Evaluation of marketing planning in the company's activities and development of recommendations for its improvement



In marketing practice, it is known that planning is the process of determining goals, strategies, as well as measures to achieve them over a certain period of time-based on assumptions about the future probable conditions for the implementation of the plan.

Each firm, starting its activity, must clearly understand the need for financial, material, labor, and intellectual resources in the future, the sources of their receipt, and also be able to accurately calculate the efficiency of resource use in the course of the company's work. Therefore, any commercial organization needs to develop its own individual business plan and marketing plan directly in order to always be «afloat».The modern concept of product development — maximum productivity, quality, and competitiveness can be achieved only with constant planning of the organization's activities at every level of its functioning

This article describes the necessity and importance of developing a marketing strategy for an enterprise. The methods and techniques of organizing marketing design in the activities of the enterprise and its evaluation are described. Proposals are also being developed to improve the marketing plan for the company's activities.

Keywords: marketing strategy, marketing planning, marketing plan

1. Introduction

Modern production and sales of products are impossible without the use of additional measures to find a buyer and promote the product on the market. Over time, these functions have developed so much and consist of many factors of market analysis, studying consumer needs, methods of implementation, etc., that they have become a separate industry, a direction of work at the enterprise called marketing.

In the modern world, not even a small company can function effectively without building its marketing policy and implementing measures to study, analyze, and apply methods to stimulate demand. Its formation is carried out in the planning process.

In every company, a marketing plan should be developed at every level of the product. A marketing plan is one of the most important results of the marketing process, which contains the following elements: a brief overview and content; an overview of the current marketing situation; an analysis of opportunities and problems; financial and marketing goals; an overview of marketing strategy; action programs; determination of expected profits and losses and a brief overview of measures to control the implementation of the plan. Market-oriented strategic planning is the managerial process of achieving and maintaining a stable balance of goals, capabilities, and resources of an organization and new market opportunities. The purpose of strategic planning is to create and reform the company's business and product, aimed at its successful development and achievement of its goals.

2. Literature review

The problem of marketing planning and marketing activities is widely disclosed in foreign and domestic marketing literature. Among the foreign authors who have studied theoretical and practical approaches to marketing management, it should be noted F. Kotler, V. Wong, Armstrong, J. Saunders, G. J. Lamben, M. L. Kaluzhsky, A. Y. Egorov. The sources of E. N. Knyshova, A. V. Lukin, and T. A. Tultaev reveal the issues of the formation of marketing and management of marketing activities mainly based on the works of foreign authors, and also reveal the features of marketing activities.

Marketing planning is a continuous cyclical process aimed at bringing the potential capabilities of an enterprise in line with market requirements. Scientist M. L. Kaluzhsky: «A marketing plan is a document defining marketing goals, objectives, and basic strategies for promoting goods on the consumer market. It has the nature of a proposal and is included in the general work plan of the enterprise along with financial, production and other plans», and Egorov A.Yu. said: «The marketing program clarifies the marketing plan and tells management who, what, when, where and how to act, and this is the document that defines why they are responsible».

Marketing planning includes the choice of strategy and tactics for marketing activities. Thus, marketing management is the analysis, planning, implementation, and control of activities aimed at establishing, strengthening, and maintaining effective exchanges with target customers to achieve the goals of the organization. We know that marketing is also engaged in market analysis, planning, and performance monitoring when developing an advertising campaign. That is why, when evaluating the marketing planning of an enterprise, it is necessary to pay attention to the development of proposals for its improvement.

The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that each firm, starting its activity, should clearly understand the need for financial, material, labor and intellectual resources in the future, the sources of their receipt, and also be able to accurately calculate the efficiency of resource use in the course of the company's work. Therefore, any commercial organization needs to develop its own individual business plan and marketing plan directly in order to always be «afloat»

The purpose of the work is to evaluate marketing planning in the company's activities and develop proposals for its improvement.

To achieve this goal, JSC «Almaty International Airport» was taken as the object of research.

The subject of the study is the organization and planning of marketing activities of JSC «Almaty International Airport».

The objectives of the study are:

— to give the concept of marketing activity;

— consider the theoretical foundations and stages of development of the marketing plan of the enterprise;

— analyze the organization of marketing activities of the company JSC «Almaty International Airport».

— formulate recommendations for improving the marketing activities of JSC «Almaty International Airport».

Hypothesis: It should be expected that marketing planning leads to greater profitability and stability in the long term, and also helps to reduce friction and operational difficulties within the organization.

