Marketing Planning: Meaning and Definition

Planning is the primary function of the management. It is the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve the desired objectives or goals. The definition of planning as given by some respective scholars has been given below:

Dr. Philip Kotler

“Planning is deciding in the present what to do in future. It is the process whereby companies reconcile their resources with their objectives and opportunities.”

James L. Lundy

“It means the determination of what is to be done, how and where it is to be done, who will do it and how results are to be evaluated.”

M.E. Herley

“Planning is deciding in advance what is to be done. It involves the selection of objectives, policies, procedures and programmes from among alternatives.”

George R. Teny

Planning is a method or technique of looking ahead, a ‘constructive reviewing of future so that the present action can be adjusted in view of the established goals.”

Koontz and O’Donnel

“Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and who is to do it. Planning bridges the gap between where we are and where we want to go. It makes it possible for things to occur which would not otherwise happen.”

Definition of Marketing Planning

The marketing planning is a comprehensive blueprint which outlines an organization’s overall marketing efforts. It typically results in a marketing strategy that can be used to increase sales for the business producing it. The definition of marketing planning as given by some prominent scholars has been given below:

• Stephen Morse: “Marketing planning is concerned with the identification of resources that are available and their allocation to meet specified objectives.”
• American Marketing Association: “Marketing planning is the work of setting up objectives for marketing activities and of determining and scheduling the steps necessary to achieve such objectives.”

On the basis of above definitions, the marketing planning is the road map of an organization for selecting a target market and then satisfying the consumers. It is a continuous process in which the marketing objectives of an enterprise are decided and marketing programmes, policies and procedures are determined for the performance of different marketing activities like marketing research, sales forecasting, product planning and development, pricing, advertisement and sales promotion, physical distribution and after sale services, etc.