Instead of varying with changes in unit sales, total variable distribution costs are likely to change directly with the value of units sold, that is, with changes in income. Thus, variable distribution costs will be expressed as percentage of income, and not as a certain part of the monetary value of a unit of goods.

The classification of distribution costs (fixed and variable) will depend on the organizational structure and on specific management decisions. However, a number of items usually fall into one category or another - provided that their status as constants or variables may vary over time. Ultimately, all costs become variable.

During the quarterly or annual planning period fixed costs

• Salaries and support for sales staff.
• Expenses for major advertising campaigns, including production costs.
• Marketing personnel expenses.
• Costs of sales promotion materials, such as point-of-sale materials and coupons, and distribution costs.
• Discounts for joint advertising based on past sales.

Variable expenses marketing may include:

• Sales commissions paid to sales personnel, brokers, or manufacturers' representatives.
• Sales bonuses based on sales targets.
• Discounts from the invoice price and discounts based on achieved results, which are interconnected with the current sales volume.
• Prepayment funds (if included in the sales promotion budget).
• Discounts for local advertising campaigns that are carried out by retailers but reimbursed by the parent company, and discounts for joint advertising campaigns based on current sales.

If marketers view their budgets in the context of fixed and variable costs, they will reap at least two benefits:

• Firstly If marketing costs are truly variable, then budgeting this way will be more accurate. But some marketers assume a constant value, and at the end of the period they are faced with inconsistencies or deviations if sales have not reached target indicators. Conversely, a flexible budget - that is, one that takes into account its truly variable elements - will reflect actual results, regardless of at what point sales are stopped.
• Secondly, the short-term risks associated with fixed marketing costs are greater than those associated with variable marketing costs. If marketers expect revenue to be sensitive to factors beyond their control (such as competitors' moves or production cuts), they can reduce risk by including more variables and fewer fixed costs in their budgets.

A classic example of a decision that is closely related to the balance between fixed and variable marketing costs is the choice between using a third-party sales representative or using an in-house sales force.

Hiring a full-time (or mostly full-time) sales force carries more risk than the alternative, since wages must be paid even if the company fails to meet revenue targets. Conversely, when a company uses commission-based resellers to market its products, its distribution costs are reduced if sales targets are not met.

Total distribution costs (marketing costs) ($) = Total fixed distribution costs ($) + Total variable distribution costs ($)

Total variable distribution costs ($) = Income ($) * Variable distribution costs (%)

Trading commission costs. Sales commissions are one example of distribution costs that vary with income. Therefore, any sales commissions should be included in variable selling costs.

Of course, switching from using an in-house sales force to using a reseller can itself cause a change in revenue. Calculating the level of income at which business expenses are equalized is only the first stage of the analysis. But it is an important first step towards understanding the trade-off system.

There are many types of variable distribution costs. For example, distribution costs may be calculated using complex formulas specified in companies' contracts with brokers and dealers. Selling costs may include incentives to local dealers based on meeting sales targets. They may also include promises to reimburse retailers for joint advertising costs.

What to pay attention to

Fixed costs are often easier to measure than variable costs. Typically, fixed expenses can be compiled from payroll records, lease documents, or financial statements. To determine variable costs, it is necessary to measure the rate of their increase. Although variable distribution costs are often a predetermined percentage of revenue, they can change as the number of units sold changes (as is the case with packaging discounts).

A further complication arises if some variable distribution costs relate to only a portion of total sales. This can happen, for example, when some dealers receive cash discounts or preferential rates for a certain quantity of goods, while others do not have such privileges.

The situation becomes more complicated when some costs may appear to be fixed when in fact they are step-by-step. That is, they are constant up to a certain point, and then they trigger additional costs. For example, a company might contract with an advertising agency to run three advertising campaigns per year. If she decides to pay for more than three campaigns, this will incur incremental costs. Typically, incremental costs can be treated as fixed costs, provided the boundaries of the analysis are well understood.

