Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Wow. Big question.

First, think through what happened that led to you getting this job in the first place - there must have been a discovery process throughout the interviews that will help you understand exactly what they are trying to do.

Has the group conducted a formal business strategic planning process for all it's lines of business? If so, this plan should inform your decisions on where to proceed from here.

If they haven't, then that is the place to start. Without a formal strategic plan it's very difficult to put a marketing plan together.

My steps would be:

1. Group strategic plan (either access and validate existing, or develop new if required)
2. Divisional strategic plans
3. Divisional marketing plans
4. Development of marketing tactics and project plans, looking for inter-divisional synergies (if/where those make sense!)
5. Review of marketing plans to decide what resources you need to put in place.
6. Acquisition / development of resources

Needless to say you'll have to get budgetary and strategic approvals at various stages - how much and how often depends on your relationship with top management and the level of autonomy they have given you.

If you're unsure of how to execute these steps, can I suggest you retain an experienced consultant like many of the people here at KHE to assist you? It would likely save you significantly in the long run. If you want to establish who could help and what it might cost, post a project here: https://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/pfh_addco.asp

Alternatively, contact any one of the members of KHE via the link in their profiles to request a proposal.

Good luck

ChrisB

Do you have a sense of what you're expected to do and what the objective is? That would be important as you consider how to structure the department.

There probably is no toolkit or reference document/site that will give you the information you need. As Chris said, your best bet is to find a consultant who has been around that track a few times and tap into his/her experience.

Where are you located? There are probably a dozen experts on this forum who can help you.

First off, Congratulations! I experienced a similar scenario just 94 days ago. And ChrisB gives solid advice.

Here are some of my first thoughts as I try to remember back what seems like eons ago:

1) Research. Planning. Research. Proposals. And Reports will rule the day.
2) Managing-up is key.
3) Pick some easy "wins" in the short-term.
4) Hire well!
5) Tout your successes to all and often.

Here's a comprehensive Strategic Marketing planning Website in an easy to use template format (Toolkit). Also, make sure to download their free PDFs on the "Resources" page:
https://www.growthpanel.com/

Good luck to you :o)
Terry