Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them (5th ed.)

Citation

Harris, P.R. (2002), "Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them (5th ed.)", European Business Review, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 450-450. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebr.2002.14.6.450.1

Since over 95 per cent of the books published never make it into a second edition, the fact that Marketing Plans has made it into the fifth edition is a tribute to content value. Its 13 chapters take a beginner through the theory and practicalities of marketing, in terms of the process, planning, and audit. The work further reviews marketing objectives and strategies, particularly with reference to plans related to communication, product pricing, distribution, and customer service. Finally, this volume examines marketing information, forecasts, and organization, as well as how to implement such plans. Its 630 pages are filled with ample self‐help exercises and visuals or figures.

Professor McDonald’s marketing opus has an attractive two‐color layout, with such learning features as halftones on key concepts, boxed examples, sidebars of marketing insights and headlines, as well as special case studies. For those managers and students on the fast track, each chapter begins with a summary and ends with a section entitled, “Chapter review”. Overall, this classic is an excellent introduction to an important part of management, especially for those seeking the competitive edge in sales. It will be of real value to management trainees, as well as business students at all levels, or even executives deficient in marketing skills.

The author has a distinguished record as a researcher, teacher, writer, and consultant. A professor in the Cranfield University School of Management in Bedford, UK, he was formerly the marketing director for the Canada Dry beverage corporation. This is by far the most popular of his four marketing books, all of which are based on sophisticated knowledge‐based systems and technology.

Through worldwide lectures and consulting, Dr Malcolm McDonald brings readers rare insights and wisdom for the global marketplace.