Staged payments are sometimes difficult to model. Discounts for customers whose purchases exceed a certain level, or bonuses for sales staff who exceed sales quotas, can be difficult to describe features. Creativity is important when planning marketing discounts, but such creativity can sometimes be difficult to capture within fixed and variable costs.

When developing a marketing budget, a company must decide how much of its expenses should be allocated to the current period and how much to amortize over several periods. An example of such an investment would be a discount on the financial debt of new distributors. Rather than adding such a discount to the current period budget, it would be better to view it as a marketing item that increases the company's investment in working capital. Conversely, spending on advertising designed to create long-term influence is hardly an investment; It makes more sense to consider them marketing expenses.

Marketing spend levels are often used to compare companies and show how much they are investing in a given area. Therefore, marketing expenses are usually viewed as a percentage of sales.

Marketing expenses: important indicators and concepts

Marketing costs as a share of sales. The level of marketing expenditure expressed as a share of sales. This figure shows how actively the company is engaged in marketing. The appropriate level of this indicator varies depending on the type of product, strategies and markets.

Marketing costs as a share of sales (%) = Marketing costs ($) / Revenue ($)

Variations of this metric are used to test marketing elements against sales volume. Examples include incentives targeting the sales area, measured as a percentage of sales, or incentivizing in-house sales personnel as a percentage of the total.

Advertising costs as a percentage of sales. Advertising expenses as a share of sales. It is typically a subset of marketing expenses expressed as a percentage of sales. Before using such metrics, marketers are advised to determine whether certain marketing expenses have been deducted when calculating sales revenue. Retail discounts, for example, are often subtracted from gross sales to calculate net sales.

Deductions per place. This is a special form of distribution cost that is encountered when new quantities of goods are brought in to retailers or distributors. They are essentially fees that retailers pay for providing space for new products in their stores and warehouses. These deductions can take the form of one-time cash payments, free merchandise, or special discounts. The exact terms of the space fee will determine whether it constitutes a fixed cost, a variable cost, or a combination of both.

By understanding the difference between fixed and variable costs, you can better consider the relative risks of different distribution strategies. In general, strategies that incur variable distribution costs are less risky because variable distribution costs will be lower if sales fall short of expectations.

The material is published in an abbreviated translation from English.

David D. Reibstein(David D. Reibstein), managing director of CMO Partners, professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Marketing costs should initially be divided:

• 1) for costs associated with the organization and maintenance of the marketing service (department):
  • a) expenses for wages of marketing personnel;
  • b) depreciation charges;
  • c) operating costs and others associated with the normal operation of the marketing service;
• 2) costs associated with marketing activities and implementation of the marketing plan. These costs can be divided by type of marketing mix ( marketing-mix) into several components, taking into account marketing research and analysis:
  • a) expenses for activities related to product development and product policy, investments in the brand;
  • b) expenses for activities related to pricing policy;
  • c) expenses for events related to product promotion (both expenses for promotional events and losses from discounts);
  • d) expenses for activities related to sales (sales);
  • e) expenses for activities related to research and analytical marketing activities.

In general, the structure of marketing costs is presented in Fig. 1.5.

At the same time, the costs associated with marketing activities are also heterogeneous, for example, the costs of advertising in print media (media) consist of different types of costs: content development, creation of the original layout, placement. And while not every cost group can be managed, each needs to be tracked.

Rice. 1.5.

Profit can be planned, and the actual profit received can be calculated. This is already the function of an accountant. Not all expenses can be taken into account in the income tax base. Therefore, there are costs that reduce the tax base only partially, within the limits of the norms. And therefore marketers need to remember that expenses, from this (accounting) point of view, can be standardized (limited in size) and non-standardized (unlimited and fully taken into account in the cost price). Accounting for such expenses has its own peculiarities.

