Every seasoned entrepreneur is now aware that, in a constantly changing environment, it is no longer enough to preserve what has already been achieved, or simply to endure the ups and downs of the market.

The failure of such policies, based on early 20th-century principles that are no longer suited to a 21st century now well underway, has been demonstrated many times over. The difficulties experienced by some companies that are more than a century old in Swiss industry speak for themselves.

In reality, this applies to all businesses, at every level. Change also appears to be accelerating continuously, and today’s market leader will not remain a cash cow forever. A company must prepare its succession in good time. Better still, it should constantly ensure that its overall strategy and organisation remain aligned with its market. An ideal way to carry out this periodic check is the marketing audit.

By analogy with the annual accounts audit, which is designed to verify that the accounts are properly kept, a marketing audit provides a rapid overview of the company’s entire activity and identifies gaps in the implementation of marketing. It should be understood that this term is not limited to advertising or other promotional initiatives, but covers a full analysis of the organisation’s environment, processes and activities.

This means examining how changes in external trends may affect the company: markets, customers, competitors, intermediaries and suppliers. It also involves checking that objectives and major strategic choices are adapted to changes in the environment, and that the organisational structure is suitable for implementing them. The company must also have information, planning and control systems that allow it to react quickly in its market, as well as an atmosphere conducive to innovation. To avoid overlooking performance, the profitability of the various business units and the impact of marketing budgets should also be measured.

This review will make it possible to periodically validate the different elements of the marketing mix: product, price, distribution and promotion. On that basis, the company will verify that it has the means to remain present in the market in the future as well. The results of such a review -applied to each market segment – could be summarised as follows :

Segment

•Designation

•Typical customer profile

•Characteristics

Analysis

•Segment needs

•Product/service trends

•Position of the product/service in its life cycle

•Demand trends

•Alternatives and substitute products

•Trends in technology and methods

•New outlets

•Changes in customer budgets

•Demand for technical support

•External influencing factors

•Constraints

•Opportunities

This marketing audit will enable the company to identify in time the threats looming over its products and markets and to prepare accordingly, by anticipating them. After all, it is not when sales of a product have fallen by half that one should begin launching its successor.