Marketing Plan: The overall purpose of a marketing plan is to develop and
             establish a direction and detailed strategy for marketing efforts. This
             could either be a composite plan for a portfolio of brands or for a single
             brand. The preparation of a marketing plan involves three major components:
             an analysis of the market; the development of marketing objectives; and the
             best possible marketing strategy to achieve the set objectives. Other
             important components include budgeting, the designing of specific marketing
             programs designed to execute the strategy, the time frame, and performance
             measurements (Online Women's Business Center, 1997).
             Marketing Strategy: Within the ambit of a marketing plan, the marketing
             strategy is key to the company/brand meeting its objectives. To that
             extent, it can be said that the overall purpose of a marketing strategy is
             to match the branded product or service to the needs of an identified
             opportunity within a target market segment and thereafter, tailoring
             pricing, promotion, and distribution accordingly.
             Market Audit: The creation of a strategic marketing plan usually begins
             with an audit of the market and environment. This audit should cover past,
             current, and anticipated trends including governmental, technological and
             cultural trends; demographic and psychographic data; market size in volume
             and value terms; consumer segment behavior; competitor moves; and market
             share analysis. A good market audit helps determine the attractiveness of
             the market along with a company or brand's strengths, weaknesses,
             opportunities, and threats. Based on this, a strategic marketing plan can
             then decide whether to enter, abandon, or protect a market niche. In
             addition, the market audit should also lead to the establishing of short
             and long-term goals (Delaney, 1994).
             Overall Strategy: Having thus established the most beneficial direction for
             ...