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Annual Plan: Guide

Overview

This guide will help you understand how to develop an Annual Plan.

The key messages are:

  • The Annual Plan is a one-year implementation of the five-year strategic brand equity building plan (LEAP).
  • The plan provides a framework for linking strategy to execution.
  • The components of the plan are:
    • SA summary
    • Annual Plan Goals
    • Annual Plan Initiatives
    • Integrated Marketing Strategy
    • Integrated Functional Plan

What is an Annual Plan?

The Annual Plan is a one-year implementation of the five-year strategic brand equity building plan (LEAP). The plan identifies:

  • The annual goals.
  • The set of initiatives that will be launched in the year to meet those goals.
  • The allocation of the marketing budget across marketing vehicles to meet the brand’s goals.

    • It also includes the integrated functional plan, which is the detailed plan for the list of campaigns for each marketing vehicle (e.g. advertising, media, in-store, etc.).

    An effective Annual Brand Plan can:

  • Balance growing brand equity with delivering financial targets.
  • Focus on improving the performance of the brand’s key equity drivers.
  • Build strong brand equity that can power: growth-based Annual Planning initiatives and scaled back marketing spends.
  • Address any weakness in brand equity.

    • Annual Brand Planning is driven by the brand team with active participation from:

  • Marketing functions
    (such as advertising, promotion, packaging, etc.)
  • Related functions
    (such as sales, finance, product development, etc.)
  • Global brand team
  • Regional HQs marketing teams
  • Country-level marketing teams
  • With the oversight and approval of senior management

    • Why is an Annual Plan important?

    The Annual Plan provides:

  • A framework for linking strategy to execution.
  • A road map to a brand’s financial goals.
  • A plan for how the brand will use marketing drivers to attain its desired objectives.
  • An opportunity to capitalize on opportunities and craft competitive responses.
  • A forum for integrating the marketing functions and geographical markets into coordinated elements of a plan.

    • What are the Components of an Annual Plan?

    The Annual Plan includes:

  • SA summary
  • Annual Plan Goals
  • Annual Plan Initiatives
  • Integrated Marketing Strategy
  • Integrated Functional Plan

    • You develop these components as you complete the templates that are part of the Annual Planning process.

    What is the Integrated Functional Plan?

    An Integrated Functional Plan is the final step in developing the Annual Plan. It lays out a detailed plan that each marketing vehicle must meet to accomplish the Annual Plan’s goals.

    The Integrated Functional Plan represents the collaborative work of many marketing functions and integrates their individual plans into one collective go-to-market plan.

    An Integrated function plan consists of plan elements for each market vehicle such as:

  • Product innovation (including new product launch)
  • Pricing
  • Advertising
  • Media
  • Promotion Campaigns
  • Channel/In-store strategy
  • PR

    • It also consists of:

  • An integrated calendar
  • Plans to address learning goals
  • Organizational resource impact
  • Assumptions and risks
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