Marketing Audit

Get your marketing ready for the marketplace

Welcome to Marketing Audit. A marketing audit does exactly what it says. If your marketing
operations are inline with your business objectives, and fit well within your corporate
capabilities, you will benefit from improved marketing and higher profit potential.

The audit will involve the following:

Understand your goals - what do you want to improve

Gathering marketing materials - what you are using, and how are you using it

Interviews - talking to employees from all departments, and where appropriate, suppliers and
customers

Analyse - anyone can collect information and write down some goals, but the analysis and
understanding we can provide will give you an enormous insight into the marketing functionality
of your business

Reports - we will provide you with a full report, with an actionable checklist for you to follow,
using your own people, or with our help

Benefits of a marketing audit

A marketing audit is defined as "a systematic, comprehensive and periodic review of the entire
marketing activities of an organisation" (College of Business).

The purpose of an audit is to:

Determine what is currently being done

Evaluate what is being done (is it working, etc)

Recommend what should be done in the future

The benefits of the audit, therefore, are:

In-depth picture of what you are doing

Foster awareness throughout your business

Assist the building of internal relationships

Improve marketing efficiency and effectiveness

Gives an opportunity for input from other areas of the business

Provide an important insight into the improvement of marketing planning

Task Environment Audit

Are you competitive in your marketplace?

How competitive is the marketplace? What are competitors doing, and are they doing it well?
What might they be preparing to do? These are all vital to understand in preparing yourselves
for the battle.

We evaluate the following:

Markets

What is happening to market size, growth, geographical distribution and profits?

What are the major market segments?

Customers

What are the customers' needs and buying processes?

How do customers and prospects rate the company and its competitors on reputation, product
quality, service, sales force and price?

How do different customer segments make their buying decisions?

Competitors

Who are the major competitors?

What are their objectives, strategies, strengths, weaknesses, sizes and market shares?
What trends will affect future competition and substitutes for the company's products?

Distribution & dealers

What are the main trade channels for bringing products to customers?

What are the efficiency levels and growth potentials of the different trade channels?

Suppliers

What is the outlook for the availability of key resources used in production?

What trends are occurring among suppliers?

Facilitators & marketing firms

What is the cost and availability outlook for transportation services, warehousing facilities and
financial resources?

How effective are the company's advertising agencies and marketing research firms?

Publics

Which publics represent particular opportunities or problems for the company?

What steps has the company taken to deal effectively with each public?

Marketing Organisation Audit

Does your marketing organisation compliment your operations?

The audit covers the following:

Formal structure

Does the marketing director have adequate authority and responsibility for company activities
that affect customers' satisfaction?

Are the marketing activities optimally structured along functional, product, segment, end-user
and geographical lines?

Functional Efficiency

Are there good communications and working relations between marketing and sales?

Is the product-management system working effectively?

Are product managers able to plan profits or only sales volumes?

Are there any groups in marketing that need
more training, motivation, supervision or evaluation?

Interface Efficiency

Are there any problems between marketing and manufacturing, R&D, purchasing, finance,
accounting and/or legal that need attention?

Marketing Systems Audit

Are your systems supporting your marketing efforts?

In this section the company has the opportunity to put the business under the microscope. Do
you know as much about your business situation as you should?

Marketing information systems

Is the marketing intelligence system producing accurate, sufficient and timely information about
marketplace developments with respect to customers, prospects, distributors and dealers,
competitors, suppliers and various publics?
Are company decision makers asking for enough marketing research, and are they using the
results?

Is the company employing the best methods for market measurement and sales forecasting?

Marketing planning systems

Is the marketing planning system well conceived and effectively used?

Do marketers have decision support systems available?

Does the planning system result in acceptable sales targets and quotas?

Marketing control systems

Are control procedures adequate to ensure that the annual plan objectives are being achieved?

Does management periodically analyse the profitability of products, markets, territories and
channels of distribution?

Are marketing costs and productivity periodically examined?

New product development systems

Is the company well organised to gather, generate and screen new product ideas?

Does the company do adequate concept research and business analysis before investing in new
ideas?

Does the company carry out adequate product and market testing before launching new
products?

Marketing Productivity Audit

Are you profitable?

Profitability is key in business, but this involves understanding both your profit and your cost
structure.

The audit involves the following:

Profitability analysis

What is the profitability of the company's different products, markets, territories and channels of
distribution?

Should the company enter, expand, contract or withdraw from any business segments?

Cost effectiveness analysis

Do any marketing activities seem to have excessive costs?

Can cost-reducing steps be taken?

Marketing Function Audit

Using the marketing mix to analyse your functions

The marketing mix comprises of framework comprising of Product, Price, Place (Distribution)
and Promotion.

Products

What are the company's product-line objectives?

Are the objectives sound?

Should the product line be stretched or contracted upward, downward, or both ways?

Which products should be phased out?

Which products should be added to?

What are the buyers' knowledge and attitudes toward the company's and competitors' product
quality, features, styling, brand names, etc?

What areas of product and brand strategy need improvement?

Prices

What are the company's pricing objectives, policies, strategies and procedures?

To what extent are the prices set on cost, demand and competitive criteria?

Do the customers see the company's prices as being in line with the value of its offer?

What does management know about the price elasticity of demand, experience-curveeffects
and competitors' prices and pricing policies?

To what extent are price policies compatible with the needs of distributors and dealers, suppliers
and government regulations?

Place (Distribution)

What are the organisation's advertising objectives?

Is there adequate market coverage and service?

How effective are distributors, dealers, manufacturers' representatives, brokers, agents and
others?
Should the company consider changing its distribution channels?

Promotion

Including advertising, sales promotion, publicity and direct marketing.

What are the organisations advertising objectives?

Are the objectives sound?

Is the right amount being spent on advertising?

Are the ad-themes and copy effective?

What do customers and the public think about the advertising?

Are the advertising media well chosen?

Is the internal advertising staff adequate?

Is the sales promotion budget adequate?

Is there effective and sufficient use of sales promotion tools such as samples, coupons, displays
and sales contests?

Is the public relations staff competent and creative?

Is the company making enough use of direct, online and database marketing?

Sales Force

What are the sales force's objectives?

Is the sales force large enough to accomplish the company's objectives?

Is the sales force organised along the proper principles of specialisation (territory, market,
product)?

Are there enough (or to many) sales managers to guide the field sales representatives?

Do the sales compensation level and structure provide adequate incentive and reward?

Does the sales force show high morale, ability and effort?

Are the procedures adequate for setting quotas and evaluating performance?

How does the company's sales force compare to competitor's sales forces?
Marketing Audit Checklist

How you can audit your marketing

You can start to understand your marketing processes, and help fast-track your processes. The
real art in this is understanding what the results show, but you may spot some trends and signals
that you can implement immediately.
We have developed a 100 question questionnaire to help you understand your company, and
help us understand how you see your business:

Marketing

Do you feel you are getting value for money from your marketing budgets?

Are you developing the new business opportunities as outlined in your business plan?

Do you actually have a business plan to compare with your results?

How satisfied are your customers - and do you have proof of this?

What unique selling propositions help you stand out from your marketplace?

Is your corporate or brand image consistent with your product or service, in the eyes of your
customers?

Do you actively manage your brand, product or corporate identity?

How effective do you feel your external communications are? Do you have any proof of this?

How effective do you feel your internal communications are? Do you have any proof of this?

When did you last launch a new product?

Was the new product launch successful? Do you have any proof of this?

How effective do you feel your marketing is?

Do you have a digital marketing strategy? Do you think it works?

Brand

Do you actively manage your brand, and how?

What are your brand values, and does your company live these values?

How long has the brand/product been around?

What is the estimated brand equity?

What does the brand mean in the eyes of your customers?

Would your customers miss it if it did not exist?

Have you extended the brand or product line? If not, could you do it?

Are there any high-risk areas you should avoid?

Do your brand/product promotions reinforce the core values?

Business Development

Are you developing new business from existing customers?

Are you developing new business from new customers?

Are you developing new business from new products?

Do you know what your customer retention rates are?

Do you have an definition for a 'good' sale or customer?

Do you set revenue targets?

Do you set profit targets?

How do you manage key accounts?

How do you target new, potential key accounts?

Do your customers know all the brands/products you offer?

How much do you invest in business development activities?

What is the success rate of your business development efforts?

Do you have a customer relationship management (or marketing) system?

Do you feel the CRM system is well implemented and properly used?

Customer Satisfaction

Do you know how satisfied your customers are with your products/ services? Do you have any
proof of this?

Do you operate a Customer Satisfaction Policy?

What do you see as the benefits of a Customer Satisfaction Policy?

Do you assess customer satisfaction? How do you do this?

To what level do you think you are meeting or exceeding customer expectations?

Do you hold customer satisfaction reviews?

If you do, is there any internal resistance to customer satisfaction reviews?

Do you link any customer satisfaction feedback to your customer service planning, new product
development, and/or marketing strategy development?

How do you detect problems customers may be experiencing with your company, brand or
products?

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Corporate, Brand or Product Identity

Do you actively manage your corporate, brand or product identity? How do you do this?
Are your marketing and corporate communications materials consistent with this identity, and
immediately recognisable as belonging to your business?

Do you feel that the identity works?

Does your identity portray the correct image?

Are the benefits of having and living with a corporate, brand or product
identity understood throughout the company?

Does your board actively support the identity, and manage it?

Have you extended your identity to digital media?

Do you feel that this has worked in the new medium?

Planning

How does your company approach the planning cycle?

Is marketing planning included in this process?

If yes, is the marketing planning process seen as a positive management tool?

Has the company set definitions and procedures for the business and marketing planning
processes?

Are the budgeting, business and customer service planning processes part of, or linked to the
marketing planning procedure?

How do you determine the marketing budget? Does this procedure work well?

Do your marketing plans get monitored and evaluated?

How successful has the marketing planning process been?

Do you feel that appropriate internal and external information is available during the planning
and evaluation processes?

Positioning

Do you know where your brand / products are positioned?

Do you have a clearly developed marketing positioning strategy?

Do your customers clearly understand what your company stands for?

Does your company, brand or product make a real difference in the marketplace?

Do you feel that you have identified all the aspects of competitive advantage your brand or
product offers?

Do you think you exploit this competitive advantage correctly?

Do you communicate these advantages actively, consistently and effectively?

Do you think the competitive advantages you communicate can motivate your customers to
choose your product/brand over the competition?

Marketing Operations

Do you know the capabilities and limitations of your marketers? If so, how?

Do you understand your market dynamics?

Do you have any proof of the market evolution?

Who are your competitors?

What are the differences between your products/services and branding and those of your
competitors?

Do you have a clear set of business objectives and shorter term goals?

If yes, do your marketing objectives support this?

How is customer feedback incorporated into your marketing plans, service improvements and
marketing communications activities?

Have your clearly defined the markets you want to develop or serve?

How systematically do you approach the market entry / support strategies?

Do you measure the return on investment provided by your marketing activities?

New Product Development

How do you develop new products or services?

How long does development normally take?

How many successful new products/services did you introduce in the last year?

Are feasibility and investment criteria set for new product assessment?

Do you employ and evaluate launch plans for new products/services?

Is your product portfolio managed centrally or locally?

Do you link new product development to your business and marketing strategies? How do you
do this?

How are new product/service ideas encouraged and captured?

Change Management

If your company ceased to exist, would the world lose out?

What is the company's purpose?

What is important when adding value to the community/market?

What is your corporate focus and do you have any community goals?

What sort of organisation is it, and is it good at what it does?

What skills set the company apart?

Do you think the company could become supremely good at one thing?

Do you achieve your goals through cooperation or collaboration?

Do you have a change management policy?

If so, do you fell that it is a long-term policy?

General

Are you confident about the future of your company, brand or products?

Are you happy working in the company, and with your co-workers?

Branding Audit

Make sure your brand supports your marketing message

At Marketing Audit, we can offer you a comprehensive brand audit to check the viability and
performance of your brands. It does not matter if you operate in the B2B or B2C marketplaces,
brands are important.

The audit involves the following:

Brand metrics

Internal aspects

Market segments

Unique Selling Propositions

Positioning

Character

Brand metrics

We evaluate three main areas within metrics - the measurement of the effectiveness of your
brand. These are:

Image metrics, including awareness, recognition, relevance, preference and brand loyalty
Impact metrics, including brand market share, profit, pricing premiums, product/brand lifecycle
and customer life value

Brand equity, including brand loyalty, name and logo awareness, perceived quality, association
and other marketing activities and assets

Internal aspects

Internal aspects of your branding relate to your corporate resources, strategic goals and tactics,
as follows:

Brand structure, including the numbers of brands, extensions, nomenclature, etc

Brand management, including your organisation, policies, customer services, budgets, brand
consistency, standards and education

Marketing segments

Your brand may appeal to more than one market segment, some of which you will actively
pursue. We audit the approach your business has to the focused segments.

In doing this, we assess the size, geography, maturity and profile of the segment, the industry
trends and buying practices within the segment/s, and compare this against your strategic plans.

Unique selling propositions

Your Unique Selling Propositions, or USP's will help differentiate your brand from others. This can
include:

Pricing

Quality

Customer service/care

Depth/breadth of brand line

Brand leadership

Category leadership

History

Superiority

Age of design and technology

Positioning

Where is your brand positioned against the competition, direct or indirect, and does the image
of your brand support this?
Character

What sort of persona does your brand have, from the product or service, the packaging,
communications, logos, etc. We examine all of these elements to ensure a good fit with your
strategic objectives.