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Marketing Planning & Strategy

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Marketing Planning & Strategy

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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Intermediate level

Recommended experience

1 week to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Intermediate level

Recommended experience

1 week to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Develop a structured approach to marketing planning

  • Conduct internal and external market analysis

  • Build a SWOT analysis to identify key opportunities

Details to know

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Recently updated!

June 2026

Assessments

17 assignments

Taught in English

There are 17 modules in this course

Marketing planning is a critical business function that helps organizations identify opportunities, respond to market conditions, and achieve strategic goals. This course introduces learners to the principles of marketing planning and strategy, covering key concepts such as market analysis, SWOT evaluation, strategic frameworks, and performance measurement.

Through a structured and practical approach, learners will develop the skills needed to create effective marketing plans and make informed strategic decisions. The course explores internal and external analyses, budgeting, marketing programmes, research methods, and the use of metrics to evaluate success in real-world business environments. What sets this course apart is its combination of strategic theory with actionable tools and practical case studies. Learners will gain hands-on insights into constructing marketing plans, interpreting data, and applying proven strategy models to real business scenarios. This course is ideal for marketing professionals, business owners, and students seeking to strengthen their marketing planning capabilities. A basic understanding of marketing concepts is recommended to fully benefit from the course content. This course is based on the book,Marketing Planning & Strategy, by John Dawes. Copyright Β©2021 by Sage Publications Limited. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. Published by Sage Publications Limited, London. Used by arrangement with Sage Publications Limited.

This module explores the benefits and challenges of formal marketing planning, including its impact on business performance, knowledge sharing, and stakeholder alignment. Learners will analyze real-world examples, such as Starling Bank, to understand how strategic planning responds to external trends and drives innovation. Practical guidance on effective plan writing and critical perspectives on competitive advantage are also provided.

What's included

1 video10 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
10 readingsβ€’Total 56 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’3 minutes
  • Arguments for formal planning – either a marketing plan or a business planβ€’5 minutes
  • Knowledge sharingβ€’6 minutes
  • Partners of the business can work better if they know the broad direction of the businessβ€’5 minutes
  • How sound planning can pay off – the case of Starling Bankβ€’6 minutes
  • Other trends harnessed in Starling's favourβ€’5 minutes
  • Branches – an innovative solutionβ€’7 minutes
  • Summary: lessons learned from Starlingβ€’4 minutes
  • Challenging the conceptβ€’8 minutes
  • Wording in a marketing plan – dos and don'ts, with examplesβ€’7 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Planning and Strategic Thinking in Businessβ€’16 minutes

This module guides learners through crafting compelling executive summaries for marketing plans, emphasizing clarity, conciseness, and actionable communication. Participants will discover techniques for engaging senior management and structuring summaries using active voice and report style.

What's included

1 video1 reading1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
1 readingβ€’Total 4 minutes
  • The Front-end of a Plan: The Executive Summary - The Readingβ€’4 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 14 minutes
  • The Executive Summary and Its Role in Planningβ€’14 minutes

This module guides learners through a comprehensive internal analysis of a business, focusing on resource audits, market-based assets, and the evaluation of marketing strategies. Learners will explore practical tools for assessing products, pricing, distribution channels, advertising, and business relationships, culminating in real-world case studies and hands-on exercises. By the end, participants will be equipped to conduct internal audits that inform strategic planning.

What's included

1 video12 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
12 readingsβ€’Total 68 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’6 minutes
  • Market-based assets – an important resourceβ€’5 minutes
  • Recognition of the brand's distinctive assetsβ€’5 minutes
  • Product auditβ€’4 minutes
  • Channel auditβ€’4 minutes
  • Channel audit: exampleβ€’3 minutes
  • Pricing auditβ€’5 minutes
  • Advertising auditβ€’5 minutes
  • Business relationships auditβ€’5 minutes
  • Relationships audit: exampleβ€’6 minutes
  • Marketing plan case study: internal analysisβ€’12 minutes
  • Marketing plan case study: internal analysis work tasksβ€’8 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Internal Analysis and Operational Insightsβ€’16 minutes

This module guides learners through the process of scanning and analyzing macro-environmental factors that influence business strategy. You will explore how demographic, economic, technological, social, environmental, and political-legal trends can impact markets and organizations. By the end, you'll be equipped to assess external forces and anticipate their effects on business decisions.

