Book excerpt: The Marketing Plan Handbook presents a streamlined approach to writing succinct and meaningful marketing plans. By offering a comprehensive, step-by-step method for crafting a strategically viable marketing plan, this book provides the relevant information in a concise and straight-to-the-point manner. It outlines the basic principles of writing a marketing plan and presents an overarching framework that encompasses the plan’s essential components. A distinct characteristic of this book is its emphasis on marketing as a value-creation process. Because it incorporates the three aspects of value management—managing customer value, managing collaborator value, and managing company value—the marketing plan outlined in this book is relevant not only for business-to-consumer scenarios but for business-to-business scenarios as well. This integration of business-to-consumer and business-to-business planning into a single framework is essential for ensuring success in today’s networked marketplace. The marketing plan outlined in this book builds on the view of marketing as a central business discipline that defines the key aspects of a company’s business model. This view of marketing is reflected in the book’s cross-functional approach to strategic business planning. The Marketing Plan Handbook offers an integrative approach to writing a marketing plan that incorporates the relevant technological, financial, organizational, and operational aspects of the business. This approach leads to a marketing plan that is pertinent not only for marketers but for the entire organization. The Marketing Plan Handbook can benefit managers in all types of organizations. For startups and companies considering bringing new products to the market, this book outlines a process for developing a marketing plan to launch a new offering. For established companies with existing portfolios of products, this book presents a structured approach to developing an action plan to manage their offerings and product lines. Whether it is applied to a small business seeking to formalize the planning process, a startup seeking venture-capital financing, a fast-growth company considering an initial public offering, or a large multinational corporation, the framework outlined in this book can help streamline the marketing planning process and translate it into an actionable strategic document that informs business decisions and helps avoid costly missteps.