Marketing and advertising expenses, as well as administrative expenses, reduce taxable income. However, these costs are difficult to control, so controllers have a lot of complaints about marketing costs. And marketers should know this when creating a marketing budget. The main reasons for refusals by tax authorities to recognize such expenses is the lack of economic effect in confirming expenses 1 . For example, if marketing research ordered externally does not produce results, then it will be difficult for the organization to defend its case.

• events conducted through the media and telecommunications networks;
• light and other advertising;
• participation in exhibitions, fairs, expositions, design of shop windows, sales exhibitions, sample rooms, showrooms;
• production of brochures and catalogues;
• discounting of goods that have lost their properties during exposure. In other words, non-standardized costs - these are mainly the costs of ITX advertising, and standardized - costs for BTL- advertisement .

Example 1.5. The company's revenue for a certain period amounted to 1000 thousand rubles. During this period, the company spent 200 thousand rubles on marketing. At the same time, 100 thousand rubles. classified as non-standardized.

Answer: 100 + 1000 -0.01 = 110 thousand rubles.

In other words, 90 thousand rubles. the company will pay from profits, so it must carefully analyze advertising costs and try include them in non-standardized ones.

The feasibility of many costs for marketing activities raises many questions. Most Western methods and sales promotion techniques simply do not work in Russian conditions or give negative results. Many experts often ask the question: at what stage of business development are the costs of analytical marketing economically justified? The answer, in their opinion, depends on the size of the company’s product line, the degree of its diversification, financial capabilities and, possibly, ambition. At the same time, company managers also face other acute problems related to marketing costs, such as the optimality of the advertising budget, the costs of sales activities, and the place of these costs, mostly as part of indirect costs. The inclusion of these costs in indirect (fixed costs) is not entirely correct, but this greatly simplifies the calculation (Fig. 1.6).

Rice. 1.6.

Example 1.6. Let's look at the data in Example 1.5.

Variable costs - 1000 rub.

Fixed costs - 20,000,000 rubles.

Additional marketing expenses - RUB 3,000,000.

Investments - 100,000,000 rubles.

The expected return on investment is 10%.

The planned sale price is 2500 rubles.

How many products do you need to sell to get the required amount of profit, pay employees wages, pay bills and offset marketing expenses?

From here N-22 000 products.

Therefore, to compensate for the additional marketing costs, an additional 2,000 products must be manufactured and sold.

Marketers need to remember this. Any marketing expenses should be offset by an increase in projected sales.

Let's consider the costs associated with the organization and maintenance of the marketing service (department) (see Fig. 1.5). These costs include:

• wage fund (payroll): fixed part of wages, bonuses, bonuses, overtime, remuneration of part-time workers;
• social programs of the company: social package, financial assistance, intra-company events;
• cost of attraction, dismissal, rotation of personnel;
• equipment of new workplaces;
• personnel training and development;
• travel expenses in connection with training;
• travel expenses in connection with the internship;
• subscriptions to periodicals, costs of literature.

• Mityukova E.S. Tax planning: more than 60 legal schemes. M.:IC, 2016. P. 81.
• Tax Code of the Russian Federation (part two) dated 05.08.2000 No. 117-FZ.
• ATL (above the line) is a complex of marketing communications, including traditional (classical) types of advertising.
• /?7Х-advertising (below the line) - the abbreviation BTL means “below the line”. According to legend, once the head of the marketing service of a large American company, approving the budget, cut off part of the marketing activities with a line and determined the budget amount for those below the line, for example , 20% of the entire budget. Thus, above the line there are those activities for which the costs are easy to calculate, and below those are those for which the costs are difficult to calculate accurately.

• determine the main factors on which the advertising budget depends;
• choose a method for forming an advertising budget;
• decide on the types of advertising;
• evaluate cost effectiveness and, if necessary, reallocate costs.

