Marketing communication: principles and practice

THE ALLOCATION OF FUNDS
Once marketing objectives have been set, a corresponding set of communi-
cation objectives can be decided. Only then can an overall budget be decided
and an appropriate allocation among advertising, personal selling, publicity,
sales promotion, exhibitions, and so on.
But how do you decide which of the various communication activities to
spend your limited budget on and how much to spend? The budget decision
needs some kind of judgement about the likely impact of the numerous
options. This will be a complex of the nature of the product–market
P L A N N I N G T H E S Y S T E M
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relationship, the stage of the life cycle, the financial resources available, and
the cost of services available to the provider. Several approaches to budget
allocation are outlined in Table 16.2.
Perhaps the reader can sense the preferred method for the author! Funds
are required for the purchase of media (print space, brochures, postage, website
maintenance, etc.), but also for marketing communication system manage-
ment, evaluation research, training and development of staff, and so on.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
1 Write a concise rationale for managing a marketing communication
planning system.
2 How can the communication plan contribute to integration of communi-
cation policies, decisions, and activities?
3 Planning may be no more than mindless ritual. How might this arise,
and what are the benefits to be gained from managing a sound strategic
thinking process?
4 ‘Marketing communication planning is itself a form of marketing
communication.’ Explain this notion.
5 How does planning motivate?
6 Plans often languish in desk drawers and are not used to make decisions
that have strategic consequences for marketing. Why might this happen,
and what can be done to overcome this management weakness?