Although many companies draft business plans which typically contain marketing plans, once the business plan is completed, it is often filed away never to be used again. The result is that the overall mission and vision of the organization is diluted and may even be lost as new employees come into the firm, and communication may well break down as employees lose their focus. When the business plan in general, and the marketing plan in particular, are treated as documents which offer day-to-day guidelines, they facilitate communication throughout the entire organization and help ensure that all employees understand and are working to accomplish the same corporate vision. This research undertakes to illustrate how a marketing audit conducted at Brown Industrial PLC could help alleviate some of the problems which the company has recently identified.
The term "audit" is typically associated with financial audits where accountants and professional auditors pore over company financial statements to ensure that appropriate procedures are established and followed. Financial auditors do not verify the accuracy of the information; instead, they vouch that the information is presented according to accepted guidelines and standards. In this way, an audit, whether conducted internally or by external auditors, can help a company refine its business practices and improve its productivity and profitability.
A marketing audit is conducted using many of the same methods used in the conduct of a financial audit. Such an audit can be done internally, as can a financial audit, but most companies choose to use an objective third party to conduct the financial audit. Typically, the audit assesses whether the marketing activities support the overall goals and objectives of the organization, and whether the organization is committing resources toward its marketing activities appropriately. To provide an accurate determination, the audit examines...