Step 1. Determine the main factors on which the advertising budget depends

The goal you want to achieve

Often the goal of a marketing campaign is formulated very vaguely: “So that people know about us...” The goal can be specified (made quantifiable) by answering the following questions:

• Who should find out? Determine the target audience of products and advertising. The target audience of products is the direct consumers of the product, the target audience of advertising is those who make a purchase decision or significantly influence this decision. The more detailed description of your target audience you have, the better. If you don't have data, do research and find out who your consumer is. Namely: where, when, how often, under what circumstances, with whom and with what emotions the consumer buys and uses your products.
• What specifically should consumers know? The object of advertising is established (products, services, new items, company image, terms of cooperation, unique offer, etc.).
• What will this give you and in what time frame? It is clarified how long it will take to solve the problem and how it relates to sales volumes and profits.

To plan a budget, all goals must be quantifiable, otherwise it is impossible to evaluate achievements or allocate resources. Slogans are usually formulated: “we will advertise”, “we will hold an action”. Instead, you need to plan to achieve specific goals, such as attracting 1,000 new customers through advertising in the trade press.

A new product or service requires more intensive advertising. The costs of introducing a new company's product or service into a highly competitive market often eat into the first year's gross profit. Promoting a company, its products and services always requires large initial expenses (see Table 1).

Table 1. How marketing expenses depend on goals

Step 2. Selecting a budgeting method

Methods for determining the marketing budget are given in Table 2. The most common method is to determine the budget as a percentage of the expected (or achieved) sales volume or of the profit received. This method is quite simple and at the same time accurately reflects the main goal of tactical marketing - increasing sales. Also very popular are methods of planning “on the residual principle” and in comparison with the costs of the leader or closest competitor. All of these methods of determining marketing costs are logical and consistent, but they are best used in combination.

In developed countries, the share of marketing costs is about 25 percent in the cost of traditional goods and up to 70 percent in new products. Considering profitability, the basic share of marketing costs for traditional products is in the range of 10-15 percent of sales revenue. In Russia, the share of marketing costs ranges from 1 to 5 percent, that is, on average, 3 percent of revenue.

Example: a company plans to introduce a new brand to the Russian market and intends to occupy 15 percent of the market. The company's analysts estimate the market size at $2 billion.

Target sales = market size x target market share:

$2000 million x 0.15 = $300 million.

percentage of marketing costs = average percentage of the marketing budget in Russia (3 percent) x adjustment factor depending on the goal (1.6 - “implementation”).

Thus, the required percentage of marketing costs = 3% x 1.6 = 4.8%.

Amount of Marketing Spend = Percentage of Marketing Spend x Target Sales: 300 x 0.048 = $14.4 million.

Russian companies, as a rule, use a “compromise” approach to creating an advertising budget. Its essence is in preparing two budgets - desired and actual. Desired is the budget you would like to have to achieve maximum coverage of your target audience. Valid - what you can actually spend on advertising based on the calculation of the payback period of the product. By comparing these two budgets, an acceptable (compromise) option for the company is developed.

Step 3. Decide on types of advertising

The distribution of the marketing budget among the main cost items depends on the industry in which your company operates, on the strategy for solving marketing problems and the type of market. Experts recommend an integrated approach, when the impact on the consumer occurs through several channels simultaneously. Ask yourself: where is my ad most likely to be seen by the target audience? This is often where the delivery of your message to the consumer fails.

Step 4: Evaluate Cost Effectiveness

The final indicator of marketing activities is the company's turnover or sales revenue. But, for example, at the initial stages of introducing a product to the market, it is more important to achieve a certain consumer awareness and create a favorable image of the product or service. Therefore, at each individual stage, to assess the effectiveness of marketing costs, it is advisable to use different indicators depending on previously formulated (quantitatively measured) goals. The goal itself should serve as the main indicator of effectiveness: if you reached the goal, it means you effectively planned costs and implemented the plan; if you didn’t achieve it, you need adjustments.