The theoretical basis of the research was methodological principles, theoretical provisions, and conclusions of fundamental and applied research of foreign and domestic scientists on the problems of marketing management.

The following methods were used in the work: generalization of theory on the problem under study, the method of desk research, system, comparative, and marketing analysis.

We all know that a marketing plan does not work without a clear and measurable goal. Otherwise, a formal document is obtained, which is rather necessary for accounting to allocate a budget.

There are different ideas about the content of the plan on the market, but a combat-ready document always includes the following elements:

1. Time frames, performers, and their areas of responsibility. Otherwise, planning loses its support within the company
2. Portrait of the target audience. If he's not there, it's unclear who to work with
3. A list of advertising channels that help reach the audience
4. The strengths of the product, so that there is something to rely on
5. Description of the loyalty program and other mechanisms that encourage repeat purchases

Each item of the plan is assigned a list of responsible employees and performance indicators.

3. Results

Planning is the process of determining goals, strategies, as well as measures to achieve them over a certain period of time, based on assumptions about the future probable conditions for the implementation of the plan. In general, we can talk about the development of strategic, as a rule, long-term plans and tactical, annual marketing plans.

In the most general form, two types of marketing activity planning can be distinguished:

1) strategic marketing planning;

2) tactical (current) marketing planning.

Strategic planning is the process of developing specific strategies that contribute to achieving the goals of a company based on maintaining strategic correspondence between them, its potential opportunities and chances in the field of marketing.

A well-thought-out product strategy not only allows you to optimize the process of updating the offer, but also serves as a kind of pointer for the company's management of the direction of actions that can correct current decisions. In marketing, the development of a new product has the features of an integral process, in which a number of stages are distinguished (Figure 1.).

Fig. 1. Main stages of product development

Almaty International Airport has been operating and developing successfully for several years, confidently follows the accepted mission, approaching the set goals and observing corporate values.

The airport is the only facility in the Almaty region capable of supporting international flights, therefore it is a strategic facility and an important part of the infrastructure of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In total, Almaty International Airport currently serves over 14 passenger and 7 cargo airlines, which is an average of 150 flights per day.

The mission of Almaty International Airport is to strive for the airport to become a modern link in the aviation transport network that meets international safety and quality standards.

The implementation of this mission is carried out within the framework of flight safety and passenger safety standards of the airport. The most important priority in the implementation of the mission is the constant quality of the services provided by the company and the individuality of the approach to each client. By participating in the creation of an effective civil aviation infrastructure mechanism, Almaty Airport contributes to the development of the region.

The goal of Almaty International Airport is to achieve a qualitatively new level of customer service and maintain the position of a modern and competitive aviation enterprise.

For its further development in this capacity, Almaty International Airport has a number of advantages:

— unique geographical location of Almaty

— the presence of two runways according to the ICAO category III In

— certified experienced staff, the number of which

— highly developed the technical base for servicing all types of aircraft

The number of onboard meals in 2020 decreased by 49 %, and the net profit by 73 %.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, international borders were closed in 2020 to prevent the spread of the virus, there was no demand from passengers, which was the biggest driver of industry losses.

Fig. 2. On-board meals (portions) per person for 2018–2020

Fig. 3. Net profit (thousand tenge) for 2018–2020

In the future, it is planned to build a new building for the onboard catering workshop with an area of five thousand square meters, with a capacity of 15–20 thousand servings per day.

Before the pandemic, the average productivity per day was 7,500 servings per day, during the summer navigation period, the volume could be up to 10,000 servings.

Feedback from customers is also an important aspect of the company. Accounting and investigation of each complaint, which has decreased by more than 20 % over the past couple of years.

There is a Buy-on-board program on board, where passengers are offered products of LLP ―ACS‖ ranging from hot, and soft drinks, ending with portion products and sandwiches.

Carriers are completely revising the route network taking into account the profitability/loading of air traffic, additional costs, and technical capabilities of airports to ensure security measures to exclude infection. The decline in global GDP. Negative impact on purchasing power due to the shutdown of economic activity and the economic crisis.

According to the estimates of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the full recovery of traffic volumes to the level of 2019 will occur no earlier than 2023.

Fig. 4. Financial result for 2018–2020, thousand tenge

In general, in January–December 2020, the revenues of the country's airports fell by more than half compared to 2019. The main reason for the decline in financial indicators is the epidemiological situation of COVID-19 and the introduction of quarantine in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the world.

In the whole world, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the demand for international passenger transportation in 2020 was 75.6 % lower than in 2019. Domestic demand decreased by 48.8 % over the year.

