Review by Automaton:

I am in the planning stages of a new business venture. I have never written a marketing plan before and needed some insight and advice as to what tactics work and how to write the plan itself.

This book reads like a list of useful one-liner marketing tips and examples of how the author’s friends have used them. It is not a how to book on writing a marketing plan, and it does not go into much depth as far as how you might accomplish the things that he recommends.

The most annoying part of this book is that every other page contains an advertisement for you to join some 12-week commitment mailing list that the author has created. He entices you by saying that you will receive additional tips and information for 12 weeks.

HELLO!!! McFLY!!! Didn’t I just buy your book so that I could learn your marketing insights? YES! So then why do you make it seem like I just paid for the teaser information, and that the good stuff is behind the curtain that requires me to become a pawn in your marketing career? My price of admission stops at the price of this book, and it should not seem like I’m only getting half of the story that I paid for!

Review by Rolf Dobelli:

Author and speaker Dan Kennedy has written a basic, solid manual for marketing practitioners. He covers all the familiar fundamentals from developing a unique selling proposition (USP), to practicing target marketing, to using testimonials and celebrity endorsements. His plan is well organized, carefully thought out and based on his own extensive experience in marketing and sales. Certainly Kennedy’s plan, which is made up mostly of tried-and-true marketing strategies, can help your business. However, seasoned marketing professionals looking for new tactics will require something more advanced. We suggest this book to marketers beginning their careers, small business owners conducting in-house marketing or people in other fields seeking an overview of marketing.

Review by M. Crawford:

This is an excellent guide for developing marketing plans! We have all read the typical marketing or business paperback that makes one good point and then reapeats the same thing over and over with numerous “examples”. This book is the complete opposite. It is so full of useful information that you will find yourself going back to it time and again to use as a resource. Best of all the author provides a good general template to follow that is useful for small or very large businesses and everything in between. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Review by Herv:

This straight-forward, well written and practical book is a must read for executives looking to focus their marketing initiatives and improve results. I was skeptical when I received the book based on its relatively short length, but the size of the book is a perfect analogue for Dr. Calkins’ approach to the topic: keep it focused to maximize effectiveness. I highly recommend this book as your first read on marketing. If you have already invested countless hours in other marketing books, this one stands in contrast for its approach and the results it yields. If you have clients, you should read this book.

Review by Kelly Cunningham:

I was working on a marketing plan and just needed a bit of clarity on a few topics and I happened to come across the Marketing Plan handbook by Marian Burk Wood. What a great book. It discussed the key elements of the plan and supported each with great examples of everyday companies. This book could be used by a novice marketers or a seasoned vets. it has a great format to build a solid plan.

Review by M. Shank:

It seems that many of us who are artists are content to languish undiscovered, to deluge our relatives with gorgeous handmade cards and crafts, and/or to feel that we’re really not good enough and motivated enough to sell our work – after all, we’d have been discovered if it was THAT good. This book will require you to answer questions and use a calculator, but once you’ve finished it you will have a marketing plan for your work – and you will feel that your work deserves it. You are neither too good for selling, nor not-good enough for it either. You can do it.

Review by S. Fizer:

This book is highly recommended for the artist who is either unorganized and just hasn’t put much thought into the financial side of things. If you are highly organized or have done some planning regarding the financial side of the art business, skip this book. And if you are looking for actual information on marketing your work, skip this book.

This series of worksheets will help you recognize and organize your personal and business goals. It will lead you through the steps of calculating how you should be pricing your work and how to determine what your liveable wage is. It will not give you any ideas on how to acheive this other than a short checklist of different venues you can sell your artwork.

Personally, I hoped for a bit more marketing inspiration than this book was able to offer me. But I speak as someone who has already spent long hours calculating the dark financial side of the art world. If you haven’t done that, go ahead and buy this book, it’s worth the small amount of money. Otherwise, you’re better off scouring the internet for marketing ideas.

Review by arnow@discovernet.net:

At last, a marketing planning book that really leads the reader through the marketing planning process. As Philip Kotler, the famous marketing guru at Northwestern says on the back cover, “finally a book devoted to assisting mangers to understand and develop first rate marketing plans.”The authors’ McDonald and Keegan have written an extremely readable book outlining in detail a comprehensive, strategic approach and guide to market planning. In 236 pages including the index, the authors set forth for the reader how to prepare a marketing plan that will insure that unique value is created for the market and competitive advantage for the firm. I personally like the strategic approach that draws on the leading marketing and strategy thinkers including George Day and Michael Porter as well as the best work of the top consulting and strategic management firms like Boston Consulting Group and General Electric. To put the book in a larger context, even though responsibilities and corporate environments have undergone radical changes with reengineering, TQM practices and cross-functional teams, to name a few of the most well-known and widespread influences, most organizations continue to overlook a critical component for success namely, comprehensive, strategic market planning and initiatives as an integral part of the overall corporate planning process. To understand and address this need, McDonald and Keegan offer insightful, pragmatic guidance on understanding marketing analysis tools and implementing and effectively structuring market strategies that strengthen a company’s competitive position. This book provides a road-map and comprehensive plan to achieve marketing success grounded in firm analysis and assessment.The authors’ provide insightful analysis of well-known market planning, mapping and strategic assessment tools, supported by easily-understandable flow-charts, graphs and detailed bullets. Specific attention is paid to the strategic definition of product, the product life c! ycle, the diffusion of innovation and the concept of product portfolio both as it relates to market planning and to the corporate planning process. Highlighted is a discussion of the well-known Boston Consulting Group Matrix and the Directional Policy Matrix. The resulting competitive marketing strategies are differentiated and analyzed in an understandable and practical manner. An easily understood discussion of gap analysis leads logically to a discussion of new product development, market extension and diversification strategies. An insightful discussion of organizing the enterprise for effective market planning, corporate cultural issues and the implication of size, complexity and diversity of functional operations, addresses three of the more difficult contextual issues in the field of market planning.All in all, a well-designed book, which one can read sequentially or focus solely on Chapter 12 which outlines a step-by-step marketing planning system– a thorough and comprehensive approach that more corporate strategists and market planners should utilize for strategic and sustainable results.