Development of a marketing plan - development of a specific plan actions to implement marketing efforts enterprises in the target market in accordance with accepted| strategic decisions. Such a plan includes answering the questions “what? when? who? how much?”. Within the framework of the planned complex, actions for individual marketing tools are described in detail:

increasing the beneficial properties of the product;

formation of price perception;

achieving awareness, awareness;

formation of partnerships.

Determination of marketing costs.

To determine marketing costs, a marketing planning budget is developed within the allocated funds ("top-down") or based on the need for costs ("bottom-up"), and an analysis of the sales (sales) reaction function is carried out; In this case, mainly cost calculation procedures and the development of financial estimates are used. The essence of marketing costs is expressed as follows:

Marketing costs are not overhead costs, but costs ensuring the sale of goods;

marketing costs have investment character, in the future they can bring considerable income. Marketing costs cannot be clearly attributed to either production costs or consumption costs. These are costs of a special kind, which, rather, relate to investment costs that work for the future.

Financial planning of marketing costs is carried out in the form of development systems of interconnected budgets.

Marketing costs can be divided into fixed and variable. Permanent part marketing costs - those costs that are necessary to constantly maintain the functioning of the marketing system at the enterprise. This usually includes costs for:

regular marketing research and creation of a marketing data bank for enterprise management;

financing of work on continuous improvement of the enterprise's commercial products.

Variable part marketing costs represents marketing costs caused by changes in the market situation and the adoption of new strategic and operational decisions. Most often, both the fixed and variable parts of costs are formed when developing long-term and current plans for marketing activities. The basis is budgets, determining the volume of resources, and estimates that form the directions of expenditure.

Strategic control is, first of all, an assessment of strategic marketing decisions from the point of view of their compliance with the external conditions of the enterprise. Operational (or current) control is aimed at assessing the actual achievement of set marketing objectives, identifying the causes of deviations, their analysis and adjustment (at the market and product level). The following indicators are monitored promptly (by comparing fact and plan):

sales volume and structure;

market share;

consumer loyalty.

The methodology for monitoring sales and market share by deviations includes:

analysis of well-selling goods and proposal of measures to maintain this situation (forms of sale, required amount of inventory);

analysis of poorly sold goods and proposal of measures to change the situation (price changes, incentives.

Methodology for controlling sales and market share using the “80-20” principle. Here, a separate, differentiated analysis is carried out for various products, markets, consumers (according to the principle of ABC analysis, XYZ analysis), and marketing efforts are distributed to support larger orders.

Methodology for monitoring consumer loyalty. This method determines:

number of regular customers;

number of new clients;

number of repeat purchases;

consumption intensity value;

number of complaints and claims, etc.

Profitability monitoring is the examination of the actual profitability of various marketing activities. Methodology for controlling marketing costs. Here, profitability is assessed by product, market (territory), consumer or client groups, as well as distribution channels, advertising, personal sales and other indicators as a result of the implementation of a marketing action plan. Methodology for controlling the direct profitability of a product. When analyzing marketing profitability, it takes into account the completeness of the costs incurred. Monitoring communication effectiveness. This refers to monitoring the reaction of consumer behavior to the marketing efforts of the enterprise. The following reactions are distinguished:

cognitive reaction (knowledge, recognition);

emotional reaction (attitude, assessment);

behavioral response (actions).

Methods for measuring cognitive response:

measurement of familiarity (testing for recognition, recall, priority);

measuring forgetting (as a function of time);

measurement of perceived similarity (positioning of a brand in the minds of potential buyers in relation to competing products).

Methods for measuring behavioral response. They are descriptions of behavior based on the following basic questions: WHAT? HOW MANY? HOW? WHERE? WHEN? WHO?

