Is the Marketing Communications Plan different the Marketing Plan?

After last class, I thought it was interesting to actually compare and contrast the difference between the Marketing Communications Plan and the Marketing Plan. Both of these strategies are referring to the companies overall marketing objectives, but when you start to break them down each objective stands out as their own. I actually just created a marketing communication strategy outline in ENTR 251, and I had to provide the objectives and costs.


The Marketing Plan focuses on the marketing mix, which is known as the 4 P's product, price,
place (distribution), and promotion. The basic task of marketing is combining these four elements into a marketing program to facilitate the potential for exchange with consumers in the marketplace.

• Product: a tangible good or an intangible service that is seem to meet a specific customer need or demand.
• Price: is the actual amount the end user is expected to pay for a product. How a product is priced will directly affect how it sells.
• Place: is how the product will be provided to the customer. Distribution is a key element of placement.
• Promotion: The marketing communication strategies and techniques that fall under the promotional mix.

The Marketing Communications Plan focuses on the promotional mix, which includes: direct marketing, publicity/public relations, personnel selling, sales promotion, advertising, and interactive/digital marketing.

• Direct Marketing: is when organizations communicate directly with target customers to
  generate a response and/or a transaction.
• Publicity: refers to non-personal communications regarding an organization,
  product, service, or idea not directly paid for or run under identified sponsorship. Public Relations: is defined as “the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or organization with the public interest, and
  executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.
• Personnel Selling: is a form of person-to-person communication in which a seller attempts to assist or persuade prospective buyers to purchase the company’s product or service or to act on an idea. 
• Sales promotion: is generally defined as those marketing activities that
  provide extra value or incentives to the sales force, the distributors,
  or the ultimate consumer and can stimulate immediate
  sales.
• Advertising: is defined as any paid form of non-personal communication about an organization,product, service, or idea by an identified sponsor.
• Interactive/Digital Marketing: allow for a back-and-forth flow of information
  whereby users can participate in and modify the form and content of the information
  they receive in real time.