Review by :

First published in 1984, Marketing Plans is now an international marketing bestseller. Covering the application of basic marketing principles to sound business practice, it is essential reading for marketing practitioners and students the world over. The purpose of this book is quite simply to explain and demonstrate how to prepare and use a marketing plan. To this end, marketing managers and business executives concerned with profitability and sustained growth of their organisations have profitably used it as a practical guide. Clearly and powerfully written with step-by-step lucidity, it is probably the best book on the theory and practice of marketing planning ever published.Authored by Malcolm McDonald, Professor of Marketing Strategy at the Cranfield School of Management and the acknowledged world authority on marketing planning and strategy, this thoroughly updated and redesigned fourth edition contains new material on growth areas such as key account management and electronic marketing. Its brand new two-colour graphic design with revised page layout and enhanced learning features provides maximum clarity, much like a typical US College textbook. Definitions of important terms and vocabulary are provided as margin notes to allow for smoother, easier reading of the text. Exercises appear at the end of each chapter to translate the theories into action.This complete learning package focuses on key recent developments in marketing techniques and provides a range of practical marketing tools. The reader is taken through the whole process of marketing planning-from the initial assessment of a company’s business plan, to the steps necessary to ensure a company achieves its profit targets. The first 12 chapters help the reader understand both the process and diagnostic tools of marketing planning whilst the final 13th chapter is a clear step-by-step guide to devising your own marketing plan, combining current best practice with the necessary theoretical background. This book is recommended reading for marketers, executives and students studying for the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Certificate and Diploma examinations. In a nutshell, there is no better book that covers the whole process of marketing planning.

Review by William A Hill:

As the National Director of Marketing for my firm, I read and use many different marketing books, manuals and reports. However, Marketing Plans, by Malcolm H.B. McDonald is the most complete guide I have found for actually designing a comprehensive and effective business plan. The layout of the book makes it useful to the novice as well as the experienced Marketing professional. The information is stated clearly, completely and effectively. In fact, I was so impressed, that I have totally redesigned our corporate marketing and branding plans using the information from this book as the basis for that design. Thanks for all the help Mr. McDonald!!!

Review by Robert Morris:

Here in a single volume is an abundance of basic information and sound counsel which will be especially helpful to those involved in business development for small-to-midsize organizations. (I use the word “organizations” because non-profits as well as for-profits obviously need to increase revenue while strengthening relations with various constituencies.) Don’t expect to find any cutting-edge thinking here. Because the material is basic, however, don’t think that Luther has little of value to offer to marketing, sales, and other customer service professionals with many years of experience. He organizes the material within five Parts:The Role of Marketing Within a BusinessDecisions to Be Made Before Developing Your Marketing PlanDeveloping Your Brand PersonalityDeveloping Your Marketing PlanFeedback: Using Controls and Market Research to Complete the LoopLuther then provides three excellent appendices: A Marketing Plan Outline, Thirty-Eight Market Characteristics, and Explanation of the What-If Sales Model. I highly recommend this book to owners/managers of chain franchises (e.g. dry cleaners, quick-print shops, and even fast food restaurants) as well as to independent insurance agents, sole practicioner attorneys, and others selling goods or services who generally neglect business development among their clientele within their local community. Presumably Luther understands that much of his material will not be directly relevant to a given reader. To his credit, he provides more material than most readers need. It remains for each reader to determine which ideas and initiatives are most appropriate. I think all readers will benefit from the disciplined thinking which Luther advocates throughout the planning, implementation, evaluation, and modification process. Those who wish to explore additional resources are urged to check out Theodore Levitt’s The Marketing Imagination (a “classic”), Al Ries and Jack Trout’s Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (another” classic”), Neil Rackham’s SPIN Selling (another “classic”, especially for those selling big ticket items), Jacques Werth’s High Probability Selling: Re-Invents the Selling Process, Dan Seidman’s The Death of 20th Century Selling: 50 Hilarious Sales Blunders and How You Can Profit from Them, and Carl Sewell’s Customers for Life: How to Turn That One-Time Buyer into a Lifetime Customer…