Audit- internal or external audit of any functional area of ​​​​the enterprise’s activities in order to obtain an accurate and truthful assessment of the conduct of business. Marketing audit represents an analysis and assessment of the marketing function of an enterprise. Basic spheres marketing audit:

the ratio of marketing capabilities and marketing efforts of the enterprise (the state of the macro- and microenvironment and the adequacy of marketing activities);

marketing targets and ways to achieve them;

organization and planning of marketing activities of the enterprise.

Basic objects marketing audit:

target markets;

sales volume and structure;

size of market share (segment);

competitive situation;

consumer attitude

customer base, loyalty, image perception, handling complaints;

information base, conducted marketing research;

product profitability;

trademarks, product renewal;

ensuring the availability of goods;

• * partnerships;
• *.marketing costs.

Main stages of external marketing audit:

1. Preparatory stage:

negotiations, clarification of goals;

preliminary diagnostics, preparation of technical specifications;

signing an agreement, concluding a contract.

2. Diagnostic stage:

data analysis;

identifying problems.

3. Decision making stage:

preparation of alternative options;

discussion of options;

adoption of a concrete action plan.

4. Stage of implementation of adopted decisions:

organization;

accompaniment;

education;

The marketing plan is the most important component of the enterprise development plan. This is what the fourth commandment of marketing says: “Well planned is half done.”

Marketing plan– the most important component of the enterprise development plan, a tool for planning and implementing its marketing activities.

Strategic Marketing– constant and systematic analysis of market needs, allowing to identify the most effective products and promising markets in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage for the enterprise.

Operational Marketing consists of considering issues of pricing, promotion of goods and organization of their sales.

A strategic marketing plan, developed for 3–5 or more years, takes into account the marketing capabilities of the enterprise and contains long-term goals and main marketing strategies, indicating the resources necessary for their implementation.

The annual marketing plan includes a description of the current marketing situation, an indication of the goals of marketing activities for the current year and a description of the marketing strategies necessary to achieve them.

A methodological approach to the development of strategic plans was formulated in topic 7. A marketing plan is developed for each strategic business unit and combines plans for individual product lines, individual products, individual markets, and individual consumer groups.

Strategic and tactical plans for marketing activities have the following sections:

Product plan;

New product research and development plan;

Distribution channel operation plan;

Pricing plan;

Marketing research plan;

Physical distribution system operating plan;

Marketing organization plan;

Marketing budget is a plan that reflects the projected amounts of income, costs and profits.

Along with marketing plans, special programs are being developed aimed at solving individual complex problems: organizing the release of a new product, developing a new market, etc. Such programs can be short-term or long-term and are compiled by working groups specially created for this purpose.

Marketing program– a set of interrelated tasks and targeted measures of a social, economic, scientific and technical, production, organizational nature, united by a single goal, indicating the resources used and implementation deadlines.

In practice, the following types of marketing activity programs are used:

Programs for transferring the enterprise as a whole to work in a marketing environment;

Programs for mastering individual elements of marketing activities;

Programs in certain areas of the marketing mix.

Of particular interest is market entry program. This program consists of two blocks.

Basic block includes:

1) goals and justification for effectiveness:

– growth in sales volume;

– increase in profit;

– acceleration of return on investment;

2) activities in the field of R&D, production, after-sales service, product promotion;

3) resources for individual elements of the marketing mix;

4) plan for implementing activities.

IN providing block includes:

1) organizational and economic mechanism for managing the development and implementation of the program - a set of tasks related to:

– organizational structure;

– personnel;

– financing;

– remuneration and incentives;

2) information and methodological support:

– methods and means of collecting, transmitting, storing and processing information;

– methods of program justification;

3) ways to control the implementation of the program.

Determining marketing costs is a rather difficult task, because:

– marketing costs support the process of selling goods;

– marketing costs are of an investment nature and can bring income in the near future;

– financial planning of marketing costs is carried out when developing appropriate budgets (research, communication policy, etc.).

