Marketing Planning and Strategy

Decision Area Strategies

These are used to achieve the General Marketing Strategies by guiding the decisions within important marketing areas (product, pricing, distribution, promotion, target marketing). For example, a General Marketing Strategy that centers on entering a new market with new products may be supported by Decision Area Strategies that include:

• Target Market Strategy – employ segmenting techniques
• Product Strategy – develop new product line
• Pricing Strategy – create price programs that offer lower pricing versus competitors
• Distribution Strategy – use methods to gain access to important distribution partners that service the target market
• Promotion Strategy – create a plan that can quickly build awareness of the product

Achieving the Decision Area Strategies is accomplished through the development of detailed Tactical Programs for each area. For instance, to meet the Pricing Strategy that lowers cost versus competitors’ products, the marketer may employ such tactics as: quantity discounts, trade-in allowances or sales volume incentives to distributors.