Updated links to marketing planning ideas and resources

My list of links to marketing planing ideas and resources has been updated. Now you can click to see more than 50 sources of data, advice and news related to:

• Preparing for marketing planning and implementation
• Analysing the marketing environment
• Researching consumer and business demographics
• Marketing ethics, social responsibility and sustainability
• Branding issues and ideas
• Marketing mix issues and ideas
• Marketing channels and retailing trends

For instance, if you're looking for a marketing plan template, my list includes a link to the Australian government's business page with a downloadable guide and template.

So please browse the links the next time you're researching the background for a marketing plan project.

IBM thinks 'consumer' and 'brand story'

Traditionally a business-to-business marketer of computer hardware, software and consulting services, 105-year-old IBM just hired its first chief marketing officer for the corporation. Why? Because IBM is increasingly visible to the consumer world and needs to be sure its marketing is targeted, coordinated and differentiated across every subsidiary, product line and location.

In particular, the new CMO has experience with digital marketing and is knowledgeable about the importance of Big Data, key elements in IBM's marketing plan for Watson and other initiatives.

IBM has developed a range of sophisticated tools for applying analytics to customers' marketing challenges. When marketing IBM itself, Big Data is the key to segmenting markets and communicating what it can offer to meet individual customers' needs.

Did you know IBM now hires professional screenwriters to script ads? Professionals know how to tell a story, which all brands must be able to do to engage B2B or consumer audiences. 'Ultimately, our goal is really to make an emotional connection, and we think we can do that better by being personal without of course, being creepy', notes the CMO of IBM Commerce.

The maturing of digital media

Marketing Week discusses the maturing of digital media this week, calling for more experimentation to better exploit the creativity and targeting possibilities. A fully-mature medium should have extensive and detailed audience analyses available to advertisers, which is not yet the case in the digital world (in my opinion).

To deal with this challenge, specialist firms are looking at ways to measure specific aspects of the digital media audience, such as the media consumption of smartphone users (downloading or viewing videos via mobile, for example). With so many consumers dependent on mobiles for entertainment and information access, companies must understand this audience's habits and preferences if they are to be effective in mobile marketing. To give advertisers confidence in digital media, vendors are launching programmes to ensure the high quality and validity of the audience data they provide.

Clearly, digital media will be a major advertising force in the near future. According to one recent study, the audience for online media is increasing even as the audience for traditional printed magazines is stagnating or moving downward. In the long run, digital media will provide advertisers with better and more targeted opportunities for engaging target audiences in two-way conversations about brands, features and benefits, pricing and so on.

While the maturing process is underway, the biggest advertisers will continue to experiment with digital media until they have reliable facts, figures, and trends to understand digital audiences. Some observers may question the need for measuring audience involvement and reaction to digital media, but it's a must for smart marketers--otherwise, how can they know whether they're achieving their objectives?