the rate of change for previous periods of time. A)Expert opinion B)Statistical control C)Moving average D)Sales potential E)Trend analysis

The _____ is an adjustment whereby the rate of change for the past few periods is averaged; while _____ is a type of moving average that puts more emphasis on the most recent period. A)moving average; exponential smoothing B)moving average; correlational analysis C)exponential smoothing; moving average D)correlational analysis; moving average E)exponential smoothing; correlational analysis

A form of trend analysis that estimates sales based on the trends of other variables is known as: A)response modeling. B)market testing. C)expert opinion. D)correlational analysis. E)the leading indicator.

A(n)_____ is a correlate that occurs before the variable being forecasted. A)managerial control B)fidelity C)correlational analysis D)exponential smoothing E)leading indicator

A(n)_____ can be advantageous because there is no historical data on how the product has done. A)response model B)time-series technique C)correlational analysis D)exponential smoothing E)market test

The first step of sales forecasting typically involves determining _____.

A firm's _____ is typically represented as a percentage of its market potential and equivalent to the company's estimated maximum market share for the time period.

Techniques that rely heavily on people's opinions or estimates are called _____.

_____ involve a research company asking customers how much they plan on spending in the coming year on certain products.

A sales force composite is typically used for _____ forecasts in order to more accurately predict production and inventory requirements.

When utilizing an executive opinion forecasting strategy,each executive submits an estimate of the company's sales,which are then _____.

_____ is a forecasting method in which the forecast is based on an objective third-party's best estimate of what will happen in the market and how that will influence sales.

Time series techniques examine sales patterns in the past in order to _____.

_____ refers to a trend analysis type of forecasting method that estimates sales based on an average rate of change over a group of previous periods of time.

_____ is a method of trend analysis forecasting that weights recent periods of time more heavily than comparatively distant periods of time.

A(n)_____ is an experiment in which the company launches a new offering in a limited market in order to gain real-world knowledge of how the market will react to the product.

What are the issues that arise from underestimating demand versus overestimating demand?

List and describe the steps in the forecasting process.

List and explain four types of forecasting processes.

Identify types of forecasting methods and list their advantages and disadvantages.

Discuss the methods used to improve the accuracy of forecasts.

Marketing plans are created only when a new offering is being launched.

A marketing plan should be something of a living document.

For marketers,identifying causality is not a task.

In the context of causality,control means the degree to which you can manipulate an outcome.

Statistical control is the ability to manipulate variables,such as how a marketing plan is implemented.

Fidelity is the degree to which the plan is being implemented as it is supposed to be.

A marketing audit should assess the extent to which the plan was successful in achieving the goal of getting important people and departments within an organization to buy into the plan.

_____ is the relationship between two variables whereby one variable is a direct consequence of the other. A)Causality B)Control C)Execution D)Expertise E)Correlational analysis

Statistical control involves: A)controlling how variables in the marketing plan are implemented. B)mathematically removing the influence of a variable on an outcome so as to isolate the cause of a problem. C)forecasting future sales based on the rate of change for previous periods of time. D)assessing strengths,weaknesses,opportunities,and threats. E)implementing a plan as intended.

_____ allows you to smooth out the seasonal variance on sales so you can then determine how much of the change in sales is due to other factors. A)Correlational analysis B)Expertise C)Statistical control D)Managerial control E)Causality

A(n)_____ is an examination or snapshot of the state of a company's marketing strategies as they are actually implemented. A)managerial control B)statistical analysis C)correlational analysis D)marketing audit E)cause analysis

The key to a successful ongoing marketing strategy includes understanding _____ and good execution of the _____.

_____ is the degree to which you can separate the effects of a variable on a consequence.

_____ control is the ability to manipulate variables; while _____ control involves mathematically removing the influence of a variable on an outcome so as to isolate the cause of a problem.

A(n)_____ is an examination or snapshot of the state of a company's marketing strategies as they are actually implemented.

When are marketing plans created?

List some factors a marketing audit should assess.