FINAL: IMPLEMENTATION, EVALUATION, CONTROL

Controls 'will be used to monitor progress and allow higher management to review implementation results and spot products that are not meeting their goals. It includes measures of return on marketing investment.' (book page 56)

Marketing control is 'the process of measuring and evaluating the results of marketing strategies and plans and taking corrective action to ensure that objectives are achieved.' (book page 58)

Implementation 'spells out how marketing strategies will be turned into specific action programs that answer the following questions: What will be done? When will it be done? Who will do it? How much will it cost? '(book page 56) Implementation is 'the process that turns marketing strategies and plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives.' (book page 57)      For the Phileas Fogg's Seaweed Snack product, the marketing department will set goals at the beginning of the fiscal year involving market share, sales and return on marketing investment. The results will be evaluated yearly, quarterly and monthly using market research and other methods to measure progress toward those goals. The strategies and controls will be adjusted as needed, so that if one marketing strategy is working well it can be implemented as needed.  Individual marketing campaigns will be measured to see if the cost per customer justifies them.      A website will be made, as will a blog and a twitter feed. Online ads will be placed on google and maybe other services and a cost per customer will be calculated to see if they need adjusting. These will target younger (21-35) customers that might not be reachable by traditional media.     Bars will be contacted to see if they are willing to set out some of the product samples during athletic events or other times when they have lots of customers. Ads and other promotions will be done with the bars at those times, like maybe during football season.       Liquor stores and convenience stores will be contacted to see if they are willing to carry the product.       Another possibility is using snack food distributors if the terms they offer would be beneficial. Such an agreement would have to be carefully thought out as it means less profit and less control of the distribution in return for more customers and access to some stores that might not accept the product otherwise. [NOTE: For purposes of these blogs, all references to 'book' refer to Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing]