3.3.1 Setting marketing objectives

A marketing target/goal an organisation hopes to achieve.

Steer direction of business. Operating business w/o knowing objectives like driving car w/o knowing where you want to go. Degree of success can be achieved w/o setting marketing objectives, but involves relying on chance - not a good idea.

MO's must be compatible w/ overall objectives of company - cannot be set only by marketing dept.

Should be quanitfiable + measurable + should have a time frame. 

Eg for Nestle - to achieve a 9% increasein sales of Kit Kat by end of next year

Setting sales volume targets can be important due to high amount of fixed costs a business can build up. Eg BMW - Increase number of BMW 3 series sold in Chinda from 250,000 to 400,000 over next 12 months. High fixed costs of operating spread across greater number of units of output - reducing fixed costs per unit. Lower unit costs - wider profit margins, which will give MBW opp to increase research + development budgets.

Sales value - Nike. No1 supplier of football boots + kit (objective). At time (1996), Nike minor player in this area, Adidas no1. In 1996, Nike generated sales of $40m from football. 2014, $2,000m. Outsold Adidas in German homeland

If large market share, may worry boosting share furture may bring investigations from Competition + Markets Authority. Best way to achieve further growth - encouraging growth in market sector as whole.

Business may sponsor research by academics.

Eg Wrigley's - In UK, 90% share chewing gum sales. By boosting size of market, boosting own sales. 

For plc's especially, pressure from outside shareholders forces them to keep pushing for more growth. Presses company to find new opps + may lead marketing dept to overreach, eg by 'stretching' brands by developing more + more variants based on single brand. Eg Nestle - stretch Kit Kat by adding varieties eg Cookie Dough.

Growth treated with caution. Valid objective, but can cause own difficulties. Eg Ted Baker - sales gew annually (2003-2014). Opened opps eg opening shops in Japan, America + China. Never overstretched itself. Tesco - America - overstretching.

Largely controlled by internal factors - success/failure of marketing dept. Need to be cautiously optimistic, eg aiming to push brand eg Snicjets frim 2.5% share to 3% share in next 2 years. Ambitious, but conceivable. As UK chocolate market £3.6bn, increasue would generate annual sales of £108m - making marketing budges affordable (around £10m).

Exists when consumers repeat-purchase brand rather than switching between brands. Widely agreed more expensive to find new customer than keep existing customer happy, so BL crucial for achieving high profit margins.

- New corporate objectives set by new chief executive - may want to boost sales volume, perhaps in response to perceived short-term opp eg 2016 Brazil olympics, or may be marketing requirement to strengthen brand loyalty
- Development of innovative product - Apple, iPod 2001, ended up forcing entire business to refocus from IT to consumer electronics. Marketing dept needed to gain understanding of new consumer, set objectives based on this
 - New financial objectives - if new finance director demands higher profit margins, will have impact on marketing depts objectives + decision making

 - Changes in fashion/consumer tastes - basis for banks' selling + marketing programmes once resred on high street branches.
 - Chaning competitive pressures - eg Colgate world's biggest toothpaste maker, 45% global market share. Fiercest competitor recently Oral-B, partly through digital advertising. Colgate had to rething marketing, deciding to increase budget for digital advertising.
 - Changing economic pressures - 2013 + 2014 continuing pressure on real incomes gave Aldi + Lidl huge UK market share bost. Forced Morrisons to rethink marketing objectives - went for 'we're cheaper' approach -> delaying to cut operating costs.
 - Changing natural environment - growing consensus about global warming, more companies placing environmental greenness on list of marketing objectives.