Marketing planning:

Meaning and definition: marketing planning is a part of the process of overall planning of a business and industrial enterprise. Marketing planning includes sales fore casting determination of marketing objectives and the formulation of marketing programmes and policies for the achievement of these objectives. Marketing planning is a part of over all managerial planning that decides future actions and plans for marketing functions in the present. Policies and programmes are prepared in advance for carrying out the functions and activities of marketing in order to attain the marketing aims. Marketing planning is done by the marketing department. Various sub divisons or sections under the marketing department submit their proposals to the marketing department and then the marketing department prepares the plan for the whole marketing division.

According to Stephen Morse, "marketing planning is concerned with the identification of resources that are available and their allocation to meet specified objectives".

According to American Marketing Association,"marketing planning is the work of setting up objectives for marketing activites and of determining and scheduling the steps necessary to achieve such objectives.

According to Louis A. Allen,"management planning involves the development of forecasts, objectives, policies, programmes, procedures, schedules and budgets".