Marketing Plan Phase 4: Controls, Implementation and Organization

The control and implementation of a marketing plan ensures the achievement of strategic
objectives that have been adopted by the company. This process also involves directing and
organizing people so that every role and activity for the marketing plan is successfully executed.
To successfully implement a marketing plan, a company has to have effective monitoring and
evaluation techniques for all marketing goals, and ensure that marketing activities are reported to
management to assist in decision-making. Essentially, effective marketing implementation and
organization depends on the quality of management, in which case leadership, communication
and coordination play a big role (Chernev, 2018). The components of effective marketing
incorporate controls, implementation, and organization.
Controls

Controls for the marketing plan can be viewed as a process with several phases. For Walmart to
accomplish the set objectives and achieve the sales forecast, management must establish
measures that show the efficacy of the marketing strategies in implementation. Additionally,
setting up controls ensures that the management can easily review strategies that prove
ineffective. In this case, Walmart marketing team set values of indicators such as changes in
market share, sales volume and stock rotation, determine tolerance ranges and subsequently
measure the value of indicators. According to Malhotra (2015), an effective marketing control
process also entails ensuring that changes of values for control indicators are addressed. In the
case of Walmart, the company will undertake four types of control: annual plan, profitability,
efficiency and strategic control. When further broken down, the control of the annual plan entails
analysis of financial indicators as noted in the financials section, market share and sales while

MARKETING CONTROLS, IMPLEMENTATION AND ORGANIZATION 3
profitability controls will entail specific market controllers for selected customer segment, area
and product. Furthermore, strategic control will be performed by the marketing auditor whereby
the effectiveness of marketing will be assessed, marketing excellence will be evaluated and
social and ethical responsibility of the company will also be evaluated.

Implementation

Strategies are only important when correctly executed. For the Walmart marketing plan,
the activities are for a short-period-plan, for example, less than 12 months and are formulated for
the strategic goal implementation. For instance, for the company to realize 20 percent sales
growth as part of the strategic objective, it could obtain a plan that is continuously operational
for the next half a year. According to Andrews and Shimp (2017), a great strategy with poor
implementation leads to disastrous consequences. In this case, steps in implementation will entail
activities such as running ads, launching ecommerce marketing campaigns and attending
meetings to report progress. A successful implementation of the marketing plan will depend on
team work and availability of resources. Communication is also key as it helps the team
understand the goals of the marketing plan and specific role in the implementation effort.
Moreover, it is important to build a detailed project timeline with tasks and deadlines that guide
the team on what is expected. At this phase, using project management software such as Trello,
Asana and Basecamp helps with coordination and management of tasks between team members.
Marketing organization
According to Chernev (2018), marketing organization is the channel for making all
decisions that involve marketing efforts such as prices, products, promotions, distributions and
marketing channels. It helps define authority relationships among marketing team members who
are responsible for the success of the marketing strategies. The marketing organization is more

MARKETING CONTROLS, IMPLEMENTATION AND ORGANIZATION 4
like an organizational structure as it facilitates the implementation of policies, decisions about
pricing, advertisements, branding and keeps marketing activities aligned with the needs,
predetermined objectives and specifications of the marketing plan. In Walmart’s case, the
presence of a robust marketing organization provides a framework for location of responsibility,
avoiding repetitive roles and ensures there is proper supervision of sales force. Ultimately, a
good marketing organization creates an environment where top executive can focus time on
policy matter as opposed to the day-to-day routine for marketing activities. Andrews and Shimp
(2017) propose several principles of organization that should guide companies: unity of
objectivity, efficiency, division of work, span of control, delegation, unity of command, authority
and responsibility. Other principles include co-ordination, communication, flexibility and
simplicity. In implementing these principles in the marketing organization, Walmart will be more
likely to realize optimal use of new technology and resources, boost growth and also stimulate
creativity among employees.

Conclusion

For the marketing plan to be successful, the management will need to ensure effective
implementation, control and marketing organization. This will facilitate coordination among the
team members while ensuring that marketing activities remain aligned with goals and objectives
to achieve the projected growth. Moreover, implementation and control in marketing facilitates
the company’s capacity to track progress and review strategies that do not bring results. To
ensure effective delegation of roles and responsibilities for the marketing project, Walmart will
use Trello, which will subsequently enhance coordination and communication among team
members.

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References

Andrews, J. C., & Shimp, T. A. (2017). Advertising, promotion, and other aspects of integrated
marketing communications. Nelson Education.
Chernev, A. (2018). Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press.
Malhotra, N. K. (2015). Essentials of marketing research: A hands-on orientation. Essex:
Pearson.