In the last news post, the importance of robust due diligence procedures to your business was discussed.  Not only can a strong policy towards regulatory compliance dramatically reduce the exposure of your business to reputation damage; which can endanger its very future; it can dramatically reduce the financial costs.  The average cost of a product safety recall in the UK is over two million pounds.

Another important step in the effective running of any business is a structured market analysis and marketing planning process.

Many small businesses start because of a spark of ingenuity by the proprietor.  This is usually based on their individual perception that there is a gap in the market or that consumers of a particular product or service would act in a particular way.

What many small business proprietors do not do is carry out a structured analysis of potential markets or document marketing plans to ensure a consistent strategy.

Philmus Consulting Ltd can provide a marketing planning and analysis service to business which ensures that your company has clear goals and objectives which meet consumer demand and which ensure that your products are directed at the most profitable market segments.

History is filled of examples where companies, often the biggest in the world, make huge errors in their marketing activity and as a result suffer catastrophic financial damage.

An example of such an error is the case of Clive Sinclair’s C5 electric ‘car’.  The Sinclair C5 was the world’s first commercially marketed electric mass transport vehicle but critical mistakes were made in its marketing.  The big assumption made was that the small recumbent tricycle would be the perfect vehicle for commuting, shopping or leisure driving.  Little attention seemed to have been given to the fact that the C5 would have to share the carriageway with double-decker buses and 38 ton lorries.  This marketing strategy led to ridicule of Clive Sinclair and it wiped his company out.

The marketing guru PR Smith wrote to Sinclair when the C5 was announced and clearly identified errors in the products marketing.  Smith believed that a major error was made in promoting the C5 as a car.  He believed a strategy of promoting the C5 to theme parks, leisure resorts and large factories would be far more successful.

Sinclair’s plan to market the C5 as a road vehicle for consumers was disastrous and Smith’s letter was ignored even though it stressed that his alternative plan was cost neutral.

What happened next was telling.  A Spanish entrepreneur purchased all the remaining stock of C5s and sold them to leisure resorts as a means of visitors travelling between attractions.  The entrepreneur made a tidy profit.

Marketing planning is crucial to the success of a business.  It helps businesses cope with the turbulent commercial environment and it provides structured communication to all areas of your business.

Philmus Consulting Ltd can help your business develop marketing plans and strategies which ensures that you are matching products and services to the most profitable market segments.

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