The Definitive Guide to Marketing Planning Book

At some time or other we have all experienced the frustration of discovering a book that promises to fill in some embarrassing lacuna in our knowledge, only to find on closer inspection, that the contents are so theoretical or specific that it is virtually useless for our purposes. The Definitive Guide to Marketing Planning by Angela Hutton is not one of them. It does, to quote the adverts, "exactly what it says on the tin", achieving the almost impossible trick of being on the one hand a text book but on the other concrete enough to be put into action. Hatton who works as a trainer for the Chartered Institute of Marketing, provides a sensible, simple to follow guide to both strategic and operational marketing planning, the like of which you will not encounter again in this lifetime. From chapter one, which examines the rationale for marketing planning, through sections on measuring current performance, ensuring external focus and effective communication, to the final chapter on implementation and control, Hatton is never less than extraordinarily lucid, combining a wise overview of what marketing is about with nitty-gritty details of everyday realities. The layout is clear, with useful key symbols to mark out passages of special interest and relevance, and there are graphs, charts and a plethora of other devices to keep the eye and brain engaged. One of the best is an eight-question test to allow readers to undertake an audit of their current approach to planning. As Hatton writes in her introduction, "Managers who learn the benefits of planning find that they are more often in control, events less frequently take them by surprise and there is less firefighting ... The net result is efficient and effective use of your resources, an output valued by your customers and generating benefits expected by the stakeholders." Anybody who is actively involved in the business of marketing needs to read this book, and everybody in business would be better off for having done so. --Alex BenadyRead More