What's included

1 video4 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
4 readingsβ€’Total 25 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’5 minutes
  • Economicβ€’5 minutes
  • Technologicalβ€’5 minutes
  • Political/legalβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Global Environment Analysis Fundamentalsβ€’16 minutes

This module guides learners through analyzing market trends, customer behaviors, and competitor strategies to uncover actionable business insights. You will explore customer and competitor audits, segmentation concepts, and methods for synthesizing findings into strategic recommendations.

What's included

1 video9 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
9 readingsβ€’Total 77 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’7 minutes
  • Customer auditβ€’7 minutes
  • What do they buy?β€’6 minutes
  • The concept of segmentation explainedβ€’6 minutes
  • Why then do we do segmentation analysis?β€’4 minutes
  • Competitor auditβ€’5 minutes
  • Key question to ask about competitorsβ€’9 minutes
  • Key competitor analysis approachesβ€’8 minutes
  • Summarise the outcomes of this analysis as insightsβ€’25 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Market Environment Analysis Insightsβ€’16 minutes

This module guides learners through the process of synthesizing internal and external analyses using the SWOT framework. You will learn how to identify and categorize strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to inform strategic decision-making. By the end, you'll be able to construct a comprehensive SWOT analysis based on real organizational data.

What's included

1 video1 reading1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
1 readingβ€’Total 3 minutes
  • Bringing the Analyses Together: SWOT - The Readingβ€’3 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • SWOT Analysis Fundamentalsβ€’10 minutes

This module examines how marketing objectives are developed in alignment with broader business goals, emphasizing the importance of market analysis and strategic planning. Learners will explore the distinction between end-result objectives and their precursors, as well as the critical role of assumptions in shaping marketing plans. By the end, you'll understand how to set measurable targets and recognize the factors that influence marketing outcomes.

What's included

1 video4 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
4 readingsβ€’Total 21 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’4 minutes
  • End-result objectivesβ€’7 minutes
  • Precursors to sales objectivesβ€’4 minutes
  • Assumptionsβ€’6 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Marketing Planning and Strategic Objectivesβ€’16 minutes

This module explores how to identify target markets, understand buyer characteristics, and craft effective marketing strategies using key concepts such as SWOT analysis, positioning, economies of scale, and network effects. Learners will also examine strategic considerations like barriers to entry, opportunity cost, risk reduction, and the importance of control and flexibility in decision-making. Practical tools and checklists are introduced to help apply these concepts in real-world marketing plans.

What's included

1 video14 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
14 readingsβ€’Total 76 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’8 minutes
  • Components of the marketing strategyβ€’5 minutes
  • How will the business/brand be presented?β€’6 minutes
  • How does the strategy relate to the SWOT?β€’4 minutes
  • Strategy concepts that principally relate to features of the businessβ€’6 minutes
  • Economies of scaleβ€’5 minutes
  • Strategy concepts that principally relate to features of the marketβ€’6 minutes
  • Network effectsβ€’5 minutes
  • Information imperfections (among buyers)β€’3 minutes
  • Strategy concepts that principally relate to business decisionsβ€’4 minutes
  • Pre-emptionβ€’6 minutes
  • Control and flexibilityβ€’6 minutes
  • Risk reductionβ€’9 minutes
  • Strategy concept checklistβ€’3 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Marketing Strategy Fundamentalsβ€’16 minutes

This module guides learners through the process of developing a comprehensive marketing plan by exploring the marketing mix, establishing a visual identity system, making pricing decisions, and mapping activities on a timeline. Learners will gain practical skills in aligning marketing activities with budget constraints and strategic objectives.

What's included

1 video4 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
4 readingsβ€’Total 19 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’6 minutes
  • Visual identity systemβ€’4 minutes
  • Pricing decisionsβ€’5 minutes
  • Mapping marketing activity in a timelineβ€’4 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Marketing Program Fundamentalsβ€’16 minutes

This module introduces various methods for creating and managing marketing budgets, including task-based, percentage of sales, competitive, available funds, and zero-based approaches. Learners will explore how these methods align with business objectives and financial realities, and examine tools like sensitivity analysis to assess budget effectiveness.

What's included

1 video5 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
5 readingsβ€’Total 27 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’4 minutes
  • Task methodβ€’4 minutes
  • 'How much money do we have available' methodβ€’6 minutes
  • What is 'zero-based budgeting'?β€’9 minutes
  • What is a sensitivity analysis?β€’4 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Marketing Budgeting Fundamentalsβ€’16 minutes

This module explores essential business metrics used to monitor and evaluate marketing performance, including both activity and market-based asset metrics. Learners will discover how these metrics inform decision-making and the importance of tracking precursors to sales. The module also examines the concept and limitations of marketing return on investment (ROI).