When determining marketing costs, the following methods are widely used:

? “top-down” - first the total amount of costs is calculated, and then this amount is distributed to individual marketing activities. In this case, the approaches presented in Fig. 1 can be applied. 8.1;

? “bottom-up” - first, the costs of individual marketing activities are calculated, and then these values ​​are summed up using the cost calculation method using the relevant norms and standards (calculations are carried out by the enterprise’s marketing service or by external experts on a contractual basis).

Rice. 8.1. Approaches to determining the total amount of marketing costs using the “top-down” method

Costs for individual marketing activities are divided into fixed and variable.

Fixed marketing costs– costs necessary to constantly maintain the functioning of the marketing system at the enterprise. They include costs for:

Systematic marketing research;

Creation of a bank of marketing information for enterprise management;

Financing of work aimed at improving the product range of the enterprise.

Variable marketing costs– costs associated with changes in the market situation and market conditions, the adoption of new strategic and tactical decisions.

The marketing service compiles cost estimates in the following areas:

Costs of marketing research (topic 3);

Costs of developing new products (topic 2);

Distribution costs (topic 7);

Promotion costs (topic 6).

A modern method of planning marketing costs is method of marginal marketing budgets, based on “that the elasticity of consumer response varies with the intensity of marketing efforts.” At the same time, the expenditure of funds on the use of each element of the marketing mix is ​​determined, which leads to the best results (the greatest magnitude of effect).

The marketing budget in quantitative form reflects management's expectations regarding future income and the financial condition of the enterprise.

The budgeting process requires precision and accuracy, constant clarification.

In the practice of financial management, among the numerous forms of budgets, the most commonly used are:

Flexible budgets – actual and budgeted operations are compared for a given volume of output;

Capital budget is a long-term budget intended for the purchase of long-term financial assets;

Consolidated budget - consists of production (operating) and financial budgets.

The operating budget reflects the planned expenses associated with the production activities of the enterprise. The operating budget includes:

–> sales budget - a forecast valuation of expected sales, indicating the expected sales price and sales volume in natural units;

–> production budget - the number of units of goods produced, considered as a function of sales and changes in inventory at the end and beginning of the year;

–> cost budget for raw materials and supplies – information on the size of purchases of raw materials and supplies for the year;

–> factory overhead budget - all types of costs, except for direct labor costs, raw materials and supplies. Consists of variable and fixed overhead costs for the coming year;

–> budget for costs of sales and distribution of goods - all sales costs, general and administrative expenses, as well as other necessary operating expenses;

–> profit and loss budget.

Based on the information contained in all of these budgets, a forward-looking balance is drawn up.

Control– the final phase of the marketing management cycle, the final link in the process of decision-making and their implementation. At the same time, the control phase is the starting point of a new cycle of marketing management and the implementation of management decisions.

The objectives of marketing control are presented in Fig. 8.2.

Rice. 8.2. Objectives of marketing control

Rice. 8.3. Stages of marketing control

The following are used forms of control:

Strategic control is the assessment of strategic marketing decisions from the point of view of compliance with the external conditions of the enterprise. Strategic control and audit of marketing is a relatively regular, periodic area of ​​activity of the enterprise’s marketing service;

Operational control – assessment of the level of implementation of current (annual) plans. The purpose of such control is to establish compliance of current indicators with planned ones or their discrepancies. Such a comparison is possible provided that the annual plan indicators are distributed by month or quarter. The main means of control: analysis of sales volume, analysis of the company's market share, analysis of the cost-sales ratio and monitoring of customer reactions;

Profitability control and cost analysis - assessment of the profitability of the marketing activities of the enterprise as a whole, in relation to specific products, product groups, target markets and segments, distribution channels, advertising media, commercial personnel, etc.

When controlling profitability, the following types of costs are distinguished:

–> straight- costs that can be attributed directly to individual elements of marketing: advertising costs, commissions to sales agents, research, wages for marketing employees, etc. They are included in the marketing budget for the relevant areas of activity;

–> indirect– costs that accompany marketing activities: payment for rent of premises, transportation costs, etc. These costs are not directly included in the marketing budget, but are taken into account during control.

