Strategic Marketing Plan on a New Product - Virgin Group

Textbook: applied strategic marketing, theird edition, 2008 du plessis, jooste, strydom

virgin group

with reference to the virgin case study

you have recently been awarded the contract as the business consultant for the firm

how to get a new product /sevice into the market

Executive summary

Situation analysis

swot analysis

issues that the plan should address

marketing goals and objectives

marketing strategy

marketing strategy

sales forecasts, budgets and financial indicators

Action plan

Managing the Virgin group is a pretty full time job and we have developed a canny way of doing it that keeps it fresh and lively whatever the company does and wherever it is based. We give birth to new Virgin companies, encourage them to walk, hold their hands and then watch them on their way as they become fully-fledged members of the Virgin family. It can sometimes get quite emotional. http://www.virgin.com/management

Product innovation is a team sport. Product strategists dream up products that meet unmet needs and capture the customer's imagination. Engineers translate product concepts into deliverable products that meet customer requirements with high quality. Marketing and sales persuade customers, generating demand for a new product. In short, the entire product development team pulls together to meet product launch targets.

However, because taking a new product from concept to production involves myriads tasks by different disciplines, the moderate success of any team members can significantly affect the success of a product launch, especially as measured by profitability. Even when all team members deliver their part of the product development (which is difficult enough for most companies to accomplish), if the product cost structure doesn't support the price the market will bear, the product won't sell, and margins and profitability will suffer. Furthermore, if suppliers can't keep up with demand and meet quality expectations, profitability windows vanish while competitors catch up.

For these reasons, Procurement and Sourcing functions are critical to ensuring that product costs and supply risks are addressed early in new product development (NPD), helping design profitability into products.