What's included

1 video5 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
5 readingsβ€’Total 28 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’4 minutes
  • Market-based asset metricsβ€’4 minutes
  • Physical availabilityβ€’9 minutes
  • Precursors to sales metricsβ€’5 minutes
  • A sidenote: marketing return on investmentβ€’6 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Marketing Metrics and Performance Evaluationβ€’16 minutes

This module guides learners in presenting marketing data effectively using tables and graphs. You will discover how to choose the right graph for different types of data and how to format visuals to clearly communicate patterns and relationships. By the end, you'll be able to tell a compelling story with your marketing data.

What's included

1 video3 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
3 readingsβ€’Total 15 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’6 minutes
  • What sort of graphs to useβ€’4 minutes
  • Graphing to show a recurring pattern in dataβ€’5 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Mastering Data Communication in Marketing Plansβ€’16 minutes

This module explores how to develop effective marketing strategies for non-profit organizations, with a focus on addressing the unique needs of aged care clients and operating within limited budgets. Learners will engage with real-world scenarios to practice identifying key information and challenging assumptions in marketing planning.

What's included

1 video2 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
2 readingsβ€’Total 14 minutes
  • Mini Case 1 – Marketing for a small, not-for-profit enterpriseβ€’7 minutes
  • Taskβ€’7 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Marketing Planning and Environmental Analysisβ€’16 minutes

This module delves into the principles of marketing ethics, examining key concepts such as transparency, responsibility, and integrity. Learners will analyze real-world cases of corporate misconduct and practice identifying and addressing ethical dilemmas in marketing scenarios.

What's included

1 video5 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
5 readingsβ€’Total 25 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’5 minutes
  • High-profile corporate misconductβ€’4 minutes
  • The components of marketing ethicsβ€’5 minutes
  • Integrityβ€’4 minutes
  • Ethically challenging situations: what is the issue and what would you do?β€’7 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Ethical Challenges in Modern Marketingβ€’16 minutes

This module explores key strategic models in marketing, including Porter's generic strategies, growth-share matrices, and the Ansoff matrix. Learners will critically assess the strengths and limitations of these frameworks and examine the resource-based theory of competitive advantage. Practical examples and logical critiques help deepen understanding of how these models are applied in real-world business contexts.

What's included

1 video6 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
6 readingsβ€’Total 30 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’4 minutes
  • Growth-share matrices – useful or unhelpful?β€’5 minutes
  • The Ansoff matrix: a legendary tool, but with two logical problemsβ€’6 minutes
  • A problem with logical inconsistenciesβ€’4 minutes
  • The resource-based theory of competitive advantageβ€’5 minutes
  • The test of inimitabilityβ€’6 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Strategic Models in Marketingβ€’16 minutes

This module explores key empirical patterns in buyer behavior and brand performance, such as double jeopardy, user similarity, and the duplication of purchase law. Learners will discover how these generalizations inform effective marketing planning, including the impact of objectives, pricing, and advertising on business outcomes.

What's included

1 video7 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
7 readingsβ€’Total 34 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’5 minutes
  • The duplication of purchase lawβ€’5 minutes
  • User profiles of competing brands are usually quite similarβ€’4 minutes
  • Competitor-oriented objectives are detrimentalβ€’6 minutes
  • Management implicationβ€’5 minutes
  • Share of voice is related to market shareβ€’5 minutes
  • Management implicationβ€’4 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Marketing Planning and Consumer Behavior Insightsβ€’16 minutes

This module explores how cognitive biases such as the halo effect, narrative fallacy, survivor bias, regression to the mean, and the planning fallacy can influence marketing decisions and management strategies. Learners will discover how these biases impact planning and outcomes, and gain practical approaches to recognize and mitigate their effects for better marketing results.

What's included

1 video7 readings1 assignment

1 videoβ€’Total 1 minute
  • Overviewβ€’1 minute
7 readingsβ€’Total 32 minutes
  • Introductionβ€’4 minutes
  • The halo effectβ€’4 minutes
  • The narrative fallacyβ€’5 minutes
  • A type of selection bias – survivor biasβ€’4 minutes
  • Regression to the meanβ€’5 minutes
  • The planning fallacyβ€’5 minutes
  • Assuming 'what's important' to buyers is the panaceaβ€’5 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 16 minutes
  • Cognitive Biases in Marketing Strategyβ€’16 minutes

Instructor

Sage Publications
37 Coursesβ€’438 learners

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