Analysis of the relationship between “marketing costs and sales volume” allows you to avoid significant cost overruns when achieving marketing goals.

Objects of marketing control are presented in Fig. 8.4.

Rice. 8.4. Objects of marketing control

Identifying marketing costs by element and function is not an easy task. It is usually performed in three stages:

1) study of financial statements, comparison of sales receipts and gross profit with current expense items;

2) recalculation of expenses by marketing functions: expenses for marketing research, marketing planning, management and control, advertising, personal selling, storage, transportation, etc. In the calculation table compiled, the numerator indicates current expense items, and the denominator indicates their breakdown by item of marketing cost. The value of this type of analysis lies in the ability to link current costs to specific types of marketing activities;

3) breakdown of marketing expenses by function in relation to individual products, methods and forms of sales, markets (segments), sales channels, etc. The tabular method of presenting information is usually used:

the numerator of the compiled table indicates functional items of expenditure for marketing purposes, and the denominator indicates individual products, markets, specific customer groups, etc.

Conducting strategic control and the resulting audit (revision) of marketing strategy in contrast to the two other forms of marketing control (operational control and profitability control), it is an extraordinary and often extreme measure. It is used mainly in cases where:

The previously adopted strategy and the tasks it defines are morally outdated and do not correspond to the changed conditions of the external environment;

The market positions of the enterprise's main competitors have significantly strengthened, their aggressiveness has increased, the efficiency of the forms and methods of their work has increased, and this happened in the shortest possible time;

The enterprise suffered a defeat in the market: sales volumes have sharply decreased, some markets have been lost, the assortment contains ineffective goods of low demand, many traditional buyers are increasingly refusing to purchase the enterprise's goods.

If managers are faced with these difficulties, then a general audit of the entire activity of the enterprise is required, a revision of its marketing policies and practices, a restructuring of the organizational structure, and an urgent solution to a number of other serious problems.

Audits are necessarily preceded by:

A comprehensive analysis of the situation and identification of specific reasons for the unsuccessful operation of the enterprise in the market;

Analysis of the capabilities of the technical, production, and sales potential of the enterprise;

Determining the prospects for the formation of new competitive advantages.

The completed procedures require a revision of the enterprise's strategy, reform of its organizational and management structures, and the formation of new, more difficult tasks and goals that reflect the identified potential opportunities.

The types of analysis used in the marketing audit are presented in table. 8.1.

When auditing the marketing of an enterprise, the following are used:

Internal audit – carried out by the enterprise itself;

External audit – carried out by external experts and audit firms.

Table 8.1

1. Determine what threats and opportunities fast food companies (for example, McDonald's) face in the Russian market.

2. The Tula enterprise “Troika” sets the task: to attract the attention of the population to the household appliances it sells and by 2004 to ensure a share of the Tula market equal to 50%. Develop a marketing plan.

3. The Tula enterprise "Wallpaper" is widely known in the regional market. However, competition is high. Using the methods of situational analysis and SWOT analysis, identify the company’s capabilities to strengthen its competitive advantages.

4. OJSC Avtoshina, well-known in the motor oil market, decides to conduct an external audit. Are the costs of an audit justified for a thriving company?

5. The owner of the Orange restaurant believes that his activities are not sufficiently profitable. How can marketing control help him run his business more successfully?

6. Is it necessary for the management of a higher education institution to conduct periodic marketing audits? If so, create a plan to audit your marketing activities.

7. Based on the following data, draw up a production budget at the end of the year:

– product sales volumes – 10,000 units;

– sales unit price – 22 rubles;

– the desired amount of inventory at the end of the year is 1150 units;

– enterprise inventories at the beginning of the period – 1000 units.

Based on the data provided, create a sales budget.