The year 2020 became unprofitable for Almaty International Airport JSC, the loss amounted to -3 685 million tenges, which is lower than the level of 2019 by 13 304 million tenges.

Fig. 5. Structure of income from core activities (revenue) in 2022

The airport's revenues for 2020 amounted to 47,868 million tenges, which is 37 % lower than in 2019.

The increase in cargo flights with medical supplies, protective equipment, and pharmaceuticals in the period April-December 2022 (peak period — April-May) contributed to partial compensation of losses from passenger traffic.

The main revenue is generated by the sale of fuel and income from airport services, the share of which in 2022 amounted to 51 % and 34 %.

The main share in the structure of income from core activities is accounted for by income from the sale of aviation fuel in the amount of 24,630 million tenges, which is -42 % lower than in 2019. For other sectors of activity, revenues also decreased in relation to 2019. Revenues from airport activities amounted to KZT 16,265 million, or -34 % below the level of 2019.

On-board catering revenues amounted to 2,899 million tenges and decreased by -46 %.

Revenues from non-aviation activities amounted to KZT 2,360 million and decreased by -17 %. About 50 % of all non-aviation activities are occupied by rental income. The airport's rental and advertising revenue depends on the general economic situation in the country and in the world, as well as on the epidemiological situation. During the quarantine for COVID-19, the rental conditions of many tenants were revised towards a reduction in rent, during the emergency, the calculation of rent was suspended, which significantly affected the decline in income.

For completeness of obtaining information about the financial condition of the enterprise, relative indicators are calculated that characterize the ratio of own and borrowed funds. Consider these indicators in Table 1.

Table 1

Relative indicators of financial stability (at the end of the corresponding year)

INDICATORS	YEARS		DEVIATION
	2019	2020
Financial independence coefficient	0,9	0,8	(0,1)
Financial independence coefficient	0,1	0,2	0,1
Financial dependence coefficient	0,1	0,2	0,1
Financial dependence coefficient	0,9	0,8	(0,1)
Financial stability coefficient	8,3	5,3	(3)
Financial risk ratio	0,1	0,2	0,1

At the moment, the organization does not have specially developed marketing plans.

The analysis of the marketing planning system in the organization is presented in Table 2.

Table 2

Analysis of the marketing planning system

Content of the analysis	Description and assessment of the actual condition
1. Describe the marketing planning system used in the company (procedures, deadlines)	Operational planning is used for a period of 1 year
2. Does the existing marketing planning system ensure the achievement of the set sales goals?	No, it doesn't.
3. Do marketers use a marketing decision support system?	Don’t apply

Next, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the control over the implementation of the individual marketing functions listed above.

Table 3

Audit of the marketing control system

Content of the analysis	Description and assessment of the actual condition
1. Do the control measures applied by the enterprise ensure the achievement of annual goals?	no
2. Does the company's management periodically analyze the profitability of goods, markets, territories, and sales channels?	held
3. Does the company's management periodically study the costs and effectiveness of marketing?	held

The company develops operational marketing plans for the next 3 months. From the perspective of improving the marketing activities of the organization, it is necessary to develop strategic marketing plans for the long term (the planning period is more than a year).

Thus, the quality of services is more important for high-income consumers who need, first of all, an increased level of service. The analysis of the consumer market of this type of service shows that the volumes of sales of services included in the calculation can be considered justified.

The main competitor is the airport of Astana.

The airport occupies one of the leading positions in terms of passenger traffic among the Far Eastern airports.

One of the priority goals of the airport is to improve the level of passenger and airline service. To this end, Almaty International Airport JSC actively invests in the development of production, the purchase of special and airfield equipment, certifies new activities and introduces new services.

Conclusion

Marketing affects everyone's life. This is a process in which goods and services that provide a certain standard of living are developed and made available to people.

Marketing management is the analysis, planning, implementation, and control of activities designed to establish, strengthen and maintain profitable exchanges with target customers in order to achieve certain goals of the organization

JSC «Almaty International Airport» is the largest air hub in the city of Almaty, as well as the most important element of the transport infrastructure of Kazakhstan.

The organization and planning of marketing activities in JSC «Almaty International Airport» are carried out by employees of the Marketing and Planning and Economics Department.

In our work, as we develop recommendations aimed at improving the marketing activities of Almaty International Airport JSC, we recommended the creation of a food court. The payback period of the project is 0.5 years or 7 months. Thus, the food court organization project seems to be economically profitable and efficient.

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